Shelby County Emergency Management Agency Operations Manager Jason Wickizer reports, that at about 6:30-p.m. Thursday, Shelby County 911 received a call in reference to a motorcyclist who had been blown off the road while in route from Harlan to Sioux City. The motorcyclist indicated he was in a ditch and injured, with his motorcycle on top of him. The man did not know where he was, and that his phone had gone dead. Based upon his probable route and rate of travel, Incident Command was established in Dunlap, with Shelby County assuming Incident Command.

Nine search teams from Harrison, Shelby, Monona, and Crawford Counties deployed. An additional six fire departments staged and were ready to deploy. At 9:41-p.m., a farmer had located the motorcyclist, who refused medical treatment. The search was subsequently called off. The man’s name was not released.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha Tribal Council member has been sentenced to five years of probation and told to pay more than $13,000 in restitution for misusing federal funds. Court records say Forrest Aldrich was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Omaha. He’d pleaded guilty in June to misapplication of health care benefit program funds. Other federal charges were dropped in exchange for his plea. The records show he’s already repaid more than $4,000.

Aldrich was one of nine tribal officials accused of misusing federal funds by awarding themselves nearly $389,000 in bonuses. Officials say the bonuses were paid from Indian Health Service funds meant to provide health care to members of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska who reside on the Omaha Reservation in Macy in northeastern Nebraska and in western Iowa.

Floodwaters have filled basements, home and business floors and closed streets and highways in northwest Iowa. The National Weather Service says the Little Sioux River is expected to crest Friday at just under 7 feet above flood stage in Spencer. More than 7 inches of rain has been reported west of the city from storms Wednesday into Thursday. U.S. Highway 18 was closed for a time east of Spencer.

Up to 7 inches also was reported in Hartley, where Mayor Rod Ahrenstorff says several inches fell earlier this week and then again Wednesday night into Thursday. City clerk and administrator Patty Anderson says she’s worried about what the flooding is going to cost the city.

Police in Creston report 22-year old Taran Austin, of Creston, was arrested on drug charges at around 12:40 this (Friday) morning. Austin was taken into custody for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He released from the Union County Jail on a $1,300 bond. And, at around 8:15-a.m. Thursday, 48-year old Johnny S. Agans, of Osceola, was arrested following a traffic stop, in Creston. Agans was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court) on an original OWI/2nd offense charge. He has since been released on a $2,000 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A traffic stop in Montgomery County Thursday afternoon on a speeding motorcycle turned into a chase. Authorities say a 2008 Kawasaki EX-650 operated by 26-year old Zachary Wayne Coddington, of Red Oak, was traveling east on Highway 34, when a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy tried to stop the cycle at around 4:30-p.m.

Instead of pulling over, Coddington sped-off and led authorities on a chase at speeds of up to 120-miles per hour before his motorcycle went out of control when he tried to turn south onto Highway 48. The bike went into a ditch, causing Coddington to be ejected from the machine. The man was not injured during the crash.

Coddington was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on charges that include Eluding, Having No Valid Driver’s License, and speeding 120-mph in a 55-mph zone. His bond was set at $2,000.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted during the pursuit and arrest, by the Red Oak Police Department and Red Oak Rescue.

VINTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have cleared two eastern Iowa police officers who exchanged gunshots with a man. Benton County Attorney David Thompson says the officers were justified in using deadly force because they were confronted with a deadly threat. The Iowa Public Safety Department says 43-year-old Lyle Fowler shot toward officers sent to check his welfare on Sept. 7. The two officers fired back, but no one was wounded in the exchange.

The department says the officers were Sgt. Benjamin Parmater and Patrol Officer Katlyn Schimerowski of the Vinton Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) — The future of sports betting in the state could look a lot like what’s been put in place in Delaware. The Iowa Lottery has been following the issue at the request of state lawmakers after a U-S Supreme Court ruling in May made sports betting legal across the county. Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says Delaware approved sports betting shortly after the court ruling. “We think Delaware did a really good job of designing its system to try to provide the convenience factor that all of the experts have said is so important in terms of trying to beat back the black market,” Neubauer explains. “You have to make it convenient for people to be able to place wagers or they’ll just stick will the illegal means.”

The largest share of the betting in Delaware is on N-F-L and college football games. Gamblers bet two-point-eight million of the overall five-point-one million dollars in sports betting on the pro game in the first week of the N-F-L season. They bet nearly two-point-six million on the N-F-L in its second week out of the and five-point-five million total for sports betting. Neubauer says Delaware has a system where you can bet in casinos or at retail locations, such as convenience stores. “In Delaware the way it works is that full blown sports betting — meaning sports betting with every possible variation that you could imagine — is done at casino locations. But then retail locations offer what are called parlay bets — which is bets on more than one game at a time. So, obviously the offerings at retail are more limited.”

Neubauer says there’s a distinct difference in the types of betting. “The numbers are showing that the bets that are being placed at retail locations are smaller — which what I think is what the experts would have told us to anticipate. That those are just casual betters, maybe they just place a bet on the way home,” according to Neubauer. “The bets that are being placed at casino locations in Delaware are larger. So, the true sports betting enthusiasts seem to be going to the casinos.” The wagers at the retail location in Delaware average almost 11 dollars, while the casino wagers average nearly 51 dollars. She says she can see the same type of plan working in Iowa. “I think that same kind of model already exists here in Iowa within our gaming market here — where you have lottery at retail locations and then casino locations as well. There seems to be room for both,” Neubauer says. There’s also a link between the Iowa and Delaware gaming markets. “The system provider in Delaware that is providing the equipment and the communications system for the sports betting that’s occurring in casinos and locations is Scientific International. That is the Iowa Lottery’s vendor here in Iowa,” Neubauer explains. “So that is the way we are able to get access to a lot of the numbers that we’ve already been sharing.”

She says it is possible the vendor could work it out so sports betting could be done through the existing lottery machines and infrastructure. Neubauer says the Delaware model and the connection with the service provider gives an early indication of how things might work. “The expertise is there, it’s just a question of what do Iowa lawmakers want to do. And once they’ve made that decision, then we can provide whatever assistance they may need,” Neubauer says.

Neubauer updated the Iowa Lottery Board at their meeting Thursday. She says they will continue reviewing the sports gambling landscape and keep lawmakers updated, so they have the latest information if they decide to move ahead with the issue.

(Radio Iowa) — New studies find farming remains one of the world’s most dangerous professions. Iowa State University Extension agricultural engineer,Chuck Schwab, is reminding Iowans in the industry to slow down and take breaks. “Agriculture, the industry as a whole, had roughly 2.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, which makes it the highest industry in the United States for the death rate,” Schwab says. That surpasses mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation. He says one reason for agriculture being so high with injuries and deaths is because it involves so many people from a wide age demographic. Schwab says, “We see a lot of the older farmers being hurt and again, when you’re talking about a uniqueness to this industry, agriculture doesn’t have that cap where when you get to 65, you stop farming.”

While older farmers may have many decades of experience, he says some of the tasks of farming become much more difficult and dangerous, the older you get. “What happens with older farmers, you tend to have different reactions times, you have balance issues, hearing issues, sight,” Schwab says. “All these senses play a role in how you make good, safe decisions and how to avoid injuries.” The same is true with younger generations, he says. The best thing a farmer of any age can do, according to Schwab, is take a break from the action and have a moment of rest. “The more your body is working and focused on a task without that break, you have a tendency to maybe not see some of the things that you would normally see,” Schwab says. “Or you put yourself at risk. You need to be hydrated. You need to have energy for your body.”

Besides helping your body recover, taking a break can also give your brain a rest from thinking about the chores at hand and you can come back to the job thinking more clearly.

Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County, Thursday evening, arrested a Villisca man for simple domestic assault and public intoxication. 47-year old William Edward Barr was taken into custody at around 6:45-p.m., in the 100 block of W. 6th Street, in Villisca. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.