The Severe Storms Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma says another round of severe storms are possible across a large section of Iowa, this afternoon and this evening. The Primary threats include isolated, fast-moving, weak tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, and periods of heavy rainfall.

Storms will develop this afternoon and will continue through the early evening. The greatest potential for severe weather will be during the peak heating evening commute hours from 3 pm – 7 pm. Storms should be out of our area around midnight.

Most of Iowa is under an “Enhanced Risk” for severe weather. Locations south of I-80, and east of I-35 may see a slightly great threat for severe weather. Strong to severe storms that do develop will likely be very-fast moving, moving to the N/NE at potential speeds of 50 to 60 mph.

The President of the United States and the United States Congress has declared the week of May 14-20, 2017 as National Police Officers’ Memorial Week. Today (Wednesday, May 17th), at 2:00 p.m., the Clarinda Police Department will conduct a memorial service at the Clarinda Cemetery Armed Services Flag Stand/ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to pay tribute to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

One hundred and forty-four, federal, state and local law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in the United States and its territories in 2016 according to the United States Department of Justice.

Clarinda Police Department Chaplain Dr. Richard F. Iske will officiate the service. American Legion Sergy Post 98 will provide a 3 volley salute and taps at the service. Clarinda Chief of Police Keith Brothers and his staff cordially invites you to attend the memorial service and pay tribute to those law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.

In the event of inclement weather the memorial service will be cancelled.

The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regular session beginning at 5:30-p.m. at City Hall. Among the items of discussion and possible action, allowing certain types of poultry to be raised within the City Limits. During the Council’s last meeting, Atlantic resident Jillian Scarf presented a proposal to amend the City Code or Ordinances, which currently bans keeping poultry in town.

Since then, the Community Protection Commission has met and discussed the matter. They voted 2-to 1 in favor of amending the ordinance, which defines the “Keeping of livestock.” City Administrator John Lund said at the CPC meeting, that he’s spoken with officials in Red Oak, Shenandoah and Harlan. The latter does not allow chickens at all. Shenandoah is nearly identical to Atlantic, and Red Oak allows chickens, but only with a permit issued by the City Administrator, and with certain requirements in place. Following the discussion, the Council will hear again from Jillian Scarf, who is expected to request two hens and one cockerel be allowed on her private property.

In other business, the Council will hold the first and final reading of an Ordinance amending the Code, that allows the sale of fireworks beginning in mid-June, but limits when they can be used to the hours of 6-p.m. until midnight on July 4th, and from dusk New Year’s Eve until 12:15-a.m. New Year’s Day. In a letter to the Council, Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said in-part, “I am concerned that there are no buffer zones for certain areas I would like to see included. In particular around school buildings and assisted living facilities such as the ANRC or Allen House etc. I would like to see at least a 300 foot zone around them to try and protect them from aerial devices that could cause a fire.”

McNees said also, “Even though I would prefer the use [of fireworks] to be banned I realize the enforcement issue reality. With that in mind I grudgingly urge that the allowable hours be reviewed from what is proposed. If fireworks are only allowed on the 4th from 6 to 12 a.m., then it will concentrate the activities and responses IF everyone follows the law. Having said that, we know that won’t happen. I think its reasonable to assume people will be shooting them off all day on the 4th and for days around it as well. Perhaps extending the hours on the 4th would help the police and possible the fire dept . I will guarantee the 911 center will be inundated with calls beginning in June as people start buying fireworks and shooting them off. People are only going to hear that fireworks have been legalized in Iowa.”

Another order of business for the Atlantic City Council, is the setting of June 3rd, 2017 as the date for a Public Hearing to Amend the FY 2017 Budget, which City Administrator John Lund says is needed to reconcile the current budget with final expenditures, and is a “Routine matter.”

State officials are hiring “an outside expert” to examine the Iowa Department of Human Services after a second central Iowa teenager is found dead in a home which had been flagged over child welfare concerns. Sixteen-year-old Sabrina Ray was found dead in her home in Perry last Friday. The Des Moines Register reports she was adopted and the state had investigated at least two complaints of improper punishment and inadequate food at the day care the girl’s parents ran out of the home.

Last fall, a 16-year-old adopted girl starved to death in her West Des Moines home. Neighbors and school officials had reported the girl was malnourished. The public information officer at the Department of Human Services issued a written statement Tuesday, saying the agency will be taking “a comprehensive review of our child welfare system.” The department’s Amy McCoy also sought to “assure the public” that the D-H-S is committed to protecting vulnerable children.

McCoy also expressed “deep sadness” and said the D-H-S staff had “heavy hearts” over the Perry teenager’s death. Last month the Government Oversight Committee in the Iowa House announced it planned to investigate the child welfare system, but Republicans on the same committee in the Iowa Senate were reluctant to join in.

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, says he was nauseated when he learned another teenager had “fallen through the cracks.” Earlier this year, McCoy convened a few hearings at the statehouse to try to quiz state officials about the starvation death of Natalia Finn of West Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska man will stand trial next month for the death in northwestern Iowa of his estranged wife. The Sioux City Journal reports 29-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, has been ordered to stand trial on June 6 in Woodbury County District Court. The case has been delayed several times as defense attorneys have repeatedly withdrawn from representing Morales.

Morales has pleaded not guilty to killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence. Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man.

Severe storms that began to brew in eastern Nebraska blew into western Iowa Tuesday evening, quickly turning the skies dark. The storms brought winds of up to 70-miles per hour to parts of Carroll and Shelby Counties, and golf ball sized hail in the Crawford County town of Manilla. The National Weather Service says heavy tree damage was reported in Council Bluffs. Damage to a house and barn was reported to have occurred near Underwood at around 6:55-p.m., in the 23,000 block of Magnolia, where rotation was observed in the clouds.

The Iowa State Patrol reports high winds knocked over tractor-trailers on Interstate 29 last night. In Missouri Valley, the fire department lost power during the storm. The community had several downed power lines, with some fires sparked by lightning. Mid-American Energy reported this morning, that nearly 6,600 customers across the state had no power…near 6,100 of those were in Ft. Dodge.  In the Webster County town of Dayton, a tree fell on a home, but no injuries were reported.

An outbuilding was reported to have been damaged by thunderstorm winds in Shelby at around 7:20-p.m. And, a large tree was uprooted four-miles west of Shelby at around 7:25-p.m.

About 5-minutes later, a 60-mile per hour gust of wind was recorded at the automated weather station located at the Harlan Airport. Earlier, several large tree branches fell in Missouri Valley and in Council Bluffs, causing power lines to fall in some locations.

The Crawford County Emergency Manager reported golf ball-size hail fell in Manilla, at around 7:45-p.m., and about three-miles east/southeast of Buck Grove, in Crawford County, winds reached up to 70-miles per hour. A better view of the damage and an assessment from the National Weather Service, is expected as the day progresses.

(some information in this story was provided by the Associated Press)

A crash Tuesday afternoon in western Iowa’s Monona County resulted in one person dying after they were transported to Burgess Hospital, in Onawa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 92-year old Dr. John Lee Garred, Sr., of Whiting, died from injuries he suffered when the 1997 Cadillac Eldorado he was driving turned in front of an oncoming semi just west of Whiting, at around 4:35-p.m., Tuesday.

The Patrol says Garred, who was not wearing a seat belt, was traveling west on County Road E-24 when he failed to see an eastbound a 2003 Peterbilt semi driven by 60-year old Duane Robert Miller, of Onawa. The vehicles collided at the intersection of Cork Avenue, when Garred went to turn south. Miller wasn’t injured in the crash.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a teen found dead Friday in a central Iowa home. Perry police say 16-year-old Sabrina Ray was found in the home Friday evening. Officials have not released her cause of death, but the Iowa Department of Human Services says the death is being investigated as a child abuse case. The Des Moines Register reports the girl was homeschooled with siblings in the home, which had been monitored by the state following abuse complaints.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A reporter is facing the threat of jail after allegedly violating an order not to take video of “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules appearing in court in his hit-and-run case. Prosecutors are pursuing contempt of court proceedings against KWWL reporter Elizabeth Amanieh in what could be the first such case against an Iowa journalist in decades. They say she violated a judge’s directive by using her cellphone to record last month’s hearing, which her station later aired.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man will stand trial next month for the death in northwestern Iowa of his estranged wife. The Sioux City Journal reports that 29-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, has been ordered to stand trial on June 6 in Woodbury County District Court. Morales has pleaded not guilty to killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The FBI and law enforcement agencies around Omaha have teamed over a rash of bank robberies officials believe have street gang ties. Randall Thysse, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Omaha office, says officials are particularly concerned about the violent nature of recent bank robberies around Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Thysse says of the 42 armed bank robberies in the last 17 months, 33 were similar enough that investigators believe they are related.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a two-vehicle, property damage accident Tuesday afternoon on K Avenue at the intersection of 240th Street. Officials say a 1996 Ford Aerostar van owned and driven by 76-year old David B. Lewis, of rural Stanton, was southbound on K Avenue at around 3:38-p.m., and slowing for the intersection of 240th Street.

A 2005 Ford Escape owned by Danny J. Smith of rural Red Oak and driven by 16-year old Taylor Smith, of rural Red Oak, was southbound on K Avenue, behind Lewis’ vehicle.

Smith failed to see Lewis’ vehicle slowing down, or its taillights, due to the gravel dust that was kicked up. The SUV she was driving struck the van in the rear, just as it was beginning to make a right hand turn.

Damage amounted to $3,000 altogether. No citations were issued.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three more workers at Iowa institutions for people with severe intellectual disabilities have been fired or resigned over allegations of resident abuse. State officials confirmed the actions this week to the Des Moines Register. The newspaper said in a report Tuesday that two workers were recently fired from the Glenwood Resource Center and a Woodward Resource Center worker resigned after being suspended.

The ouster comes in the wake of 13 resignations or firings at the Glenwood institution late last year for abusing or humiliating residents. State reports say in the latest cases that a Glenwood staffer was fired for smearing food on a resident’s face and another staffer fired for not immediately reporting it. In the Woodward case, a worker resigned amid an investigation into allegations of abuse.