The search continues for the party responsible for the death of a bald eagle discovered Jan. 25, in Yellow Banks County Park, on the southeast side of Des Moines. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources believe the eagle was killed sometime around the first week of January. The condition of the eagle’s remains made it difficult to place the exact time and manner of death, but damage to its legs are consistent from being shot with bird shot.

“We received a lot of good information from the public, including information that led us to an individual who was in possession of bald eagle talons that we believe came from the Yellow Banks eagle, but we have not found the individual responsible for the raptor’s death,” said Nate Anderson, state conservation officer with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Anderson issued a citation for illegal possession of a protected nongame animal to Mitchell Hoyt, 27, from Runnells, on Feb. 4. Hoyt pleaded guilty in Polk County Court and paid $195 fine on Feb. 22. “We continue to follow leads wherever they take us and hopefully we will catch the individual or individuals responsible for this,” Anderson said.

Anyone with information is encouraged to use the Turn in Poachers website at www.iowadnr.gov/tip or by calling the hotline at 1-800-532-2020. Information can be left anonymously. Bald eagles are a state and federally protected species.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The leader of the Iowa State Patrol is retiring after a 32-year career with the force. The service retirement of Col. Michael Van Berkum was approved Monday and will be effective March 3. He had been the patrol’s chief since 2015.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan says Iowans should thank Van Berkum for his decades of service. She says he embodies the best of the patrol – “leadership, integrity and dedicated service for the public good.”

Ryan has not named a replacement for Van Berkum, but the department says more information will be released when he retires next week. Three of Van Berkum’s classmates from the department’s 1985 academy class will also retire the same day. A Rock Valley native, Van Berkum served the patrol in a number of roles as an officer and supervisor.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports that (as of 8:45-a.m.) Interstate 80 westbound, west of Shelby, is blocked in both lanes due to a crash. The blockage is between Exit 34: County Road M16 and Exit 29: County Road L66.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A man has been imprisoned for stealing from his employer in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that 45-year-old Scott Chamberlain was sentenced in Sioux City on Thursday to 10 years in prison. Chamberlin had pleaded guilty to theft.

Court documents say that, beginning in January 2009, Chamberlain took a skid loader and other equipment from W.A. Klinger and kept them at his home in Kingsley. The documents also say he charged more than $10,000 in personal purchases on company credit cards. He’s been ordered to pay $10,000 to his former employer.

The Creston Police Department reports two Union County residents were arrested Thursday afternoon on warrants out of Nebraska, for Failure to Appear in court. 29-year old Christopher Wollums and 23-year old Louise Yan Boughner, both of Creston, were taken into custody at around 12:15-p.m. Wollums was being held in the Union County Jail, while Boughner was being held in the Ringgold County Jail, both pending extradition to Nebraska.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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(Updated) — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A slow-moving storm has dropped nearly 2 feet of snow in western Nebraska as it moves east through Iowa, covering highways and making travel treacherous. The interstates and major highways remained open Friday morning despite the blowing snow and drifting.

In Iowa, late Thursday night, numerous accidents were reported on I-80 near Avoca, with motorists contending with quickly changing weather conditions, from rain to heavy snow, depending on where you were along the roadway. The National Weather service even issued its first Severe Thunderstorm Warning of the season for eastern Cass northern Adair and southern Guthrie Counties, where hail was being reported.

Iowa officials reported that an accident had forced closure of a northbound lane on Interstate 35 in northern Iowa. No fatalities have been reported. A blizzard warning remained in effect for far northeast Nebraska and most of northwest Iowa.

In Nebraska, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Jamski says the big system let loose Wednesday night over Alliance in the Nebraska Panhandle. Snowfall of 22 inches was reported there by Thursday afternoon. He says the total could reach 25-26 inches by the storm’s exit this (Friday) afternoon.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A subcommittee in the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature has approved a comprehensive gun bill that includes a stand-your-ground provision. The panel signed off on the measure Thursday, and it now heads to the full House Judiciary Committee. The bill also changes other gun laws, from allowing guns at the state Capitol to lifetime weapon permits.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A GOP-led legislative subcommittee has approved a bill that would allow an unlimited number of students in Iowa to enroll in for-profit online schools that receive state education funding. A subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee approved the bill Thursday. It now heads to the full committee. Enrollment in virtual schools is currently capped at several hundred students in Iowa.

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — A sometimes hostile crowd peppered Iowa Congressman David Young with questions about the Affordable Care Act, environment and other issues at a public forum in Urbandale. House and Senate members from across the country have faced skeptical crowds while home during a congressional break, and that was the case Thursday when Young took questions during a forum that lasted more than an hour.

WALCOTT, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters are cleaning up a diesel spill on Mud Creek in eastern Iowa. A news release from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says a sheen on Mud Creek about 10 miles northwest of Walcott led to a leaking pipe from an above-ground diesel tank Thursday morning. Officials say possibly 500 gallons spilled into a tributary of the creek.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reported early this (Friday) morning, that a tow ban is in-place for most of Cass and Adair Counties, due to the quickly deteriorating road conditions and numerous accidents that had occurred since just before midnight. Any vehicle that goes off into the ditch along the interstate and secondary roads will have to remain there until towing services is allowed, depending on whether the vehicle is blocking the flow of traffic or not. Conditions had begun to improve according to dispatch reports, at around 12:35-a.m, Friday.