SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Police officials have told the City Council that it would cost more than $97,000 to outfit Sioux City officers with body cameras. Chief Doug Young and Lt. Mark Kirkpatrick said Thursday the money would cover software and hardware costs for 87 cameras.

Councilman Pete Groetken, who retired with nearly 38 years of police experience, says the cameras would provide video evidence in liability cases but wonders whether the technology is sufficiently mature to justify the expense.

Young says he doesn’t know of any instance in the past year that would have been helped or hindered by the cameras, but he says residents and officers support the camera idea. The council didn’t vote on the proposal, which is expected to resurface during the council’s Feb. 16 meeting.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) in Atlantic, say Ann Wieseler, (MSN, APRN-NP, ACNP-BC), is joining the Cass County Health System Emergency Department effective next Monday (February 6th).

Ann Wieseler (Photo submitted by CCHS)

Wieseler graduated from Creighton University in 2012, earning her Master of Science in Nursing, Acute Care Nurse Practitioner degree with a concentration on cardiology. Since that time she has worked at Bryan Health System in Lincoln, Nebraska in the Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Departments. She is also currently a student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and will complete her Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate in May. Ann received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honors from Nebraska Methodist College, and she also has a Bachelor of Science in Biological Systems Engineering degree from the University of Nebraska.

Ann is a member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, and is a recipient of multiple awards including the Methodist Health System Nurse Excellence Award for 2016. CCHS Emergency Department Director Darci Young says “Ann is an experienced Nurse Practitioner, and she’s also been a mentor and instructor to nursing students throughout her career.” Young said also, “We are thrilled to have her join the CCHS team.”

A Creston man reported to Police late Thursday morning, that sometime earlier that same day, someone had broken into his home located in the 2200 block of S. Cherry Street. No items were reported missing.  Authorities say damage to a door was estimated at $350.

The driver of a vehicle that ended-up in the Boyer River last month now faces a felony charge of Motor Vehicle Homicide/OWI, and four serious misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to a person under age. Authorities say 25-year old Ramon Hernandez, of Denison, drove through a farm field with four teenagers in his car before it plunged into the Boyer River during the early morning hours of Jan. 19th.

Hernandez was originally arrested January 23rd and charged with three counts of distributing a controlled substance to a minor, and one count of distributing a controlled substance to an adult, in connection to the crash. Each of the prior charges were felony offenses. Hernandez also faces charges of reckless driving, driving while suspended and failure to maintain control.

A passenger in the car, 15-year old Yoana Acosta, of Denison, was found in the Boyer River after a week-long search by numerous agencies and volunteers. Three other passengers, along with Hernandez, were able to escape to safety.

Crawford County Attorney Roger Sailer filed the new charges in district court yesterday (Thursday). The county attorney also formalized the charges for which Hernandez was arrested on January 23rd.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate arrests took place Wednesday. 56-year old Raymond Linn Knutsen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of OWI 1^st Offense. Knutsen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance. And, 64-year old Patrick Emile Clark, of Elliott, was arrested Wednesday, on a charge of OWI 1^st Offense. Clark was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

An Atlantic woman was injured when the vehicle she was driving struck a horse on the road north of Atlantic, Thursday night. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 59-year old Pamra Charlene Pennington, of Atlantic, was southbound on Olive Street approaching Fair River Road at around 7-p.m., when two horses entered the roadway, causing the 2005 Buick LeSabre to strike one of the horses. Pennington was transported to the Cass County Memorial hospital by Medivac Ambulance. The injured horse, owned by Bob Bebensee, had to be put down. Damage to Pennington’s vehicle is estimated at $3,000.

(Update 10:15-a.m.) The Atlantic Fire Department was called to what was initially described as a large gas spill this (Friday) morning, at the Casey’s General Store on east 7th Street. The call came in at around 8:39-a.m.  Firefighter Gene Schmeling told KJAN News the spill was actually only a couple of quarts at best. It occurred as a motorist was filling up their vehicle and wasn’t paying attention.

Crews put down peat moss to absorb the spill, and cleaned-up the mess.

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

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – The increasing presence of a deadly synthetic opioid called “pink” or “U4” has prompted warnings from Iowa authorities. Ames police spokesman Geoff Huff told The Des Moines Register that the drug, also called “pinky,” has been identified in a handful of Ames cases since June. But he says there are other cases that police don’t know about.

In June a joint statement from four state health and public safety agencies warned the public about U4 as a response to a nonfatal overdose in eastern Iowa. In November the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration categorized U4 among drugs with the highest potential for abuse or addiction, comparable to methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

Huff says his department is warning parents that U4 poses great risks to high school and college students.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sergeant Bluff man has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he stole mail while working for the U.S. Postal Service. Online court records say a trial is scheduled to begin April 3 for 42-year-old Kirk Baird in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors say in a news release that from August through Oct. 20 last year, Baird took letters and other pieces of mail and removed from them cash, gift cards and other valuable items.