DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa conservation officers say they’re looking for a poacher who shot a bald eagle and removed its head and talons. The Des Moines Register reports that a hiker discovered the bird’s carcass Wednesday in Yellow Banks County Park near the Des Moines River. Bald eagles are a protected species under state and federal law.

A news release from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the state of decomposition of the carcass has made it difficult to estimate when the eagle died.

State Conservation Officer Nate Anderson says anyone with tips or knowledge of the killing can use the Turn in Poachers website at www.iowadnr.gov/tip or by calling the hotline at 1-800-532-2020. Information may be left anonymously.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A judge says a Nebraska woman must pay back $260,000 she took from her former employer in Iowa. The Daily Nonpareil  reports that Beth Beutler, of Waterloo, Nebraska, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of theft and ongoing criminal activity. Several other counts were dropped in exchange for her pleas. She was given a suspended prison sentence of 25 years, a jail sentence of 60 days and five years of probation.

Police say Beutler used a checking machine to withdraw thousands of dollars. The machine lets truck drivers access funds from across the country by giving clerks at truck stops an authorization code to pay for fuel, services or get cash. Police say Beutler got the authorization codes while working at McMullen Brothers Trucking in Carter Lake.

Cumberland and Massena Fire and Rescue along with Medivac Ambulance were called just before Noon today, to a single vehicle accident just east of 765th and Newport Road. A female in the vehicle was reportedly suffering from a head injury at the scene. No other details were immediately available.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies Tuesday arrested 43-year old John Stratton Eichelberger, of Atlantic, on multiple Atlantic Police Department warrants for felony charges of: Burglary in the 1^st Degree; Stalking; Burglary in the 3^rd Degree, and simple misdemeanor charges that include: four counts of False Report to Law Enforcement;  two counts of Violation of a No Contact Order, and Criminal Mischief in the 5^th Degree. Eichelberger was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $100,000 bond.

That same day, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 25-year old Joshua Dean Peters and 25-year old Julie Charles, both of Brayton, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for felony Possession with Intent to Deliver. Both were taken to the Cass County Jail where they remain held on $50,000 bond each.

Police in Creston say three people were injured in one of two separate accidents that took place Wednesday. The first happened a little after 6-p.m., as a2004 Chevy Suburban driven by 45-year old Faith Burkhalter, of Creston, was traveling west on Townline Road and a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero driven by 18-year old Morgan Marie Shawler, of Creston, was traveling east on Townline Road.

Shawler was following a vehicle that had signaled to turn north onto Elm Street. She tried to stop but due to the weather and road conditions, her car slid into the other lane and struck Burkhalter’s Suburban. At impact, the airbags in both vehicles deployed. Faith Burkhalter and passenger in the Suburban, 10-year old Jocelyn Burkhalter, of Creston, both of whom were wearing seat belts, were injured and transported by ambulance to the Creston hospital. Shawler was also wearing her seat belt. She was transported to the hospital by her parent. Damage from the crash amounted to $6,000.

The second accident happened at around 10:40-p.m. on N. Howard Street in Creston, near the intersection with North Street. The Creston P-D says 41-year old Jason Woods, of Lenox, was driving too fast for the icy road conditions when his 2011 Chevy pickup went out of control eastbound on W. Howard Street, and slid sideways into a tree. Woods wasn’t injured. Damage from the crash amounted to $6,000.

In a closed-session Wednesday night, the Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education voted to enter into negotiations to purchase the Cass, Incorporated building at 1406 S.W. 7th Street (on the west side of Atlantic).

Board Secretary/Business Manager Mary Beth Fast told KJAN News the building could serve many purposes, including bringing back the K-through 6 Behavioral Program which was cancelled a couple of years ago due to a lack of students. The building space would allow the program to be expanded to include 10 slots for students, one full-time Behavioral Education teacher and one para-educator.

She said they could also use the building for an Alternative High School, Career Tech classes, office space, and/or rent or lease the space to other entities. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein will be taking part in the negotiations with regard to price and other details for the 27,000-square foot building. If the process comes to fruition, the administration can look into modifying the interior as needed.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved the resignation of Mike Wendt, night custodian for the high school, and Kathy Blazek, High School Special Ed Teacher. They also approved the transfer request by Jeff Hetrick from the position of Bus Monitor to Bus Driver.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Glenwood man was arrested Wednesday evening on a warrant for Sexual Assault in the 3rd degree. 47-year old William Joseph Nunez, was also arrested for being a Fugitive from Justice. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

Iowa is losing about one-thousand of its historic barns every year and a new film aims to inspire people to preserve some of the barns that still stand. Quad Cities-based filmmakers Kelly Rundle and his wife, Tammy, have created “The Barn Raisers,” which will premiere this weekend in Davenport. “We’re taking a look at vintage Midwestern barns through the lens of architecture,” Rundle says. “What does the way the barn was built tell us about when it was built and who built it, what its purpose was and we’re also trying to get at who those builders were and they’re a little bit of a mystery in most cases.”

Besides being very practical and useful for the farmer, Rundle says barns are “magnificent and important structures” that hold the stories of America’s past. “I think part of what led us to this particular story is my own experience growing up exploring my grandfather’s dairy barn in Wisconsin,” Rundle says. “As we traveled over the last three or four years to make the film, I was able to revisit a lot of those things I remembered as a child.”

The 57-minute movie will debut on Saturday at the Putnam Museum. “In addition to the premiere on the Putnam giant screen in Davenport, we expect there will be other showings in the region and the film will also air on PBS stations throughout the Midwest,” Rundle says, “so, we’re looking forward to sharing this film with everybody.”

Rundle says he hopes this movie will be used by barn preservation organizations around the country to further their efforts.  “‘The Barn Raisers’ is a companion to our Emmy-nominated film, ‘Country School: One Room, One Nation,’ and in that film we focused on country schools in Iowa, Wisconsin and Kansas,” Rundle says. “We turned to those states for this particular project and then added also Michigan and Ohio.”

The Rundles run Fourth Wall Films. Dates for the movie’s airing on Iowa Public T-V have not yet been announced.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The interim director of the Iowa Public Information Board says it’s jeopardized by a proposed budget deal. The Des Moines Register reports that the deal between Gov. Terry Branstad and the Legislature’s Republicans would cost the agency $75,000 of its $348,000 budget. The $75,000 would represent more than 50 percent of its remaining operating budget through June.

Interim Director Margaret Johnson told the newspaper Wednesday that even a temporary closure of the office could be more expensive for taxpayers because the public records and meetings laws complaints the office handles likely would end up as lawsuits.

A spokesman for Branstad says the governor believes the board can continue with a lower budget. Last year the board staff – typically three people – processed 875 cases, including 107 formal complaints.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office said today (Thursday), a man from Henderson was arrested Monday for Driving While Revoked/OWI related. A deputy conducted a traffic stop on 1999 Chevy Blazer at around 2-p.m. Monday, after the plates for the registered owner came back as revoked. 39-year old Edward Allan Blough, of Henderson, was arrested and brought to the Pott. County Jail.