WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The city with Iowa’s highest African-American population has settled lawsuits against white police officers who roughed up black residents, including a 13-year-old girl who was handcuffed after yelling at a passing officer to “slow down.” Videos obtained by The Associated Press in two of the cases show questionable uses of force by Waterloo officers.

In one, an officer slams 17-year-old Malcolm Anderson face-first into a sidewalk outside a hospital and leaves him handcuffed and injured on the ground. In another, the same officer points his stun gun at a crowd of black residents before using it to shock 31-year-old Justin Jones, who’d been helping police break up a party.

The city’s insurer will pay $170,000 to settle the Jones and Anderson cases. The amount going to the girl’s family hasn’t been released.

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) – Mitchell County supervisors have decided to heed a request from the city of Osage to remove a road sign warning of “Suicidal Deer.”  The sign there and one north of St. Ansgar were meant to be attention-getters for motorists navigating areas with high deer populations. But in addition to attention, the signs gained criticism from some people who thought the signs made light of mental illness and brought up sad memories for those who lost someone to suicide.

Osage Mayor Steve Cooper had asked for the sign in his city of 3,600 people to be removed, so at its Aug. 2 meeting the board decided to replace the “Suicidal Deer” sign in Osage with a sign carrying a more conventional warning. The other sign won’t be changed.

Members of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa are getting some special training to be able to handle horses and other large animals who get into trouble. The A-R-L’s animal intervention welfare coordinator, Scott Wilson, says they received a 66-hundred dollar grant from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to purchase equipment and go through the training.

“One of the common things you’ll see around the country is horses will get stuck in ponds, or they will get into a swimming pool and not be able to get back out. Or they’ll fall into a shallow well. So, a big part of the training will be utilizing a sling and A-frame to actually hoist the horse of these situations and back onto solid ground,” Wilson explains. It might seem like you could offer the horse a carrot and coax them out of trouble. Wilson says it’s not that simple.

He says this is done when the horse absolutely won’t come out on their own. Wilson says horses don’t do well on ramps or stairs and that’s how they can get stuck in a swimming pool. Those trained for the A-R-L’s equine rescue team will have the skills to rescue horses and other large animals during disasters or emergencies. “It doesn’t happen very often,” Wilson says,”but the problem is horses are actually very fragile creatures sometimes. And when the need arises, it requires an immediate response. So — even if it only happens once every couple of years — having the equipment on hand like this and the training will give us the possibility of actually saving the horse’s life. While a delay of several hours waiting for something to be figured out could cost the horse’s life.”

The training also teachers the rescuers how to be safe. “Horses can be very unpredictable and when they get scared you’ve got over a thousand pounds of scared animal trying to get away. So, you’ve really have know what you are doing both with the horses and the equipment to minimize any sort of risk,” Wilson says. He says they hope to be able to help other agencies if they are ever faced with a horse rescue or the rescue of another large animal.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of 29-year old Samantha Jo Scybert on a felony charge of Possession Methamphetamine 3rd/Subsequent Offense (D Felony). Scybert, who’s from Atlantic, was taken to the Cass County Jail and was later released on $5,000 bond.

The Sheriff’s Office says on Tuesday, 43-year old John Stratton Eichelberger, of Atlantic, turned himself in on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Violation of Protective Order. Eichelberger was booked at the Cass County Jail and released on $300 bond.

And on Wednesday, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies took into custody 27-year old Damion Bryan Selders, of Atlantic, on a court order to begin serving a sentence. Selders remains in custody at the Cass County Jail until transport to Iowa Medical and Classification Center.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Shelby County man was arrested Tuesday evening on a warrant for Probation Violation. 27-year old Jonathan Anthony Montoya, of Earling, was taken into custody following a traffic stop in Walnut. Montoya was also charged with Driving While License Revoked. He was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Wednesday afternoon, a Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested a man from Illinois, for being a Fugitive From Justice. 29-year old Raymond Portner, of Crystal Lake, IL., was arrested following a traffic stop for speeding and another moving violation. A records check indicated he was wanted out of Clay County, Missouri. Portner was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

And, a pursuit Wednesday afternoon, resulted in a crash and the arrest of a Shenandoah man. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says 34-year old Brian Joseph Freemont, of Shenandoah, was charged with Eluding and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Authorities say a deputy in the median of Interstate 29 at mile marker 57, noticed a gold Ford Taurus drive by with no plates or in-transit tags. The vehicle also had extremely dark window tint.

As he turned his cruiser around to conduct a traffic stop, the Taurus sped up and ultimately rear-ended a Chevy Equinox. The collision disabled the car. The driver, identified as Freemont was arrested on the aggravated eluding charge. A female passenger in the vehicle, 30-year old Starr Selene Walker, of Winnebago, NE., was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Two glass pipes containing a white residue were taken into evidence.

Forecasters say the weather won’t cooperate much for the opening day of the Iowa State Fair. Besides the heat and humidity, thunderstorms are forecast with the potential for heavy rain. Meteorologist Mindy Beerends, at the National Weather Service in Johnston, says a Heat Advisory runs from 1 this (Thursday) afternoon until 8 tonight for a wide section of south and central Iowa.

“We’re expecting intermittent storms throughout the day and then more widespread showers and thunderstorms late this afternoon and into the overnight hours,” Beerends says, “which could bring heavy rainfall to much of the area.” While the heat and humidity combined may bring heat indices this afternoon as high as 105 degrees, much of Iowa will also likely get drenched.

“We’re expecting to see rainfall amounts of one to three inches, especially where storms persist and in some localized areas, we could see amounts of four to six inches, potentially,” Beerend says. “Lots of heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding so we have a Flash Flood Watch out through 7 AM Friday morning.” She says dry conditions should return tomorrow afternoon along with somewhat cooler weather into the weekend.

(Radio Iowa)

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified the second victim of a plane crash in south-central Iowa’s Warren County. The Warren County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 23-year-old Neil Jackson, of Jerome, Idaho. He and 22-year-old Alex Winter, of Indianola, Iowa, died when the Piper PA-11 crashed Friday just north of Indianola, near Laverty Field.

A Federal Aviation Administration report says Jackson was a licensed commercial pilot for single-engine airplanes, and Winter was a student pilot. The two were on a training flight when the plane went down. The crash cause is being investigated.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Council Bluffs Police arrested a man on Eluding, Reckless Driving and OWI/1st offense charges, following a pursuit that began at around 12:30-a.m. today (Thursday). 59-year old David Lanegan, of Council Bluffs, was arrested after the vehicle he was driving became stuck as he tried to drive through a median.

The incident began when officers initiated a pursuit on a vehicle after it nearly struck a police cruiser and was driving erratic in the area of N. 16th St and Avenue F, in Council Bluffs. Officials say Lanegan was suspected of being intoxicated.

He failed to yield for officers and continued north on N. 16th St onto Interstate29 north, where the vehicle attempted to drive through the median and got stuck. Lanegan was booked into Pottawattamie County Corrections on the charges mentioned.

Other than damage done to the suspect vehicle upon it attempting to drive through the median, no injuries or property damage are believed to have occurred.