The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Image Committee awarded Safeguard/Choice Printing with the Community Improvement Award. This award recognizes the successful efforts to improve a property in the Atlantic Area.

“Ed and Debbie Leistad are great assets to Atlantic, and they have worked hard to make their business a beautiful and essential part of the community,” Ouida Wymer, Executive Director of the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, said.

The Community Improvement Award is given to a business that takes pride in making Atlantic a welcoming and beautiful community by continuing to improve its appearance. If you would like to nominate a business or community member for a Community Improvement Award please contact the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce: 712-243-3017 or chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

Pictured: Ed Leistad, Debbie Leistad, Jane Imhoff, Tressa Hackwell, Rich Perry, Ouida Wymer, and Gerald Brink

Council Bluffs Police responded to a call for a male being held against his will at about 5:31pm on Thursday at Motel 6 at 3032 S Expressway in Council bluffs.  Robert Kermeen had sent a text message to a friend stating that he was being held
against his will.

Upon arrival Officers located Kermeen and two additional males in the room. Officers observed an empty holster lying in the room. Officers secured and later arrested 33-year-old John Menard of Omaha and 23-year-old Juan Lopez of South Sioux City, NE. A loaded handgun was found in the room and the room was secured for evidence processing.

Menard and Lopez were arrested for False Imprisonment, Going Armed with Intent, and Delivery of Methamphetamine over 5 grams. Menard was also arrested on outstanding warrants for drugs and weapons charges. Both were booked into Pottawattamie County Corrections.

A two vehicle accident on Highway 71 near Villisca on Thursday resulted in minor injuries.  The accident occurred around 4:11pm as a Black 2004 Mini Cooper owned and operated by 20-year-old Anna V. Lind of Iowa City was slowing down with traffic to allow a vehicle to turn east onto High Street in Villisca.  Lind observed a White 2011 Kenworth Semi-Tractor approaching from the rear and attempted to pull onto the west shoulder to avoid a collision.  The driver of the semi 53-year-old Christopher J. Selby of Queen Creek, AZ didn’t notice the slowing traffic and also attempted to get on the shoulder and ending up rear-ending Lind’s vehicle.

Lind had a minor cut to her foot and complained of neck pain and was taken to Clarinda Regional Hospital by Villisca Rescue.  Selby sustained a minor cut on his hand while attempting to aid Lind from her vehicle and was treated at the scene.

The Mini Cooper sustained $8,000 damage and is believed to be a total loss. The 2011 Kenworth sustained an estimated $800 damage.  Selby was cited for Following Too Closely and the investigation is complete.

The Red Oak Police Department has released details on three separate arrests on Thursday.

At 6:00pm Officers arrested 15-year-old Tyler Eugene Brazeal of Red Oak for Criminal Mischief 5th Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor.  He was cited into juvenile court and released to his parents.

At 8:30pm Officers arrested 17-year-old Dakota Lynn Girouex of Red Oak for Harassment 3rd Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor.  She was cited into juvenile court and released to her parents.

Also Thursday at 9:48pm Officers arrested 30-year-old Kirby David Stoneking of Red Oak at his residence on East Reed Street.  He was arrested on a warrant that was issued earlier in the day for Theft 5th Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor.  Stoneking was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Chinese officials agreed at a ceremony in Des Moines to buy 13.18 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans.

The officials signed 24 contracts Thursday that The Des Moines Register reports are valued at about $5.3 billion.

Ray Gaesser, an Iowa farmer and chairman of the American Soybean Association, says the amount China will import is roughly equal to all the soybeans grown in Iowa, expected to be the second-largest soybean producer this year behind Illinois.

China uses most of the soybeans it imports to feed livestock and poultry.

Don Roose, the president of U.S. Commodities, a commodities broker in West Des Moines, says the giant contract is good news for farmers, but he didn’t think it would change soybean prices.

The Council Bluffs Police Department announced the arrest of three men on Wednesday, September 23rd for the death of a Council Bluffs man on August 15th.  On that date 20-year-old Jacob Combs was found unresponsive in the street at the intersection of 10th Street and Avenue A in the early morning hours.  He was transported to Creighton Medical Center but later died from severe head trauma.

On Wednesday arrest warrants for Murder in the 1st Degree were issued for 18-year-old Caine Petersen of Council Bluffs, 23-year-old Christopher King of Lincoln, NE and 22-year-old Sarael Duncan of Omaha, NE for their actions in Combs death.  All three men were arrested Wednesday without incident.

An investigation revealed that the three suspects had been to Combs’ apartment in the early morning hours of August 15th, then left. The three men returned sometime after 5:00 am and robbed Combs of some marijuana. As they were fleeing the scene, Combs gave chase and jumped onto or grabbed onto Petersen’s vehicle. As they fled, Combs was thrown from or fell off the vehicle, causing him to strike his head on the street, which ultimately lead to his death.

A Council Bluffs man was arrested on a pair of charges Thursday by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.  Deputies arrested 35-year-old Wayne Clarence Vohs for Driving While License Suspended and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Vohs was take to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $435 cash bond.

Two people were arrested in Cass County on Tuesday, while another was arrested Wednesday. On Tuesday, deputies arrested 54-year old Jeffrey Charles Dory, of Anita, on a charge of Driving While Barred. Dory was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on his own recognizance. And, 27-year old Remo Cortez Bennett, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Bennett was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $10,000 bond.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office say a man from Nebraska died in crash this (Thursday) morning, near Lake Anita. 70-year old David L. Martin, of Greenwood, NE., was found dead in his 2001 Ford F-150 pickup,  which had rolled over one-half mile south of Lake Anita State Park. The accident, which was discovered at around 6:39-a.m., remains under investigation. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Medivac, Anita Fire and Rescue, and the Iowa State Patrol.

A Shenandoah man was sentenced on Wednesday in District Court for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine.  United States Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt announced that 41-year-old James Jayson Davis of Shenandoah was sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner to 183 months in prison. He was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his jail time.

Davis entered a guilty plea on February 5th of 2015 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from September 2013 up to July of 2014. The plea resulted from a year-long investigation into drug trafficking in Southwestern Iowa by a group that included Davis and his cousin, James Paul Davis. James Paul Davis was sentenced to 192 months in prison on July 27, 2015, by Judge Gritzner. The investigation showed that methamphetamine was being transported to Southwestern Iowa from the border region in Texas in pound quantities for distribution from Page County, across Southwestern Iowa and into Eastern Nebraska.

The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Page County Sheriff’s Office, Shenandoah, Iowa Police Department, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Omaha, Nebraska Police Department, Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Marshal’s Service for the Southern District of Iowa.

The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.