Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department have released the name of a man who died during a workplace accident Friday morning. Sgt. Jason Bailey says the victim was 32-year old Andy Stroud, of Omaha. Stroud died after being trapped in the wheel well of a vehicle at 275 Truck Service, located at 805 32nd Avenue, in Council Bluffs. The accident happened at around 9:15-a.m., Friday. Stroud had worked for the business for three-years.

By the time rescue crews’ arrival, Stroud had been removed from under the vehicle by his co-workers. The man was declared dead at the scene. An initial investigation determined Stroud was working on the suspension system of a volunteer fire dept ambulance. While looking for a leak in the system, he was between the wheel and the body of the ambulance. The suspension system failed at some point for unknown reasons, trapping the man.

The incident remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest estimates show Iowa is on track for record soybean production and will tie the largest corn crop ever. The monthly crop production report released Friday says Iowa farmers are growing an estimated 2.41 billion bushels of corn, which ties the 2009 crop for the highest on record.

The average yield is expected at 181 bushels per acre which ties 2004 and 2009 as highest on record. Iowa farmers are expected to bring in 526 million bushels of soybeans, exceeding the 2005 record by 1 million bushels.

Soybean yield is estimated at 53 bushels per acre, a half-bushel per acre higher than the 2005 record. Iowa farmers are expected to harvest 13.3 million acres of corn for grain and 9.92 million acres of soybeans.

Authorities in Council Bluffs say a man working on an ambulance’s air suspension system died this (Friday) morning, when the wheel well of the vehicle collapsed, trapping the victim beneath the vehicle. Police told the Daily NonPareil the accident happened at 275 Trucking Service at 805 32nd Avenue, at around 9:15-a.m.

The victim was trying to figure out the cause of an air leak in the suspension system, when the accident occurred. His Coworkers called 9-1-1 after finding the man and pulling him from beneath the vehicle.

The mans’ name was being withheld pending notification of family. The accident remains under investigation.

Rabbit season got underway in Iowa this month. Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz says hunters shouldn’t have any trouble finding targets. “On our roadside surveys they’re actually a little bit down from last year, not much, basically unchanged,” Bogenschutz says. “But our rabbit numbers are 20 percent above the long-term average right now — so we’ve got plenty of bunnies in Iowa.”

While the population is doing well, he says fewer hunters are looking to hunt rabbits.
He says the number of hunters has been trending down and he is not sure if that is following the pattern of more people moving from rural to urban settings. “There’s just a lot more opportunity for other species right now, 30 years ago we didn’t have a turkey season or deer season, or giant Canada geese,” Bogenschutz says. He says rabbits are a good way to get a young person started in hunting.

“For beginning hunters, there’s nothing easier than cottontails and squirrels. All you need is a 22, and you don’t need any camo, you just need a place to go and sit in the woods,” Bogenschutz says. Rabbit season runs through February 28th, with a daily bag limit of 10 rabbits and a possession limit of 20. Shooting hours are sunrise to sunset.

Hunters looking for places to go rabbit or squirrel hunting should use Iowa’s online hunting atlas at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting.

(Radio Iowa)

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports Frank Waters, the chair of the Cass County Conference Board (Office of County Assessor), has called for a meeting to be held Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 5:30-p.m.

In a statement, Cass County Attorney David Wiederstein said “I asked the Conference Board Chair, Frank Waters, to reconvene the Board and to rescind the vote of non-appointment because of how the vote was conducted. There may or may not have been a violation of Open Meetings laws when the three voting units caucused at the same time.

“Members of the public in attendance, therefore, had to simultaneously divide their attention three different ways. At the next meeting Frank will ask the voting units to caucus one at a time so the public can have unimpeded attention to the deliberations of each voting unit. I have already brought this to the attention of the IPIB (Iowa Public Information Board) Director, Margaret Johnson, and it is my belief that IPIB needs no further involvement in this matter due to corrective measures being followed by the Board Chair.”

This past Wednesday, several members of the public spoke up at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting, and asked him to reconvene for a re-vote on the Conference Board’s Sept. 3rd decision not to re-appoint County Assessor Brenda Nelson.

An accident Thursday afternoon in Page County caused $1,000 damage, but there were no injuries. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says 65-year old Larry Hamm, of Clarinda, was driving a 2004 Chevy pickup southbound on Highway 71 at around 3:45-p.m., about a mile and a-half north of Clarinda, when his pickup was scraped on the side by a passing trailer hauling an oversize load.

The accident happened as Hamm was behind a semi tractor-trailer and was trying to see oncoming traffic in an attempt to pass, after an escort vehicle in front of the semi hauling the oversize load in the opposite lane, had gone by. The trailer hauling the big load was not damaged. No charges were filed.

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

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – Six Iowa State University students living in a rented home in Ames have been vaccinated for rabies after officials learned they have collectively killed 23 bats in their home. The Des Moines Register reports the students were vaccinated Tuesday night. Ames Animal Control supervisor Ron Edwards told the students and their girlfriends to get vaccinated once he learned how many bats they had been exposed to. One bat tested negative for rabies.

Twenty-one-year-old Quinn Nordland said a roommate found the first bat in the basement Aug. 30, and another one the next morning. The bats kept continued to appear and the students would walk the hallways at night with tennis rackets to combat the animals.

The students said the infestation has persisted despite reporting it to their landlord. Mike Fresco of First Property Management said a company has been hired to find a solution to the problem.

A search warrant executed Thursday night at a home in Red Oak resulted in one person being arrested on numerous drug-related charges. Police say 28-year old David Andrew Strange, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:30-p.m. at 111 E. Prospect Street.

Strange faces felony charges that include 3 counts of Delivery of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession with the Intent to Deliver. He also faces varying degrees of misdemeanor charges that include: Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – 2nd offense; Unlawful Possession of Prescription Pills; and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Strange was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond.