Police in Council Bluffs are asking for the public’s help in locating two men who allegedly used an SUV to tear electrical wiring from a transformer located near a restaurant. Authorities say the incident happened today (Friday) at around 6:40-a.m.

Officers were dispatched to Ruby Tuesday, at 3150 24th Avenue. A witness saw two men pulling electrical wiring from a transformer box located on the south side of the business. The men were using a black SUV to pull the wires from the box. The two suspects saw the witness observe them, and sped out of the parking lot, traveling southbound on Bass Pro Drive, dragging the wiring behind.

At the intersection of Bass Pro Drive and 24th Avenue, the wires became entangled with a stop sign post, pulling the sign out of the ground. The suspect vehicle stopped in the 2500 Block of Mid America Drive and placed two sections of the wiring into their vehicle. Video from a traffic camera, then shows the suspect vehicle turning southbound onto So. 24th Street and then getting onto I-80 westbound from 24th Street.

The suspect vehicle is a black Lincoln Navigator with Nebraska license plates on it. The suspects were described as white males, with one of them being tall and thin and the other short and stocky. Both men were wearing hard hats at the time of the theft.

The cost to replace the copper wiring is expected to be in excess of $10,000. Anyone with information about the suspect’s vehicle or the suspects, is urged to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department at 328-STOP. You can remain anonymous and your tip could be eligible for a cash reward.

Below are two still shots of the suspect vehicle  as it was traveling eastbound on Mid America Drive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – No new bird flu cases have been reported in nearly a week on commercial farms in Minnesota and Iowa. That has farmers, scientists and government officials hopeful the worst outbreak of bird flu in the U.S. is winding down, though they know it doesn’t mean the outbreak is over.

Farmers are finishing the disposal of turkey and chicken carcasses, disinfecting the barns and preparing to restock with new birds. And scientists trying to develop an effective vaccine, determine how the H5N2 virus evaded biosecurity measures and to establish what can be done to prevent a repeat.

The first turkey barn that was infected in Minnesota is restocking, and Iowa officials say they hope to begin to do the same in several weeks.

University of Iowa officials say it was a mistake for the school’s mascot to appear at a fundraiser earlier this month featuring several Republican presidential candidates. UI spokesperson Jeneane Beck told KCRG-TV that the school’s spirit squad agreed to send Herky to U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride not realizing it was a partisan event. “It was billed as an event, a motorcycle ride for veterans and heroes, that’s the way it was written. There was no ill intent on either side, it was just a mistake,” Beck said.

The event started with a motorcycle ride from a Harley-Davidson dealership in Des Moines to a barbecue in Boone. Herky and Cy, the mascot for Iowa State University, were both paid to appear at the event in Boone. The mascots posed for photos with attendees. ISU spokeswoman Annette Hacker said the athletic department will be reviewing its policy on which events Cy can attend after criticism following the Boone fundraiser.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the front porch of a private residence is not a public place. The ruling comes in the case of a Patience Paye of Waterloo who was charged in 2013 with public intoxication after coming out onto her front porch to talk with police about a fight she had with her boyfriend. Paye appealed the conviction, saying her front steps were not a public place.

The Supreme Court had ruled 12 years ago that the front steps and common hallway of an apartment house are public places because access is required by everyone. In this ruling the justices say while people can use Paye’s front stairs to approach her home for limited purposes — like selling a product or to borrow a cup of sugar — allowing them to do so is not a general invitation to the public to use the steps.

The ruling also says if the front stairs of a single-family residence are always a public place, “it would be a crime to sit there calmly on a breezy summer day and sip a mojito, celebrate a professional achievement with a mixed drink of choice, or even baste meat on the grill with a bourbon-infused barbeque sauce.” The court reversed Paye’s public intoxication conviction.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican leaders in Iowa have agreed to end the state’s straw poll because of waning interest from presidential hopefuls and questions about its relevancy. Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman says state party officials voted during a Friday morning conference call to end the straw poll, which began in 1979 and has been held every summer before a contested presidential caucus.

For years, the poll has been considered an early but unreliable test of campaigns’ strength. Critics say it has become a costly sideshow, and many candidates fear the humiliation of a poor showing. Some 2016 GOP hopefuls recently said they would skip the event altogether.

Volunteers from Iowa and Nebraska will spend tomorrow (Saturday) morning picking up trash along the Missouri River south of Omaha. Individuals, families and groups are invited to take part and Missouri River Relief director Jeff Barrow is hoping that upwards of 250 people show up.  “You get several hundred people out on the river, everyone’s working but nobody has to work very hard, everyone’s putting in their two bits,” Barrow says. “Everyone can contribute, but at the end of the day, we’ll have seven to ten tons of trash and the feeling of satisfaction is just incredible.”

Barrow says once every two years they organize a big clean up of the river’s banks.  “With all the flood debris, I expect we’ll get about ten tons of trash,” Barrow says. “There’s lots of old docks that got ripped out in the floods, big chunks of styrofoam, plastic 55-gallon barrels that people use for docks. When we were scouting, I actually found a complete boat trailer including wheels and tires.”

While the most common items found will be plastic pop bottles — by the thousands — there may be some heavy lifting involved. “Oh, it’s incredible what we find in the river,” Barrow says. “The range and the variety is unbelievable. We find everything from toilets to full-on boats, houseboats, lots of appliances, refrigerators float really well with their insulation. We’ll probably find a hundred tires.”

Volunteers should meet at the Lake Manawa State Park boat ramps by 8:30 Saturday morning. The clean-up is from 9 until noon. Volunteers are asked to dress appropriately and bring sunscreen and bug spray. Those wanting to pre-register can log on to riverrelief.org.

(Radio Iowa)

The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, Inc., has recognized an Atlantic man for his 30-years of membership with the organization.

Glen Smith

Glen R. Smith, Accredited Rural Appraiser (ARA) with Smith Land Service Company, in Atlantic, was honored for his years of service to the organization at the ASFRMRA’s meeting in Denver. The organization he’s been a member of for the past three decades, is the largest and oldest professional association that provides opportunities for development through high quality educational and meeting offerings, and a strict standard of Code of Conduct and ethics to its members.

The ASFRMA represents nearly 2,000 agribusiness professionals across the U-S and Canada, who provide farm or ranch management, rural appraisal and appraisal review, or agricultural consulting services. The organization was founded in 1929.

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

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A Creston man was arrested on a drug-related charge Thursday afternoon, at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Creston Police say 19-year old Sergio Ibarra was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original Possession of Controlled Substance/1st Offense – Marijuana, charge. Ibarra was being held in the jail on $1,000 bond.

The 7:07-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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