Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers late Monday evening announced a Clarinda Academy student who had been absent from custody since early Friday morning, has been apprehended. 17-year old Correy J. Thunder Hawk was taken into custody Sunday morning, by the Missouri Valley Police Department. Thunder Hawk was taken to the Harrison County Jail in Logan. No additional details are available at this time.

The teen, who is originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, made his escape by jumping out of a dormitory window at around 5:40-a.m., Friday. The escape was the latest to have occurred at the facility in less than two weeks. During the early morning hours of May 5th, 16-year old Kenneth E. Saunsoci, of Rapid City, South Dakota, and 15-year old Lukas T. Barse, of Sioux Falls, jumped from a dorm window and allegedly stole a Toyota Camry. Omaha police located both the car and Saunsoci in Omaha a day later, while Barse remains at large.

The Clarinda Academy is a residential foster care facility that provides residential treatment and shelter care to at-risk and delinquent male and female youth from several states.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) has formed what’s called a “Child Abduction Response Team” or CART. Iowa D-C-I special agent in charge, Michael Motsinger, says the team was created in response to the kidnapping and murders of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey in Evansdale and the abduction and murder of Kathlynn Shepard in Dayton. Motsinger says there will be six regional CART offices that will help boost the manpower law enforcement has when an abduction is reported.

“The biggest thing is just getting there and assess to see what is going on. We really stress the quick reaction, sitting down with the family, and what I mean with assessing are, could they be with a friend, could they be at the local neighbor’s house and just walked in,” Motsinger explains. “Just doing those quick things so we can establish right away, do we have a true child abduction, or is the child missing. D-P-S unveiled a CART trailer today (Monday) that Motsinger says will have computers and other equipment and serve as a mobile command post if they determine a child has been abducted.

“We’ll have tracking software, we’ll have mapping software, we’ll have a big plotter so we can print off a big map of the area so we can get a better idea of where we need to go,” Motsinger says. Nineteen other states have created CART teams, and Motsinger says they talked with them and reviewed how those teams work to set up the Iowa team.

“And even going back and talking about how we responded at Evansdale and Dayton, and what can we do to get better. And so we’re kinda trying to combine all of that,” Motsinger says. “It’s a process that will always evolve, we’re always learning and we’ll always go back to our local partners to see what we can do to get better.” Motsinger showed off the new CART trailer outside a Des Moines hotel as 120 law officers from across the state were inside training to work with the CART team.

“We won’t actually work out of this trailer, it’ll basically be bringing this command center and everything we have inside the trailer and then we can go to a conference center and set everything up,” according to Motsinger. He says it’s important to have a separate command center to keep local officials from being overwhelmed during the abduction investigation.

“Just because there’s a child abduction doesn’t mean they don’t respond to an more calls. So, they’re still going to be doing their normal job duties on top of a abduction,” Motsinger say. “We hope by having this command center we relieve a lot of the pressures off the smaller departments that don’t have as many dispatchers to do everything that we done for a child abduction because they still need to do their own job.” Motsinger says having CART officials in six regions across the state allows them to respond quickly and figure out what has happened when it’s important to act quickly.

“Very critical the first two or three hours to get there and respond and assess to see what is going on so the chances of recovering that child obviously increase,” Motsinger says. CART deployment can be used for all missing children cases and is not dependent on an Amber Alert being issued. D-P-S purchased the CART trailer with a 25-thousand dollar grant of forfeiture funds. Motsinger says they hope to have the Iowa CART team earn national certification.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad says Iowa landfills should not take advantage of a bad situation and “gouge” poultry operations hit with bird flu with exorbitant landfill fees. “We do have millions of dead birds that need to be disposed of,” Branstad says. “And we want to dispose of them in an appropriate and correct way.” Branstad and U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack talked about the issue by phone on Friday.

Bill Northey, the state’s ag secretary, and the head of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have sent a letter to the state’s landfills, explaining the dead chickens and turkeys are being properly prepared for burial. Branstad is appealing to landfill operators to be “reasonable and fair” in determining the appropriate fees for accepting the birds. “We want them to be compensated fairly, but it’s not appropriate to gouge people when you have a disaster situation like this,” Branstad says.

Branstad has asked for a federal disaster declaration from the U.S.D.A., but Ag Secretary Vilsack says the loans that would be made available through that action actually have higher interest rates than would be available from other lenders. Branstad says he’s concerned about the job losses at the facilities which have been hit by bird flu as well as the steep decline in Iowa poultry production.

“This is a significant loss that we’re very concerned about and the impact on our economy could be something that at this point we don’t know how great, but we’re already beginning to see its impact,” Branstad says. The U-S-D-A does have an “indemnity” fund that will pay poultry producers for the “fair market value” of the birds that have to be killed. Federal payments will also cover the “reasonable costs” of sanitizing facilities where bird flu has been found.

(Radio Iowa)

It took software developers more than a year to design it, but there’s now a new website (rules.iowa.gov) that lets Iowans read and comment on state regulations. Justin Carlson is one of the technicians who worked on the project. He says the website is compatible with all forms of technology. “We want to make sure that if you’re in a meeting somewhere and you wanted to view this rule, you’re able to do so on your phone or your tablet and you’re able to comment,” Carlson says.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says before this website went live this morning (Monday), it was very difficult for Iowans to figure out what state rules and regulations were being proposed and register their support or objections. “For example, Iowans had to navigate through four websites just to view a proposed rule and once they found the rule, Iowans didn’t have the opportunity at that point to post a comment online,” Reynolds says.

State agencies used to provide Iowans with a FAX number or a mailing address when taking public comments on proposed administrative rules. Now, Iowans read both current and proposed regulations and post a comment on the website. Governor Branstad used the beginning of his weekly news conference to unveil the website to the media.  “It’s pretty phenomenal,” Branstad said. “…We’re very excited about this. I think it’s going to be a great service ot the people of Iowa.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad predicts the divided Iowa Legislature will negotiate the overall state budget until early June. Branstad told reporters Monday he expects lawmakers won’t adjourn until at least the first week of June. Lawmakers’ daily expense payments ended on May 1st.

The Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-led House are at odds over how much to spend during the fiscal year that begins July 1. Senate Democrats and Branstad have proposed an overall general fund budget of about $7.34 billion. House Republicans are seeking to spend $7.17 billion, arguing the state shouldn’t spend more than is expected in projected revenue.

Among key differences is spending on K-12 education. Branstad says his office is working with legislative leaders to reach a consensus, but he didn’t provide specific details.

City officials in Atlantic are advising residents work on the 2015 Street Improvement Projects are getting underway. Crews with Precision Concrete Services are in the process of doing work on 5th Street, and will be working south from there.

Work on 8th Street will consist of minor patching, and on sidewalks, so that should not disrupt the work taking place next week on Highway 6/7th Street, or the traffic that chooses to bypass on 8th Street. Officials say asphalt work is still a couple months away, so Highway 6/7th Street may be done by then.

The DNR has released the most recent draft of the state’s impaired waters list, which will be discussed at the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission meeting May 19th. The DNR will present commissioners with the state’s 2014 draft list of 572 impaired waterbodies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires the biennial report as a comprehensive summary of water quality in the state.

John Olson, Senior Environmental Specialist with the DNR, says “The list is tied to Iowa’s water quality standards. Making the list does not necessarily mean the river or lake has a severe impairment like a stream running with open sewage. Most of the time making the list is more like an early warning system, indicating potential water quality problems exist or are developing.”

Some impairments, however, can be more severe, such as frequent algal blooms that prevent recreational uses such as swimming at lakes. Fish kills caused by pollution also remain a severe impact of concern. The most typical impairments for lakes are algae and turbid or cloudy water. A high level of indicator bacteria is the most frequent impairment in rivers.

The DNR says Iowans are working together to address the state’s water quality issues. Communities come together through efforts to make changes on the land – in the watershed, the area of land that drains to a stream, lake or river – to reduce pollutants reaching our waters. Additionally, communities continue to upgrade or add new wastewater treatment systems and improve the way they handle stormwater.

The draft 2014 list is available at www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/WaterQuality/WaterMonitoring/ImpairedWaters.aspx. Public comments can be sent to John Olson, DNR, 502 E. Ninth St., Des Moines, IA 50319, or John.Olson@dnr.iowa.gov until July 2nd. At that time, the DNR will consider public comments and submit a revised draft of the list to the EPA for review and final approval.

A Glenwood man was arrested Saturday, following an investigation into a hit-and-run accident. Authorities say 32-year old Clifford Stoppel was taken into custody on charges of Public Intoxication, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Striking fixtures upon a highway. He was also cited for having no insurance. Bond was set at $900.

The Glenwood P-D says officers were dispatched to the intersection of Sharp and Vine Streets at around 2:10-a.m., Saturday, after receiving word a vehicle had hit a traffic control sign pole. Witnesses said the pole was hit by a red Pontiac that continued east on Sharp Street. The suspect vehicle, a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix, was located at an apartment complex in the 200 block of Sivers Road, in Glenwood. The car had sustained damage to the windshield and hood, and had two flat tires.

Inside the car were multiple open containers of beer. Stoppel, the registered owner, was seen walking along the sidewalk with an open container of liquor. He told police he was driving from his house at 1012 1st Street to a friends apartment, where he had 5-to 6 shots of liquor. He denied drinking prior to driving, but was taken into custody.

Damage from the incident amounted to $8,000.

In unrelated news, Police in Glenwood said the Glenwood Senior Center reported Friday an incident of burglary and criminal mischief. That same day, the Glenwood Public Library had similar incidents take place.

Road construction work on Highway 6/7th Street, in Atlantic, is scheduled to start May 26th. Scott Suhr, District Transportation planner for the Iowa Department of Transportation (based in Atlantic), said today (Monday), the contractor has informed him of their intentions to shut down the roadway after the morning commute next Tuesday. The roadway will remain closed from the intersection with Olive Street eastward, to just past Burger King, until the project is complete.

In the event of rain or unavailability for the milling machine, Suhr says the contractor will start work on May 27th.