Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County said Wednesday that three people were arrested last week on drug charges. Authorities say on January 21st, Chief Deputy Bennett investigated a suspicious vehicle at the Bagley storage units on Highway 141. The deputy came into contact with a driver sleeping in the running vehicle in front of the storage unit. The driver was identified as Terry King, of Des Moines. King had an outstanding warrant from Polk county.

When he was detained, King was found to have methamphetaminc in his pocket. An investigation led to drug paraphernalia and mcthamphetamine being located inside the car. King was also found to be in possession of a loaded handgun inside the car. Two other individuals were inside the storage unit.

Deputy Swensen, Deputy Herbert and Sheriff Arganbright arrived and assisted in the investigation. The two subjects in the storage unit were identified as Mason McNeill and Shy Terry of Jamaica. Both subjects were found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia and methamphelamine. Terry King was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine, third offense, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm as a felon. McNeill was charged with possession of methamphetamine, second offense, drug paraphernalia. Terry was charged with possession with methamphetamine, first offense and drug paraphernalia.

All three subjects were transported to Guthrie County jail.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a possible abduction. Sgt. Chad Meyers said that at around 3:50-p.m. today (Wednesday), a concerned citizen called 911 and reported that he had heard someone yelling for help. When he looked outside, he saw a white female being pushed against a dark colored SUV by two males. The female was then pushed into the back seat of the vehicle, which then left south bound on No. 25th Street.
The girl was described as a white female in her teens, with shoulder length or longer brownish/ blonde hair. She was wearing an orange, white and black shirt or jacket. The two men were described as Hispanic males in their late teens or early twenties. The vehicle was described as an older model black SUV, possibly a Jeep Cherokee with loud exhaust.The Council Bluffs Police Department has been trying to identify the female and verify whether or not a crime has been committed. There have been no teenage girls or young women reported missing since the incident occurred. Authorities say they have worked in cooperation with all the high schools in Council Bluffs to account for any teenage girl that was absent from school today. As of late Wednesday afternoon, they had not been able to identify the female, nor have officials discovered any evidence or additional information suggesting that a crime has occurred. It is possible that this was a prank or some young people playing around.
Meyers says authorities are asking that anyone with information on the incident call the Council Bluffs Police Department at 328-STOP. Your information can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A coalition of environmental, animal rights and citizen action groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging failure to address air pollution from large-scale livestock farms. Two federal lawsuits filed in the District of Columbia allege the EPA has not responded to petitions filed in 2009 and 2011 asking the agency to use its Clean Air Act authority to regulate large hog, cattle and poultry farms.

The groups include the Environmental Integrity Project, the Humane Society of the United States, and citizen groups from Wisconsin, Iowa and California. They claim ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and other manure-generated contaminants in states such as Iowa and North Carolina make people sick. The groups want the EPA to set air quality standards for large livestock farms.

An EPA spokesman had no immediate comment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Court of Appeals says a Sioux City man serving a 50-year prison sentence on a child endangerment conviction may pursue an appeal based on his claim that police violated his right to remain silent. A three-member panel of the court says in a decision released Wednesday that a district court judge erred in dismissing Paul Hill’s appeal application.

Hill claims his attorney should have moved at trial to suppress statements he made to police in which he admitted to striking the child while buckling her into a car seat on Feb. 17, 2009. She died hours later.
Hill says he had asked police several times to stop interviewing him but detectives continued.  The 25-year-old Hill is in prison at Fort Dodge. He was convicted in July 2010.

The second of three people suspected of stealing cattle from a farm near Lewis has been arrested. Officials say 49-year old James Brunzo, of Omaha, is in custody. Another suspect, 57-year old Ervin Jacob, of Omaha, was arrested last week.The third suspect, 42-year old Amy Springer, of Omaha, is still at large. Jacob is being held on three Iowa theft counts. Brunzo is charged in two of the thefts while  Springer is charged with one theft.

Cass County (IA) Sheriff Darby McLaren said Tuesday, the three have been linked to May and June thefts from two farms. In Nebraska, Cuming County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Brown says the three are “people of interest” in the thefts of the trailer and nine animals. Court records don’t show that they’ve been charged in Nebraska.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Lawmakers say they hope to introduce a bill to increase Iowa’s fuel tax as early as next week. Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, and Rep. Joshua Byrnes, a Republican from Osage, said Wednesday they are working on legislation that would increase the tax, potentially by 10 cents a gallon. That would provide $215 million annually for the state’s network of bridges and roads, many of which are in disrepair.

Iowa’s fuel tax is currently 22 cents a gallon, including fees. It hasn’t been raised since 1989. The lawmakers said they are working on ways to maintain the funding in future years. Gov. Terry Branstad has said he wants to increase funding for roads this year, though he has not endorsed a specific plan.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Health officials say more than 400 Iowans committed suicide in 2013, a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The Iowa Department of Public Health released data last month that reveals 445 such deaths statewide in 2013, the most since at least 1989. The suicide rate was 14.4 per 100,000 people, up from 12.8 in 2012. The Telegraph Herald reports Iowa’s suicide rate exceeds those of neighboring Illinois and Wisconsin.

Officials say changes to Iowa’s mental health system might improve crisis intervention in eastern Iowa.
Clete Gartner, a National Alliance on Mental Illness-Dubuque member, says criteria for hospitalization for mental health crises leave some without needed support. He says officials are pushing for law enforcement training and the expansion of in-between care systems to help stem Iowa’s suicide spike.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa health officials say the number of flu hospitalizations has decreased by more than two-thirds since late December. An Iowa Department of Public Health report shows just 50 flu hospitalizations were recorded in the week ending Jan. 17, down from 182 admitted in the week ending Jan. 3. The drop in cases comes when Gov. Terry Branstad’s hospitalization due to the illness focused attention on the flu.

Health Department medical director Dr. Patricia Quinlisk tells the Des Moines Register there are likely more cases last week than the report indicates because a major hospital couldn’t send its figures. Still, she says it’s clear fewer people are becoming severely ill from the flu.

Despite the drop, Quinlisk says flu season is not over yet, and the epidemic could rekindle.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by two major farm groups that sought to block the release of data on large livestock farms in Minnesota and Iowa. The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council filed the lawsuit in in Minneapolis in 2013 after some activist groups requested the Environmental Protection Agency data under the Freedom of Information Act. The data includes physical addresses and other operational details about the farms. The farm groups said releasing the data would violate farmers’ privacy.

But U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery dismissed the lawsuit Tuesday. She ruled that Farm Bureau and the Pork Producers lacked legal standing. And she pointed out that the data the two groups sought to keep private is easily available from other public sources anyway.

Last night (Tuesday) Republicans in the Iowa House voted to increase general state spending on Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools by nearly 48-million dollars. Democrats like Representative Art Staed (STAYED) of Cedar Rapids say that’s not enough and it will mean: “Fired teachers, larger class sizes, fewer supplies, outdated textbooks, outdated software, fewer course offerings.” Representative Patti Ruff, a Democrat from McGregor, says shortchanging schools shortchanges the state’s future.

“You can’t have world class schools on a third-world budget,” Ruffs said. Republicans rejected those arguments, saying schools will get an increase and it will be a large share of the new tax revenue that’s available for lawmakers to spend. Representative Chip Baltimore, a Republican from Boone, was indignant. “I will not sit here and be beat about the head and told that I dont’ care about children,” Baltimore said. He says state spending on schools has increased significantly in the past decade, but the overall performance of students hasn’t increased.

“Where does the money go?” Baltimore asked. He suggests the school districts are wasting money on inflated salaries for administrators. The groups which represent teachers, administrators and school boards in Iowa are asking legislators for an increase that’s about four times as much as Republicans propose. Now that a bill on the subject has cleared the Iowa House, this debate will now shift to the Democratically-led Senate.

(Radio Iowa)