The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says two Council Bluffs men were arrested this (Thursday) morning, following the theft of an ATM from the Farmer’s Trust and Savings Bank in Earling. 34-year old Robert Edie and 19-year old Patrick Eggerling were taken into custody on felony charges which include: 1st degree theft; 3rd degree burglary; Possession of Stolen Property; and Criminal Mischief in the 2nd degree. Both men were also charged with Possession of Burglary tools, an aggravated misdemeanor. They were being held in the Shelby County Jail.

Officials say deputies were called to the bank at around 4-a.m., after witnesses observed a Chevy Blazer with two male suspects, at the bank. The witnesses saw the men use a log chain to pull an ATM out of the bank and onto the street. They then allegedly loaded the machine into the vehicle and took off.

After a description of the SUV was broadcast to law enforcement agencies, a Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy observed the vehicle on Highway 30, near Logan. The suspects failed to yield to the deputy, who then engaged in a pursuit. The chase continued to Interstate 680, with the Iowa State Patrol and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies joining in the pursuit.

The incident concluded with the SUV being wrecked when it crashed into a ditch on Whipperwill Road, near mile marker 18 of I-680. Both suspects ran from the vehicle, but were eventually taken into custody a short distance from where the SUV was abandoned. Deputies recovered the ATM from the rear of the Blazer after the suspects were taken into custody. The SUV was later determined to have been stolen from Wright County.

The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office is inviting the public to attend the 4th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services’ “Crime Victims’ Rights Week” luncheon, on April 25th. The event, which is sponsored by the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, takes place at the Council Bluffs Country Club (4500 Piute St.), beginning with a buffet lunch at 11:30-a.m.

A program, featuring keynote speakers Jennifer Eaton-Bertagnolli and Micky Oldham, runs from Noon until 1:15-p.m.  Eaton-Bertagnolli is a co-founder of “The Ken Eaton Foundation,” along with Dr. Rico Bertagnolli. The foundation was created in memory of Jennifer’s father Ken Eaton, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Des Moines, on Feb. 13th, 1988.

Oldham is a survivor of the Von Maur shooting in Omaha. The incident happened December 5th, 2007, at the Westroads Mall. A sole gunman identified as 19-year old Robert A. Hawkins entered the store. He killed eight people and injured five others before killing himself. Oldham will answer questions about the incident, and sign copies of her book “35 Minutes and Counting,” after her presentation.

There is no cost to attend the event, but reservations are necessary. To reserve your place at the luncheon and program, call Jen Foltz at 712-325-4943, extension 203, or e-mail jen.foltz@iowa.gov.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Iowa’s unusual stretch of warm weather in late winter and early spring has led to earlier than normal tick activity and start to the tick-borne disease season. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reminds Iowans to protect themselves against tick bites. Ticks can carry the organisms that cause Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis. The best way to prevent tick bites is to avoid wooded and grassy areas, where ticks are usually found.

If you do spend time in these areas:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long, light-colored pants tucked into socks or boots.
• Stay on trails when walking or hiking, and avoid high grass.
• Use insect repellants that contain DEET. Read and follow the label directions for application. DEET is not recommended for use on children under 2 months of age. For more information on DEET, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/idph_universalhelp/main.aspx?system=IdphEpiManual&context=DEET_factsheet.
• Check yourself, your children and your pets for ticks. Ticks tend to prefer the back of the knee, armpit, scalp, groin, and back of the neck.

If you discover a tick on your body, remove it right away. Folk remedies, such as burning the tick with a match or covering it with petroleum jelly or nail polish, are not effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the following instructions for removing a tick:

• Carefully grasp the tick by using tweezers to grip the tick by its mouthparts which are close to the skin. Do not squeeze the tick’s body.
• Pull steadily directly away from your skin. Because removing the tick’s body is your main goal, don’t worry if its mouthparts break off in the process.
• Clean the wound and disinfect the site of the bite.

The most common tick-borne disease is Lyme disease; 85 cases of Lyme disease were reported to IDPH in 2011. Not everyone who gets Lyme disease will have the same symptoms, but the best and earliest sign of infection is a rash that may appear within a few days to a month, usually at the site of the tick bite. The rash will first look like a small, red bump, then expand until it begins to look like a bull’s eye, with a red center and a red ring surrounding a clear area. It is important to contact your healthcare provider immediately if you develop this type of rash.

For more information on Lyme disease visit www.idph.state.ia.us/idph_universalhelp/main.aspx?

w/ Ric Hanson

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Officials with the Harlan Community School District are warning local businesses about a company which is conducting unauthorized sales of HCS Cyclone posters. High School Activities Director Mitch Osborn said businesses in the Harlan area are getting calls and e-mails from Millennium Products LLC, in an attempt to sell an ad on their 11×17 HCHS color football poster, with prices nearly 4 times the amount local businesses and service groups sell their sponsorships for.

Osborn says, the groups pop up from time to time, and he wants area advertisers to know that not one dime comes back to the school system or booster club, while a portion of the funds raised from the Lions Club, Harlan Newspaper and our sister station KNOD, are donated back to the community.

Millennium Products is not associated with the school system, nor is it associated with the posters and sponsorships promoted by the Harlan Lions Club, Harlan Newspaper or KNOD. Osborn said often the groups will print a handful of posters, mail them just to the advertisers and leave town with the cash.

(7-a.m. News)

A four-month long investigation in Harlan has resulted in one person being arrested on several drug-related charges. According to the Harlan Police Department, 18-year old Duy Quang Vo, of Harlan, was taken into custody Tuesday, on three counts of delivery of a controlled substance/marijuana. 

Vo will face enhanced penalties for those charges, since the acts allegedly occurred within 1000-feet of a school or recreational area. Vo was also charged with one count of distribution to a person under age 18, and one count of ongoing criminal conduct.

The teen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was being held on $100,000 bond.

The Elk Horn-Kimballton Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Board meeting this evening at the High School in Elk Horn. The board will hold a work session with the Iowa School Finance Information Services, to look at the future forecast for the EHK School District. No action will be taken during the meeting, which begins at 6:30-p.m.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 21-year old Tiffany Nicole Studey, of Red Oak, was arrested late Wednesday night, on a Red Oak Police Department warrant for Harassment in the 3rd degree. Studey was taken into custody at around 11:30-p.m. and booked into the Montgomery County Jail. She was subsequently released on $300 cash bond.

Two people were arrested this morning in connection with the theft of a cash machine from a bank in Earling. Authorities in western Iowa were put on alert about the theft early this morning. Officials broadcast the alert at around 4:30-a.m., about a grey SUV which reportedly tore an ATM away from a bank building or stanchion.

Additional details are expected later this morning.