w/ Ric Hanson

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ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a man was shot during a burglary attempt in the western Iowa town of Onawa.  Officers who were sent to a storage building around 6 p.m. Sunday found a 36-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower body.  He’s been taken to Burgess Health Center in Onawa and is expected to survive his wound. His name hasn’t been released. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent Daniel Dawson says investigators think the victim interrupted a burglary and was shot. Investigators are checking to see whether anything was stolen.  No arrest has been reported.

No injuries were reported following an apartment complex fire overnight, in Council Bluffs. According to Omaha television station KETV, the blaze happened in the vicinity of 2nd Avenue and South 10th Street at around 1:15-a.m.

Officials say flames were shooting out of one of the windows of the building when they arrived.  The cause remains under investigation. 

An instructor at the University of Northern Iowa is hoping the publicity surrounding several recent hazing incidents in Iowa schools serves as a “wake up call” to coaches, athletes and others about the problem. Jennifer Waldron, and associate professor of health, physical education and leisure services, has conducted several studies on hazing or bullying in sports. Waldron says many athletes she interviewed perceived hazing as just harmless fun, when in reality, the conduct could be illegal. “There’s also huge a social acceptance and social pressure…so many athletes talk about, ‘it’s not something I wanted to do, but I wanted to be seen as a real teammate or I wanted to be accepted by my teammates, so I went through it even though I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with or it made me stressed out,’ or there are other ramifications of it,” Waldron said. Waldron said some athletes she questioned noted their coaches even played a role hazing, while others enforced a strict, no tolerance policy toward such activity.

“Most of the athletes said their coach knew that hazing was going on, but as long as no one got hurt and there were no ill consequences the coach heard about, then it would be okay,” Waldron said. Hazing or bullying cases involving high school wrestling team have surfaced in Iowa this season. In at least three cases, criminal charges have been filed.  “I’m hoping that, we in the state, use this as a teachable moment and try to be proactive before more cases break,” Waldron said. Waldron has given lectures at anti-hazing workshops and is currently collecting data on better prediction methods in initiation rituals among sports teams.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

Police in Council Bluffs are looking for a man they say robbed a grocery store Sunday evening. Sgt. Chad Geer, with the Council Bluffs P-D’s Criminal Investigations Division says at around 6:55-p.m., a black male entered the Aldi’s Store at 3135 Manawa Center Drive, and demanded money. The suspect, who was described as being about 5-feet, 10-inches tall, left the store with an undetermined amount of cash. No injuries were reported. The incident remains under investigation.

The ban on towing vehicles stuck from area roads in Pottawattamie County is being lifted, according to the Iowa State Patrol. It’s expected tow bans on other major arteries in the area will follow as the road conditions improve.

ATLANTIC, Iowa (AP) – The major winter storm moving across Iowa is gradually weakening headed into Saturday evening.
 
     Total snow accumulations from the storm are likely to range from 4 to 10 inches with the heaviest snow in western Iowa near Atlantic and Audubon.  (We picked up 7.2″ of snowfall at the KJAN studios in Atlantic.)
 
     The Iowa Department of Transportation recommends that anyone driving in western and central Iowa be cautious.
 
     Winds gusting up to 25 mph are expected to cause drifting and may limit visibility. And as temperatures decrease Saturday evening, ice may form on the roads.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Spanish teacher accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a student at his Council Bluffs high school has been charged with a crime, but is now free on bail.
 
     Thirty-year-old Daniel Pantoja, of Omaha, Neb., turned himself in to Pottawattamie County authorities on Friday. He is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee and lascivious conduct with a minor.
 
     A female student told authorities that Pantoja sent her a picture of a nude man whose genitals were covered. She says he also asked the girl to send him a picture of her wearing shorts and a sports bra.  Pantoja resigned from his teaching job when confronted.
 
 A public phone listing for Pantoja couldn’t be found.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrats plan to push for a $122 million boost in spending on local schools, but Republicans warn they won’t agree to a budget until legislators overhaul the school finance system.
 
     Democrats argue that local school officials need quick action so they can plan for hiring teachers and setting curriculum. Republicans counter that voters are willing to spend more on schools but want district administrators held accountable and for spending to be targeted.
 
     The stakes are high because school spending amounts to about 60 percent of the state’s $6 billion budget.
 
     Democrats say they’ll vote on a budget Tuesday, noting a law that calls for school funding decisions to be made in the first 30 days of a legislative session. Republicans say other school funding issues must be resolved first.