Police in Harlan said today (Friday), three people were arrested over the past week. On January 27th, 47-year old Jeffery Erlbacher, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on drug charges, following a traffic stop. Erlbacher was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Prohibted Acts penalties, carrying weapons, and Possession of contraband in a controlled facility. Erlbacher has entered a plea of not guilty to the Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge. He posted a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on February 16th.

Two days earlier, 39-year old Jason Nielsen, of Harlan, was taken into custody on a charge of Public Intoxication/2nd offense, after police responded to a report of an allegedly intoxicated person attempting to drive away from the 500 block of Market Street. Nielsen allegedly refused several offers to take him home. Nielsen posted a $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on Feb. 14th.

And, on January 31st, 63-year old Karen Burgin, of Blair, NE, was arrested on a charge of reckless driving and for violation of a one-way traffic designation. Additional charges are pending. Burgin was taken into custody, after she was observed allegedly hitting several mailboxes with a vehicle, ran over a stop sign, and eventually hit another vehicle while traveling the wrong way in the 1500 block of Laurel Street, in Harlan. Damage from the incident amounted to $17,000. Burgin plead guilty to the charges and was ordered to pay a $300 in fines, plus court costs.

Greenfield Republican Representative Clel Baudler says he was pleased the Iowa House this week approved a resolution that would overturn a ban on the use of lead shot, when hunting doves.  Baudler and others who backed the resolution, say the Natural Resources Commission overstepped its authority in July 2011, when it wrote rules governing the hunting of doves, which was legalized by the legislature last year. The resolution was approved by a vote of 68 to 27 Thursday, and now goes on to the Senate, where approval is likely.

Baulder says “It’s a very emotional issue for some people, but if we don’t keep our legislative authority, we’ll just govern by commissions that are appointed, not elected. This is not the way our government works, or should work.” He says approval of the resolution should “Send a message to our un-elected commissions, that those commissions should work with legislators,”  or the legislators will overturn their authority.

Backers of the ban on lead shot say other animals can eat the lead shot, and that can lead to their sickness or even death.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 24-year-old Texas man who wanted to release minks from Sioux City farm has been given five years in prison. Victor Vanorden had pleaded guilty to trying to release the minks and to attempted burglary. Court records say Vanorden’s two-year term on the burglary charge are to be served at the same time as the five years on the other charge. Vanorden also was ordered to pay nearly $8,800 in restitution to the farm’s owner.

Vanorden and a companion, 21-year-old Kellie Marshall, were found in a soybean field in October before they could release the animals. Officers found fences nearby that had been cut.  Marshall has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial on March 6th.  Vanorden and Marshall are from Austin, Texas.

w/ Ric Hanson

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 MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) – Michael Foods, of Minnetonka, Minn., is recalling hard-cooked eggs in brine sold in 10- and 25-pound pails to food distributors and manufacturers for institutional use in 34 states, including: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

An update on flood recovery efforts in western Iowa is on the agenda as the State Interagency Missouri River Authority meets today (Friday) in Des Moines. Chuck Gipp, deputy director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the process of cleaning up all of the damage and rebuilding after last year’s summer-long flood is far from over. Gipp says, “It’s how you help people recover from that event is the biggest struggle that we have and also to see if there’s anything we can do to avoid a repeat of that in the future.” The authority makes recommendations on policies affecting the Missouri River.

Besides the DNR, groups involved include the state departments of Homeland Security and Agriculture as well as federal agencies, like FEMA and the U-S Army Corps of Engineers. Gipp says making repairs to the damaged floodwalls all along the river is a high priority. “The levees are an important part of that because people were accustomed to going behind the levees,” Gipp says. “They were told, initially, that what’s going to occur after the six major dam and reservoirs were built upstream. I guess that Mother Nature told us that you can maybe delay it but you can’t get rid of the flooding aspect.”

Gipp says much of the DNR’s role is to help state and federal agencies coordinate during the recovery process.  “A lot of what we do, especially when it comes to levee issues, flood plain issues, is depending on the Corps and FEMA and the reimbursement for that,” Gipp says. “I think there’s a good coordination. Some of that was learned simply because of the experiences on the east side of the state in 2008.” He says the panel will also discuss current and potential hydrologist roles and responsibilities in the state.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak say 41-year old Donald Evan McFarland, of Red Oak, was arrested Thursday afternoon on an assault charge. McFarland was taken into custody in the 1200 Block of East Summit Street, on a charge of Serious Assault, at around 4:35-p.m.  He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a Missouri man was arrested Thursday on drug and other charges, following the chase of a stolen SUV, which later crashed and burst into flames. 37-year old Sean Christopher Schmidt, of St. Joseph, MO, was being held in the Fremont County Jail on pending charges of Conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, Unauthorized transportation of anhydrous ammonia, Theft in the 2nd degree, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of a Precursor.

Officials say Schmidt was one of two people who escaped on foot after a 2002 Hyundai Sante Fe was stolen out of northwest Missouri Thursday morning, crashed into a levee just south of 270th Street and 300th Avenue, south of Sidney. The SUV burst into flames following the crash, and was a total loss.

The chase began when Fremont County authorities were notified by the Missouri Highway Patrol, that the stolen SUV was headed into the county. Deputies, along with DOT personnel began a search for the vehicle, which was observed by a female DOT officer on northbound Interstate 29. It left the interstate at Exit 20, and proceeded east towards Thurman. From there, the driver of the SUV tried to elude the officer. Several other officers joined in the pursuit, but they lost contact with the vehicle.

After it crashed and the occupants escaped, a report was received several hours later that a subject was seen running south on the West Nishnabotna levee. Deputies responded and took Schmidt into custody. The other suspect in the incident remains at large.

A Council Bluffs man who the State Patrol says likely set a state record for speed on a public highway when he reached 188 mph on his motorcycle while fleeing from authorities in 2009, was found guilty Wednesday by a jury in Pottawattamie County, of eluding a peace officer. A pilot who tracked 39-year old James Foldenauer said Thursday, that Foldenauer drove on shoulders and the centerline to pass traffic.

James Foldenauer (Pott. Co. Jail photo)

District Associate Judge Craig Dreismeier convicted Foldenauer for excessive speed for driving 188 mph in a 70-mph zone. The man is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8th.  Assistant Pottawattamie County Attorney Tom Nelson said he will likely seek the maximum penalty, which is two years in prison for the eluding charge, an aggravated misdemeanor.

The chase started after a trooper clocked Foldenauer and another motorcyclist traveling at 89 mph in a construction zone on Interstate Highway 29 near Missouri Valley, on August 5th, 2009.  Trooper Bryan Michelsen with the Iowa State Patrol, said the other motorcyclist, a woman, stopped, but Foldenauer accelerated and reached 188 near, Honey Creek.  He was driving a 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa. Two Iowa State Patrol officers on the ground and one in the air pursued Foldenauer, but neither of the police cars could keep up with the cycle.

While the Troopers on the ground couldn’t keep up with the cycle, Iowa State Patrol pilot Pigsley followed it by air to an Omaha residence, where Foldenauer was arrested by Omaha police. Foldenauer’s lawyer, Michael Murphy, says that the motorcyclist the Iowa State Patrol tracked that day was not Foldenauer. He told the jury Foldenauer’s motorcycle was “An orange motorcycle, kind of a bright orange.” He said the witnesses identified a red motorcycle as being involved in the chase, but the jury didn’t buy it.  Murphy said that as of Thursday, Foldenauer still had his driver’s license, but Dena Gray-Fisher, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Transportation, said that Foldenauer’s license will be revoked one year for excessive speeding, and that he can request a work permit. Online court records show Foldenauer has been cited for previous, less serious traffic offenses.

Trooper Michelsen said no one knows for sure why Foldenauer didn’t stop, and the man hasn’t confessed to the incident. Michelsen said he thought the speed the motorcyclist reached that day was a state record and possibly a national record, although Iowa Department of Transportation officials could not confirm that. The closest record he says he could find, was the Minnesota Highway Patrol clocking a motorcycle at 205 mph. The manager of a Des Moines Suzuki dealership told the Des Moines Register that  188 mph is about as fast as a Hayabusa could reach, but an owner could modify one to go even faster. The bike retails for about $14,000.