The Cass County Conservation Board has a couple of events for you to mark on your calendar. A Full Moon Owl Prowl Hike will be held at the Cold Springs Park in Lewis,  on Thursday February 1st 2018 at 7 PM. And, a Sweethearts Snowshoe Hike will be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods outside of Atlantic, on February 17th 2018 at 7 PM.

Come out for a great night hike, who knows what nature has waiting for you! The Full Moon will light the way! Together, you and Conservation staff will hike and try to call in various species of Owls that may be in the park that night! All ages are welcome!

Snowshoes (in a variety of sizes) will be available for the Showshoe Hike. The event WILL be CANCELLED with “NO SNOW!” Both events FREE, Dress for the weather!

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A winter storm has Nebraska and parts of Iowa and Kansas in its crosshairs. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for most of Nebraska, starting Saturday evening in western Nebraska and continuing through Sunday night across much of the state. Much of Iowa and a section of Nebraska from north of Omaha to an area south of Hastings could see a wintry mix and freezing rain.

NASHUA, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have identified a man shot by police earlier this week in northeast Iowa as a Minneapolis resident. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said late Friday that 29-year-old Jihad Merrick died after being shot on Highway 218 in Bremer County in a standoff with police and after he had hit an officer with his car. The names of the officers involved haven’t been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A commission has told lawmakers that repeated cuts to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources threatened its ability to protect the state’s air and water as the reductions have forced the agency to leave more than 100 positions vacant. The Des Moines Register reports an Environmental Protection Commission report noted the Iowa DNR’s budget had been cut from $22 million in 2009 to $11.17 million in the current budget year. The cuts have come amid rising concerns about Iowa’s polluted waterways.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A homeless shelter in western Iowa will be starting a Girl Scouts troop. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Micah House in Council Bluffs will begin holding troop meetings next month. The shelter received a $1,000 grant from the Pottawattamie Youth Council to start the troop. The shelter’s executive director was inspired after reading about a troop expanding to homeless shelters in New York City.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A winter storm has Nebraska and parts of Iowa and Kansas in its crosshairs. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for most of Nebraska, starting Saturday evening in western Nebraska and continuing through Sunday night across much of the state. The service says up to a foot of snow could fall on Scottsbluff, Chadron and other western cities. The service says up to 8 inches of snow could hit central and northeastern parts of the state, as well as in northwestern Iowa on Sunday into Monday.

Other parts of Iowa and a section of Nebraska from north of Omaha to an area south of Hastings could see a wintry mix and freezing rain. A winter storm warning has been issued for the northwest corner of Kansas, with an outer band extending to Garden City up through the north-central border included in a winter weather advisory.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state commission told lawmakers repeated cuts to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources threatened its ability to protect the state’s air and water as the reductions have forced the agency to leave more than 100 positions vacant.

The Des Moines Register reports the Environmental Protection Commission’s annual report to the Legislature noted the DNR’s budget had been cut nearly in half, from $22 million in 2009 to $11.17 million in the current budget year. The cuts have come amid increasing concerns about the state’s polluted waterways.

The DNR handles permitting for livestock operation, enforces state and federal air and water regulations, licenses hunting and fishing and manages parks, forests and trails.

Agency cuts have come as state revenue shortfalls have forced lawmakers to repeatedly cut the budget.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New data show Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds raised more money last year than all her gubernatorial challengers.

Details about the totals, required by Friday, show the Republican governor collected more than $3.7 million in 2017. She starts the new year with about $4.1 million available.

Fred Hubbell, a businessman seeking the Democratic nomination alongside six others, raised over $3 million in the same period and has $1.2 million cash-on-hand. Cathy Glasson, a union organizer in the Democratic race, raised more than $1.3 million and has more than $729,000 available.

Nate Boulton, a Democratic state senator seeking the party nomination, collected over $1 million and has a little over $481,000 cash-on-hand.

Ron Corbett, a former Cedar Rapids mayor challenging Reynolds in the Republican primary, raised more than $844,000 and has $578,000 available.

A family homeless shelter in southwest Iowa is starting a Girl Scout troop next month for young ladies who stay in the facility. Jaymes Sime, executive director of the Micah House in Council Bluffs, says he read about a Girl Scout troop in New York City that was expanding into several homeless shelters and thought it was a great idea.

Sime says, “I took to Facebook and tagged Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa and basically said, ‘Our doors are open and we love cookies, so if you want to start a troop, give us a call,’ and they did.” Fifty-five percent of the shelter’s occupants are children. Micah House plans to host Girl Scout meetings once a week. The average stay for a family at the shelter is one month and Sime hopes girls who leave the shelter can stay involved or join another troop.

“We will open that up for girls as they transition out into the community but we will also hope to provide them information about troops in the community,” Sime says. “If it’s something they choose to continue with long-term in the community, we’ll say, ‘Great, fantastic,’ and if they want to come back to Micah House, we’ll say the same thing, ‘Great, fantastic, come back.'” The Micah House is one of the few homeless shelters in the country to host a troop. Sime is very optimistic it will be a positive influence for the girls.

“If we all trace back through our childhoods and even our adulthoods, yeah, we have positive friends and family but sometimes, it’s those individuals that are outside those circles that maybe have the greatest impact on our lives,” Sime says. “If we can provide those avenues — it’s tremendous for our volunteers as well.” Starting February 5th, girls staying at the shelter will be able to join the troop. They’ll learn a host of skills, have a chance to earn badges and sell those famous Girl Scout cookies to raise funds.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James in Omaha)

Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, late Friday night, identified a man who was involved in an eastern Iowa incident Wednesday night, that escalated into shots being fired by the subject and law enforcement. 29-year old Jihad Merrick, of Minneapolis, MN., died as a result.

On January 17th, 2018, at around 8:31 p.m., the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 report of a subject — later identified as Merrick – with a gun pointed at his head in a vehicle at Love’s Truck Stop in Floyd, Iowa. Prior to officers’ arrival, Merrick fled the area southbound on Highway 218.

At 8:49 p.m., a Nashua police officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 218 at 104 mph. The officer stopped the vehicle and observed the driver (Merrick) get out pointing a handgun at his head. Officers from the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office, Nashua PD, and the Iowa State Patrol responded and negotiated with the Merrick for approximately 40 minutes before the driver fired a shot from inside the vehicle.

Officers approached the vehicle to find Merrick unharmed. Merrick resisted officer’s attempts to take him into custody and drove the vehicle forward striking an officer. Two officers fired and struck Merrick, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is continuing to investigate the incident.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 35-year-old Samuel Jacob Whitaker of Red Oak in the 400 block of East Market Street in Red Oak on Friday night. At 9:07pm officers arrested Whitaker for being a Fugitive from Justice on a valid arrest warrant out of the State of Missouri for Parole Violation. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond awaiting extradition by Missouri Authorities. Officers with the Red Oak Police Department assisted in the arrest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A private economic development group in Iowa is refusing to release details about its failed bid to get Des Moines selected as Amazon’s second headquarters.

Greater Des Moines Partnership declined Friday to provide additional information about its efforts to attract the company. Partnership spokesman Sam Hoyle says conversations between the group and Amazon will remain private.

The Associated Press sought records from the Greater Des Moines Partnership in November about the group’s pitch to Amazon. The partnership said it wasn’t subject to Iowa’s public records laws. AP contacted the group again after Amazon rejected Des Moines.

Amazon recently narrowed its list to 20 prospective sites for the $5 billion project that could employ up to 50,000 people. More than 200 municipalities failed to make the cut.