The Shelby County Board of Supervisors heard an update on the Shelby County Trails project. In a meeting held Tuesday, Brian Leaders with the National Park Services provided an update on what the Shelby County Trails Committee has been creating over the last several months. Leaders said he has been working with other surrounding counties such as Pottawattamie County to establish a county-wide plan where other counties would link up hiking/biking trails. Since October of 2013, the Shelby County Trail Committee has been working with the public to come up with where they would like to see trails constructed in the county.

Leaders said the highest priority trail the public wanted from the meetings was from Avoca to Harlan and the other was on highway 191. “We have people on railroad highway 191 all the time. They ride from Council Bluffs to Underwood to Neola. They may end turn around and come back or take another route. So that route through Harrison and Shelby County is very popular.” He says the main reason for the trails is to help communities with economic growth. 

“By developing trails to some degree some communities to experience positive economic growth. I will be honest not all of them do. It all depends on the area. Depends on the trail and where it connects to. And depends on the proximity to other communities.” A map was presented to the supervisors as a guiding tool but not a finalization where the maps will actually be placed. Leaders said the process is quite lengthy and will take years to establish and develop.

“It’s a long process. I think I told the group the first time I met with them this could be a 25, 30, 40 year plan. As we know nothing moves quickly and funding isn’t necessarily available for trail projects.” He pointed out the previous county’s Supervisors have approved a resolution to support the county trail committees and help with the process without donating money right away. However, Shelby County Supervisor Steve Kenkel cautioned that motion as he didn’t want the supervisors to be tied to the specific map that was handed out.

Instead, Shelby County Auditor Marsha Carter made a separate motion. “To support the development of trails in Shelby County for the healthy and wellness benefit of its residents and to encourage economic growth and to recognize that the committee has developed a county-wide trail plan.” The motion was approved. Leaders said the next step for the Shelby County Trails Committee is to start applying for grant funding.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Tuesday a southwest Iowa man was sentenced March 25th to spend more than 17-years in prison for sex crimes involving minors. U-S District Judge John Jarvey also ordered 46-year old Tony Lee Stogdill, of Imogene, to serve 10-years of supervised release following his 210 month prison term. Stogdill, who was convicted on a charge of Interstate Transportation of a person under the age of 18 for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual activity, must also register on the Sex Offender Registry, pay restitution (in an amount yet to be determined) and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim Fund. Stogdill remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending his designation to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.

Stogdill’s wife, Jennifer, in an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office, pled guilty in the Iowa District Court for Fremont County to compounding a felony regarding her “cover-up” of Tony Stogdill’s sexual abuse of a minor child in late 2009. Jennifer Stogdill was sentenced by the state court to a term of probation.

Tony Stogdill had been convicted of sex related crimes twice, prior to the instant offense. Stogdill was convicted on March 13, 1989, in Fremont County, Iowa, of false imprisonment and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Stogdill was also convicted in Fremont County, Iowa, on October 21, 1991, of third degree sexual abuse.

The criminal investigation was carried out by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Fremont County Attorney’s Office, the South West Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department, the Omaha, Nebraska, Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate is considering legislation intended to halt the last transfer of state tax credits to a fertilizer plant in southeastern Iowa. The bill is meant to prevent Orascom, an Egyptian multinational corporation, from requesting a final $25 million tax credit installment. In 2012, Gov. Terry Branstad promised the company $100 million in investment tax credits, in addition to other federal, state and local incentives, in exchange for the creation of 165 permanent jobs in Iowa.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified the body of a man found after a fire damaged a four-unit apartment in the northern Iowa community of Charles City. The Charles City Police Department says the body of 27-year-old Joshua Nelson was found inside one of the apartment units following a fire reported Monday afternoon. He lived in the building.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Lawmakers in the Iowa Senate have taken a new route to address distracted driving across the state. The Senate approved an appropriation bill for Iowa’s Department of Transportation that would include $200,000 to go toward an educational campaign about the risks associated with distracted driving. The bill now goes to the House.

GARNER, Iowa (AP) – An elementary school employee in northern Iowa faces formal charges in connection to alleged fraudulent Medicaid payments. Court records show 30-year-old Brooke Banse will be arraigned April 8 on two charges of first-degree fraudulent practice and tampering with records. Banse is accused of receiving federal Medicaid payments in excess of $10,000 for services she did not provide.

Officials with Diamond Vogel Paint and “Keep Iowa Beautiful,” have announced the grant awards for the 2014 “Paint Iowa Beautiful” program. The program provides free paint to a wide variety of public service projects throughout Iowa. The program is administered through Keep Iowa Beautiful with the paint provided by the Diamond Vogel Paint Company.

Award winners include: The Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, for its Main Street buildings; The Glen Miller Birthplace Society in Clarinda, for painting of Miller’s home; The Farragut Hometown Pride Committee, for the painting of two homes, softball bleachers and Freedom Corner; The Sidney/Fremont County Fair Board, for painting of Fair Grounds buildings, rodeo arena and bleachers; The Hamburg Hometown Pride Committee, for downtown and City Park projects; Missouri Valley Health & Promotion Strategies, for three store-front facades; The City of Orient’s Public Works Dept., for work on the Legion Hall, meal site and information booth, and, the City of Shelby, for “Paint Shelby Beautiful,” the Senior Center garage/storage and City Hall.

Governor Branstad has signed a proclamation designating April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month. Diamond Vogel Vice-President Doug Vogel said the company is pleased to do its part by awarding paint to 63 community projects in Iowa. Gerald Schnepf, Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful said “The Paint Iowa Beautiful program helps us increase our assistance to neighborhoods, communities, historic projects and other public service organizations in improving the attractiveness and beauty of our home areas. These projects definitely improve the beauty of Iowa, its countryside and its communities.”

Keep Iowa Beautiful is a non-profit organization affiliated with Keep America Beautiful. Program efforts include litter reduction, public nuisance abatement and beautification programs.

Officials with the Atlantic Fire Department put out a plea on their social media website, asking residents not to do any open burning “Of any type, or discard of any smoking material. This includes burning trash!!”  Recent and continuing high, sustained winds and dry conditions have contributed to many fires across southwest Iowa. The AFVD says they hope that by spreading the word on open burning and being safe in discarding smoking materials, and will voluntary compliance, authorities will not have to issue a Burn Ban.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest on Monday of 47-year old Richard Lewis, Sr., of Atlantic. Lewis, Sr. was taken into custody on a 5th Degree Theft/shoplifting charge, and for Public Intoxication. He was booked into the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Tyson Fresh Meats will be adding around 140 jobs at a Council Bluffs plant, now that Tyson has won more than $950,000 in Iowa tax credits. As we announced over the weekend on KJAN, the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board approved the credits on Friday.

The company plans to install around $10 million worth of new equipment at the plant in order to serve an unidentified new client. As a condition for the tax credits, Tyson must create at least 139 new jobs, including 22 with a wage of nearly $15 an hour.

Tyson spokesman Dan Fogleman says that the plant packages beef and pork products for retailers. Tyson Fresh Meats also has a pepperoni plant in Council Bluffs. Fogleman says the hiring has begun but declined to say how many people work at each plant.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A pair of attorneys from central Iowa are getting a lot of attention for creating a phone app that gives motorists advice in the event they’re pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. Bob Rehkemper and Matt Lindholm, both of West Des Moines, are the minds behind the “Oh Crap App!” and Rehkemper says it includes an “emergency button” for the driver to click if they’re stopped by a cop.  “First of all, it activates the phone’s voice recorder, so that any communication with law enforcement is documented and saved,” Rehkemper says. The “Oh Crap!” button also automatically sends an email to a chosen friend or family member, an attorney, and a bail bondsman. Rehkemper estimates that 95-percent of people are unaware of their rights, or what they should or shouldn’t do, when stopped by police.

“A lot of people have misconceptions…and don’t have a very good grasp on those rights,” Rehkemper says. The app has another function, which Rehkemper says is designed to educate people about their basic DUI rights. He says the first thing a motorist should do is “be polite and respectful” with the law officer. “Secondarily, most people don’t know that the field sobriety test — the eye test, the walk and turn, the one leg stand — they don’t have to submit to those,” Rehkemper says. “There is no requirement under the law that they do those. They do have the option of saying, ‘no thank you.'”

As of last week, more than 25-hundred people had downloaded the free app. It also includes a blood-alcohol content (BAC) “calculator” — allowing an individual to determine if they might be over the legal limit to drive. Rehkemper says he and Lindholm do not condone drinking and driving. It gets looked at by some people as, ‘oh, you’re condoning and you’re helping it happen,’ but when you look at the actual app and the information it provides, it’s primarily designed to educate the public on their legal rights, to clear up any ambiguity on what they do have to do and what they don’t have to do. That helps law enforcement and that also helps the individual facing that situation,” Rehkemper says.

The app is available for both iPhones and Android devices. https://www.facebook.com/OhCrapApp

(Radio Iowa)

(Updated 10:45-a.m. with suspected cause)

An old fire may have been what caused a new fire that burned furiously Monday night on the north side Atlantic. Alantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said crews responded to the City of Atlantic’s Yard Waste Site on the west side of the Schildberg Recreation Area, at around 8:50-p.m.  He says there was a tremendous amount of flames and embers being blown about from the large pile of burning sticks, wood, and large tree trunks. Some of the embers were flying over to the east side of the Recreation Area, as far as Buck Creek Road.

McNees said the pile will be smoldering for quite some time, even though they poured 13-to 14-thousand gallons of water on the fire. The fear now is that strong winds today will whip up more embers and cause another, separate blaze. McNees said it’s possible the fire could have been accidental or related to spontaneous combustion, but it’s too early to tell. He said City crews were compacting the pile of debris over the past couple of days, but it’s not clear if that had something to do with it.

Late this (Tuesday) morning, McNees said he thinks ashes from a very old pile west of Monday night’s fire was probably stirred-up by the wind and ignited the nearby pile. He said also that City crews have not lit any of the burn piles in quite some time.

Fire fighters were on the scene for a couple of hours. He said if the winds had kept up, the fire could have spread east toward Olive Street.