Firefighters from Massena have been called to the scene of a barn fire located about 4-miles north of Massena. The call about the blaze at 62655 740th Street came in at around 7:40-a.m., no other details are currently available.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Iowa State Patrol has launched a special “Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement campaign aimed at motorcyclists. Sergeant Scott Bright says the effort is in response to the things they’re seeing happen on state roadways. “Recently we’ve seen an increase in the fatality rate with motorcycles. In 2010 we had 55 motorcyclists killed in the state and 25-percent of those were alcohol related, so we’re trying to decrease that,” Bright explains. “As they get out and ride their motorcycles, hopefully they don’t get out there and drink while they ride them.”

Trooper Bright says they hope the special effort will raise the profile of the issue.  He says troopers will be working the interstates and highways and be around motorcycle rallies, so if they find a motorcyclist who has been drinking, they’ll be arrested. Trooper Bright says drinking alcohol, more than any other single factor, can rob motorcyclists of the ability to think clearly and ride safely. “If they’ve had a lot to drink, its’ very hard to keep their stability. And especially when they come to a stop, the bike starts to sway a little bit,” Bright says. The advice for drivers is no different for those on two wheels as it is for those on four when drivers are told not to drink and get behind the wheel of their car.

“If they start to drink, don’t get on your bike and ride…and if you’re going to ride, don’t drink. That’s kind of the slogan we like to get out there to keep everybody safe,” Bright says. According to the U-S D-O-T’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists accounted for 14-percent of total traffic fatalities in 2010. Yet, motorcycles made up only three percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2010 and accounted for less than one-percent of all vehicle miles traveled.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating separate incidents of burglary and vandalism, which were reported Sunday in Villisca and Stanton. A Villisca resident reported to authorities Sunday afternoon, that someone entered his garage in the 500 block of East 3rd Street, and stole numerous tools. The loss was estimated at $2,000. The incident occurred sometime between July 14th and 19th.

And, a Stanton couple reported to authorities Sunday night, that the south window of their shop located in the 2400 block of 225th Street had been broken sometime between 8:50 and 9:05-p.m., Sunday. When deputies arrived, they determined a rock had penetrated the window, causing $100 damage.

Anyone with information about either of the incidents is asked to call the Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-432-1001, or the Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107.

(Updated 9:58-a.m.)…

Three people were taken into custody early this morning in connection with a recent drive-by shooting which occurred in Des Moines. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News the incident became known to authorities in western Iowa very early this morning. Danker says at 1:39-a.m there was an all-points bulletin to law enforcement about a silver sedan with Nebraska plates that was possibly involved in a shooting in Des Moines. Authorities were able to track the suspects by “pinging” a cell phone as they traveled across the state heading back to Nebraska.

The Sheriff says Cass County Deputy Ben Bartholomew was traveling west on I-80 next to a silver Oldsmobile Alero. As the car passed the deputies’ cruiser, Bartholomew pulled in behind the car and began to follow it.  The deputy ran the car’s license plates, which came back as a white Dodge van. Several other law enforcement agencies, including deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol and a DOT Enforcement officer assisted in conducting a felony traffic stop of the suspect’s vehicle at around 2:15-a.m..  near the Shelby exit.

The suspects, 24-year old Kendra Akins, 24-year old Ivory Goodwin and 26-year old Shera Goodwin, all of whom are from Nebraska, were taken into custody without incident. The vehicle was impounded at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department. Officials with the Des Moines Police Department traveled to Pottawattamie County to bring the individuals back to Polk County. Danker could not say for certain if a weapon was found in the vehicle. Additional information about the incident in Des Moines which resulted in the suspect’s arrests, is still not available.

Two Red Oak residents have been arrested on Child Endangerment charges. According to Red Oak Police, officers and officials with the Department of Human Services conducted a welfare check at a residence on Reed Street in Red Oak. 

As a result, 28-year-old Johna Christine Dolph of Red Oak, and 30-year-old Paul Earl Lemburg II, of Red Oak were each arrested on two-counts of Child Endangerment. Lemburg also faces a drug possession charge.

The pair were being held in the Montgomery County Jail. Dolph’s bond was set at $5,000, while Lemburg was being held on $6,000 bond.

The City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Monday evening, at City Hall. During their 5:30-p.m. session, the P&Z will review the site plans for the Iowa Interstate Railroad Office Building, and, the site plans for the Masker Plumbing and Heating Storage Building. 

The Commission will also review and discuss the first drafts of the Zoning Ordinance, which includes: An Overview and Reference Coding; General Provisions; Definitions, and R-1 (Residential/Agricultural/Open Space) definitions and descriptions.

Authorities in Guthrie County are continuing to investigate the reason behind a 9-1-1 service outage that occurred Saturday morning. The emergency line went down for about two-hours. In the interim, calls were being taken only at the Sheriff’s Office. It was the second time over the course of the past three-months 9-1-1 service was disrupted in Guthrie County. In May, a severed fiber-optic line was to blame for a similar disruption in service.

When floodwaters from the Missouri River threatened to wash away the small southwestern Iowa town of Hamburg last summer, residents helped the Army Corps of Engineers to hastily build a makeshift levee to save it.  Now, the town of nearly 1,200 is asking for help from across the country to keep the levee.  Town leaders have turned to the Internet to make their plea for help, building a site – www.hamburglevee.com – to try to raise the nearly $5 million needed to ensure the levee meets federal certification standards. Short that, the city would have to spend more than $1 million to tear the levee down.  The website notes that if 1.5 million give just $3 each to the effort, the levee can be saved “for less than a latte.”

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a robbery which occurred early this (Sunday) morning. Officials say the Kwik Shop at 1602 Avenue G was robbed at around 3:45-a.m., by two masked individuals armed with handguns. The suspects wore hoods and bandanas when the entered the store and demanded money from the clerk. One was said to have been a white male, while the ethnicity of the other individual is not known.

The robbers fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash. Their getaway vehicle was described as being an early 1990’s model four-door coupe. No one was injured during the incident, which remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728.