Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports his officers were kept busy late Wednesday evening into early this (Thursday) morning, making several drug-related arrests. All the drugs were discovered during traffic violation stops. During the first traffic stop a little after 6-p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of 19th and Nodaway, officers arrested 19-year old Hannah Madeline McCormick, of rural Clarinda, for possession of marijuana & possession of drug paraphernalia.

Just after 2:30-a.m. today (Thursday), Clarinda Police arrested 54-year old Jeana Marie Walker, and 62-year old Denise Diane Neville, both of rural Clarinda. The women were arrested for possession of marijuana. Walker and Neville were arrested at the intersection of 16th & Essie Davison Drive.

McCormick, Walker and Neville are being held in the Page County Jail on $1,000 bond, each. Police reports have been submitted to the offices of Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review regarding the filing of formal charges.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports, Beginning Sunday night, Nov. 5, drivers may encounter interstate closures in Council Bluffs when road construction crews close portions of interstates 29 and 80. Southbound I-29 between Ninth Avenue and Nebraska Avenue will be closed from 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, to 5:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10, for demolition of part of the Union Pacific Railroad’s bridge. Drivers are encouraged to use I-480 as a detour.

East- and westbound I-80 will be closed at the I-80/I-29 interchange (exit 1) from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 7-9, for bridge construction.
For more information or to sign up for alerts, visit the program website at www.CouncilBluffsInterstate.IowaDOT.gov. You can also contact the program office at 712-216-3339.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Update 8:52-a.m: The traffic lights are now working properly)

The traffic signal lights on 7th Street in downtown Atlantic are not working properly. Please be cautious and remember the rules of the Right-of-Way at intersections.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa man has been given three years of probation and told to repay the state for claiming undeserved unemployment benefits. Court records say 54-year-old Bryan Terry, of Lake Mills, was sentenced Tuesday in a Winnebago County courtroom. His $750 fine was suspended, as was his five-year prison term. He’d pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulent practice.

Officials say Terry misrepresented his employment status and income to obtain nearly $8,500 in benefits, which he must pay Iowa Workforce Development as restitution.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Adams County late Wednesday night, arrested 39-year old Jill Coddington, of Corning. Coddington was taken into custody after she allegedly violated a No Contact Order by picking up her boyfriend and bringing him to her home, in Corning. A domestic dispute transpired soon thereafter. The boyfriend left the scene and fled on foot before deputies arrived. Coddington was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $300 bond.

The driver of a vehicle pulled over for traveling 83 miles per hour in a 55 zone, Wednesday morning, was arrested on weapon and drug-related charges. His passenger was arrested on drug and other charges. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 28-year old Alexander John Welsh, of Boone, was arrested at the scene on Highway 34 and Fig Avenue, at around 10-a.m., Wednesday. While speaking with Welsh, Deputies noticed inside the vehicle, in plain view, drug paraphernalia.

During a Probable Cause search of the vehicle, Deputies located two loaded handguns, used hypodermic needles, a digital scale containing methamphetamine residue, a concealed machete,’ and a lock box containing $900 in U-S currency. Welsh was arrested for three counts of carrying weapons, two counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited person, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was brought to the Adams County Jail and held on a $16,300 cash bond, only. A passenger in the vehicle, 38-year old Cathryn Marie Stone, of Garden Grove, IA, was arrested for Providing a False I.D.,  Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Possession of a Controlled Substance (Meth).

Once inside the jail, Stone allegedly tried to flush down the toilet, a baggie containing meth and a spoon. She was subsequently charged with Interference with official acts, and Possessing contraband in a Secure facility. Her cash only bond was set at $6,900.

More than 100 people who receive pensions from the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System or IPERS didn’t get their monthly payments on Tuesday.

It’s a case of identity theft and the F-B-I has been called in to investigate. According to K-C-C-I television, none of the 103 people affected had gone online to monitor their IPERS account and protect it with a password. Hackers then used Social Security numbers and other personal information to set up that online monitoring and redirect the pension checks for those 103 people.

IPERS regularly sends benefits to 115-thousand retirees. Officials told The Des Moines Register monthly benefits had been reissued to the 103 people affected by the hack.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:49 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man who died after a fire at a Des Moines apartment. The Des Moines Fire Department identified the man Wednesday as 68-year-old Osman Suljic, who was found Tuesday in his third-floor apartment where the blaze is believed to have started.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has pleaded guilty to possessing both illegal drugs and child pornography in federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Iowa says 23-year-old Jose Ramon Ortega-Ramirez entered the plea Wednesday in Sioux City’s federal court and was subsequently convicted of one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of child porn possession.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a former Des Moines teacher and basketball coach will lose his teaching license for a year for wrongly operating outside of district oversight two bank accounts with more than $1.8 million in deposits. The Des Moines Register reports that former Roosevelt High teacher Chris Cundiff also will receive a written reprimand. A state audit found hundreds of thousands of dollars of improper and undocumented spending.