COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Council Bluffs man was sentenced today to 40 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents, T.J. LeBaugh, 37, dropped a bag with a loaded nine-millimeter firearm and an extended firearm magazine while fleeing from law enforcement. Prior to fleeing on foot, LeBaugh was speeding and caused a car accident. In 2015, LeBaugh was convicted of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

After completing his term of imprisonment, LeBaugh will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Council Bluffs Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

(Radio Iowa) – Flags on state buildings are at half-staff today (Wednesday) to remember those who lost their lives in the September 11th terrorist attacks 23 years ago. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, issued a video statement reflecting on the attacks.

“September 11, 2001 tested our nation in ways we could never have imagined it. It also revealed the profound strength and resilience of the American spirit,” Ernst says. Ernst says every day Americans became heroes and first responders selflessly rushed in to help others on that day. “America stood united, unwavering in our resolve to never let fear dictate our future,” she says. Ernst says we have to continue to remember the way the country responded.

“Today, we reaffirm our commitment to never forget and always remember. We must regain our patriotism and be ever vigilant to safeguard the freedoms we too often take for granted,” Ernst says. Ernst is a retired combat veteran who served in the Iowa National Guard.

Governor Kim Reynolds also issued a statement, saying. “Nearly 3,000 Americans died in the national tragedy, including hundreds of first responders who ran in to save the victims of an evil, unspeakable attack on innocent people. I stand with every American on Patriot Day to honor and forever remember the thousands who senselessly lost their lives and their families who will always long for their loved ones. You will never be forgotten.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines Fire Department is launching a program designed to cut the number of non-emergency calls while connecting frequent 9-1-1 users with long-term services. People can now get medical care at a downtown homeless shelter, while paramedics will visit public housing, homeless encampments, and people who often call 9-1-1. Assistant Fire Chief Percy Coleman says building trust will be key to the program’s success.

Coleman says, “Our goal is to get those individuals to a point where they’re independent and that they can take care of their own needs.” A city report says 82 individuals made up nearly 15-hundred of the fire department’s transports in 2022 alone. Through the department’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, the team will identify nearby long-term resources available to patients, and help set up things like doctor appointments, transportation, and ways to refill prescriptions. Coleman says the program is centered around fostering independence, along with trust.

“Our folks are able to get out there and meet with these folks,” he says. “They develop a positive, working relationship, and so it’s the communication piece. They’re able to articulate what their needs are and we’re able to plug folks right in.”

Coleman says the department began using the program in April but they’ve been building out its services before launching it to the public.

(Radio Iowa) – Thirty-seven Republicans who serve in the state legislature are filing lawsuits in state and federal courts that challenge the Iowa Utilities Commission’s decision to grant Summit Carbon Solutions a permit for its proposed pipeline. Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City, an attorney, is a spokesman for the group. “I’m not sure we should call it a pipeline, actually,” Thomson says. “It’s better described as a tax credit harvesting mechanism because that’s the only real purpose it serves.”

Summit’s pipeline would qualify for billions in federal tax credits for capturing carbon and storing it permanently underground. Thomson says he’s happy for people to make money, but when state regulators approved the project, Thomson argues the property rights of Iowa landowners who object to the pipeline were violated. “That is going to dig up, against their will, the farmland of hundreds of Iowans, many of which are Century Farms, for no good reason. We were unable to get the Iowa Utilities Commission to focus on the question of a lack of public use here. If anything, if I may coin a word here, it’s ‘anti-useful’ because it puts people at risk,” Thomson says. “…It is taking away a right that we cherish in this country.”

Thomson is speaking at a news conference later this (Wednesday) afternoon next to the hospital in Charles City. “Where we will be standing would be in the ‘kill zone’ of the pipeline if a leak were to occur,” Thomson says. “According to the calculations that our people have done, a cloud about 18 feet tall would reach the Cedar River near the pipeline by the hospital if it were to rupture.”

Thomson says there’s a chance the group’s federal lawsuit might wind up in the U-S Supreme Court and lead to overturning a 2005 opinion on the use of eminent domain. The so-called Kelo decision OK’d the use of eminent domain to seize private property for economic development. “There’s been a lot of commentary ever since Kelo came out about its legal deficiencies, its constitutional deficiencies,” Thomson says. “We are hoping and thinking that the time is right to bring this to the U.S. Supreme Court eventually and get the Kelo dissent adopted as the law of the land.”

In his dissent, U-S Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas criticized the majority’s decision on eminent domain — saying it meant that while citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not.

(Here’s the list of legislators who’ve signed onto the lawsuit: Senator Kevin Alons, Senator Rocky De Witt, Senator Lynn Evans, Senator Jesse Green, Senator Dennis Guth, Senator Mark Lofgren, Senator David Rowley, Senator Sandy Salmon, Senator Jason Schultz, Senator Jeff Taylor, Senator Cherielynn Westrich, Representative Eddie Andrews, Representative Brooke Boden, Representative Steven Bradley, Representative Ken Carlson, Representative Mark Cisneros, Representative Zach Dieken, Representative Dean Fisher, Representative Dan Gehlbach, Representative Thomas Gerhold, Representative Cindy Golding, Representative Helena Hayes, Representative Bob Henderson, Representative Steven Holt, Representative Heather Hora, Representative Thomas Jeneary, Representative Bobby Kaufman, Representative Joshua Meggers, Representative Anne Osmundson, Representative Bradley Sherman, Representative Jeff Shipley, Representative Luana Stoltenberg, Representative Henry Stone, Representative Mark Thompson, Representative Charles Thomson, Representative Skyler Wheeler, and Representative Derek Wulf.)

[Kansas City, MO] — Every year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region 7, which includes Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, partners with local communities to hold Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs this year from September 15-21. The annual safety week ends with National Seat Check Saturday (September 21), a day for parents and caregivers to receive free instruction on how to correctly install and use the right car seats for their children. There are many locations throughout the region that will be offering free car seat inspections by certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians. Find out if an event or technician is available in your community by visiting www.nhtsa.gov/CarSeatInspection. Technicians will check car seats, let caregivers know if their children are in the right seats for their ages and sizes, and show them how to install the right seats correctly.

“Unfortunately, many parents are overconfident about their car seats,” said Regional Administrator Susan DeCourcy. “They think they are protecting their kids, but statistically, nearly half of car seats are either the wrong seat for the child’s age and size, or the seats are installed incorrectly. That puts children at risk.”

According to NHTSA, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children. Every day in 2022, an average of three children 13 and younger were killed in crashes, and another 429 were injured. “We know parents love their kids,” added DeCourcy, “so they’ll do everything in their power to protect them. An easy way to do that is to double-check their car seats — it’s worth making sure.”

In 2022, almost half (49%) of the children killed while riding in light pickup trucks were unrestrained, followed by SUVs (38%), passenger cars (34%), and vans (12%). NHTSA wants caregivers to know that it’s never safe to ride unbuckled in a passenger vehicle — no matter how short the trip or how big the vehicle. Bigger vehicles don’t protect child passengers, but properly used car seats, booster seats, and seat belts do.

When it comes to child passengers, there is a correctly sized seat for every age and developmental stage — from infants to teens. Whether it’s a rear-facing car seat, a forward-facing car seat installed with a tether, a booster seat, or a seat belt, a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician can put parents’ minds at ease by discussing correct car seat selection and showing them how to correctly install that seat in their vehicle. Children should stay in each seat and position until they outgrow those limits, and it’s important for all children under 13 to ride in the back seat.

If the allotted times on Saturday don’t work for your schedule, but you’d still like to have your car seats checked, find out if a technician is available in your community by visiting this helpful website from NHTSA. You can even filter your search results by Spanish-speaking technicians, virtual appointments, and Child Passenger Safety Week events. NHTSA.gov also has free resources available to caregivers. Learn about the different car seat types, read NHTSA’s research-based recommendations, and find and compare car seats.

It’s also important for caregivers to register their car seats with the manufacturer so they can be notified in the event of a recall. Download NHTSA’s SaferCar app, which allows users to save their vehicle, car seat, and tire info in a virtual garage. If any of the saved equipment is included in a safety recall, the app will send a notification.

For more information on child car seat safety, as well as how to find other car seat check events, go to www.nhtsa.gov/therightseat.

(Spencer, Iowa) – A collision at around 8:45-a.m. today (Wednesday) in northwest Iowa, claimed the life of a man from Clay County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by 54-year-old Douglas Wayne Nielsen, of Everly, ran into the rear of a 2013 Chrysler Town and Country Van, causing Nielsen to be thrown from cycle. Nielsen was then struck by a pickup truck.

The accident happened as the motorcycle and van were traveling east on 350th Street in Clay County. Nielsen died at the scene. No other injuries were reported. The Patrol was assisted by the Clay County Sheriff’s Officer, Fostoria Fire Dept., and Spencer Fire/Ambulance.

(Radio Iowa) – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment accusing 18 people from five states, including Iowa, with bank fraud and money laundering. Court documents list seven Iowa credit unions as victims of the nationwide scheme. The defendants are accused of depositing at least 10 MILLION dollars worth of stolen business checks. Prosecutors say they registered sham businesses with state and federal agencies that were identical or similar to the names of the legitimate business, then deposited the checks in accounts under those alternative business names. According to the U-S Attorney based in Des Moines, the group was able to withdraw at least two MILLION dollars from those fraudulent accounts. At least a dozen businesses in the U-S and Canada and 14 banks and credit unions were victims.

The names of the defendants are listed in court documents, but their addresses are not listed, so it’s unclear which defendants are from Iowa. The credit unions named include:

• Ascentra Credit Union
• Collins Community Credit Union
• Financial Plus Credit Union
• Greater Iowa Credit Union
• GreenState Credit Union, and
• Veridian Credit Union.