Red Oak Police, responding to reported incident of assault early this (Thursday) morning, ended-up taking a local man into custody on assault and drug charges. Officers were called to a residence in the 900 block of East Hammond Street, at around 3:30-a.m.

An investigation resulted in the arrest of 41-year old Eric Michael Huffstutlear, of Red Oak, on an aggravated assault charge, for allegedly threatening someone with a pocket knife. After he was taken into custody, Huffstutlear was allegedly found to be in possession of a controlled substance (marijuana). He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 cash bond.

Police in Council Bluffs investigated a series of car break-ins reported at Oakland Court Apartments early Wednesday. The Daily NonPareil says according to police, a Council Bluffs woman reported seeing a burglary to a vehicle in the 200 block of North Second Street shortly after 1 a.m. The woman told police she saw a man walking near a green 2001 Chevy Blazer after hearing the vehicle’s car alarm sound. The suspect saw the woman and ran to a gray, sporty-looking car and drove away at a high rate of speed.

Legislators of both political parties have voted to reverse Governor Branstad’s order to close the state-run Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant. Under the plan that cleared the House and Senate last night (Wednesday), the M-H-I in Clarinda also would remain open until mid-December and legislators are asking state officials to find a private company to run the unit there for 15 elderly patients. Representative Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, got emotional during House debate last night (Wednesday).

“We responded to the majority of Iowans who want to see these facilities remain open,” Heaton says. “…This is our last chance. I think we are carrying the message of Iowans to the governor, to ask him to reconsider his position on this issue.” Senator Amanda Ragan, a Democrat from Mason City, says closing the two Mental Health Institutes would be a step backward. “This compromise is a win-win for the governor, the legislature and, most importantly, Iowans who count on those services to assist family members and friends who suffer with severe mental illness,” Ragan said.

The proposal would reopen the inpatient program in Mount Pleasant’s M-H-I for people with the “dual diagnosis” of substance abnse and a mental illness, plus Heaton says the plan asks the governor to let the facility continue offering services for adults with acute mental illnesses. “To allow us at least one more year at Mount Pleasant in our MHI before he can figure whatever else he wants to do,” Heaton says. “And at the same time to allow Clarinda to remain open and provide services to those seniors who are seriously suffering from mental health issues, a difficult population.”

Some of Clarinda’s elderly patients are extremely frail and a few are convicted sex offenders who may be too aggressive to be placed in traditional nursing homes. The proposal to keep the two Mental Health Institutes open, at least temporarily, was included in a massive budget bill that outlines over one-point-eight BILLION dollars worth of spending for the Iowa Department of Human Services, the Iowa Veterans Home, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Public Health.

The bill easily passed the Senate on a bipartisan 33-17 vote, but narrowly cleared the House on a 51-42 vote.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor says two Iowa police officers fired shots at a vehicle from close range after the driver sped in their direction following a pursuit. Jefferson County Attorney Tim Dille says investigators believe the officers’ shots struck the vehicle carrying a 19-year-old driver and 16-year-old female passenger but didn’t hit either early Tuesday. The driver, 19-year-old Dakota Murray, was jailed on charges of eluding law enforcement. The passenger wasn’t charged.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A health and human services budget approved by the Iowa Legislature would keep open one of two mental health facilities slated for closure and would seek to find a private provider to run the other. The Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate voted in favor of the plan last night.

BOSTON (AP) — Federal authorities say an Iowa man has been arrested after threatening to shoot and kill Muslims on the Facebook page of a Boston Islamic group. Prosecutors say 57-year-old Gerald Wayne Ledford of Clinton posted two threats on the Facebook page for the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in October. Ledford could face up to five years in prison.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa agriculture officials say two turkey farms have been added to the list of possible locations with bird flu. The new cases bring the number of Iowa farms infected to 73 and the number of birds to die to 29 million. More than 24 million are egg-laying chickens, and nearly 4 million are young chickens that were to be egg-layers. More than 1 million are turkeys.

Deputies in Montgomery County arrested a Red Oak woman Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say 35-year old Jolene Mardell Cain was taken into custody at around 2:30-p.m., on a warrant charging her with 5th degree Theft. Cain was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $300 cash bond.