SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Polaris Industries is eliminating its unprofitable Victory Motorcycles brand to focus on its Indian Motorcycle brand and other products. Polaris announced the decision Monday to shut down Victory after 18 years. The motorcycles were produced at the Minneapolis-based company’s Spirit Lake, Iowa, plant. Polaris CEO Scott Wine says the company decided that its Indian Motorcycle brand had better growth prospects for the future.

Polaris says it lost money on Victory in three of the past five years after sales of the heavyweight motorcycles peaked in 2012. The brand represented only about 3 percent of Polaris’ total sales. Jefferies analyst Trevor Young says the move was a surprise, but it will likely help Indian Motorcycle sales.

In addition to motorcycles, Polaris makes ATVS, snowmobiles, the three-wheeled Slingshot roadster and other vehicles.

Police in Council Bluffs have arrested an off-duty veteran Council Bluffs Police Officer in connection with a hit-and-run incident that took place late Sunday night. 57-year-old Robert G. Miller, of Council Bluffs, faces charges that include OWI, 1st Offense. He was also cited for leaving the scene of a property damage collision, and failure to have control of a vehicle.

Police Chief Tim Carmody reports officers from the Council Bluffs Police Department were dispatched at around 10-p.m. to 757 W. Broadway, to investigate a physical disturbance. Upon arriving officers determined that a hit and run collision had occurred in the area of 8th St. and Ave B. a few minutes earlier. Evidence indicated that the vehicle, a 2001 silver Toyota Sequoia, had struck a tree in the front yard of 115 N. 8th St., backed over a stop sign and street sign, and driven through a wooden fence at 108 N. 8th St.

Residents of 108 N. 8th St. followed the Toyota south on 8th St. until it came to rest at 757 W. Broadway. Officers identified Miller as the driver of the vehicle. The Chief says a disturbance developed between the residents and Miller before officers arrived. Further investigation indicated that Miller appeared to be under the influence of alcohol while operating the Toyota.

An Iowa State Patrol trooper was called to the scene to assist with that portion of the investigation. Miller was subsequently arrested and booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail. He was later cited for leaving the scene of a property damage collision and control of vehicle – both city ordinance violations. Miller, a 33-year veteran of the department, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case and the administrative investigation.

Officials with the U-S Environmental Protection Agency have sent out mailings to Atlantic residents, advising the EPA’s Region 7 Office in Lenexa, KS., will host a Public Availability Session Tuesday, Jan. 24th, from 6-until 7:30-p.m. at the Atlantic Municipal Utilities building. The session will provide updates on efforts to mitigate PCE contamination from a former dry cleaning business site near 7th and Plum Streets, and the PCE site on Chestnut Street.

The EPA says it has assessed the ability of the public to access site information through an internet-based repository, and has determined the local community has this ability. Additional site information is available online for anyone with an internet connection, as well as at the Atlantic Public Library, by internet connection.

You may visit the following website to learn more: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/pceformerdrycleaner

Questions or requests for site information may be submitted to:

Pamela Houston, Community Engagement Specialist, U.S. EPA Region 7, 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, KS 66219; Or by calling toll-free, 1-800-223-0425. (You may also e-mail: houston.pamela@epa.gov)

Additional background information:

The former dry cleaning facility and IDOT laboratory facility no longer exist at the location (1205 E. 7th St). The EPA has said municipal drinking water wells have been impacted due to groundwater contamination associated with the former dry cleaner. The groundwater contaminants of concern were identified to be the following volatile organic compounds: tetrachloroethene (PCE) and its degradation products including tricholoroethene (TCE) and 1,2-dichloroethene (DCE). The site was proposed for the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 2015 and was officially listed on the NPL in April 2016.

EPA is planning to conduct in situ thermal remediation to treat PCE contamination at the source area. The thermal remediation is tentatively planned to begin in early 2017. EPA is also planning to install a groundwater extraction and treatment system which will prevent PCE contamination from impacting additional municipal wells. The groundwater extraction and treatment system construction is tentatively planned to begin mid-2017.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports a pickup and snow plow reported stolen by the City of Shenandoah, was recovered Sunday night in the 1400 block of 220th Street, in Page County. The 1998 Chevy K35 pickup and snow plow were taken from a building in Shenandoah. The incident remains under investigation.

No injuries were reported after a pickup truck slid through an intersection east of College Springs, Friday afternoon and struck a school bus. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says 35-year old Haley Haynes, of Blanchard, was driving a 2000 Ford F-250 southbound on Q Avenue, when the vehicle began to slide. It continued through the intersection with 290th Street and struck an eastbound 2000 GMC South Page School bus driven by 69-year old James Falk, of Braddyville. The bus had a small number of students on-board, but again there were no injuries. Damage from the collision that happened at around 3:40-p.m. Friday, amounted to $9,000. Haynes was cited for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign.

And, a Coin resident reported Saturday morning, that someone had crashed a vehicle through his fence, in Coin. The vehicle continued back through the fence at a different location on the property before continuing onto 270th Street in the Coin City limits. The incident caused about $500 damage. The only description of the vehicle, was that it was teal in color. The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193.

(12-p.m. News)

State officials and volunteers say there’s been an “explosion” of human trafficking in Iowa. George Belitsos of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking says the internet is “fueling the growth. “Today human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world,” Belitsos says, “and Iowa’s a literally at the crossroads for trafficking with Interstate 35 reaching US borders to our north and south and Interstate 80 reaching borders to the east and west.”

The illegal drug trade and human trafficking networks “overlap” according to Belitsos.
“However, you need to know this,” Belitsos says. “Traffickers are making more money from human trafficking than drug trafficking.” Belitsos recently retired from his job as the C-E-O of a non-profit child welfare agency and he describes ending human trafficking as his “new cause.”

“The undeniable truth is human trafficking occurs in Iowa and has been here for many years,” he says. The governor has declared January, 2017 as the first-ever “Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month” in Iowa. In the past five years, Governor Branstad and legislators have acted to strengthen penalties against those caught in the human trafficking trade.

Belitsos says there are now more resources to help those rescued recover. In addition, the state now has a coordinator working to help law enforcement recognize the signs that someone is being forced against their will to work in the sex trade. State officials also have just begun keeping statistics on the extent of the problem.

(Radio Iowa)

A Special Meeting has been scheduled for the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors. The Board will meet at Noon Tuesday in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. Action items or New Business includes those pertaining to Parks Capital Improvement Funds for matching funds towards the Schildberg Recreation Area, as needed for an Enhance Iowa CAT Grant application.

Last week, the Atlantic City Council agreed to commit $100,000 toward the project, and the Cass County Board of Supervisors $25,000, both as part of matching funds applied toward the grant application.

Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm will also provide the Board an update on the Sunnyside Ice Rink.

Police in Red Oak have arrested a man for having a revoked Nebraska Driver’s License. 28-year old Erik Gomez Gonzalez, of Red Oak, was taken into custody today (Monday) at around 8:50-a.m. in the 700 block of E. Skyline Dr., for Driving While Revoked/Habitual Offender. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.