COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has reached a settlement with Council Bluffs stemming from allegations a 9,000-seat arena did not provide proper access for those with disabilities. The department announced Thursday that the city of Council Bluffs must provide at least 56 wheelchair and companion seats throughout the Mid-America Center, an arena that hosts events including concerts, basketball and hockey games.

Companion seats don’t have an arm rest, or include removable arm rests, for those who assist people in wheelchairs. Under the agreement, the city must also revise its pricing policy to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to buy tickets for those seats.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires wheelchair seating locations be an integral part of seating plans in newly constructed arenas, which includes the Mid-America Center.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released from dams along the Missouri River has been cut to help reduce the risk of flooding downstream after recent heavy rains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reduced the amount of water released from Gavins Point dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border to 14,000 cubic feet per second from 21,000.

Water management chief Jody Farhat the change should reduce the risk of flooding downstream of the dams in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. But it won’t eliminate the chance of flooding.

Flooding can still occur if heavy rains fall in areas where streams and the Missouri River are already at elevated levels. The Corps will increase releases from the dams after river levels begin to fall.

Red Oak Police assisted the US Marshall Service with an arrest of a Red Oak woman on a Douglas County, NE warrant for Sex Offender Registry Violation on Thursday.  At 1:00pm Officers arrested 51-year-old Cynthia Wheeler of Red Oak and charged her with being a Fugitive from Justice in Iowa.  Wheeler was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond pending extradition to Douglas County.

An Adams County man was arrested Thursday on sex charges.  At 12:13pm Thursday the Adams County Sheriff’s Office arrested Travis Burnette on an Adams County warrant for two counts of 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse. Burnette was taken to the Adams County Jail and held on $10,000 cash bond.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office is warning area citizens about a recent phone scam.  A resident recently received a call from someone claiming to be with the Social Security Office and told the resident they were going to receive an increase in their Social Security.  They asked to confirm personal information including Social Security Number and banking information.  The Sheriff’s Office wants to remind citizens that this is a scam as the Social Security Administration does not make phone calls, nor would they ask for personal information over the phone.

A woman from Madison County died in a crash this (Thursday) morning, west of Cumming. The Iowa State Patrol says 63-year old Josephine Rose Snyder, of Winterset, died at the scene of a crash between her 2015 Polaris Triple S Slingshot three-wheel motorcycle, and a 1995 Ford van.

Officials say the crash happened as van, driven by 19-year old Jaeger Lon Bambrook, of Pleasant Hill, was westbound on County Road G-14 at around 7-a.m., and crossed into the eastbound lane to pass a vehicle turning north onto Woodland Avenue. The three-wheeled motorcycle was traveling east on G-14. Both vehicles left the road and entered the south ditch in an attempt to avoid a collision, but they struck each other, in the ditch.

Bambrook, and a passenger in the van, 19-year old Nicholas Robert Bjork, of Des Moines, were transported by helicopter to the Des Moines Hospital. The accident remains under investigation.

A Glenwood woman was arrested Monday, on a warrant for Theft. Glenwood Police say 25-year old Kimberly Frazier was arrested on the warrant issued out of Mills County. Her bond was set at $300.