The Cass County Sheriff’s office reports an Atlantic man was arrested Wednesday on a Simple Assault charge. 19-year old Mackenzie Jacob Belnap, was taken into custody on an Atlantic Police Department warrant. Belnap was brought to the Cass County Jail, pled guilty to the offense, and was released that same day.

On Tuesday, Sheriff’s deputies in Cass County, arrested 41-year old Todd James Hutchinson, of Des Moines, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree, and Ongoing Criminal Conduct.

Hutchinson was brought to the Cass County Jail where he was sentenced, and is awaiting transport to Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department reports one-person was injured during a rollover accident Wednesday afternoon, about a mile east of Audubon. 73-year old Richard Brooks Gleason, of Audubon, was traveling downhill, east on 200^th Street at around 3-p.m., when a trailer full of large hay bales his pickup was pulling began to sway.

The swaying action caused the pickup to go out of control before it went into the south ditch. In the ditch, the trailer jackknifed and broke free of its hitch. The pickup then rolled over, trapping Gleason inside.

The man was transported by Audubon Rescue to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital for treatment of his injuries. Damage to Gleason’s 2011 Chevy pickup was estimated at $35,000.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Department has released additional information about a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 early this (Thursday) morning. As we told you during our earlier reports, the crash happened at around 2:50-a.m. on I-80, at the 72-mile marker, or about two-miles east of the Anita Exit.

Officials say a 1992 Buick Century owned and driven by 25-year old Dirk Mathias Reynolds, of Des Moines, was westbound on I-80 when he lost control of the car, and ran into a directional traffic device.

Mathias, and a passenger in his vehicle were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic by Anita Rescue. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $4,500, while the traffic control device sustained $5,000 damage.

The accident remains under investigation.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) proposes to raise the bridge on 140th Street over Interstate 29 in Monona County. The proposed improvement will have an impact on Badger Lake Wildlife Management Area.

The Iowa DOT invites the public to review and comment on the anticipated de minimis effect of the I-29 project on protected activities, features and attributes of Badger Lake Wildlife Management Area.

De minimis impacts on publicly owned parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges are defined as those that do not “adversely affect the activities, features and attributes” of protected properties pursuant to 49 United States Code section 303 or commonly referred to as section 4(f).

For additional information on the anticipated de minimis effect, please contact: Jorge Zamora, Iowa DOT Office of Location and Environment, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, IA  50010, telephone 515-239-1251

Visit the Iowa DOT’s project-related news release website athttp://www.iowadot.gov/ole/otherprojectinfo.html   for opportunities to offer input to the Iowa DOT during the development of certain projects.

(IA-DOT Press Release)

A domestic dispute over child custody Wednesday night in Pottawattamie County led to the arrest of a Council Bluffs man on numerous charges. Pott County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Dwayne Riche says the incident began at around 8:15-p.m. at the American Inn in Council Bluffs.

Riche says 29-year old Scott Penny, of Council Bluffs, was charged with domestic assault with intent, OWI 1^st Offense, Aggravated Assault and two counts of child endangerment, after he allegedly tried to run two vehicles, including one driven by 21-year old Brandy Redden-Stechenfinger, of Council Bluffs, off the road, near Oakland.

Riche says the incident started with a verbal dispute at the American Inn, where Redden works. After Penny got into an argument with Redden-Stechenfinger and Cora Beery, of Council Bluffs, Redden took her children, one-year old Adrianna Penny and 3-year old Alexis Redden-Stechenfinger, away from the scene in her vehicle.

Scott Penny began to follow the women and two children in his 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo. He says as they were traveling west on Highway Six coming back into Council Bluffs, she saw Scott Penny follow her vehicle and approaching from the rear at a high rate of speed. As their vehicles approached and passed another westbound vehicle, Penny allegedly tried to run the other motorist off the road, at speeds in excess of 110-miles per hour. Penny then tapped, or hit Redden’s vehicle.

Sheriff’s Deputies received word of the incident at 8:22-p.m. and were dispatched to the intersection of Highway 6 and Interstate 80, where Penny’s vehicle was stopped. Sgt. Riche says Penny gave the deputies a “one-fingered gesture,” but was taken into custody without further incident.

Council Bluffs Police Officers arrived on the scene and transported Penny to Jail on an initial charge of OWI 1^st offense, but once Sheriff’s deputies completed their investigation, the additional charges were assessed.

No injuries were reported. Scott Penny was being held in the Pott County Jail pending an appearance before the magistrate. There was no word on the amount of his bond.

A Harlan man critically injured during a motorcycle accident Friday night, in Harlan, has died. 46-year old Richard “Rick” Jones died Wednesday, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. Jones was found unresponsive but breathing when authorities arrived following the crash, which occurred at around 9:10-p.m., Friday. Harlan Police said his motorcycle hit a curb on the side of the road, as it was traveling on Hawkeye Avenue.

Jones was taken by Medivac Ambulance to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, before he was flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha by LifeNet helicopter.

Funeral services for Rick Jones are currently pending at the Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan.