Atlantic Police and other emergency personnel were called to the scene of a two vehicle crash Wednesday evening, east of town.  Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green says the accident occurred at around 5:30-pm on the railroad overpass bridge on Highway six.  Two people were transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital.  Additional details are currently not available.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Iowa man is being held on a weapons charge after Secret Service officers say they found a hunting rifle, dozens of rounds of ammunition and a knife in his car parked near the White House. The Secret Service says R.J. Kapheim, 41, was arrested on a charge of having an unregistered firearm.

Kapheim, from Davenport, Iowa, was arrested after he approached uniformed officers along 15th Street just before 1 p.m. Wednesday and explained that someone in Iowa told him to drive to the White House. He later showed them to his car parked nearby and let officers search the vehicle. The agency reports they found the rifle, ammunition and a 6-inch knife in the truck of his 2013 Volkswagen Passat.

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a northern Iowa high school evacuated after a bomb threat has been declared safe. The Spencer Police Department says students at Spencer High School were taken back to the school Wednesday afternoon then dismissed for the day.

The Sioux City Journal reports a written bomb threat was found Wednesday morning on one of the school’s interior walls. Officials say they took the threat seriously and transported students to an undisclosed location.

Officer Kyle Van Otterloo says officers checked around the school and found no explosive devices inside.

Authorities in Council Bluffs said Wednesday a 14-year-old boy was charged with first-degree arson in connection with a fire that occurred Tuesday, at the Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln High School. The unidentified teen was transported to the Southwest Iowa Juvenile Detention Center. A 15-year old boy also interviewed in connection with the incident, will not face charges.

An Atlantic man was arrested this (Wednesday) morning. Officials with the Atlantic Police Department said 21-year old Jacob Sweeney, of Atlantic, was taken into custody on a charge of Operating a motor vehicle While License is barred. Sweeney was booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic Police Department today (Wednesday), released details about three separate accidents that took place during last Saturday’s snow event. Officials say at around 8:50-a.m., vehicles driven by Erica Bengel and Allan Coffin, both of Atlantic, collided at 7th and Maple Streets. Bengel stopped at the intersection as she was heading north on Maple, but then proceeded into the intersection, where her car was struck by Coffin’s vehicle as it was traveling westbound on 7th Street. Bengel was cited for Failure to Yield. The accident caused $7,300 damage.

The second accident happened at around 11:40-a.m., Saturday, at 10th and Spruce Streets. The A-PD says Trina Rose, of Atlantic, was traveling east on east 10th, when a vehicle driven by Dennis Kneedler, of Des Moines, began to back into a residential driveway from a parking space in the 700 block of east 10th. Kneedler didn’t see the Rose vehicle and backed into it, causing a total of $9,500 damage. No citations were issued, and no injuries were reported.

And at around 3:35-p.m. Saturday, vehicles driven by Beth Tarr, of Atlantic, and John Loeffler, of Anita, collided at the intersection of 7th and Hazel Streets, when Loeffler stopped for a vehicle in front of him that was stopped at 7th and Olive Streets. Tarr’s vehicle struck Loeffler’s in the rear, causing $10,500 damage. Both drivers complained about possible injuries, but refused transport to the hospital. Tarr was cited for Failure to stop in an assured clear distance.

An alleged scam artist wanted in several states was arrested after an alert Newton man tipped off authorities. A 54-year-old man wanted on warrants for running construction scams in five states was arrested in Newton yesterday (Tuesday) after the Jasper County Sheriff’s office received a call from a local resident. The resident had responded to an ad in the local newspaper, contacting Ed Cross with Cross Construction about building a pole-type building on his property. The resident became suspicious when Cross submitted a very low bid and requested a seven-thousand dollar deposit the same day.

The home owner then discovered Cross was renting equipment from a local business under the name of Ed Armstrong. The home owner did an internet search, discovered that Armstrong had a nationwide warrant for his arrest and then the home owner called the local sheriff’s department. Seventeen outstanding warrants have been issued for Armstrong by authorities in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma and Ohio.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department found Armstrong, driving around in Newton, and arrested him. He’s in the Jasper County Jail, awaiting extradition.

(Radio Iowa)