The Cass County K-9 unit was one of several agencies from southwest and southern Iowa, who were called to assist in the search for several suspects, following a reported home invasion Friday night, in the south central Iowa community of Leon. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports the Leon Police Department, Decatur County Sheriff’s Department, and Iowa State Patrol were dispatched to 706 NE 2nd Street in Leon at around 10:30-p.m. Friday, following a report of multiple armed intruders inside the home. Upon arrival law enforcement witnessed multiple people flee the residence, which was occupied by a 26-year old woman, and her children, ages 10, 4 and 3.

Police say the men, who were armed with a bow and arrow, a long gun and other weapons, demanded drugs, money and guns. The woman and children suffered minor injuries. The men kept the woman and children separated, but she managed to call her husband on a hidden cellphone.

Captured suspect William Crawford Beveridge

A neighbor who checked the house saw a masked man inside and called police. Officers arrested 24-year-old William Edward Crawford-Beveridge, of Urbandale when they arrived, but the others ran and were not caught.

The Leon Police Department is actively seeking as many as three other people involved in the home invasion. Anyone with information on the identity of others involved in the incident is asked to contact the Leon Police Department, or the Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6010. Authorities said the investigation involved Leon police, the DCI, the Iowa State Patrol, sheriff’s departments in Decatur, Adams, Cass, Clarke, Ringgold and Wayne counties, and police from Lamoni, Osceola, Urbandale and West Des Moines.

An expert on back pain says Iowa kids need to avoid stuffing their backpacks when they return to school. Dr. Aaron Rector, a chiropractor in Johnston, says don’t put more than ten-percent of your body weight in the backpack. So, a 100-pound kid shouldn’t be carrying more than ten pounds. Dr. Rector says choose backpacks carefully.  “Bigger is not always better,” Rector says. “If you have a first grader, they don’t need a backpack the size that will fit high school-sized textbooks. You want to get a size- and age-appropriate backpack for your child.” Some Iowa schools are now providing laptops or computer tablets for students — or they’re being required for some courses. That can make it even harder to stick with that ten-percent of your body weight rule.

“The average laptop weighs about seven pounds,” Rector says. “You could have a laptop in the backpack and then throw textbooks and things in there, that complicates things, adding more weight to the child’s backpack.” Parents need to watch for warning signs their children may be carrying too much weight in their backpacks, things like red marks on their shoulders from the weight. Also, if they get any numbing or tingling or if their hands or fingers fall asleep, that’s a red flag.

“You will start to see the child slouch forward in an effort to take pressure off of their back and off of their spine,” Rector says. “You will see their shoulders start to round forward and they’ll start to lean their head forward as if they’re going to bring their face towards the ground.” A federal study found backpack-related injuries among children and teens have risen 41-percent in the past five years. The study says more than 14-thousand people between the ages of 5 and 19 were treated for backpack injuries nationwide last year. The total cost for those injuries was nearly 29-million dollars.

Firefighters in Atlantic kept busy over the weekend putting out fires on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Crews were called to 1006 Maple Street just before 12:30-p.m. Sunday.Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees told KJAN News the home owner left for a brief time and returned to find smoke inside, and flames coming from the rear of the house. The structure sustained damage from flames in a bedroom, and substantial smoke damage elsewhere. McNees said it appeared an overheated pump for a fish aquarium was to blame. He said the man and his daughter were not injured, but some pets didn’t make it out alive. Firefighters saved three cats, but some birds were lost to the fire. McNees said the house probably would have been lost, had the home owner not come back when he did. He says a few minutes later, the flames would have spread even further, and they “Would’ve had a real problem.”

And, an electrical problem was apparently the blame for a vehicle fire south of Atlantic Saturday afternoon. Crews responded to a report of a fully engulfed vehicle fire on Highway Six, about a mile south of 29^th Street, at 4:45-p.m. When they arrived, firefighters observed an SUV on fire, and heavy black smoke drifting across the road, which caused traffic to come to a complete stop. A woman and her daughter escaped the vehicle without injury. Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office assisted with traffic control at the scene.

President Barack Obama travels to Council Bluffs today for a grassroots campaign event at Bayliss Park. The stop kicks-off his three-day bus tour of Iowa. It will be the Democrat’s fifth trip to Iowa this year. His other stop today includes a visit to Boone. The rally in Council Bluffs is expected to begin at around 11:25-a.m.  Tickets are required in order for you to attend. The gates to the park will open at 9:15 a.m.

Meanwhile, the new Republican vice presidential contender, Paul Ryan, will meet with voters at the Iowa State Fair, in Des Moines.  He’s scheduled to speak at the Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at 1:00-p.m. Since Mitt Romney named Ryan as his running mate on Saturday, the Obama campaign has been attacking Ryan’s plans to transform Medicare into a voucher system and to re-shape the nation’s tax system.

The Audubon City Council is slated to vote tonight on setting August 27th as the date for a public hearing, with regard to the issuance of $1.75-million in bonds. The move will follow action on a Resolution to declare the City’s official intent to issue debt to reimburse the City for certain original expenditures paid, in connection with specified projects. That includes pool repairs, the airport, water plant & towers/ and refunding Streetscape bonds. In related action, the Council is expected to authorize the mayor to sign a letter of engagement with the Ahlers Law Firm, pertaining to the Bond proceedings.

In other business, the Council will hold a public hearing this evening, with regard to the selling of property at 118 East Division Street, in Audubon. They’ll also hold the second on final reading of an ordinance setting the sewer rates. During their July 9th meeting, the Council voted to draft an Ordinance increasing the rates by 15-percent. They’ll also hold the first reading of an ordinance creating a No Parking zone on a portion of the 700 block of North Division Street, among other business. The meeting begins at 7-p.m., in the Aububon City Hall.