An official with Menards confirms the home improvement store had purchased the Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs and will tear down the structure to make room for a new store. Menards spokesman Jeff Abbott said Monday the company would build a “bigger and better store” at the site of the mall in eastern Council Bluffs, just off Interstate 80.

Tenants of the mall told The Daily Nonpareil newspaper that they have been told to leave the mall by the end of the year or sooner. Abbott said the new store was needed because and existing one was “small and dated.” Menards is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

The Harlan Police Department has issued a report on arrests. Officials say on November 29th, 40-year old Jonathon Matthew Davis, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Davis was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault.

On December 4th, 35-year old Benjamin Michael Johnson, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. Johnson was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with prohibited acts penalties, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, fail to obey stop sign and driving while suspended.

There were two arrests in Harlan on Saturday, December 7th: 25-year old Nicholas Alex Kornischuk, of Avoca, was arrested following a traffic stop. Kornischuk was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with operating while intoxicated and fail to obey stop sign; And, 35-year old Benjamin Michael Johnson, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. Johnson was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with prohibited acts penalties, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of prescription drugs and driving while suspended.

And on Sunday, December 8th, 54-year old Michael Mario Morelli, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Morelli was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with violation of a no contact order.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests. At around 1:15-a.m. today (Tuesday), 29-year old Ahmon Ellis O’Hara, of Harvey, IL., was arrested at 360th Street and Highway 34, on two counts Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond was set at $2,000. And, Monday afternoon, 32-year old Aaron Justin Bible, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the :Pott. County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond was set at $2,000.

An African man who was trying to build a new life in Cedar Rapids has spent the past 18 months at an Iowa City hospital, recovering from a traffic accident that killed two fellow immigrants. Jean-Claude Shako suffered head and other injuries in the June 25, 2018, collision while he and four other immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo were headed to work in Tama.

He’s well enough to be discharged, doctors have said, but he has no family to move in with, no money for a rehabilitation center and isn’t yet eligible for assistance through Medicaid.