Nine & Wine, a fundraiser for the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce that is open to the entire community, will be held this Friday, June 17th, 2016 at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. The tournament includes nine holes of golf, appetizers, provided by Downtowner Café, wine samples at every hole sponsored by Hy-Vee and beer samples provided by Southwest Iowa Distributing and Doll Distributing.

New this year, the Chamber will be hosting a Patio Party beginning at 6:30 PM. For $30 you can enjoy wine tasting, appetizers and dinner on the Atlantic Golf and Country Club patio. Also new this year as an additional fundraiser, the Chamber will be hosting a Wine Pull. Attendees will be able to purchase wine pull tickets for $20 each or three for $50. Each ticket is a winner with one grand prize winner taking home a YETI Cooler, donated by Connect-A- Dock.

An unlimited amount of Mulligans are available for $10, for teams and two betting holes. After the tournament, golfers and guests will enjoy dinner provided by the Atlantic Golf & Country Club and sponsored by Cornerstone Landscaping. There will be a men and women’s door prize given out to golfers and guests of the patio party.
To check on the availability of reservations for the Patio Party and teams available,  sign up, or to learn more, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest Monday afternoon, of 22-year old Patrick Liams, of Creston. Liams was taken into custody on two Union County warrants for Assault on a Peace Officer, and Disorderly Conduct. He was later released from custody on $2,300 bond.

Also arrested Monday afternoon, was 55-year old Robert Fleharty, of Creston. He was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a warrant for Failure to Serve a sentence on an original charge of OWI/1st offense. Fleharty was being held in the Union County Jail while serving the balance of his sentence.

And, late Monday morning, 50-year old Melissa Rodden, of Murray, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center for Simple Assault. Rodden was subsequently released on a Promise to Appear later, in court.

A traffic stop this (Tuesday) morning in Council Bluffs resulted in the arrest of three people and a child being taken into protective custody. Bluffs Police say officers conducted a traffic stop on an SUV at around 12:40-a.m.  When an officer approached the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana. Officers also noticed a semi-automatic handgun in the driver’s side door.

Once the occupants of the vehicle were secured, a firearm was located in the seat where a passenger, 23-year old Rafael Hernandez-Martinez, of Council Bluffs, was sitting. Hernandez-Martinez was charged with being a Felon in Possession, and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Another passenger, 19-year old Jorge Alberto Morales-Diaz, of Omaha, was arrested for providing false information, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and on a warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance. In fact, officers located marijuana on three of the four occupants in the SUV.

Police also identified a valid runaway from Omaha, who had outstanding juvenile warrants. A one-year old child in the vehicle was taken into protective custody. The driver, 23-year old Diana Morales, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Child Endangerment and other charges.

A new type of synthetic drug contributed to a recent overdose in Iowa and has state health and drug control officials warning of its threat. Dale Woolery from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control explains: “It’s involving synthetic opioids which are kind of a hybrid between synthetic drugs as we’ve talked about before relating to the K-2’s and the bath salts — and the opioids we’ve talked about relating to medications or heroin, the pain killers and heroin,” Woolery says.

He says the new drug is known as U-47700 and is the synthetic copy of the powerful painkiller fentanyl. “These are not medications, these are not heroin, but instead it’s a synthetic form of opioid — much more potent than heroin — that can be mixed with heroin. And that makes it very dangerous and potentially deadly,” according to Woolery. He says the synthetic opioids are brought in from outside the U-S. “They’re being manufactured primarily in Asia, but I’ve also heard about Canada being the source for one,” Woolery says.

“Typically they are not manufactured in the U-S, we don’t believe, but if you know chemistry and you have a recipe — and some of these are old research projects pulled off the shelf — they can be made since they are synthetic just about anywhere. But we do believe that most of them are being manufactured overseas and shipped into the U-S.” Woolery says the drug has turned up more often in other states so far than it has in Iowa.

He says there has been one case of a person in eastern Iowa overdosing last week who survived after being treated. Woolery says there have been overdoses and deaths from the drug in other states. Woolery doesn’t know if this new synthetic is driven by people looking for a stronger drug, or by dealers trying to make more money. “I’m not sure if somebody is looking for something different or more, or if it is a case of manufacturers and dealers I guess looking to get more mileage out of their product by cutting heroin with something that might be less expensive,” Woolery says.

He says the drug can cause fatal respiratory arrest, and can reportedly cause problems just by handling it. Parents are encouraged to talk with children about the dangers of all drugs, including new or mysterious substances.  “The important message I think is don’t take anything if you don’t know what it is,” Woolery says. “If it’s mysterious, has a funny name, different name, if it is not from a trusted adult, you don’t want to put it inside of you.”

If you have questions about synthetic opioids, you can contact the Iowa Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222 or go online to: www.iowapoison.org.

(Radio Iowa)