DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A thickly coated sheep has been captured after an hour of freedom in downtown Des Moines.  The Navajo-Churro ram jumped from a trailer near the Capitol on Friday morning and led police, Animal Rescue League officials and Capitol workers on a chase.  It finally was cornered and controlled near the power plant south of the Capitol.

Authorities say the ram was being taken from Creston to Cedar Rapids.

His visit Friday morning to Cass County marks the 99^th county visited this year for both Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who visited Plastic Professionals in Atlantic, and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who wraps up her tour with a STEM Community Conversation at the Rock Island Depot in Atlantic on Tuesday, December 11th at 11 a.m.

The Governor says “Each year, I am committed to visiting every Iowa county because I want to hear directly from Iowans.: He said also, “When I put together my legislative proposals for the upcoming legislative session, I rely upon these visits to truly understand what Iowans wish to see in moving this state forward. I am grateful for each and every Iowan who turned out for our events, and I look forward to starting all over again this January.”

Lt. Gov. Reynolds’ travels this year included a number of town halls with Gov. Branstad, dozens of solo STEM appearances and joint STEM presentations with University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen, and visits to dozens of Iowa small businesses throughout the state.

Branstad and Reynolds have each committed to all of Iowa’s 99 counties every year.

The Iowa National Guard says funeral services have been set for a 23-year old Algona native who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month, in Afghanistan. Sgt. Joseph A. Richardson died while serving on active duty in the U.S. Army on Nov. 16th, during a patrol in Paktika province, Afghanistan. His unit was attacked by enemy forces using an Improvised Explosive Device and small arms fire.

Also killed in the attack was Sgt. Channing B. Hicks, age 24, of Greer, S.C. Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan., as infantrymen. Richardson was assigned to the 1st I-D in October 2008 and had previously served a tour in Iraq with them. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Visitation for Sgt. Richardson will be held from this (Friday) evening, from 5-to 8, at the Oakcrest Funeral Home (218 S. Moore Street), in Algona. The funeral service will be held 10:30- a.m., Sat., Dec. 1st, at the St. Cecilia Catholic Church, (715 E. North St.,) in Algona.

A collision Thursday morning in Atlantic caused $4,000 damage altogether, but no one was injured. According to the Atlantic Police Department, a vehicle driven by Ruben Weirich, of Atlantic, was turning right onto 8th Street from the Iowa Western Community College parking lot, when Weirich failed to yield to a westbound vehicle driven by Ethan Nachtman, of Atlantic. During the collision, the Weirich vehicle hit Nachtman’s vehicle on the right front corner. Weirich was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a through street. The accident happened at around 9:30-a.m., Thursday.