As part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the Council Bluffs Police Department will participate in the semiannual event this Saturday, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The event is designated as “Council Bluffs Operation Medicine Cabinet” and involves the collaboration of several community organizations,  volunteers, and the City of Council Bluffs Recycling Center.

The rain or shine event will be located at Walgreens, 535 East Broadway in Council Bluffs, on the west side of the store near the drive through pharmacy lanes.  Hours are from 10-a.m. until 2-p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28th. Citizens are simply asked to drive through a designated lane, hand over their unused, expired prescription or over the counter drugs with no questions asked.

The Council Bluffs Police Department has helped to organize 15 Prescription Drug Drop Off event since 2010. The past events have collected more than 4,946 pounds of prescription and over the counter drugs with more than 2,722 residents dropping them off anonymously. Prescription drug abuse in the U.S. is increasing at an alarming rate, as are the numbers of accidental poisonings and overdoses. Studies show many abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from home  medicine cabinets. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicines, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, which are both potential safety and health hazards.

Prescription drug abuse is a huge problem and this drug drop off event is a great opportunity for citizens of Council Bluffs and anyone else, to help reduce this threat. Please clean out your medicine cabinets and make your home safe from potential drug theft and abuse.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Monday afternoon, released a report on numerous recent arrests. At around 1:15-a.m. Saturday. 20-year old Cade Aaron McFarland, of Bridgewater, was arrested for the Domestic Assault of his brother, by choking, Interference with Official Acts, and Assault on Law Enforcement and/or others without injury. McFarland was released the following day on $5,000 bond.

On Friday, Oct. 20th, 35-year old Brandon Lee Glisson, of Boone, was arrested in Orient on a felony charge of Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding airflow/choking, with regard to an incident involving his girlfriend. Glisson was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

On Oct. 19th, 34-year old Millie Alisha Olcott, of Greenfield, was arrested on 3 counts of Unlawful Possession of a Prescription drug, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense; Possession of Meth, and Possession of Drug paraphernalia. She was released later that day on $2,000 bond.

Also arrested Oct. 19th, was 31-year old Danielle Joeanna Freeman, of Orient, who was taken into custody on an Adair County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. She was being held on a $1,000 bond. 37-year old Jennifer Marie Woollums, of Adair (whose name was listed as Jennifer Marie Christensen, of Greenfield, on the warrant), was arrested Oct. 19th on an Adair County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order and Theft in the 3rd degree, with regard to the alleged theft of checks belonging to another woman, and the purchase of items valued at around $522, with a forged signature. Woollums was being held on a $2,300 bond.

And, 22-year old Zachary Trenton Holder, of Greenfield, was arrested Oct. 17th in Madison County, on an Adair County warrant for Probation Violation. His bond was set at $5,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey paid a weekend visit to Iowa, site of the first presidential caucuses. Cue the speculation. One of President Donald Trump’s best-known adversaries dined at a must-stop steakhouse for politicos and posed for a photo along a rural road with a neatly groomed field as a backdrop, as countless White House aspirants have before him.

However, it turns out, Comey was visiting his in-laws. With a new Twitter pseudonym — Reinhold Niebuhr — Comey revealed he was in Iowa with his wife Patrice, an Iowa native whose father was celebrating his 90th birthday.

The general manager of 801 Chophouse, Damon Murphy, said Comey and his party simply enjoyed their steak dinner. Trump fired Comey in May, roiling Washington.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic attorneys general from 17 states are calling on Congress to abandon legislation backed by the National Rifle Association that would allow concealed-carry gun permits issued in one state to be valid in all states.

The top prosecutors from states including New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa and California sent a letter to congressional leaders on Sunday warning that federal reciprocity proposals would “lead to the death of police officers and civilians, the proliferation of gun traffickers, and acts of terrorism and other mass violence.”

The warning comes as the gun lobby continues to press for looser gun restrictions even in the weeks after an attack in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead.

A spokeswoman for the NRA’s lobbying arm says the measure remains the organization’s “top legislative priority.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has withdrawn its request with the Trump administration to opt out of the Affordable Care Act and redirect federal money toward lowering premiums for younger participants in a single state-run program.

The idea was designed to stabilize health care insurance in the state, making premium costs based on age in addition to income. Just one company — Minnesota-based Medica — plans to provide policies next year with an anticipated 58 percent increase in premiums.

Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state decided to pull its proposal because federal agencies signaled it would be weeks before they could provide details on the financial viability of the program.

Open enrollment for coverage next year under the law begins in nine days, and 72,000 people in Iowa buy their own policies.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Transportation officials are convinced that blue and white emergency lights on snow plows are effective at reducing crashes, and they’re going to seek a change in state law to permanently allow the lights.

KCRG-TV reports the department started a test project in 2015 to see if switching to blue and white lights would increase visibility and reduce crashes.

The agency found there were 29 crashes from October 2013 to April 2015 that involved vehicles rear-ending or side-swiping plows. After the blue and white lights were tested from October 2015 to April 2017, that number dropped to 10 crashes.

The agency is in its third year of testing and plans to ask lawmakers next session to change state law and make the new lights permanent every winter.