The broadcast News at 7:07-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – Three virtual rather than in-person public hearings are being planned for next month, to give Iowans a chance to comment on proposed maps that will change the boundaries of Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts. The Legislative Services Agency is using 2020 Census data to align district boundaries based on population changes and it plans to present legislators with a new set of maps by Thursday, September 16th. Iowa’s Temporary Redistricting Advisory Committee is planning for public hearings to be held the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Two will be at night. One will be in the afternoon.

Members of the Advisory Committee says holding those forums online rather than at sites around the state will give more Iowans a chance to speak. Iowans may submit written comments as well. By law, at least three public hearings must be held before legislators can vote on the redrawn district maps.

(Radio Iowa) – The Indianola School Board has voted to table discussion about changing the district’s “Indians” logo and mascot until after November’s school board election. School Board member Carolyn Langenwalter says the district has bigger issues to deal with right now. “My priority is the education of the kids at this point,” she said. “…I’m not disagreeing that we should talk about it, but I also think it’s something that we delay until we get through the pandemic.”

Several Indianola residents spoke during a period of public comment during Monday night’s board meeting. One woman who favors keeping the Indian mascot called it a symbol of bravery, courage and pride. A critic of the mascot said it promotes the idea Native Americans are historic or fictional figures. School Board member Ken Bresnan says it may take up to a year to have a respectful discussion in the community about the Indian mascot and whether it should be changed. “If we don’t take our time and shoot from the hip, the community hasn’t learned anything and we haven’t done our job,” Bresnan says. “We need to have time to share and to talk.”

The board asked for suggestions on how to gather community input. This isn’t the first time the issue has been debated in Indianola. One board member said her father was serving on the board 25 years ago when a similar discussion took place about Indianola’s mascot. Simpson College, also in Indianola, changed its mascot from the Redmen to the Storm in 1992.

A Heat Advisory put into effect Monday continues for today, effective from Noon until 7-p.m. all counties in the KJAN listening area are included in the Advisory.

* WHAT…Heat index values up around 105 expected.

* WHERE…Central and Southern Iowa, roughly Highway 30 and south.

* IMPACTS…Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses to occur.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

Officials with the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Monday night, said numerous narcotics-related arrests have been made over the past month:

• On August 2nd, 37-year-old Peter James Zelenka, of Omaha, was arrested following a traffic stop, on charges that include Possession of methamphetamine, weapons charges and on an active Mills County warrant. Deputies found nearly 8.5-grams of meth in the vehicle, along with a handgun.
  

  Zelenka

• On Aug. 6th, 48-year-old Dana Brocke Burkholder, III, of Omaha, was arrested following a traffic stop in Mills County. He was charged with Possession of Meth and Driving While Revoked.
  

  Burkholder

• Deputies arrested 33-year-old Lorenzo Bernard Cobb, of Hastings, NE, on Aug. 8th. As the result of a traffic stop, he was charged with Possession of Meth, Possession of Marijuana, and Poss. of Prescription Pills.
  

  Cobb

• August 13th, Mills County Deputies arrested 37-year-old Samantha Jo Abraham and 43-year-old Matthew Terrill Ollie, both of Council Bluffs. The were charged with Possession of meth with the intent to deliver, following an investigation that resulted in a traffic stop on a motorcycle.
  

  Abraham-Ollie

• Authorities say 35-year-old Richard Joseph Moreno, of Omaha, was arrested Aug. 17th during a traffic stop that resulted in the recovery of a handgun and meth.
  

  Moreno

  He was charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree, Felon in Possession of a firearm, and possession of meth.

• On the 19th, a traffic stop for an equipment violation resulted in the arrest of 47-year-old David Allen Ryan, of Shenandoah, for Possession of Meth with the Intent to Deliver. A passenger in the vehicle, 39-year-old Bobbi Jo Christo, of Shenandoah, was charged with possession of marijuana.
  

  Ryan-Christo

• And, on Aug. 22nd, 18-year-old Kyrell Deshawn Wells, of Omaha was arrested during a traffic stop in Mills County. He faces charges that include Poss. of Marijuana with the intent to deliver, and carrying weapons. The latter charge was related to the recovery of a handgun containing a 50-round magazine. Wells was also flagged as being a known gang member and on probation out of Nebraska.
  

  Wells

(Des Moines, IA) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health report on Monday (today), the FDA authorized full approval for one COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older.

“The FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine offers Iowans and Americans who’ve not yet been vaccinated the assurance they need to do so now,” stated Governor Reynolds. “The vaccine is the best defense against the virus, and it’s been proven highly effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death, even against variants. Vaccine is widely available in the state, and I encourage all eligible Iowans to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

The Comirnaty vaccine continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

Vaccine supply in the state is stable and vaccine appointments are readily available statewide. We encourage anyone with questions to reach out to their health care provider.

More than 3 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Iowa and more than 1.5 million Iowans are fully vaccinated. For more information about vaccination in Iowa or to find a vaccine provider near you, visit vaccinateiowa.gov.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Monday afternoon, said the 4th Judicial District Correctional Officer who was involved in a shooting with parole violators Brandon Hines and Kelsey Hanna in Council Bluffs on Friday, August 20, 2021, is identified as Officer Mike Brown. Officer Brown is on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation. Officer Brown had eight years of prior law enforcement experience before joining the Department of Correction in July 2021. Officer Brown was released from the hospital on Friday evening and is recovering at home from his injuries.

This is an on-going criminal investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Once the DCI completes its investigation, a report will be submitted to the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office for review.

Brandon Hines has been released from the hospital and taken into custody by Nebraska authorities on a parole violation warrant issued by the State of Nebraska. Hines will be extradited to Iowa at a later date to face the following criminal charges in Iowa.

• Assault on a Police Officer with a dangerous weapon  (Class D Felony)
• Assault on a Police Officer while attempting to inflict serious injury (Class D Felony)
• Theft 2nd Degree (Class D Felony)

Original story (from the IDPS Press Release) dated Friday, 8/20/21:

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – On Friday, August 20, officers with the Iowa Department of Corrections’ 4th Judicial District’s High-Risk Unit were searching for Kelsey Hanna and Brandon Hines pursuant to parole warrants.

Shortly after 1:00 p.m., officers with the High-Risk Unit observed Hines and Hanna leaving a house and entering a black Ford SUV near 27th Street and Avenue G in Council Bluffs. The officers attempted to stop Hines and Hanna from leaving the area.

As the officers with the High-Risk Unit approached the black SUV, the driver (Hines) put the car in reverse and backed into a secondary officer’s vehicle. Hines then put the black SUV in drive and drove towards and struck one of the officers. One officer fired his service weapon striking Hines.

Hines fled, but was apprehended a short time later by the Nebraska State Patrol in Omaha. Hines was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Hanna was arrested without incident.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa police dog named Pepper tracked down a missing child. Pepper, a nearly 15-month-old Dutch Shepherd, completed a certification process earlier this month and works as a K9 officer for Estherville Police.

Sergeant Matt Reineke, Pepper’s handler, says the training paid off last Monday during a search for a missing child in a neighboring community. “By the time we arrived on scene, they had been looking for over two hours for this missing child,” Reineke says. “…Was brought to the house where the child was last seen and talked to the parent and I obtained an article of clothing that was just the child’s a no one else had tampered with and I went to where the child was last seen in the yard playing and let Pepper smell that article of clothing for about 20 seconds and gave her the command basically to track.”

Reserve Officer Krause and Part-time Officer Staples, Sgt Reineke and Pepper, Mayor Joseph May. (Estherville PD photo).

Reineke says it took Pepper about five minutes to find the boy. “She went around the yard. Eventually she put her nose to the ground and picked up scent and took off down the road a little bit and then crossed the road toward a corn field,” Reineke says. “We went through the corn for a short time and then back out of the corn and continued down a fence line into a real thick wooded fence line — tall grass — where we tracked that for a while and then she went into the deep part of the fence line and stopped…so I went to investigate and, sure enough, it was the missing child.”

The Estherville Police Department has had trained K-9 officers for about 20 years. Pepper replaces a police dog named Max who died unexpectedly after 18 months of service with the department.

(Radio Iowa) – Carroll County has become the sixth so-called “Second Amendment Sanctuary County” in Iowa. The Board of Supervisors took the vote this morning. Supervisor Rich Ruggles said he listened to a lot of people on both sides of the argument. “I believe that the Constitution has been bent a lot lately and I’m quite concerned and I don’t want to give any traction or footing on this issue,” he said. “As I also read this is kind of symbolic that we do this. It really has no teeth. It has not much bearing, but I also think it’s a clear message that we send this to legislative people from a local level.”

Carroll County Attorney John Werden said he reviewed several drafts of similar policies adopted by counties in Iowa and Missouri. “I think the only thing that is really political about this is it uses the word ‘sanctuary’ in the right way,” Werden said, “Sanctuary cities and counties — that has been code word for those who want to disobey the law, for those who want to want to ignore federal law in other areas, so I think it’s great that we’ve co-opted their word and used it for the law abiding citizens of this county.”

Rich Ruggles, Carroll County Supervisor

Members of the public attended today’s meeting and some spoke before the vote was taken. Dick Searle said the resolution is “purely propaganda” and a scare tactic. “The people who are sponsoring this thing have tried to scare you into believing that the guns are going to be taken away and they talk about their constitutional rights. The state supreme court or the federal supreme court is going to knock down any law that takes away your constitutional rights,” Searle said. “This thing is unnecessary.”

The resolution passed on a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Dean Schettler was the lone no vote. “I own guns. I don’t want my guns to be taken away because then I can’t shoot rabbits and pheasants. Everybody else is probably in the same boat,” he said, “but I guess I don’t want this to be construed by the bad guys as a place where they can come and build an arsenal of guns.”

The boards of supervisors in Adams, Cedar, Hardin, Jasper and Madison Counties have also adopted second amendment resolutions this summer.