Sheriff’s deputies in Pottawattamie County report that at around 10:20-p.m., dispatch advised of a check welfare and assist Council Bluffs Police in locating 19-year old Alex Robert Hopkins,​ who was making threats of self harm to his parents and girlfriend. ​Hopkins was located near a residence outside of Underwood. ​Hopkins was allegedly under the influence of marijuana at the time of contact and didn’t appear to need medical treatment for making threats of self harm. ​Hopkins had an active warrant for his arrest for probation violation and was taken into custody and transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail.

A man from Omaha, wanted on Pott. County warrants was transported Wednesday from Douglas County, NE. Corrections to Pott. County. 35-year old Kevin Richard Bequette was wanted for two counts of Assault on Persons in Certain Occupations/dangerous weapon, Criminal Mischief in the 2nd degree, Interference with official acts/display of weapon, Theft in the 1st degree, and for driving while license suspended or revoked. His bond was set at $25,000. Three other prisoners at the Douglas County jail were transported to the Pott. Jail, Wednesday:

• 30-year old Brent Lee William Foote, of Council Bluffs, was wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation.
• 31-year old Delshonte Lavaille Barber, of Omaha, was wanted for felony Escape from Custody. Bond was set at $5,000.
• 39-year old Edgar Gerardo Badillo was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation.

24-year old Joseph William Michael Haugton, of Hamburg, was transported from the Fremont County Jail, Wednesday, to the Pottawattamie County Jail, on warrants for Violation of Probation and Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order-Contempt of Court. His bond was set at $300. 18-year old Isabelle Chen Narron, of Glenwood, was transported from the Mills County Jail to Council Bluffs, where she was wanted for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine-1st offense, and Use or Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A downtown business group says the economic toll from Mississippi River flooding could run as high as $2.5 million a month. The Quad-City Times reports that the economic impact statement from the Downtown Davenport Partnership doesn’t include property damage. The statement is part of an application sent to state and federal officials for assistance. Factors include sales statistics, lost wages and business activity because of inaccessibility.

A temporary flood barrier failed April 30, allow floodwaters to cover several downtown blocks. The organization’s director, Kyle Carter, says federal emergency officials asked the group to “look at the bigger picture, because there’s just no way to know instantaneously what that impact is.” Scott County officials are still waiting for federal officials to declare the area a disaster zone.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Des Moines Police Department say officers were investigating a report this morning, of a mountain lion sighting within the City. Video from  is being examined to confirm the presence of the animal. Snapshots taken from the video in the area of 31st and I-235 appear to show a mountain lion near some steps and a park bench.

Mountain lions have been inside the city before. Police fatally shot one on the city’s north side in October 2012. Authorities said residents should “exercise an abundance of caution with children and pets in this area.”

These pictures come from I-235 & 31st St. near Callanan Middle School in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans are being reminded by the Internal Revenue Service that new tax laws mean new calculations for payroll taxes. I-R-S spokesman Christopher Miller says Iowans should be sitting down with their tax returns and their paychecks this week in order to consult the I-R-S’s withholding calculator. Miller says, “The withholding tables also changed and that means that what’s being taken out of their paycheck may have changed and they need to be aware of that.”

Miller says the special Paycheck Checkup tool on the agency’s website will help you and your employer better tailor your withholdings under the new laws. Miller says, “You enter some information about your situation and it will help you understand whether or not the right amount for your particular situation is being withheld from your paycheck.”

The I-R-S is also asking Iowa businesses to look at their payroll and make sure employees are having the right amount of pay withheld. Miller says changes to the tax law means that the withholdings you might have been using over the last several years are insufficient.  “If they received a smaller refund than they expected this year, or perhaps even if they had a tax bill that was unexpected, this will allow them to adjust their withholding,” Miller says.

Find the special Paycheck Check-Up page online at I-R-S-dot-gov.

The Creston Police Department reports 29-year old Terry Ray Hankins Lund, Jr., of Creston, was arrested Wednesday morning at his home, on three Union County warrants. The warrants were for: charges of Criminal Mischief in the 2nd degree & burglary in the 2nd; Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree & Domestic Abuse Assault; and, Obstruction of Emergency Communications. Lund, Jr.’s bond was set at $10,300, with no bond on the assault and 3rd degree Criminal Mischief charges. He remains in the Union County Jail.

25-year old Zachariah Benn, of Creston, was arrested late Wednesday evening at his home, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear for a jail sentence, with regard to an original charge of Driving While Barred. Benn was being held in the Union County Jail, until the balance of his sentence is complete. 30-year old Kayla Hoffman, of Creston, was arrested at her home Wednesday morning, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on the original charge of Theft in the 5th degree. She was being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail, on a $300 bond. At the same residence, 30-year old Caleb Fredrickson, of Creston, was arrested on Union County warrants for Failure to Appear on a Theft in the 3rd degree charge, and Violation of Probation. He was also charged with Driving while Suspended. Fredrickson was being held in the Union County Jail on a total of $12,300 bond.

Creston Police said also, a man residing in the 400 block of N. Poplar Street reported Wednesday, that sometime over the past two- or three-months, someone stole a gun from the glovebox of his vehicle. The Smith and Wesson .38-caliber handgun was valued at $450.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — Two competing Iowa-based convenience store chains are working together to raise awareness about human trafficking. Casey’s General Stores and Kum-and-Go are training their 25-hundred employees through “C-SAT,” Convenience Stores Against Trafficking. Casey’s spokesman Mike Richardson says workers in the industry’s stores, which are open round-the-clock, are in a unique position to help.

“Our employees will be trained in the next three-to-four weeks probably everyone will be completed in order to watch for any signs of human trafficking,” Richardson says. “On top of that, we’ll be placing stickers in the restrooms to either write the number down or text it to somebody that they are actually in that situation.”

Des Moines-based Kum & Go has almost 400 stores in 11 states while Casey’s, headquartered in Ankeny, has 21-hundred stores in 16 states.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Idaho man has pleaded guilty to trying to influence a victim of his brother’s investment scheme. U.S. District Court records say David Emerson Smith, of Pocatello, Idaho, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

Smith’s brother, Darrell Smith, of Forest City, Iowa, was sentenced in October to 14 years and seven months in prison. He’d pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in connection with the investment of clients’ money into an ethanol plant in Hopkinton.

Prosecutors say Darrell Smith had David Smith contact a woman who lost nearly $162,000 in his brother’s scheme and offered her money, tax credits and shares in an energy company if she’d stop complaining to authorities about the amount of her loss.

(Radio Iowa) — This spring has been cooler and wetter than usual in Iowa and that combination may be sticking around for a while. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the El Nino weather pattern was slow to develop in recent months but it’s definitely in place now and it’s likely the impact will be felt for several more months to come.

“El Ninos in the summer tend not to be hot and dry,” Todey says. “Overall, that’s usually a good thing, but this year, because of the wetness, we do have a bit of concern that this could put a little bit of a damper on the growing season.”

Many thousands of acres of Iowa farmland were swamped by flooding in recent months, and this week’s heavy rain is raising fears of a repeat. Todey says if the weather stays cooler and wetter through summer, that lack of heat could be a critical problem for farmers by harvest season.

“With El Ninos not being too warm, you might be a little short on corn on degree days,” Todey says, “which could put us in the fall, even if we’re not into a situation of near-freeze conditions, you may be harvesting some wet corn again.”

An El Nino occurs when Pacific Ocean temperatures rise and cause weather impacts all across North America. Typically, an El Nino also brings a winter that is -warmer- than normal.