Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department say that on August 2nd, from 5-8pm, the Police Department will be hosting National Night Out in Target’s north parking lot at 3804 Metro Drive, in Council Bluffs. The CB-PD, along with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, and the Council Bluffs Fire Department will all have equipment on display.

They’ll be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, handing out t-shirts and other items to the children and holding a small raffle for bicycles and small gifts from nearby businesses.

There will be free face painting and balloons for children, as well. The annual event is a neighbor/community building campaign that focuses on getting out and interacting with each other but this will also allow for neighbors to interact with their local law enforcement.

This is a free event for the whole family and it is open to the public. If you are unable to attend the event at Target, officials encourage you to use the nationally recognized night to get out and meet those neighbors you have not met yet, plan a neighborhood block party and build camaraderie between you and your neighbors.

Make it a common goal between your neighbors to make your neighborhood a safer and better place to live.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An employee at an Iowa Lottery retailer is charged with stealing a winning $250,000 scratch ticket and working with her boyfriend and mother in an attempt to claim the prize. Investigators say 20-year-old Ashley Bosler worked at Casey’s general store in Sioux Rapids in northwest Iowa. She allegedly scratched the bar code off an instant ticket and determined it was a top prize winner after scanning it.

A prosecutor says Bosler hadn’t paid for the ticket ahead of time and wasn’t old enough to play the lottery, which has a minimum age of 21. Bosler allegedly paid for the ticket later after receiving money from her mother. Her boyfriend, Johnny Long Jr., tried to claim the prize. The lottery didn’t pay after discovering scribbling on the ticket that raised suspicions.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports a man was arrested Thursday evening on an assault charge. 25-year old Jesse Don Powell, of Shenandoah, was arrested after he turned himself-in just before 7-p.m. Thursday, on a Page County Warrant for Serious Assault causing bodily injury.

Jesse Don Powell

Powell was booked into the Page County Jail and immediately posted the $1000.00 surety bond through a bonding agency.  He was released pending further court proceedings.

Atlantic City Administrator John Lund today, reports the City’s Personnel & Finance Committee will be meet in a hastily-called session in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, to discuss a counter proposal from Noddle Development. The Omaha commercial property development firm owns buildings in the Atlantic Shopping Plaza, where Hy Vee, the Salvation Army and Pizza Ranch are located.

The company says it has had storm water drainage and sanitary sewer issues, and proposes the City contribute towards the repairs. The PF&C meeting takes place at 1-p.m.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports an Oakland man was arrested on an OWI charge at around 10:45-p.m. Thursday, after he was pulled over in Council Bluffs, on Highway 6 near McPherson Avenue. The deputy initially stopped 63-year old Charles Gordon Reed for having defective tires, but he was subsequently placed under arrest  OWI/1st offense, after he field tested well above the legal limit for intoxication (at .156). A subsequent test indicated a slightly less reading. Officials requested a blood test for intoxication be conducted on Reed, but the results of the test were not available at the time of the report. Reed was booked into the Pott. County Jail on the OWI charge, and cited for having defective tires.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Powerball players will have a shot at the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot this weekend, but they’ll face long odds that have resulted in nearly three months without a winner. Anyone who matches all five balls and red Powerball on Saturday night could win a $478 million annuity paid over 29 years or opt for a $330.6 million cash prize. No one has matched all the numbers since the May 7 drawing.

This jackpot is less than a third of the record $1.6 billion Powerball won in January, but is the fifth-largest in the game’s history.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution for the enforcement of posted weight limits on county bridges. Cass County Engineer Charles Bechtold, today (Friday), said the move will make the resolution an annual occurrence. Bechtold said the signs have always been posted, but there was never a resolution adopted. He said enforcement however, has been an issue. He cited an incident in Audubon County where an overloaded grain cart caused a bridge collapse in the fall of 2008. The accident prompted a legal issue where the weight limit was posted, but no resolution was passed that would have enforced the limit through stiff penalties.)

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors passed a resolution to enter into a 28-E agreement with 58 other counties in Iowa, known as the Iowa Precinct Atlas Consortium. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman explained the computer software program and hardware will help with voter identity confirmation through the use of a scanner for ID’s or voter registration cards. The County will pay a fee of $1,500 per year to remain in the consortium, which was started in 2008.

Sunderman said there are only two such systems in existence. The State uses a separate system, but it never really caught on like the Atlas system has. The Supervisors today (Friday), also heard reports from County Conservation Director Micah Lee, who said they’ve been cleaning up a lot of storm damage at parks in the county, as far as downed tree limbs are concerned. They’re also continuing with general maintenance and repairs.

And, Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes provided the Board with a Quarterly and Annual Report. In his annual report, Holmes said his office assisted 606 veterans and their families, with a total of 4,586 contacts having been made. A total of 429 federal VA documents were processed during that time, as well.

Holmes said recent statistics shows Cass County veterans and their families received a little more than $7.825-million dollars in federal VA Benefits during FY 2016, which is an increase of just under $100,000 from last year. That includes $3.55-million for compensation and pensions, $3.7-million for medical expenditures, and $413,000 for education and vocational rehab.

Holmes said if federal VA assistance was not available, many of the County’s veterans and their families would have to seek assistance from state and County sources, such as the general assistance fund, which would reduce the amount of assistance available to non-veteran residents.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to duping dozens of people into buying nonexistent tickets to the Super Bowl and other big events. Federal court records say Ranae Van Roekel, of Boyden, entered her pleas Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. Her charges: mail and income tax fraud.

Prosecutors say Van Roekel was a self-employed ticket broker who ran the business Get ’em Now Tickets from January 2008 to June 2012. Victims say she falsely claimed to have personal relationships and ties to events that gave her an inside track for deeply discounted tickets, hotel rooms and VIP passes.

Her sentencing date hasn’t been set. Prosecutors say she faces up to 20 years on the mail fraud conviction and up to eight years on the tax conviction.

Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), report SWIPCO is seeking two more applicants for a housing rehabilitation program in the City of Elk Horn. Up to $24,999 in home repairs per home, with additional money for lead abatement, is available for the five year forgivable loan.

Applicants must live in the target area, be income qualified, be the homeowner of record, and live in the residence. SWIPCO staff is available to help all homeowners through the application, income qualification, and rehabilitation process.

Community Development Director Amber Carcel says “This program allows us (SWIPCO) to do so much for homeowners. With the large amount of funds available per home we can help repair a leaking roof, replace windows, put on new siding, or whatever the most pressing need is for that particular home.”

The funds are made possible by a Community Development Block Grant the City of Elk Horn received from the Iowa Economic Development Authority in 2015. Elk Horn was awarded $304,000 for the repair of eight homes. Six homes have been approved and are in the rehabilitation process.

Interested applicants should contact SWIPCO at 712-243-4196 for more information.

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

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