A gas leak in Council Bluffs Thursday led to a brief evacuation of the area.

The Omaha World Herald reports firefighters were called to the East Pierce Street and Kimball Avenue area Thursday at about 3:15 PM where Black Hills Energy crews were already on the scene.

Council Bluffs Assistant Fire Chief Matt Thomas tells the World Herald that Black Hills Energy crews were doing work on East Pierce and they may have severed a 2 inch gas pipe.  He says traffic was stopped on East Pierce and Kimball for a short period while authorities checked gas levels in the area.  He says they also evacuated a few homes in the area, but did not evacuate Jennie Edmundson Hospital or Mercy Hospital where people reported smelling gas.  Black Hills personnel were already on the scene at those hospitals making sure there weren’t problems according to Thomas.

The World Herald says Black Hills Energy stopped the leak by about 3:35 PM.

Guthrie Center is looking into the possibility of becoming a Main Street Community.

The Guthrie Center Times reports a meeting was held Tuesday at Guthrie Activity Center regarding the city becoming a Main Street Community.  About 100 citizens attended.  After the keynote speaker, Thom Guzman of the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s Main Street program spoke, it was decided that a committee would be formed.  The committee would be made of volunteers who would travel to other Main Street Communities and determine the pros and cons of membership

Mayor Denny Kunkle tells the Guthrie Center Times that anyone interested in serving on the committee should contact City Hall at 641-332-2190

Main Street is an Iowa program that includes 48 member communities across the state that aims to help towns restore and revitalize their business districts.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s office says a rear-end accident occurred Wednesday, and it involved the Sheriff himself.

The Guthrie Center Times reports that on Wednesday Sheriff Marty Arganbright was called to the 200th Street and Panorama Drive area to conduct traffic control for a double wide home that was being moved into place.  Arganbright arrived on the scene slowing down on 200th Street, but noticed a vehicle rapidly approaching his 2007 Chevy Silverado.  He was unable to move his truck in time and was struck by a 2007 Ford Fusion driven by Margaret Jeanne McDermott of Panora.

The Guthrie Center Times says damage to McDermott’s vehicle was about $2,500.  No damage was reported on Sheriff  Arganbright’s truck.  No citations were issued.

Police are looking for a hit and run driver in Council Bluffs after the driver tried to beat a railroad crossing.

The Omaha World Herald reports that Council Bluffs Police say woman was struck by a vehicle Tuesday at 11 PM in the 900 block of South 17th Street.  Reports say that 37-year-old Carrie Schwiesow was crossing the street near railroad tracks when the crossing arms began to flash.  An eastbound driver was attempting to beat the railroad crossing and struck Schwiesow near the middle of the street.  The vehicle reportedly stopped for a brief time, but then continued onto ninth avenue.  The crash caused Schwiesow to be flipped onto her head.  She was released from Mercy Hospital after treatment of her injuries.

The World Herald says authorities believe the vehicle may be a 2005 Kia after finding a driver-side mirror at the scene.  Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at 712-325-STOP.

w/ Brett Johnson

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A two vehicle crash in Guthrie County Wednesday resulted in one injury.

On Wednesday shortly before 4 PM, a 2008 Ford F25 driven by 26-yar-0ld Justin Zika of Adel was southbound on Wax Trail just north of 330′th Street when he crested a hill.  At the same time a 2012 Honda Civic driven by 68-year-old Barbara Richt of West Des Moines was northbound  on Wax Trail.  Zika panicked as he crested the hill and saw Richt’s vehicle.  Zika thought his break was on but instead accelerated as he approached Richt.  Zika was in the northbound lane when his vehicle struck Richt’s vehicle.  Both vehicles ended up in a ditch.

Richt was transported by Stuart rescue to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines for treatment of unknown injuries.  Her vehicle was totaled.  Zika did not sustain injuries.  His vehicle sustained about $5,000 damage.  He was cited for driving the wrong way on a two-way road.

The Harlan Police Department reports the arrests of several people the past few weeks.

On July 14 two people were arrested in separate incidents.

40-year-old Chad Wiese of Omaha was arrested when police were called to veteran’s Memorial auditorium for a disturbance.  The investigation determined that Wiese had assaulted two people.  He was taken into custody and transported the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with assault and public intoxication.

Also July 14, a 15 year old male was arrested when officers patrolling the Shelby County fairgrounds witnessed the juvenile threatening another person with a knife and demanding money.  He was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs where he was charged with a Class B felony robbery.

On July 12, 23-year-old Cameron Behrens of Harlan was cited for failure to maintain control and striking fixtures upon a highway in a July 4th incident where mailboxes were struck in the 300 block of 7th Street.

On July 7, 22-year-old Andrew Vazquez of Harlan was arrested when officers were called to a report that Vazquez had passed out on a bench in the 1000 block of 7th Street.  He was charged with public intoxication.  Vazquez was also arrested July 13 when officers were called to the 1000 block of 7th Street where a fight was in progress.  Vasquez was again transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with assault, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.

The Atlantic Police Department has begun planning for a deer hunt this year after the city council recently passed an ordinance providing that hunting be allowed for deer within the Atlantic city limits.

The Atlantic Police Department is now taking calls from residents that would like to hunt their own land or would allow a licensed hunter to hunt on their property.

Property owners that have a number of deer on their land or have experienced deer problems may contact the Atlantic Police Department and give their address and phone number so a list can be compiled of available lands.  Hunters will then be given information to seek the land owner’s permission to hunt on specific properties.  Larger parcels may be hunted by more than one hunter.  If a landowner is not contacted by a hunter they are encouraged to call the Atlantic Police Department and they will attempt to get a hunter for your land.

All hunters will be tested for competency and safety prior to being issued a city hunting permit.  The hunters will be limited to hunting antler-less deer.  No land may be hunted without authorization of the Atlantic Police Department.

This ordinance arose after many complaints of deer being struck by vehicles and property damage.

Please call the Atlantic Police Department at 243-3512 with any questions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -The Black Hawk County chief deputy investigating the disappearance of two Iowa cousins missing for nearly a week say one of the parents may not be cooperating 100 percent. Family members say Misty and Dan Morrissey, parents of 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey, have talked to an attorney who is advising they stop talking and taking polygraph tests. Both Morriseys have spent time in prison on drug charges.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that severe drought affecting much of the Midwest and Great Plains now covers more than half of Iowa and three-quarters of Nebraska.  The drought map is a project shared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Weather Service. The latest map is based on conditions as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) – A Republican-leaning independent group is out with a new TV ad chiding President Barack Obama for criticizing Mitt Romney’s business record. American Crossroads, a super PAC tied to GOP strategist Karl Rove, announced yesterday that it is spending $9.3 million to air the ad in nine general election battleground states, including Iowa.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – An Iowa woman accused of using a bomb threat to rob a Sioux Falls bank says she’d been kidnapped and forced to commit the crime. But police say her story doesn’t match the evidence. Thirty-nine-year-old Michelle Bock says two men kidnapped her, strapped a bomb to her chest and forced her to walk into the First Premier Bank on South Kiwanis with a note that read, “This is a robbery.” Bock is set to appear in court Wednesday.

MINBURN, Iowa (AP) – As the temperature soared near or past 100, people in Minburn were wondering when their electricity would come back on. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the town lost power yesterdmorning when a truck ran into a power pole. Minburn has about 360 residents and sits 22 miles northwest of Des Moines. As night approached yesterday, power was restored to all but a few residents.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Pleasant Hill police officer has been charged in Des Moines with drinking in public. The Des Moines Register reports that 28-year-old Christopher Brooks was cited on Saturday.

An eastern Nebraska man is now jailed on charges he lured at least three boys to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and molested them — perhaps hundreds of times over several years. Twenty-two counts of sexual child abuse are filed against 32-year-old Robert Schuster, who lives near Lincoln. Lancaster County (Nebraska) Sheriff Terry Wagner says Schuster befriended the parents of his victims to place himself in a position to be alone with their children.

“He was taking younger children from here to Iowa to some kind of event and then spending the night with the children in the Council Bluffs area,” Sheriff Wagner says. “That’s sort of how that whole thing developed.” Court documents indicate Schuster lured children from the Lincoln area to Council Bluffs between 2002 and 2009. The boys ranged in age from seven to 16. Authorities say more boys may have been victims and they’re urged to come forward.

Wagner says Schuster perfected his routine to obtain access to the boys. “He would befriend the parents of children and then just a typical sort of grooming process where he would befriend the parents and then put himself in a position to be alone with the children,” Wagner says. The investigation was launched after an unnamed 19-year-old told Lincoln authorities Schuster started sexually assaulting him in 2005. The suspect is known as Robby and changed his last name from Mulder to Schuster in 2005. Schuster was arrested in Council Bluffs and is in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $50,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa)