A Corning man was arrested on Wednesday by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office after a pursuit that started in Lenox with Taylor County Deputies.  The pursuit ended at a residence on 240th Street in Corning.

Deputies eventually arrested 21-year-old Ridge Allen Casteel of Corning on multiple drug charges. Several bags of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia were found inside the house and vehicle at 3050 240th Street in Corning.  Casteel faces charges of Possession with Intent to Deliver and Drug Tax Stamp Violation. He was taken into custody and held on $5,000 bond.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of an Omaha man on a charge of Child Endangerment Wednesday. At 3:37pm officers arrested 41-year-old Alejandro Garcia-Pimentel of Omaha in the parking lot of the BP Gas Station at 1715 North Broadway Street in Red Oak. He was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $2,000 bond. No further details were provided at this time.

Concept Photo

First Whitney Bank delivered a proposal to the Atlantic City Council on Wednesday night to construct a sculpture of Atlantic founder Franklin Whitney on Chestnut Street.  The bank wants to gift the sculpture in honor of Atlantic’s 150th Anniversary in 2018.

Bank President Paul Gude delivered the proposal to the council.

“What I am asking the city council to do is approve the construction of a center island on Chestnut Street between the First Whitney Bank and the Whitney Hotel.”

The monument on the center island would be a bronze casting sculpture to commemorate Franklin Whitney’s founding of the City of Atlantic.

The proposal would have Scott Smith and Troy Muller from the First Century Art Guild in Kimballton build the sculpture.  The sculpture would take about a year to complete if approved and First Whitney Bank would fund the entire project.

The island would be about 7 feet wide and 30-40 feet long.

The Council appeared to favor approval of the project but no action could be taken yet.

Listen to Jim Field’s interview with First Whitney Bank CEO Paul Gude about the project on our Heartbeat Today program below.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — With a heat index creeping into the triple digits, the Salvation Army in Omaha has opened cooling stations in Omaha and neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. The cooling centers will offer an air-conditioned reprieve from the heat through Thursday, as well as bottled water to help people hydrate.

The centers are located at the Burrows Center in eastern Omaha, the Kroc Center in southeastern Omaha, North Corps in northeastern Omaha and Council Bluffs Corps across the Missouri River in western Iowa. Most of the centers are open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on weekdays. The Kroc Center is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The temperature in Omaha by mid-afternoon Wednesday was around 95 degrees, but the heat index was over 100 degrees.

Two people in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt were injured Wednesday, during a rollover accident in Monona County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver, 40-year old Dale James Swan, of South Sioux City, NE., and his passenger, 37-year old Amanda Kay Swan, of Sioux City, IA., were transported to hospitals in Onawa and Sioux City, respectively, with Dale Swan being sent by Whiting Rescue, and Amanda Swan transported by Mercy Air Care.

The Patrol says they were traveling north on Interstate 29 at around 4-p.m. near the Whiting exit (mile marker 120), when for reasons unknown, the car drove off the road and into a gore, rolling over several times before coming to rest on its top in the gore. Amanda Swan was extricated from the vehicle by mechanical means.

The accident remains under investigation.

The Atlantic Fire responded Wednesday night to a report of a vehicle fire near the gas pumps at the central Casey’s Store (701 Poplar Street). The call came in at around 8:22-p.m.  Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees told KJAN News a man in a pickup truck had just fueled-up his vehicle and started to back away, when he smelled fuel and soon thereafter, saw flames. He managed to put the fire out with an extinguisher before fire crews arrived.

McNees said the cause of the fire was not clear, but it could have been a bad fuel or brake line. The brake line was damaged by the fire. He said also, that the vehicle had a “nice motor,” and that the owner had done a lot of work on the engine.

The fire department was on-hand to assist with the clean-up. Atlantic Police and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office were also on the scene. Fire crews returned to their base about 12-minutes later.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, reported two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Tuesday. 34-year old Nicole Jean Cronland, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 9:35-a.m. in Malvern, for Driving Under Suspension and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $900. And, at around 6:15-p.m. Tuesday, Deputies in Mills County arrested 48-year old Yancey Sean Gonzalez, of Bloomer, WI, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.

Late Tuesday night, 28-year old Jonathan Lee Million, of Emerson, was arrested in Mills County on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County, for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held in the Mills County jail without bond.

Summer starts today (Wednesday) and state health officials are reminding Iowans not to underestimate the power — and danger — of their lawnmowers. The number of mower-related injuries reported statewide took a big jump last year. Dr. Patty Quinlisk, medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says push and riding mowers pose different types of risks to life and limb.

“One is if you’re on a riding mower, it could tip. For example, if you’re going sideways down a slope, it could tip and injure you,” Dr. Quinlisk says. “The next one is when that blade is going around, it could throw up rocks or other things in the area where you’re mowing and you could be hit by that. The third one is the blade itself.” That sharpened metal blade, spinning around at 200 miles an hour, can quickly slice off a finger or a toe.

While it’s hot and you may want to dress light for mowing, Quinlisk suggests you don’t skimp on footwear. “You should have sturdy shoes on. This is not the time to mow with sandals or even bare feet. You want good safety shoes on,” Quinlisk says. “You want to have something to protect your eyes, just in case it does throw some rocks or dirt or something up.” Many young Iowans make good money mowing lawns in their neighborhoods during the summer but Quinlisk says parents should give serious consideration to their child’s age and maturity level before letting them take off with the Toro.

“If it’s a push mower, usually we say somewhere around 12 to 14 (years old) with some safety instructions prior to using it,” Quinlisk says. “With the riding ones, usually most people say around 16 or older is when that becomes a little bit safer.” A state health department report says four people were killed in Iowa last year in lawn mower-related accidents and 156 were injured.

In 2015, six deaths were reported but only 108 injuries. In the past six years, a total of 20 Iowans have died in mower-related accidents.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Association of Realtors monthly report shows around the same number of house sold this May as sold last year — but they are selling at a faster pace. Association president, Cindy Miller, says its an issue of the proper supply of the best selling homes. “We have a little bit of a shortage,” Miller says, “and it’s not a shortage, shortage. Just more of not what people are looking for.” She says buyers are looking for homes priced in the middle of the range.

“We need a lot more houses that are going to be more in the medium housing price instead of way high up, or way real low,” Miller explains. “We just have that shortage around the 120-125 mark for the new home buyers.” Miller says the demand for these types of houses has made it a good time for those who want to sell them.

“We’re finding that they sell fairly quickly and we’re finding multiple offers on one house coming up,” Miller says. The competition for those houses has pushed up the median sale price of homes by five-point-four percent compared to last year. The median price is now 155-thousand dollars. Miller says interest rates are helping people make the decision to buy.

“The rates are very good right now, they are still low and at a good rate for people to get into a house,” Miller says. There were four-thousand-398 homes sold in May of this year compared to 44-hundred-three sold last May. The average days on market was 75 while last year in May it took an average 85 days.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department reports two recent arrests.

On Friday, June 16th Atlantic Police arrested 55-year-old Rodney Pace of Atlantic on a Nebraska Warrant for Fraud. He was taken to the Cass County Jail and held pending transport.

On Tuesday, June 20th Atlantic Police arrested 27-year-old Joseph White of Atlantic on an Adair County Warrant for Probation Violation. He was taken tot he Cass County Jail and held pending transport.