Deputies in Pottawattamie County were led on a high-speed chase early this morning that ended sometime after 2-a.m., just north of Interstate 80, in Harrison County. Details are sketchy at this time, but scanner traffic indicated the vehicle being pursued on L-34 in northwestern Pott. County reached speeds of just over 100-miles per hour before the right front tire blew out. It’s believed the car may have run over stop-sticks laid down by a deputy.

The suspect and the vehicle continued north into Harrison County before he ditched the vehicle and took-off on foot at around 2:19-a.m.. Multiple law enforcement agencies including K9 units attempted to locate the individual, a man with no shirt and blue jeans, but as of 3:30-a.m., the subject had not been located.

We’ll update this story as more details become available.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend is telling employees to look nice for Governor Terry Branstad’s visit even though he’s coming on Casual Friday. Townsend told employees in an email that Branstad will visit the agency’s headquarters Friday and wants to meet as many employees as he has time.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a former lottery worker accused of rigging a Hot Lotto game have rested their case in the man’s fraud trial. Des Moines television station KCCI reports the defense for 52-year-old Eddie Tipton presented testimony Thursday for about an hour before resting their case. Closing arguments are scheduled on Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s medical cannabis oil program has cost the state more than $100,000 to create and issue registration cards to about 50 people. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, Massachusetts-baesed MorphoTrust USA billed the state Transportation Department $115,000 for its work. Agency spokeswoman Melissa Spiegel said the cost was reasonable based on similar work on other cards.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Public Information Board has voted to further review whether authorities must release records detailing the mistaken killing of a woman by a Burlington police officer. The board voted Thursday to spend another month investigating complaints alleging authorities have repeatedly violated the open records law after the January shooting of Autumn Steele.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has issued another disaster proclamation in response to recent severe weather for Jefferson and Wayne counties in the southern half of the state. The areas were affected by severe storms and flooding toward the end of June.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it considers many factors when determining ways to euthanize large numbers of animals during a disease outbreak. The agency released the statement Thursday in response to a letter from an animal rights group criticizing a USDA proposal to respond to a future outbreak of bird flu.

The Humane Society of The United States’ letter focused on statements made by USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford during a Senate committee hearing last week. Clifford said shutting off ventilation systems to barns when the highly contagious disease is found may be more humane and efficient than gassing or using foam to suffocate the birds. Those methods were used amid this year’s outbreak.

The animal rights group says the latest idea is gruesome and should be scrapped.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates are descending on Iowa for the first face-off of their 2016 primary, even as their contest remains dominated by the political influence of Hillary Rodham Clinton. All five Democratic candidates are on today’s (Friday’s) program for a dinnertime fundraiser sponsored by the state party in Cedar Rapids. The event is an opportunity for the challengers to confront Clinton before influential party activists in a crucial early voting state.

Three months into her campaign, Clinton has already built a vast campaign infrastructure, placing hundreds of staffers across the country. But the forum today comes amid signs that she has yet to win over her party’s most passionate supporters, who will form the base of her support in the general election.

Officials with the Denison Police Department report the arrest on Wednesday of Douglas Duane Myers, of Denison.

Douglas Duane Myers

Myers was taken into custody on charges that include Burglary in the 3rd Degree, Violation of a No Contact/Protection Order and Possession of Controlled Substances.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Budget concerns have led officials in western Iowa to announce a plan to shut down the region’s drug court. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that Fourth Judicial District drug court will shut down on Oct. 1st.

Drug court started in January 2000. It offers people who are convicted of drug felonies a chance to complete a rehabilitation program instead of going to jail. If they are successful, the charges can be wiped from their records.  District director Kip Shanks says there are about 40 offenders in the program, which is no longer accepting applications. Shanks says the program cost $250,000 a year to run, but funds allocated to his department for 2016 did not cover both drug court costs and employee raises.

The Audubon Police Department reports two people were arrested, Tuesday. 27-year old Ashlie Renee Kluver of Audubon, was taken into custody on charges that include: Driving While Revoked, Possession of Marijuana –2nd or subsequent offense; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Child Endangerment. Kluver was taken to the Audubon County Jail where she was being held pending an appearance before a magistrate. The incident remains under investigation.

And, 41-year old Kip Wylie Spencer of Audubon, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of  Burglary in the 1st Degree. Spencer was being held in the Audubon County Jail pending an appearance before a magistrate.

(12-p.m. News)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new survey suggests modest economic growth ahead in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but the predicted decline in farm income this year remains a concern. The overall Rural Mainstreet economic index inched into positive territory in July at 53.4. In June the index registered a neutral score of 50.

The index has risen for four months. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the trend is encouraging, but the bankers surveyed still aren’t very optimistic. The confidence index remained in negative territory at 46.6 after improving from June’s 45.9.

The survey indexes range from 0 to 100. Any score below 50 suggests decline in that factor in the months ahead. Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

Law enforcement officers around Iowa are reporting a dramatic rise in the use and distribution of one of the most dangerous and addictive illegal drugs – heroin.

Paul Feddersen

Paul Feddersen, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement (DNE), says heroin seizures rose from less than 500 grams in 2013 to over 200,000 grams in 2014. DNE agents believe much of the heroin is coming to Iowa from Chicago.

“Most of the seizures are in eastern Iowa,” Feddersen said. “The main counties are Johnson, Linn and Scott Counties. So, heroin is coming to Iowa, it is here.” The rise in the abuse of prescription painkillers is tied to the rise in heroin use, according to Feddersen. “Many people start out with prescription drugs, then eventually move on to heroin because heroin is cheaper, more available and it’s a better high,” Feddersen said.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports there were 20 heroin-related overdose deaths in the state last year. That’s more than double the amount in any previous year over the past decade. Overdose deaths from prescription pain relievers, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, have also been rising in Iowa – with 77 such deaths in 2014.

(Radio Iowa)

A southwest Iowa man whose police officer wife was shot and killed this spring may find himself on the fast-track to getting U-S citizenship. Hector Orozco, of Council Bluffs, is an immigrant from Mexico and has legal status. His wife, Kerrie Orozco was a Walnut, Iowa, native and an Omaha police officer who was fatally shot in May while serving an arrest warrant. A bill being introduced in Congress would allow the surviving spouses of first-responders killed in the line of duty to more easily gain citizenship. Nebraska Congressman Brad Ashford, of Omaha, is sponsoring the measure and says it’s getting a good response.

“We just have to reach out and do our work. That’s what legislating is all about,” Ashford says. “We’ll take what time it takes to get a good number, hopefully, of members to sign on to the bill and then move forward.” The legislation is based on current American policy for the surviving spouses of military personnel killed in combat. It allows those spouses to apply for expedited citizenship. Congressman Ashford says he’s hoping to offer the bill in the U-S House within a week or two.

“The next step is to get signatories on the bill and introduce it before the recess on August 1st,” Ashford says. “Then, it would go to a committee, probably the Judiciary Committee. I think the more signatories we get on the bill, the better chance we have of getting it out this year and that would be the goal.” Hector left Mexico in 1999, at the age of 17, and now works as a supervisor for a lawn care company in Omaha. He married Kerrie in 2011.

He has applied for citizenship, but the wait could stretch to six years. Hector has two children from a previous marriage, while he and Kerrie also had a child, Olivia, born in February three months premature. Kerrie was to begin maternity leave the day after she was fatally shot. The suspect in the shooting was also killed.

(Radio Iowa)