WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – A federal appeals court says a Waterloo officer was justified in stopping a drug suspect who was driving just barely over the speed limit. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the officer’s belief that the car was speeding was reasonable based on the circumstances.

An analysis of dash cam video shows Geoffrey Gaffney drove an average speed of 35.8 miles per hour in a 35 zone during the nine seconds the officer observed him. During the stop, police found methamphetamine in Gaffney’s car. He later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Dissenting Judge Kermit Bye says the officer didn’t have sufficient basis for the stop and lacked credentials to visually estimate the car’s speed.

A bomb threat shut down the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids for two hours early this (Wednesday) morning. Police were alerted by OnStar at 3 a.m. about a man claiming to have an explosive at the airport. A suspect was taken into custody a short time later near the airport, which was placed on lockdown.

Emily Dudley of Cedar Rapids told KCRG-TV she arrived at the airport and nearly missed her flight. “We came in and there were cop cars everywhere. We had to wait in line. Then they told us we had to go around. We waited for about 40 minutes. Then, finally, they let us through,” Dudley said.

Bomb technicians searched the terminal and the parking lot. No explosives were found and the lockdown was lifted around 5 a.m. The man who was taken into custody was transported to a hospital for an evaluation.

(KCRG/Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved fireworks permits for four rural residents. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said there were six applications filed, but two were within City limits, with those two being referred to the Cities for approval. The other permits filed include those on behalf of the Marsh family, with the event taking place near the Old Walnut Grove Research Farm southwest of Atlantic.

The second permit was for the Abild family at 66610 610th Street, which is southeast of Lewis. The third permit approved by the Board was for Chad Williams 62495 690th, north of Cumberland. The final permit was for Karen Ackerman at 61211 690th, which is south of Wiota.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors heard from Griswold City Manager Nick MacGregor and Assistant Cass County Attorney Jamie Arnold, with regard to the annexation of a parcel or parcels of land owned by Rick Conry. MacGregor said at this point, he wanted to inform the Board about recent action taken by the Griswold City Council, and no action was needed by the Board. He said the Council recently passed a Resolution for voluntary annexation of property near 6 Union Street, just off of Highway 48.

Dale Sunderman explained that if annexed, the property taxes will be levied by the City, instead of the County. The County has maintained a road on the property, but whose jurisdiction it would fall under if annexation is approved, is a subject of debate.

The County Engineer’s Office says the road appears to be under private ownership, according to Sunderman. In any event, there are still several “hoops” to jump through before annexation takes place, including at least one public hearing.

Fears about flooding are rising as more rain is in the forecast over the next few days for parts of the state that are still soggy from up to five-inches of rain last weekend. Meteorologist David Sheets, at the National Weather Service office in the Quad Cities, says eastern Iowa is filling what was until recently a moisture deficit.

“As of a couple weeks ago, there were parts of eastern Iowa that were starting to enter a D-zero drought,” Sheets says. “River levels were at seasonal normals and in some instances, below normal.” That’s changing though and Sheets admits too much rain, too soon, will cause more flash flooding in areas like Cedar Rapids. Still, the Weather Service is -not- predicting widespread flooding like in 2008.

“The danger we have is the saturated soil conditions and stream levels running high,” Sheets says. “If we were to get a thunderstorm with heavy rainfall, it can quickly lead to flash flooding in urban areas and along streams. That’s what we’re most prone to right now.” The current forecast calls for more scattered storms across much of Iowa through Sunday but the showers are -not- expected to bring significant amounts of rain.

(Radio Iowa)

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Police in Red Oak arrested 67-year old Dennis Leroy Vanderhoof, of Red Oak, late Tuesday night. Vanderhoof was taken into custody at around 10:10-p.m. in the 200 block of N. 4th Street, for Breach of Peace. His bond was set at $300.

Homes are selling faster in Iowa than any point in the last three years. That’s according to a report released Tuesday by the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR). I-A-R president Jon Yocum says the report, covering activity in the month of May, outlines several positive developments in the state’s housing market. “First off, our days on the market has dropped considerably from a year ago, so that means houses are hitting the market and moving much faster,” Yocum says. “Sales are up 7.3 percent over a year ago, so that means more homes are being sold.”

Home sold in Iowa last month, on average, were on the market for 75 days. That compares to 90 days one year ago. A total of 4,134 homes were sold in Iowa last month as compared to 3,853 homes that sold in May 2014. Yocum gives credit to low interest rates and programs offered in the state to help home buyers. “The Iowa Finance Authority has come out with a couple of new summer programs…with some more money to help buyers with down payment and closing costs, especially if you’re a first-time buyer,” Yocum says.

The report also shows the median sale price of homes sold in Iowa rose just over 4 percent. In May 2014, the median sale price was $137,500 while the median price last month was $142,450.

(Radio Iowa)

Local businesses or others interested in contracting or working with the government, from federal to local, and invited to attend a workshop and Q & A session on Government Contracting on Thursday, June 25th, from Noon to 1 PM, at the Cass County Extension Office. The workshop is offered at no cost to anyone pre-registered, and a light lunch will be provided to all attendees.

Topics covered include how to locate governments in your area and become registered with them, how to research and find government bid opportunities, how to respond to a government solicitation and develop a government proposal as well as more information about Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) services available to your business.

The workshop will be led by Andy Alexander, Government Contracting Specialist with Iowa State University CIRAS. Andy has expertise in bid proposal preparation assistance, government contract counseling and post award assistance, and is a Certified Contracting Assistance Specialist (CCAS) and Certified VA CVE Verification Counselor.

More information on the program is available by calling or stopping into the Cass County Extension office, and can also be found on the Cass County Extension website at www.exension.iastate.edu/cass. Registrations are requested by Wednesday, June 24th at noon. To register, call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132, or e-mail keolson@iastate.edu.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County arrested a motorist early this (Wednesday) morning, following a two-state pursuit that ended south of Council Bluffs. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the chase began about 2:40-a.m. in west Omaha, around 120th Street and West Dodge Road. That’s where an unidentified motorist failed to maintain control of a Dodge Durango SUV in his lane.

The driver failed to pull over after Omaha police attempted to make a traffic stop, Douglas County emergency 911 dispatchers said the motorist led police to the Missouri River on Interstate 80. Once the pursuit crossed into Iowa, authorities here picked up chase in Council Bluffs.

The motorist finally pulled over and was taken into custody at around 3:10-a.m. on southbound Interstate 29 just south of Council Bluffs. No injuries were reported. The chase involved Troopers with the Iowa State Patrol, Council Bluffs Police and deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department.