DES MOINES, Iowa – A man from Cedar Rapids appeared in Federal Court Tuesday, following a complaint charging him with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threatening a United States official, a United States judge, or a federal law enforcement officer; malicious damage to federal property; and interstate communications with the intent to injure.

The U-S Attorney’s Office says 39-year old John Edward Miller is alleged to have sent a threatening message via Facebook to a federal prosecutor and named several other federal employees in the message. Miller is additionally accused of firing a flare gun at the Cedar Rapids United States Courthouse, causing a fire that needed to be extinguished.

If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. Miller’s detention hearing will be held at the Cedar Rapids United States Courthouse on December 11, 2020, at 1 p.m. The matter is being investigated by the FBI, ATF, U-S Marshals Service, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa will prosecute the case.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers says with a potential winter storm approaching our area Friday night through Saturday morning, the Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the snow ordinance. The ordinance says “No person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two (2) inches or more. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $30 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fees before the vehicle is released.”

Chief Brothers says the parking ban remains in effect until the snow ceases to fall and the streets have been plowed from curb to curb.

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

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Creston Police, assisted by the Creston P-D K9 “Baxo,” Thursday (Today), arrested 41-year old Juliann Edsall, of Creston. She was taken into custody at around 3:12-a.m. at a residence in the 600 block of N. Oak Street, on charges that include of Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving While Suspended. Edsall was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $2,600 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The State of Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard today (10-a.m., Thursday), showed 3,120 deaths, which is an increase of 99 from yesterday (Wednesday).The IDPH says 2,865 deaths are the result of “Underlying causes,” while a “contributing factor”  accounts for 255 deaths, The county-by-county information shows additional deaths reported in each of Cass, Harrison, Madison, Mills and Pottawattamie Counties.

Positive cases increased by 2,246, to 251,028. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks  are 142. LTC deaths amount to 1,129.  Hospitalizations are at 863, with 189 COVID patients in an ICU; 124 were admitted to a hospital with COVID symptoms, and 114 patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 53 COVID patients, 16 are in an ICU, eight people were admitted, and nine are on a ventilator.

State data shows 1,268,077 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus, with a total of 177,800 recovered. Iowa reports a 14-day positivity rate of 15.6% and a 7-day rate of 11.6%. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, 63 report 14-day positivity rates above 15%. Three Iowa counties report a 14-day positivity rate below 10%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases; The # of new cases since yesterday {+}; and the total number of deaths in each county (Configured by the new reporting formula):

• Cass, 901 cases; {+7}; 35 deaths
• Adair, 500; {+9}; 15
• Adams, 201; {+3}; 2
• Audubon, 321; {+3}; 6
• Guthrie, 830; {+8}; 22
• Harrison County, 1,199; {+20}; 48
• Madison County, 804; {+13}; 8
• Mills County, 1,153; {+13}; 10
• Montgomery, 575; {+8}; 12
• Pottawattamie County, 7,233; {+112}; 70
• Shelby County, 840; {+4}; 16
• Union County,  924; {+7}; 9

(Radio Iowa) – Wright County authorities are investigating the death of a bald eagle that was found last weekend. The eagle was found under a bridge along the Iowa River between Rowan and Dows adjacent to the Groom Wildlife Area. X-rays showed two holes in the head of the eagle. It was reported that the eagle was shot by someone. The Wright County Conservation Board’s Facebook is reporting a reward of $2,000 will be offered to anyone who has information into the shooting of the eagle.

Those with information are asked to call the Iowa DNR Tip hotline at 1-800-532-2020 or to the nearest law enforcement agency.

A traffic stop at around 5:45-p.m. Wednesday in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man from Council Bluffs. 48-year old Joel John Pogge was taken into custody for Driving While Revoked. Pogge was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

In an update to our story earlier this week, whereby we told you the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Tabor Police Department are seeking information concerning a burglary that occurred at the Glenwood State Bank, located in Tabor, the evening of Sunday, Dec. 6th and early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 7th, the Sheriff’s Office Thursday (Today), released still frame surveillance images of the suspects.

Authorities say a man entered the bank lobby at approximately 8:47 PM and then left the area. Two men returned at approximately 12:30 AM and removed the ATM from the lobby. The white males were said to be wearing camouflage jackets.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Trump administration is poised to carry out five more executions before Joe Biden’s inauguration, starting with a former Texas street-gang member for the June, 1999 slaying of a young religious couple from Iowa. President Donald Trump has overseen the resumption of federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.

Forty-year-old Brandon Bernard would become the ninth federal inmate executed this year. He was 18 when he and five other teenagers abducted and robbed Christian youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley, who were on their way from a Sunday service in Killeen, Texas. Before moving to Iowa, Todd had been stationed at Fort Hood, where the couple attended Grace Christian Church and worked with the youth group. The couple had visited Killen to be with friends and were abducted at gunpoint while outside a convenience store, using a payphone.

If it goes ahead, Bernard would be a rare execution of a person in his teens when the crime occurred. It also would be a rare federal execution during a presidential transition. Another person involved in the murder, Christopher Vialva was executed for killing the Bagley’s this past September. His execution by lethal injections followed the announcement by US attorney general William Barr in 2019, that federal executions would be allowed to resume.