Authorities say a suspicious package detected Wednesday morning at an Air Force base near Omaha contained nothing threatening. The U.S. Air Force said in a news release that a military K-9 alerted security personnel to the package inside a commercial vehicle that was undergoing a routine check at an Offutt Air Force Base gate. Military and civilian investigators checked into the package and concluded that it held nothing harmful. Officials have not released any information about the vehicle or the person or people in it.

(Radio Iowa) — A memorial celebration for former Iowa Congressman Berkley Bedell will be held next summer in the Spirit Lake area. The 98-year-old Bedell died December 7th, three days after suffering a massive stroke in Naples, Florida. Bedell represented the former Sixth Congressional District in northwest Iowa for six terms. Iowa District Court Judge Jeff Neary interned for Bedell when Neary was a senior at Westmar College. He later worked part-time for the congressman in his Sioux City office. “He had a reputation of being not often very political and just expected from his caseworkers and staff people to get things done. And to be visible with people and to be out and about and to do the work that was required just to make folks know that they had an advocate in Washington, D-C,” Neary says.

Neary says Bedell was not perceived as a “traditional Democrat” by district voters and was good at getting things done that were important for northwest Iowans. “And when he helped people, the politics didn’t get involved. And he was very, very sincere about everything he did,” Neary says. “I think he was generally very moderate — and I think that appeals to folks in northwest Iowa. And he put politics aside most times and I don’t think he was a lightening rod like some can be — and that was the focus of what he was all about,” according to Neary.

Bedell last appeared in Sioux City last July to campaign with Senator Elizabeth Warren, who he supported for president. A visitation for Bedell will be held at Peace Harbor on Highway 86 in Spirit Lake, on Friday, July 24th at 5:00 p-m. A memorial celebration is planned for July 25th at the Spirit Lake United Methodist Church at 11:00 a-m.

Memorials may be sent to the Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine, P.O. Box 2860, Loveland, Colorado, 80538.

(Radio Iowa) — Public health officials will be at a northern Iowa high school before Christmas break to test students, staff and others who may have had close contact with a student who’s been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Administrators at Hampton-Dumont High School sent an alert to parents and guardians on Monday afternoon that a student at the high school had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The school district’s nurse is working with officials from the state, Franklin County and the local hospital to come up with a final list of people who will be notified that they should be tested. Jenni Swart is Hampton-Dumont’s school nurse. “TB can get quite complicated as in the length of time we could have it in our body and we would actually develop it, but we can identify it and treat it,” she says. “There is a state program and the testing is free as well as the treatment is free.”

Swart says it’s hard to say how the student contracted T-B.  “It’s transmitted with close contact with coughing, sneezing, talking with the person that’s actually diagnosed with that.” Hampton-Dumont Superintendent Todd Lettow says the district’s website is being updated to keep the community informed. “We just want to have a central place where everybody can go and get the same information,” he says.

Symptoms of active T-B include coughing that lasts three or more weeks, a fever and unintentional weight loss.

The Atlantic Police Department says there were a dozen arrests that took place between November 16th through December 9th:

• On December 9th, 33-year old Erin Larson, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Marijuana), Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury, Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Institution, and Harassment 2nd Degree.
• Two people were arrested Dec. 7th: 51-year old Dana Charles, of Atlantic, was arrested on two Cass County warrants for Failure to Appear, and 56-year old David Charles, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear.
• On Dec. 6th, 18-year old Rachael Stanley, of Atlantic, was arrested on Cass County warrants for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, three-counts of Theft 5th, and two counts of Failure to Appear. And, 31-year old Casey Sampson, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Controlled Substance.
• On Dec. 4th, Atlantic Police arrested 46-year old Dan Christensen, of Atlantic, for Violation of a No Contact Order and Public Intoxication.
• 41-year old Todd Glade, of Atlantic, was arrested December 3rd, for Domestic Abuse Assault and Simple Assault.
• 25-year old Bryce Baker, of Atlantic, was arrested November 25th, for Interference with Official Acts.
• 54-year old Lee Ann Hansen, of Atlantic, was arrested November 21st, for Operating While Under the Influence.
• on Nov. 20th, Atlantic Police arrested 32-year old Aaron Ihnken, of Atlantic, on a Cass County warrant for Burglary 3rd Degree.
• On Nov. 18th, 19-year old Devon Lentz, of Eagle Grove, was arrested on a Shelby County warrant for Sexual Abuse 3rd Degree.
• And on Nov. 16th, 33-year old Trevor German, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was arrested by Atlantic Police, for Operating While Under the Influence.

Authorities say a military K-9 detected a suspicious package Wednesday morning at an Air Force base near Omaha. The U.S. Air Force said in a news release that the dog alerted security personnel to the package inside a vehicle that was undergoing a routine check at an Offutt Air Force Base gate. Military and civilian investigators are checking into the incident. Officials have not released any information about the package or the person or people in the vehicle.

(Radio Iowa) — The Missouri River at southwest Iowa’s Fremont County fell below flood stage this week for the first time in 270 days. Flood warnings have been in effect for the river since March, but it’s now below flood stage from Sioux City all the way to St. Louis. National Weather Service hydrologist David Pearson says it’s not normal for the waterway to be so high for so long. “It shows just how extreme and how much water had to move through, not just in Nebraska and Iowa, but also in the Dakotas,” Pearson says, “and a lot of the water that went through the river came from the Dakotas.”

Sites further downstream have a higher chance of staying above flood stage for longer because more water comes in from smaller rivers. Plus, the amount of water released at Gavins Point Dam was higher than normal, adding even more water to the river. Pearson says conditions are favorable for another flood early next year, but there’s still a lot of unknowns, like how much precipitation we’ll see this winter. “With the wet soils and a lot of the rivers are higher than normal, those two things alone contribute to an increased flood threat,” he says, “and if we get a lot of precipitation, snow and rain, it will make it potentially that much more worse.”

Fremont County still has standing water over some roads. The river needs to drop even farther for that water to finally recede.

(Reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

FORT MADISON, Iowa —  The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports that just before 11-p.m. Tuesday, the Fort Madison Police Department was called to a local manufacturing warehouse in reference to an individual armed with a handgun.  Upon arrival, law enforcement encountered the individual who was subsequently shot by a Fort Madison police officer.  The subject was transported to the Fort Madison Community Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The name of the person shot was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The Fort Madison Police Department contacted the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to request an independent investigation into the southeast Iowa shooting incident.  Per protocol, the name of the police officer is being withheld pending an interview with the DCI. Departments responding to the incident consisted of the Fort Madison Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Corrections-Probation and Patrol, Iowa State Fort Madison Penitentiary, West Point and Donnellson Police Department, Fort Madison Fire Department and the Lee County Ambulance Service.

No additional information will be released at this time.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County arrested a woman Tuesday evening in rural Honey Creek, following a report of an assault involving an armed person. The incident took place in the 18,700 block of Leisure Avenue, at around 6:35-p.m.  Deputies arrested 31-year old Ashley Jo Sullivan, of Council Bluffs, on aggravated misdemeanor charges of Assault/use or display of a weapon, and Harassment in the 1st Degree by threat or forcible felony, and a Felony, Possession of a Firearm or Offensive Weapon by a Felon, charge. Sullivan was being held in the Pott. County Jail on $4,000 bond.

And, Tuesday morning, 36-year old Tressa Dawn McQuiston was arrested at the Pott. County Courthouse, on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation.

(A-P) The superintendent of Iowa’s care center for people with intellectual disabilities has been placed on paid leave amid a federal investigation into the facility. The director of Iowa’s Human Services Department told Glenwood Resource Center workers Monday about the action taken against Jerry Rea. The Des Moines Register reported that Rea was placed on leave “in light of” a federal investigation. Associated Press efforts to reach Rea on Wednesday were unsuccessful. The newspaper reported earlier this month that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating whether the state was providing adequate medical care and employing “needless and harmful restraint practices.”

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

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