Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a shooting incident that took place early this (Wednesday) morning. Officers responded to a report of shots fired at a home in the 100 block of Lincoln Avenue, at around 2-a.m.  Two adults, a male and a female, told officers that they were on the front porch of their house when an unknown person fired three shots at the home. Damage to the home and evidence located in the front yard indicates that a shotgun was used during the incident. No injuries were reported.

Officers were unable to locate a suspect(s) upon their arrival. The case remains under investigation. Anyone with any information regarding this shooting is encouraged to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728 or anonymous tips can be given by calling 712-328-STOP (7867).

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 12:30-a.m. today (Wednesday), of a man from Treynor. 40-year old Bradley Allen Kenealy, SR., was taken into custody on four counts of Child Endangerment w/substantial risk with regard to four juveniles ages 15 and younger, and one count of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense causing bodily injury. Authorities were called to a home in the 31,000 block of Dogwood Road for a reported disturbance at around 12:27-a.m.   While enroute, a deputy was advised Kenealy was outside the residence looking for the 32-year old female who called authorities. Kenealy was later taken into custody inside the home. His bond on the endangerment charges was set at $2,000.

At around 8:25-p.m. Tuesday, 40-year old Casey Dell Claiser was arrested on a warrant out of Des Moines, following a traffic stop. He was taken into custody at the intersection of Highway 59 and Mahogany Road in Pott. County, and held for Des Moines Police at the Pott. County Jail. Tuesday evening, a deputy called to the 1500 block of Avenue J, arrested a 16-year old male for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Tuesday afternoon, 34-year old Andrew Dino Incontro turned himself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office. Incontro was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for 2011 OWI/1st offense charge. He was transported to the jail and turned over to Corrections staff. Bond was set at $2,000. And, Tuesday morning, 30-year old Amanda Lee Marholz Simonson was arrested in the lobby of the Pott. County Jail. She was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree (passing a bad check valued at $200 or less), and booked into the jail.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Police say a 37-year-old man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of another man whose body was found last weekend in an Ottumwa home. The Des Moines Register reports that Preston Odell Martin, of Ottumwa, was arrested some hours after the discovery Saturday afternoon of 41-year-old Thomas Carlton Foster, who was found dead in his Ottumwa home. Police initially described the death as suspicious. Officials have not said how he died.

Police had received a call of a suspicious person in the area of Foster’s home earlier that day. After finding Foster’s body, police broadcast the description of the suspicious person.
Police say Martin was found on the city’s Jefferson Street bridge.

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

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Police in Creston report 25-year old Michael Cox, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on two Union County warrants. The warrants are for:

• Probation Violation on original charges of (2 counts) Burglary in the 3rd Degree, Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense, and Violation of Probation.
• Probation Violation on an original charge of Theft in the 3rd degree.

Cox was being held in the Union County Jail on a $7,000 bond.

(Included in 7-a.m. Newscast/podcast)

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

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HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — Motorists in southwestern Iowa are back to traveling a maze of detours as a new round of flooding closes portions of Interstate 29 and other highways and roads.
Those thoroughfares had only reopened in recent weeks following devastating flooding along the Missouri River in March. On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Transportation said that I-29 is closed from St. Joseph, Missouri, to the Iowa state line at Hamburg. From Hamburg north to Pacific Junction, the interstate sees intermittent lane closures due to new flooding, significantly slowing the flow of traffic.

Highway 2 — which connects the interstate to Nebraska City, Nebraska, over the Missouri River — is again closed for flooding. New flooding has also closed Highway 34 between the Nebraska state line and I-29 near Pacific Junction. Detour routes can be found online at https://www.511ia.org/ .

(Radio Iowa) — A proposed cross-country network of recreational trails called the Great American Rail Trail would follow a 465-mile path through Iowa. Existing trails cover about half that distance, according to the Rail Trail Conservancy which created the route. Lisa Hein, of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, says to finish the job, local and state groups need to step up efforts to connect trail systems. Hein says, “We have enough funding to do maybe three to ten miles a year and if we have 150 miles of connections that we need to still make to complete the Great American Rail Trail across Iowa, it’s going to take a few years.”

On average, Hein says building one mile of trail costs 300- to 400-thousand dollars. Some 53-percent of the Iowa route is made up of existing trails like the Lake Manawa Trail and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, but there are still hundreds of miles of gaps in between. Mike Wallace, executive director of the Dallas County Conservation Board, says they plan to finish one of them — a nine-mile stretch between the High Trestle Trail and the Raccoon River Trail northwest of Des Moines.  “We know we can do at least another mile, but that will be done in 2020,” Wallace says. “One piece of the puzzle at a time, I guess.”

The Great American Rail Trail for hiking and cycling would travel from Council Bluffs in western Iowa to Davenport in the east. Nationwide, it would stretch 37-hundred miles from Washington, D-C to Washington state.

(Thanks to Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds has declared this “End Distracted Driving” week — and Sgt. Nathan Ludwig, a spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol, says a smart phone is the main distraction troopers see on Iowa roads. “People know it’s wrong, but they’re still doing it.”  Ludwig says he sees too many drivers texting while he’s on patrol AND when he’s out on the road in his personal vehicle. The state patrol has written about 100 fewer citations so far this year for texting while driving. “We hope that people are getting the message, but the bad news is that…the majority of the accidents are attributed to distracted driving,” Ludwig says. “So just because we’re not stopping the cars and writing the citations for doing it doesn’t mean people have stopped doing it, because crashes are going up.”

There 17 categories of “distracted driving” on the D-O-T’s accident form and Ludwig says drivers using a phone is the “number one” distraction. Troopers have issued 331 tickets for distracted driving since January 1st. Ludwig says the biggest misconception among motorists is a driver can read their email and text while they’re at a stoplight. “You have to be off the travel portion of the road and be at a complete stop before you can engage in any internet or texting activity,” Ludwig says.

The fine for texting or surfing the internet while driving is 100 dollars. Iowa lawmakers considered a “hands free” law for drivers this past year. Sergeant Ludwig says that would be easier to enforce.  “But that’s up to the legislature and I think it may come down the road, but you don’t need a law to tell you common sense,” Ludwig says. “We just want people to get the phone out of their hand.”

Eighteen states have laws which bar drivers from handling a smart phone while they’re driving. Governor Reynolds says that “seems like the next natural step” for the state to take, especially when considering the statistics about traffic accidents.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s willing to work with lawmakers to adjust Iowa’s medical marijuana law — but Reynolds says she made it clear to legislators she had concerns about a bill that could have boosted the potency of the cannabis products sold at state-licensed outlets.  “I do not support recreational marijuana and I just felt that was too much of a jump,” Reynolds said.  The governor vetoed that bill late Friday. “It wasn’t a surprise,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds says she could have accepted all the other aspects of the bill, but allowing an Iowan to buy cannabis products with up to 25 grams of the chemical T-H-C over a 90 day period was the stumbling block. “For example, if you take a gummie that you can get in Colorado that has THC in it, that typically has anywhere from five to 20 milligrams and the bill that passed was 25 grams, which would equate to 277 grams per day,” Reynolds said.

Supporters of the bill say the limited number of Iowans who’ve gotten a doctor’s recommendation to use cannabis pills, oils and creams need higher dosages to deal with pain and other medical issues. Two Democrats in the Iowa Senate plan to hold a news conference tomorrow (Wednesday) asking their fellow legislators to reconvene in a special session to override the governor’s veto. The bill passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins, but some House Republicans who voted for it expressed concerns after learning a state advisory board did not support the potency recommendation in the legislation. “I have to balance the health and safety of all Iowans with a program that’s providing some alternatives to individuals that feel that it is making a difference,” Reynolds says.

The top two Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate say expanding Iowa’s medical marijuana law will be a priority for them in the 2020 legislative session. Reynolds says she’ll work with lawmakers to ensure the expansion is “narrow and cautious.”