Local, state and federal agencies are hosting an amnesty program in Omaha-Council Bluffs today (Saturday) during which people can turn over various types of guns and explosives without fear of prosecution. The bi-state event is being overseen by Sergeant Matt Manhart, director of the Omaha Police Department’s Bomb Squad. Manhart says, “If you have an unused consumer fireworks, illegal fireworks, any firearms or ammunition, it can be taken to any one of the three locations where our amnesty is being held.”

Those locations include the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s office in Council Bluffs, Omaha Fire Station number-43 and Seymour Smith Park in Omaha. Manhart says the whole point of the event is to make our streets and homes a little safer from dangerous explosives and lethal weapons. He stresses, no questions will be asked. “Especially something illegal, there’s not going to be any issues, just bring it in,” Manhart says. “I’d rather have the stuff get off the streets are realize nobody’s going to get hurt by those items.”

These amnesty days are held in the metro area at least once a year and organizers say, they work.  “We average 800 to 900 pounds of fireworks, anywhere from 500 to probably 700 or 800 pounds of ammunition is brought in every single time,” Manhart says. “They’ve always been very successful.”

The amnesty runs from 9 A-M to 3 P-M. The drop-offs involve all local law enforcement agencies in the Omaha and Council Bluffs area, the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County arrested a man for driving while revoked, late Friday evening. 53-year old Clint Curtis Johnson, of Villisca, was arrested in the 100 block of E. 6th Street, in Villisca, just before 10-p.m.  Johnson was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, a lottery official said. Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty told The Associated Press the winning ticket was sold in Indiana. The consortium of lottery organizations that runs Mega Millions said a ticket matching all five white balls and the yellow ball would win a an estimated $540 million. The winning Mega Millions numbers are white balls 8-19-20-55-73 and yellow ball 5.

An estimated $1 billion in tickets have been sold since the last jackpot-winning ticket was drawn in early March. This is the longest Mega Millions run without a winner. Tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

An investigation into the solicitation of prostitution in Hamburg, resulted in the arrest early this (Saturday) morning, of a man from Page County. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports deputies arrested 40-year old Reverend Dominic Yamoah, of Clarinda, after he allegedly tried to get an undercover source to perform sexual acts for cash.

Rev. Dominic Yamoah

Yamoah, who serves as a priest at the Saint Clare Parish, in Clarinda, and St. Joseph Parish in Villisca, was transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center and charged with solicitation. His bond was set at $2,000. The Iowa State Patrol assisted in conducting the investigation.

In an update to our story late last month, the Iowa State Patrol said today (Saturday) a truck driver from Tennessee died from injuries he suffered during a crash June 24th on Interstate 80, in Adair County. 61-year old Charles Delk, of Pulaski, TN, who was not wearing a seat belt, died two-days later at Mercy Hospital, in Des Moines, where he was transported to by Stuart Rescue.

Delk was traveling west on I-80 at around 10:25-a.m. on June 24th near Stuart, when he lost control of the 2008 Freightliner semi he was driving. When the semi went into the north ditch, the trailer became separated from the tractor, and came to rest on its left side. The tractor/cab came to rest on its top.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater issued a statement Friday evening with regard to a high-speed pursuit that occurred earlier in the day, Friday. In a social media post, Vandewater thanked all the law-enforcement agencies who assisted the Iowa State Patrol in their pursuit of a vehicle reported stolen out of South Dakota. Vandewater said a Trooper attempted to stop the vehicle for speeding on Interstate 80 in Adair County, but the driver of the vehicle refused to yield.

Photo’s from the Adair County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page

The suspect left the interstate and drove south from Stuart on the Stuart Road, at a high rate of speed. The stolen vehicle was traveling at around 100-miles per hour when the driver failed to negotiate a tight curve near the intersection with Highway 92, east of Greenfield. The vehicle went into and out of a ditch, vaulted over Highway 92 and rolled over. Vandewater said amazingly, none of the vehicles’ occupants were seriously injured. No names have been released at this time.

Among the agencies assisting in the pursuit and its aftermath, was: An officer from the Iowa Department of Transportation-MVE; the Stuart Police Chief; Special Agents from State Fire Marshal Division; deputies from the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office; EMS personnel from the Adair County Ambulance, and likely close to a dozen additional State Troopers.

Authorities in southwest Iowa gathered to search for a missing man Friday afternoon. The unidentified individual was eventually located and transported to the Clarinda Regional Health Center, for evaluation. Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer said the search began when deputies responded at around 3-p.m. to call for help from a female reporting that her boyfriend needed medical / mental help and was walking down the road on Oak Ave south of 310th Street.

Personnel from the Sheriff’s Office responded to the area. As Page County Sheriff’s Office personnel were approaching the area, the man walked into a cornfield. A perimeter was set up with assistance from area Law Enforcement. K-9’s and Law Enforcement searched the area. The male was found thanks to assistance from the Iowa State Patrol, K-9s and handlers from: Montgomery, Fremont, & Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, officers with the Clarinda Police Department, and Med Air Helicopter.

A crash between a large truck and an SUV carrying seven people Friday morning, in Ringgold County, left five people dead, including three children. The Iowa State Patrol released the names of the victims late Friday evening. Those who died from their injuries included: 2-year old Hayden King, 12-year old Brianne Baker, 30-year old Sydney N. King, and 49-year old Ranae Baker, all from Redding (IA), and 4-year old Elizabeth Taylor Lakey, of Grant City, Missouri. Injured in the crash, was 9-year old Willy Baker, of Redding. All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts. Brianne and Willy Baker were flown from the scene by helicopter to Blank Hospital in Des Moines, where Briane died from her injuries. The others who perished died at the scene.

Officials say the accident happened at around 10:45-a.m., Friday, at the intersection of Highway 2 and Ringgold County Road P-27. The crash took place when Renae Baker, who was driving a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander SUV, failed to stop at the intersection as she was traveling north on P-27. Her SUV was struck on the passenger side by a 1993 Peterbilt semi registered to Stamp Construction, of Atlantic, and driven by 28-year old Ted Zacharias, of Atlantic. The truck was traveling west on Highway 2.

Following the collision, both vehicles ended up in the northwest corner of the intersection, in a ditch, with the truck coming to rest on its side. In addition to the five dead and two injured persons in the SUV, a one-year old child in the vehicle was treated at a hospital and released. One other person remains in critical condition. Ted Zacharias was not hurt in the crash.

Council Bluffs Police Chief Tim Carmody, Friday afternoon, issued a statement with regard to the shooting of Police Officers Thursday night, in Dallas, TX. The Chief said “The tragedy last night in Dallas is heart wrenching in every way. This is especially true every time we lose a law enforcement brother or sister in the line of duty it impacts each of us in very personal ways. Those losses are occurring far too frequently in recent history.”

“Members of our department – officers and civilians – go out every shift to stand the thin blue line. In my mind and heart that blue line represents two distinct values. It represents our first mission – to protect the innocent from the evil that lurks in the shadows. Secondly, it also stands for the professional and exceptional service that our staff provides every day.”

“As sworn law enforcement we wear a mourning band on our badge to honor the fallen heroes and their families, those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Traditionally, we don’t wear the mourning band when the slain officer is from an agency outside of our local community. This incident in Dallas is an extreme and hopefully rare incident that cries out for our support. Effective today and through July 31, 2016 all of our sworn staff will wear the mourning band on their badges. We will also provide blue ribbons with thin blue lines to all our civilian staff to wear on their left chest while on duty during the same time frame.”

“The purpose of this effort is to demonstrate our solidarity as law enforcement to stand the thin blue line, to honor the fallen in Dallas and around the country and to remind the families of the slain that they are not alone. Our hope is that this effort, although small, will be a reminder for our staff just how much we appreciate their valiant efforts under difficult conditions and that our community does believe in and support us.”

Chief Carmody said “We have extended this opportunity to partners in the Omaha Metro. Several agencies have agreed to allow their staff to wear the mourning bands and ribbons as described above. They include: the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, the Omaha Police Department, the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, the LaVista Police Department, the Papillion Police Department and the Bellevue Police Department. In that vein, the Iowa Police Chief’s Association and the Iowa State Sheriff’s and Deputies Association have pushed out this opportunity to all their members as well. It would be incredible to see this spread nationwide – to let everyone in Dallas know that they are not alone and to show the nation how much we support our law enforcement agencies.”

In closing, he said “I would ask that each of you keep the officers and their families of the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), as well as the civilians who were injured in your thoughts and prayers. The days and weeks ahead will be just as hard as the initial incident was last night. My hope is that this will mark the thin blue line where we all work to unite our communities and support our law enforcement agencies instead of pitting one against another.”