Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A lifetime sex offender who failed to return to a work release facility last Friday, was apprehended by authorities, Wednesday afternoon. According to a press release from the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC), 26-year-old Ross Michael Clouse was found at a Des Moines residence. He was taken into custody by the Fifth Judicial District Fugitive Unit, with help from the United States Marshall’s Service, and was being held in the Polk County Jail.

Ross M. Clouse

The DOC had placed Clouse on escape status after he failed to return from his place of employment in Guthrie County to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office had reported on its social media site that Clouse had removed his GPS tracking bracelet, and tossed it into a roadside ditch northeast of Guthrie Center last Friday.

Clouse was sentenced for third-degree sex abuse and indecent contact with a child on Sept. 30, 2009. His sentence was discharged Feb. 7th, 2014, and a lifetime special supervision sentence began.

After putting his campaign travels on hold following the death of a campaign staffer in an Iowa crash Tuesday on Interstate 80 in Cass County, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson will resume his tour, with campaign stops today (Thursday) in Atlantic and Glenwood. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, will hold “Trust in God” Townhall meetings at the Glenwood Community High School Auditorium from 3-until 4:30-p.m., Thursday, and in Atlantic, at the Cass County Community Center, from 7-until 8:30-p.m.

On Friday, Dr. Carson will make stops in Clarinda, Mt. Ayr and Creston, before heading to Des Moines. His visit to Clarinda is from 8-a.m. to 9-a.m. at the Garrison Coffee House (106 N. 16th St.). In Mt. Ayr, Carson will be at the Ringgold County Hospital, from 11-a.m. until 12:15-p.m., and finally, in Creston, at 213 W. Adams Street, from 1:30-until 2:30-p.m.

Each of the events are free and open to the public.

The Department of Natural Resources is warning everyone to be careful out on the ice covering Iowa’s lakes and rivers after four snowmobiles recently went into the water at the Great Lakes. Conservation officer Steve Reighard, says two sets of snowmobilers got a chilly dip in the water. “There’s a couple of gentlemen that actually rode snowmobiles into it at night, Thursday night. No injuries, they were able to get out. No damage to the sleds other than they had to dry those out also. And then again Saturday morning, two individuals went through,” Reighard says. “And Saturday morning with the cold temperatures there was a thin skim of ice over the open water. We got a little bit of snow cover so it looked like it was solid out there, and they drove out onto that thin ice and broke through. There again, they weren’t injured.”

He says conditions have been different on the lakes this years as the water was high at the start of winter when the lakes started to freeze and continued flowing. “With that current flowing through there, it’s keeping that water open or the ice extremely thin,” Reighard explains. “Plus, the ice never does freeze evenly. There’s a lot of variability out there — I’ve seen it as thick as 13 inches on West Okoboji, and also as thin as three in the last week.”

He says the bridges around the Great Lakes pinches down the flow of the water, which makes it faster and less likely to freeze. Reighard says there are similar situations across the state with the ice this winter. And he says no matter where you go on the ice, the one constant is there is no guarantee of perfectly frozen ice. “It’s not like the ice cubes in your tray in your freezer — and even if you look at those — they don’t always freeze the same either,” he says. “There’s just to many variabilities with water depth, on obstacles underneath the ice, springs, currents, all of those things come into effect.”

Some people are driving vehicles onto the ice to fish, and Reighard says that’s something he never recommends because of the uncertainty of the ice depth.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved a request from the Atlantic Archery Club, to use the second-floor of the City Hall building, for regular archery practice. Councilman Chris Jimerson said the Community Protection Committee met last week to review the proposal, and after City Administrator Lund conferred with the City’s insurance carrier, it was learned use of the facility for archery practice would not impact the City’s insurance rates.

Jimerson said the Club has its own insurance, and there are numerous safety procedures that had previously been established, including a Kevlar net to catch any errant arrows, which he said, is very rare. Issues regarding access and second-floor security, have also been addressed. Practices would take place from 5:30-to 8:30-p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during the shooting seasons. During off-season months (July-to November), the team would essentially practice two nights per month.

In other business, the Council approved a Resolution “Setting Compensation for the Board of Trustees of Atlantic Municipal Utilities.” The rate of compensation for attending meetings was set at $40. The last time AMU adjusted its compensation was back in the 1990’s, according to Mayor Dave Jones. Jones said the increase comes directly from AMU’s budget, and has no impact on City finances.

The Council also discussed compensation for the City Administrator, as well as the over-all City Compensation Policy and Schedule. Councilperson Kathy Somers said when the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee met Jan. 8th, they discussed pending compensation levels for a number of positions, and two positions stood out: City Administrator and Parks and Recreation Director.

When Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring was hired in June 2011, Herring was paid less than the prior Director, because of the IPERS penalty. Herring was allowed to make only $29,900 per year. Anything more and he would have had to pay a 75-percent penalty on gross wages, to IPERS. The ruling remained in effect until Herring turned 65 in March, 2013. Since then, there has been no further action with regard to pay adjustments based on his labor value, and Herring has only had a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) each year.

Somers and the Council also discussed John  Lund’s compensation package. Both matters have been referred back to the Personnel and Finance Committee, who will make their recommendations to the Council at the next meeting. For the moment though, the Mayor gave Lund permission to plug in “template” numbers so that the budgetary process can continue. The numbers however will not be final, and can be adjusted before the budget is set, but they cannot be raised after the budget is established.

The Council also discussed snow removal on sidewalks. It was suggested residents with complaints about unshoveled walks address those to City Hall for follow-up. Residents who fail to promptly address snow removal will be given a warning for now, and if the sidewalks are not taken care of, the snow will be removed by City personnel, and the property owner will be billed accordingly, just as they would be if grass is not mowed in the spring and summer.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Wednesday of a Council Bluffs man.  At 9:30am Deputies arrested 30-year-old Aaron L Allen of Council Bluffs on a valid Montgomery County Warrant for Violation of Probation.  Allen is being held on $25,000 bond.

Atlantic Police report two arrests and one accident occurred Tuesday. Taken into custody on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Theft in the 4th degree, was 18-year old Seth Nelson, of Atlantic. And, 33-year old David Walling, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Atlantic for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, with the intent to deliver, two counts of Possession of drug paraphernalia, and on a Pott. County warrant. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

And, the Atlantic P-D says no injuries were reported following an accident east of Atlantic at the intersection of Highways 6 and 71. The accident happened at around 11:50-a.m., when a vehicle driven by Lindsay Martin, of Omaha, approached the intersection as she was traveling south on 71. She tried to stop, but her vehicle slid on the snow/ice covered road into the intersection, and hit a vehicle driven by Frank Jones, of Cumberland, on the right rear corner. Damage amounted to $4,300. No citations were issued.

(12:40-p.m. News)

The Page County Sheriff’s Office responded to a non-injury accident, Tuesday morning. The crash happened at around 6:40-a.m. at Juniper Avenue and Highway 2, about 6.5 miles west of Clarinda. An investigation showed that 28-year old Darin Robert Ebersole, of Shenandoah, was operating a white 2005 Ford Freestyle southbound on Juniper Avenue approaching Highway2.

Due to the road conditions, Ebersole was unable to stop, slid across the intersection and struck a tree in a yard causing the airbag on the driver’s side to deploy. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $4500.00. Ebersole was the lone occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

A GoFundMe account has been set-up for one of the youth injured in a crash on Interstate 80 Tuesday morning, in Cass County. Family members say 13-year old Madalinn Oldham was in the pickup that struck a van carrying members of presidential candidate Ben Carson’s campaign, after the van lost control on the icy Interstate.

The teens’ aunt, Sheila Flanagan, says Madalinn was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital in Omaha, where she had emergency surgery upon arrival.

Madalinn Oldham

She also has several broken bones, that may require surgery. Because, the hospital is so far away, the family will be staying in Omaha to be near her. She will be in the hospital for awhile and then will have more recovery at home once she is released.

The family is also asking for help to offset some of the expense of having to stay in Omaha to be with Madalinn.If you would like to contribute, go to https://www.gofundme.com/79k8ycc4