Johnson County, IOWA – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report the suspect in Saturday’s Amber Alert has been apprehended.

Kenneth Johns

48-year old Kenneth Johns was taken into custody at around 9:35-a.m. today (Sunday), by the Davenport Police Department’s Tactical Unit, at a residence on Farnum Street and Central Park Avenue, in Davenport. No injuries were suffered during the arrest. The subject of the Amber Alert, 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was dropped-off safely by a third party, to law enforcement at around 1:30-a.m. today.

Brianna Crane

No further information will be released at this time due to the on-going investigation.

Iowa’s population is among the nation’s oldest and some motorists continue to drive on Iowa’s roads well into their 90s, which for some, may pose a risk to themselves and others. Nick Jarmusz, at Triple-A-Iowa, says family members need to be direct with their elders when safety is clearly becoming an issue. “It’s important for families to remember that the issue isn’t necessarily driving itself,” Jarmusz says. “The issue is about mobility and independence.” Older drivers themselves can often be the best judges of when it’s time to give up the keys, knowing their personal challenges with vision, hearing, mobility, reaction times and more.

“Self-assessment is a critical part to this,” Jarmusz says. “We actually have a lot of resources on the topic for senior drivers at a website we’ve set up. The site, aaa-dot-com, includes suggestions for having that difficult talk with an older driver.  “We recommend families avoid the intervention-style or anything that can come across as overly confrontational and make elderly relatives feel like they’re being backed into a corner or being talked down to,” he says. While the conversation may be uncomfortable, it should be driven by compassion and a concern for everyone’s health and safety.

“It doesn’t have to be a binary discussion, you know, you either have your keys and are driving or you’re not,” Jarmusz says. “There’s a lot of space in between there to self-regulate or to set up parameters for when it is and is not acceptable to drive.” A national Triple-A survey found nearly 90-percent of motorists who are 65 years old and older suffer from health issues that may affect driving safely.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The future USS Omaha is now under construction in an Alabama shipyard.
The Navy says a keel laying ceremony was held for the USS Omaha last month. Austal USA is building the vessel. The USS Omaha is a littoral combat ship, which can operate in shallow and deep water. It will be roughly 420 feet long.

The future, USS Omaha’s sister-ship, (the identical) USS Independence.

The USS Omaha will be designed to deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors to fight mines and submarines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa drivers will stay out of the fast lane for now, after lawmakers did not advance a bill that would have boosted the speed limit on interstate highways, bringing it in line with many nearby states.  The bill sought to raise the speed limit on interstate highways to 75 mph, up from the current limit of 70 mph. It died in the state Senate several days ago, amid questions about the safety ramifications.

That means Iowa drivers will continue at slower speeds than those behind the wheel in many nearby states. Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota all have speed limits of 75 mph.  Iowa’s interstate highway speed limit was last increased in 2005, up from 65 mph.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

(Des Moines) – An AMBER ALERT issued Saturday afternoon in Iowa has been cancelled The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported early Sunday morning 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was safely returned to her family. The girl was allegedly abducted at around 2:30-p.m. Saturday, by her step-father, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns and the pair were thought to have been in southeast Iowa hours after the Alert was issued.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – A Burlington glass manufacturer has told employees the plant will close its doors May 1st, leaving the eastern Iowa city with about 30 fewer jobs. The Burlington Hawk Eye reports that the PPG Industries plant announced the impending closure on Friday. Employees were told of the plan Thursday. The 29 employees affected will be given an opportunity to transfer to PPG manufacturing plants in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Wichita Falls, Texas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The clear rift over immigration opened up publicly Saturday at an Iowa forum on agriculture, energy, trade and food policy. Most of the nine possible Republican presidential candidates for 2016 called for enforcing existing laws. But outliers Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and South Carolina’s Senator Lindsay Graham proposed offering the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally a path to legal status.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Police in Cedar Rapids are investigating a shooting that has left one man with critical injuries. The Cedar Rapids Police Department says it received reports of several shots fired just before 3 a.m. Saturday. Police have not yet released the name of the man shot or other details of the shooting.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Iowa State wrapped up the Number 2 seed behind Kansas in the Big 12 tournament in the last game of the regular season. The Cyclones’ 89-76 win Saturday night at TCU locked in the pairings for the tournament that starts Wednesday in Kansas City.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Sunday) morning, resulted in a man being arrested on numerous drug charges. Red Oak Police say 31-year old Matthew Wayne Echternach, of Essex, was taken into custody at around 12:25-a.m. near the intersection of North Broadway and West Oak Streets. The man was charged with OWI Drugged/1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Echternach was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 cash bond. Red Oak Police were assisted during the traffic stop, by deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

A traffic stop Saturday evening in Montgomery County led to the arrest of a Red Oak man. Red Oak Police say 57-year old Jeffrey Alan Runyan was arrested at around 7:40-p.m. for driving an ATV on a public street, while allegedly intoxicated. Runyan was charged with OWI/3rd offense and Driving While Revoked. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.

An AMBER ALERT issued Saturday afternoon in Iowa has been cancelled The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported early Sunday morning 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was found safe.  Capt. Gary Kramer with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Brianna Crane was found early Sunday and “appears to be in good health.” Kramer said authorities are investigating what happened.

The girl was allegedly abducted at around 2:30-p.m. Saturday, by her step-father, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns and the pair were thought to have been in southeast Iowa hours after the Alert was issued. Authorities are still searching for Johns. He is still believed to be armed and dangerous. If you know where he is, do not approach him. Instead, you should call 9-1-1.

Kenneth Johns

Brianna Crane

The Atlantic Fire Department will be conducting a targeted door to door smoke detector installation project on Monday, March 9th in Atlantic.

The department will conduct the installations beginning at 5:30 pm and continuing throughout the evening.

Fire Chief Mark McNees stated “this is an expansion of the program we have been working on where we targeted residences with school age children. We now are going to target high risk areas.” The department will be focusing on the Sycamore Village mobile home park, and low income high density apartments.

Fire Prevention Officer Dustin McLaren has been working with Rolling Hills Bank, and Brocker, Carns and Carns Insurance to expand the program. McLaren says “ these two local businesses approached us about helping our program. They have funded the purchase of over 300 detectors for our efforts and we thank them for their generous gift to the department and community.”

The department was one of the first in the state to partner with the State Fire Marshal’s office. The marshal’s program is still distributing detectors throughout the state to departments that wish to conduct installations.

Firefighters will install up to two detectors free of charge at each residence and will advise residents on proper placement of other detectors and the necessity of escape plans. McLaren added, “smoke detectors are proven to be the most effective way to prevent injuries and deaths from fire. The Atlantic Fire Department is committed to preventing fires, injury, and death in any manner possible.”

Chief McNees reminds residents that the department has a priority list for installation of detectors and if those residents are missed they can contact the department and firefighters will install detectors as long as the supply lasts. The priority list for installation includes homes with school age children, homes with elderly residents, and low income residences.

McLaren adds that if smoke detectors are present in a home, but are over ten years old, the department recommends replacing them with a dual sensor detector.

An AMBER ALERT was issued in Iowa at 3:33-p.m. Saturday, March 7th, for 9-year old Brianna Christine Elise Crane, who was allegedly abducted in Solon at around 2:30-p.m.

Brianna Crane

Brianna is hearing impaired, 4-feet tall, and weighs about 85 pounds. She has brown hair, hazel eyes, as was last seen wearing blue jeans, black high top shoes and an unknown color/style blouse.

It’s believed she and the suspect, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns, are in a gray 2014 Ford Focus, with license plate CKJ 484. He is described as being a 48-year old white male, 6-feet tall, weighing 210 pounds. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, and is clean shaven. He was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and gray, Ocean Pacific shoes. The suspect is possibly armed and dangerous.

As of 4:45-p.m., it was believed the pair may be in or near southeastern Iowa.

Kenneth Eugene Johns (Alleged abductor)

If you see the suspect or have any information about the child’s location, call 9-1-1 or the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 515-443-3014. Do not attempt to confront the suspect!