Gov. Terry Branstad, Thursday, ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Iowa from 5-p.m. Friday, April 11th until 8-a.m. Monday, April 14th, in honor of U.S. Army Air Corps 1st Lt. Louis L. Longman, formerly of Clinton, Iowa.

1st Lt. Louis L. Longman

The Governor’s directive applies to all U.S. and state flags under the control of the state. H.R. 692, signed in 2007, requires federal government agencies in the state to comply with the Governor’s Executive Order that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in the event of the death of a member of the Armed Forces.

Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.

Longman, a 26-year old Clinton, Iowa native serving with the 433rd Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Corps, was last seen April 16, 1944 as his unit returned from a B-25 bomber escort mission over Hollandia, New Guinea. A Lockheed P-38 “Lightning” fighter pilot, Longman was on the return leg of the mission in a P-38J aircraft when his unit encountered severe weather in the Markham Valley.

Longman’s last reported location was in the vicinity of Bogadjim, New Guinea, as his formation broke up. The 5th Air Force lost 53 pilots and crewmen that day in what became known as “Black Sunday.” Longman was officially declared deceased on Feb. 27, 1946, but his remains were never recovered.

In February 2005, the Joint Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command – Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC) received information of a possible aircraft crash site in Madang province, Papua New Guinea. In August 2007, human remains, as well as parts of a U.S. P-38J aircraft were recovered by a JPAC Investigation Team. Additional remains and physical evidence were also recovered in 2009 and 2010 by JPAC personnel.

In 2011, JPAC’s Research and Analysis Group concluded a historical association drawn from Missing Air Crew Report #4501 and the excavation site. The location of the excavated aircraft crash site and the wreckage reported by JPAC personnel, consistent with a Lockheed P-38J Lightning, support this historical association.

A memorial service and interment will be held at the Rock Island Arsenal National Cemetery, 1 Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill. on April 12, 2014 at 1 p.m., with full military honors provided by the Iowa National Guard. Please use the Moline entrance. The public is welcome to attend the memorial service.

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR

1049 AM CDT THU APR 10 2014

    …ELEVATED FIRE DANGER ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL IOWA TODAY…

NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE FURTHER AND BECOME GUSTY BY THIS
AFTERNOON…ALONG WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY FALLING INTO THE 20S.
THIS COMBINATION OF WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL PRODUCE
AN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER TODAY. THE MOST FAVORABLE CONDITIONS WILL
EXIST DURING THE AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL DIE OFF QUICKLY THIS
EVENING WITH RAPIDLY IMPROVING FIRE CONDITIONS.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Des Moines school district wants the Iowa Supreme Court to review a judge’s ruling that allows a former superintendent’s lawsuit to proceed. Judge Glenn Pille ruled last month that emails sent and received by former superintendent Nancy Sebring through her district-issued email account and electronics should have remained confidential.

Her invasion-of-privacy lawsuit argues that the emails were personal and not subject to the state’s open records laws. Des Moines Public Schools says the emails were public records. The case is scheduled to go to trial in November. The Des Moines Register says the school district is arguing that Pille’s ruling could have a “chilling effect” on the release of public records.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Authorities in Montgomery County say two Red Oak men were arrested Wednesday, on drug charges.The Sheriff’s Office says Charlie Daniel Brooms and Dustin Lee Doyen were taken into custody at around 11:30-a.m.

Brooms was charged with two-counts of delivery of marijuana, while Doyen faces one count of delivery of marijuana.Both men were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash bond, each.

Firefighters in Montgomery County had a very busy day, Wednesday. Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman reports firefighters from Stanton were finishing up with a previous field fire at around 2-p.m., when they noticed heavy smoke south of Stanton. A crew from Stanton responded to investigate the area and found a large fire in a field in the area of 110th Street and M Avenue, in Page County.

Photos courtesy Brian Hamman, Montgomery Co. EMA.

Fire crews from Essex, Red Oak, and Villisca assisted on the scene for several hours. Multiple tractors with discs also aided with controlling the fire. While this was ongoing, a rekindle of a previous fire west of Stanton occurred and a second crew from Red Oak and Stanton were able to control the fire in a short amount of time. The cause of this fire appears to have been from previous burn pile that was reignited by strong winds.

Earlier in the day, the Villisca Fire Department was paged to a small waterway on fire around 8:30-a.m., and another fire around 11-a.m., in Villisca. Stanton was paged almost simultaneously to two separate field/ditch fires around 11:30-a.m. The first was a half mile south of Stanton on O Ave and the second fire was west of Stanton on the train tracks around 220th Street and M Ave. Fire crews from Red Oak and Villisca Fire assisted Stanton Fire on both fires, using with grass trucks and tankers.

Although most of fires were unintentionally set, some were from old burns that had taken place or others were set and left. Red Flag conditions were in effect Wednesday. When that type of warning is in-place, no one should conduct any outdoor burning, at any time.

There were also reports of field fires in Shelby County, and near the Lake Anita Dam in Cass County, Wednesday afternoon.

A House committee has advanced a bill that supporters say could be the vehicle used to ratify a deal that would end greyhound racing in Iowa. Representative Guy Vander Linden, a Republican from Oskaloosa, was one of 23 members of the House Ways and Means Committee to vote for a bill that will be altered later with the details of whatever deal is struck. “It is the intent of the General Assmebly to enact legislation relating to live dog racing requirements at parimutuel dog race tracks,” Vander Linden said.

Representative Todd Pritchard, a Democrat from Charles City, says officials from the greyhound industry and the casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque where dogs race today have been negotiating for a couple of weeks. “It’s my understanding that the parties are close to an agreement, if not having an agreement and they’re finalizing that,” Pritchard says. “I would hope that process continues and we have an acceptable agreement.”

The casinos say they’re sinking 13-million dollars a year into subsidizing greyhound races that few patrons bet on or watch. Legislators anticipate a deal between the greyhound industry and the two casinos that would have the casinos pay a “cessation fee” and pay into a multi-million dollar “retirement fund” for greyhound owners and breeders in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Wapello County officials have agreed to make repairs to the 120-year-old courthouse. The Ottumwa Courier reports the Wapello County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night approved spending $139,000 on repairs and maintenance for the courthouse, built in 1894. The work will be done by Karr Tuckpointing of Vinton.

ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa inspectors have cited a care center after incidents in which residents weren’t properly supervised. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports state inspectors cited the Presbyterian Village in Ackley. In one, a resident with dementia left the home during the early hours of February 4th and was found outside later with a 78.3 degree temperature. In another incident, residents with Alzheimer’s engaged in sex.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Iowa City say a man accused of dropping his pants in front of two women blamed a faulty belt. Iowa City police tell the Press-Citizen say 51-year-old Vincent Vogelsang approached two women Tuesday afternoon and dropped his pants. He is also accused of making lewd and sexual gestures toward them.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man has been charged in federal court with murder in connection to a fatal stabbing on the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for northern Iowa says 20-year-old Jonathan Youngbear made an appearance yesterday in Cedar Rapids federal court. He was held without bond. Youngbear was arrested in February.