More people spent time last year camping in an Iowa State Park compared to 2011. Jim Lawson, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the parks were unusually busy in March of last year because there was no snow and temperatures climbed into the 70s.  “Our camping during March and April was probably up 25-percent over the previous year,” Lawson said. “So, we started off very strong and continued strong throughout the summer.” The DNR is reporting “total camping guest days” in Iowa State Parks at 709-thousand-five-hundred-ninety-five (709,595) in 2012. That’s up from 684-thousand-four-hundred-seventeen (684,417) in 2011.

The busiest campground in the state last year was no surprise. “Year after year, our top camping area is the Gull Point Complex in the Great Lakes region,” Lawson said. Okoboji’s Gull Point was followed in popularity by Rock Creek in Kellogg, Viking Lake near Stanton, Lake Ahquabi in Indianola, Clear Lake in Clear Lake and Lake Anita in Anita. Lawson pointed out that three state park campgrounds were closed last year for renovations; Emerson Bay in Okoboji, Wilson Island near Council Bluffs and Lake Darling in southeast Iowa. The Emerson Bay and Lake Darling campground areas are scheduled to reopen this year.
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Top 10 busiest Iowa State Park campgrounds in 2012:
Gull Point Complex – Okobojii area
Rock Creek – Kellogg
Viking Lake – Stanton
Lake Ahquabi – Indianola
Clear Lake – Clear Lake
Lake Anita – Anita
Ledges – Boone
Brushy Creek – Lehigh
Backbone – Dundee
Lake Manawa – Council Bluffs

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report the arrest Wednesday night of 25-year old Cody Wilson, of Corning. Wilson was taken into custody on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, after deputies responded to a dispute call at a residence in the 1900 block of Quincy Avenue, at around 10:50p.m.  Wilson was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Officials with the Council Bluffs-based Iowa West Foundation, say $4 million in grants will be dispersed for the fourth quarter of 2012. The grants, which were announced Wednesday, will be used to assist 35 non-profit organizations and governmental entities with funding for area projects. Among the grant recipients were the City’s of Griswold and Lewis, which received $7,500 and $6,500 respectively, for community building improvements.The City of Kimballton received a $38,000 grant for park and trail improvements, as part of the designation of an “Iowa Great Place” with its neighboring Danish village of Elk Horn.

Other, Iowa West Foundation 2012 fourth quarter grants include, but were not limited to:

• The Adams County Conservation Board, $20,000 for Timber Ridge campground improvements at Lake Icaria.

• The City of Elliott, $26,000 for a wetlands bridge and trail in watershed area.

• The City of Hancock, $14,000 for  a community  electronic message board.

• The City of Shelby, new concession facility for city park, $8,000.

• Mills County Prevent Child Abuse Council, “Circles4Support” program, $15,000

• Page County Conservation Board, equestrian campground at Pierce Creek Park, $21,000

• Turnbull Child Development Center, technology upgrades for child care center in Shenandoah, $3,000.

A trial date has been set for a Marne man facing a Reckless Use of a Firearm charge, in connection with the shooting of a dog which strayed onto his property. According to online court records, 56-year old Charles Collins Cutler has entered a plea of Not Guilty to the  Serious Misdemeanor offense. His trial on the matter is set to begin in Cass County District Court on April 9th, beginning at 9:30-a.m.  A separate hearing on a Aggravated Serious Misdemeanor charge of Animal Abuse is set to take place this (Thursday) afternoon.

The charges were filed following an incident which occurred December 24th, in Marne, when a Colorado woman’s dog was shot in Marne. A Cass County Sheriff’s deputy responding to the Atlantic Animal Health Center, spoke with 23-year old Stacy Ernat from Denver, CO, who reported her chocolate Labrador “Wrigley,” was playing with a relative’s dog in the church lot adjacent to the residence of Charles Collins Cutler. When the dog apparently strayed onto Cutler’s property, it was wounded by a shotgun blast fired from a distance of 30-to 40-feet.

Ernat brought her dog to the Atlantic Animal Health Center where it died. Ernat and another friend told the deputy they witnessed Cutler shoot the dog.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Bureau of Immunization, say the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for students enrolling in seventh grade, will be required,  beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. The new requirement became effective today (Wednesday). The change will require a one-time booster dose of Tdap vaccine for students enrolling in grades seven and up, if born on or after September 15, 2000. IDPH Immunization Program Manager Bethany Kintigh says “The secondary school vaccine requirement will help Iowa achieve and maintain high vaccination adolescent coverage levels while reducing the number of pertussis cases occurring annually.”

Pertussis or whooping cough is caused by Bordetella pertussis and causes epidemics every three-to -five years. In 2012, 1,647cases of pertussis were reported to IDPH, a 417 percent increase in cases compared to the average of the previous five years. The majority of cases occurred in children 10-14 years of age. Pertussis can cause serious illness in infants, children and adults. The disease starts like the common cold, with runny nose or congestion, sneezing, and sometimes a mild cough or fever which is followed by severe coughing.

Pertussis can cause violent and rapid coughing, over and over, until the air is gone from the lungs and you are forced to inhale with a “whooping’ sound. While treatment with antibiotics will prevent an individual diagnosed with pertussis from spreading the disease, the cough may continue to last for weeks. Children receive pertussis-containing vaccine beginning at two months of age, and are recommended to get a booster dose at 11 or 12 years of age.

The National Immunization Survey (NIS) Teen, 2011 results indicates 74.7 percent of Iowa adolescents 13-17 years have received the Tdap vaccine compared to the national average of 78.2 percent. If you have an incoming seventh grader that hasn’t received the Tdap vaccine, now is a great time to make an appointment with your child’s health care provider.

Two Council Bluffs men were sentenced today (Wednesday) to a total of just over four-years in prison for their roles in the robbery of a Sac County bank last year. 35-year old Robert Glade Edie III and 19-year old Patrick Allen Eggerling were sentenced in United States District Court in Council Bluffs, for the burglary of Farmer’s Bank and Trust in Earling. United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Robert Edie to 34 months in prison, to be followed by 24 months of supervised release. The Judge also sentenced Patrick Eggerling to 15 months in prison, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release. Both men were required to pay $100 to the Crime Victim Fund, and ordered that both are jointly liable for more than $10,900 in restitution.

Both men pled guilty to the charge, which stems from an April 12th, 2012 incident, during which the defendants during the night-time hours, entered an exterior lobby of the Farmer’s Bank and Trust in Earling, attached a log chain to an ATM, and using a stolen motor vehicle, pulled the ATM from its base and drug the ATM from the bank lobby. The men then put the ATM in the back of the stolen SUV and fled. The ATM contained approximately $6,000.00 when it was stolen. A high speed chase ensued in which Harrison County Sheriff deputies, Pottawattamie County Sheriff deputies, and Iowa State Patrol troopers pursued suspects vehicle. The chase reached speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour in the wrong direction on the interstate, until Edie, who was driving the vehicle, lost control of the it.

The SUV became airborne, left the interstate and crashed through a fence, before coming to rest in a field. Law enforcement personnel captured the men hiding in a ravine near the wrecked vehicle, and recovered the ATM, still containing the stolen money. Both suspects were on State of Iowa probation or parole at the time of the bank burglary.

The case against them was investigated by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, and the Iowa State Patrol. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Pottawattamie County Man was sentenced today (Wednesday) to a little more than five-years in prison for bank robbery. In addition to the 65 month sentence, Judge John Jarvey also ordered 45-year old William Martin Fiorito, Jr., to serve a three year term of supervised release following incarceration.  Fiorito, Jr. pled guilty on October 4th, 2012, robbing the Peoples National Bank located at 333 West Broadway in Council Bluffs, on October 11th, 2011. During the incident, the man produced a note demanding money and advised he had a firearm.

The teller at the time of the robbery observed what appeared to be the grips of a handgun protruding from the top of Fiorito’s waistband, and the teller provided money to him as demanded. Fiorito left the bank and entered a second Peoples National Bank located at 1600 West Broadway in Council Bluffs a few minutes later, where he again demanded money. His second attempt however failed.

The investigation into his activities was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.