Area Law Enforcement Agencies are strongly advising against any travel in western Iowa today (Thursday). If your vehicle becomes stuck, you may be waiting hours or days before it can be extracted from the ditch or median.  Currently, Towing Bans are in-place in Cass, Guthrie and Pottawattamie Counties, meaning those services are prohibited by order of Law Enforcement Agencies until the weather conditions begin to improve.

Because of the blowing and drifting of snow, vehicles which skid off into the median or ditches will not be removed from those locations until the winds and visibility on the roadways improve. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports at least 13 other counties in Iowa had instituted a ban on towing until conditions improve.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors Wednesday, received an annual report from West Central Community Action Executive Director Joel Dirks. WCCA, based in Harlan, assists low-income families and individuals in a 10-county area, in southwest Iowa. The County is in partnership with WCCA, and as such makes an annual contribution towards its services. Last year, Cass County contributed $3,000. Dirks said this year, WCCA is asking for a $500 increase in the amount of the contribution.The Board will consider the request when they begin work on next year’s budget.

West Central provides a number of services in Cass County, including three Head Start classrooms…one in Anita, and two in Atlantic. Dirks says they worked with 59 children over the last year. They worked with 522 WIC – Women, Infants and Children – Program participants in 2012, which amounted to slightly more than $204,000 in WIC vouchers which were spent locally.

WCCA also worked with 523 households participating in LiHeap, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and provided just assistance amount to slightly less than $215,000. In all, Dirks said West Central provided a little more than $1.8-million in services in the County in 2012. He says service dollars which went out clients, local vendors and through delivery of their programs, amounted to just under $1.56-million.

The organization he says, worked with 676 households in the County, which were comprised of 1,586 individuals which received services from West Central last year. 17% of the people they worked with were single-parent, female head-of-households. 41% were households run by a single-adult. 56% of the households were at 100% of the poverty line or below. The means a family of four, living on just under $23,000 per year.

Dirks said also, 37% percent of their clients are either in the process of buying, or own their own homes. 62% of their clients receive what are often referred to as food stamps, which is a slight increase over last year. (More info. available on the web at www.westcentralca.org/)

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Wednesday (Dec. 19th), that 26-year old Chad Allen Brayman, of Carroll, was sentenced Dec. 11th to 10-years in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms. United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey handed down the 120 month sentence in Council Bluffs against Brayman.

Jarvey also ordered Brayman to serve 3-years of supervised release following his imprisonment. In addition, he will have to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victim Fund, and forfeit the firearms and ammunition found in his possession. Brayman remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending designation the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

Brayman was sentenced upon his pleas of guilty to the two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. The first charge arose from a call to the Council Bluffs Police Department from a Council Bluffs motel on February 6, 2012, regarding a person sleeping in an automobile in the parking lot of the motel. In answering the call, Council Bluffs police officers found Brayman in the vehicle at the motel, and in possession of a loaded Norinco SKS 7.62X39 rifle, a loaded Remington 22-250 rifle, a 12-gauge Remington shotgun, a 410-gauge Westernfield shotgun, a Ruger 9mm pistol, and several rounds of ammunition. The second charge arose from the stop of a vehicle in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Council Bluffs police officers on April 30, 2012, in which Brayman was found to be the driver of a vehicle with expired registration.

During the stop, Brayman was found in possession of a loaded ACCU-Tec pistol. Prior to possessing the firearms and ammunition, Brayman had been convicted of various felony offenses, including burglary, theft-related crimes, and felon in possession of a firearm.

The case was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNTIES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT &   PAGE-
1131 AM CST WED DEC 19 2012

…BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON CST THURSDAY...
…WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON CST THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS EVENING. THE SNOW COULD BE PRECEDED BY A PERIOD OF LIGHT RAIN OR A WINTRY MIX… ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST OF COUNCIL BLUFFS…WHICH COULD DELAY THE WORST CONDITIONS UNTIL MID-EVENING. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY THEN THROUGH LATE EVENING.

WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 25 MPH BY EARLY EVENING AND THEN INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER TOWARD AND AFTER MIDNIGHT. ALTHOUGH VISIBILITIES WILL DROP AS THE HEAVY SNOW DEVELOPS…THEY ARE EXPECTED TO DROP TO NEAR ZERO AS THE WINDS INCREASE.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 7 TO 11 INCHES ARE LIKELY.

THE VERY STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY SNOW WILL CREATE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND POTENTIALLY CLOSE ROADS. WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY AND TRAVEL COULD BECOME IMPOSSIBLE.

Sheriff’s deputies in Mills County were very busy Tuesday, investigating no fewer than four accidents. One of the accidents happened at around 2:50-p.m. Tuesday, about two-miles southeast of Glenwood on Kidd Road, at the intersection with Kane Avenue. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says a 1991 Toyota driven by 16-year old Ashley Hunter, of Glenwood, was traveling south on Kidd Road when for reasons unknown, it left the road and hit an embankment. Hunter was transported by Glenwood Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

The other three accidents occurred at nearly the same time. Officials say the vehicles each went out of control as they crossed a bridge where ice had formed on the roadway. Each of the accident took place at around 5:35-a.m. Tuesday, about 2.5-miles west of Malvern, on Highway 34.

Officials say a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 25-year old Matthew Twehous, of Malvern, was traveling west on Highway 34, when the vehicle began to fishtail as he drove across a bridge. Twehous tried to take corrective action, but the truck skidded across the centerline of the road and hit the opposite side of the bridge.

At about the same time, a 2004 Dodge driven by 34-year old Justin Scroggs, of Malvern, hit the same patch of icy road on the bridge, causing the vehicle to fishtail out of control. The vehicle crossed the centerline and hit the opposite side of the bridge twice. And, about an hour later, a 2005 Chevy driven by 48-year old Carri McAdams, of Malvern also spun out of control on the increasingly icy bridge, as McAdams was traveling westbound. The vehicle hit the opposite side of the bridge. None of the drivers was injured. A dollar amount of the damage was not immediately available.

In advance of forecasted blizzard conditions in the state, the Iowa Department of Transportation is advising motorists that travel across the majority of Iowa is not advised from 8 p.m. tonight through noon Thursday, Dec. 20th.  The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning beginning at 6 p.m. tonight and continuing through 6 p.m. Thursday.

In addition to heavy snowfall of 6 to 10 inches, very strong northwest winds (25-35 mph, with gusts exceeding 45 mph) will produce considerable blowing and drifting of snow and blizzard conditions late tonight through Thursday afternoon.

The heaviest snow axis will be along a line from Atlantic to Dubuque. The lowest amounts are expected near the Missouri border. Snow drifts several feet deep will be possible given the strong winds. Visibility at times will be reduced to one-quarter mile or less to whiteout conditions.

The Iowa DOT does not recommend travel during this dangerous winter storm, but if you choose to venture out, take a fully charged cell phone with you. If you become stranded, follow these safety steps.

• Use your mobile phone to call 911 for emergency assistance. Guide emergency personnel to your location by observing any exit numbers, mileposts, crossroads or landmarks.
• Pull as far off the road as possible to avoid getting hit by other vehicles.
• Turn on your vehicle’s warning/flashing lights.
• Remain with your vehicle. Your vehicle provides the shelter necessary to survive and allows you to be found by rescue personnel.
• Remain calm and be patient. It may take considerable time for someone to reach your vehicle during a storm as emergency personnel typically are assisting multiple persons.
• Make sure your vehicle’s gas tank is full before starting your trip. If you become stranded, run your vehicle about 10 minutes every hour to stay warm.
• Crack a window in the vehicle to avoid carbon monoxide build-up; and clear away any snow from the vehicle’s tailpipe so the exhaust can escape.
• Utilize the resources in your winter survival kit.

To discover all the ways in which you can receive 24/7 Iowa traveler information, visit http://511ia.org/.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors Wednesday morning, approved a proposal from Carlson, West, and Povandra Architects, for a courthouse space/needs study. The study will cost a total of $4,300. That includes the base price of $3,800, plus an optional $800 fee for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (Or, HVAC) analysis. The board concluded the HVAC study should be done to determine whether it would be more cost effective and feasible to install a Geo-thermal system, or reconfigure the current system, depending on the location of the 9-1-1 Center.

During their meeting last week, Supervisor Mark Wedemeyer, who sits on the County Public Safety Commission, said the Commission would be willing to foot $2,500 toward the cost of the study, but Supervisor Chuck Rieken said Wednesday, that the Board could look at picking up the entire bill, once the study is complete. He says that’s because it would benefit the entire courthouse, and not just the Comm Center.

The Board could look at numerous methods of helping to pay for the study, including splitting the costs with the Public Safety Commission and obtaining Federal/State grants. The study will be completed within 90-days once the contract is signed.

Finding more space in the courthouse or on the grounds of the facility is a process that began in the Fall of 2011, after it became clear the Cass County 9-1-1/Communications Center has outgrown its current location, and because new technology will take up more space and require the use of additional personnel to operate it.