The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says an additional charge of Animal Abuse has been filed against a Marne man who shot a woman’s dog Monday morning. As we reported Monday afternoon, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a dog having been shot in Marne. A deputy responded to the Atlantic Animal Health Center, where the owner of the dog, 23-year old Stacy Ernat from Denver, CO, reported her chocolate Labrador “Wrigley,” was playing with a relative’s dog in the church lot adjacent to the residence of Charles Collins Cutler, the individual who shot the dog with a shotgun, 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. Upon investigation, a Sheriff’s Deputy cited Cutler for Animal Abuse (Aggravated Misdemeanor) and Reckless Use of a Firearm (Simple Misdemeanor). Cutler was given a court date of January 17th, 2013.

The debate over credit card “swipe fees” is surfacing again at the statehouse. The issue is pitting banks and credit card companies against retailers, both big and small. Jim Henter, with the Iowa Retail Federation, says businesses shouldn’t have to pay a fee on the tax portion of the bill when a customer buys something with a credit card. “We understand the need to cover the costs of these transactions, but we believe the big banks have gotten greedy,” Henter said. “That’s why we’re talking about this issue.”

The fee is two-and-a-half percent of the total purchase, including the tax, and Henter told a legislative interim committee that it amounts to a “tax on a tax.” Retailers want limits on the fee they pay every time a customer makes a purchase with plastic. But Justin Hupher, with the Iowa Credit Union League, said it would be “a mess” if every state passes its own laws on swipe fees. “In my opinion, this is the wrong venue because of the interstate nature of plastic payments. This issue has been lobbied and debated in Congress prior to the Dodd Frank act when Congress did take action,” Hupher said.

But, the federal law affects only the very biggest companies, so none of Iowa’s credit unions are covered by the law.

(Radio Iowa)

Two people were arrested in Atlantic during the past couple of days. On Monday, 42-year old Michael Croghan, of Atlantic, was arrested for three-counts of Forgery and one count of ongoing Criminal conduct. And, on Christmas day, 33-year old Joshua Mullen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of OWI, and on a warrant for violating his parole.

Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

w/ Ric Hanson

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BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – A woman has been arrested in Council Bluffs, Iowa, after a 90-minute chase that began across the Missouri River in Bellevue, Neb.  The Omaha World-Herald says the pursuit began about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when a Bellevue officer checked a car that had stopped on a highway offramp. The officer says the car nearly backed into the officer’s cruiser and then headed north toward Omaha.

The chase continued into Omaha and back to Bellevue, where the car stopped several times and sped away when officers approached. The driver eventually went to Omaha and drove east into Council Bluffs, using the westbound lanes of Interstate 80.

The woman was arrested a little after 3 a.m., when she stopped her car for good in Council Bluffs.   Charges are pending in both states.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says last week’s blizzard was not the way Iowa’s pheasant and quail wanted to start winter.  About half of the state received 6 to 12 inches of wet heavy snow that collapsed most “grassy” cover.  The cover that did not collapse was drifted full of snow from the high winds.  Todd Bogenschutz, state upland game biologist for the DNR said it was “A bad storm for upland game birds.” Bogenschutz said he thinks  “It’s very likely we saw some bird mortality with this blizzard.”

He says winter snowfall from December 1st thru March 31st is a good predictor of whether upland bird populations will increase or decrease the following year, and to have upwards of one foot of snow only 20 days into December does not bode well for pheasants. According to Bogenschutz,  “Iowa had only 17 inches of snow last winter. Parts of Iowa are close to that total already with this first storm.”

Iowa’s pheasant and quail populations were decimated by five consecutive winters of 30-50 inches of snow from 2007 thru 2011.  The winter of 2011-12 with only 17 inches of snow led to the first increase in pheasant numbers in years.  Bogenschutz says “Upland bird hunters were hopeful this winter would also be dry and mild to speed a population recovery.” He added that he hopes there are no more storms like the one experienced last week, for the rest of the winter.”

On a side note: The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Pheasants Forever chapters will meet jointly next month to discuss methods to improve winter habitat for pheasant and quail.
Iowa has 50,000 acres under a new Conservation Reserve Program called Iowa Pheasant Recovery SAFE.  Landowners have the opportunity to enroll in this program first come first serve until the acres are gone.  The catch is, that County FSA offices cannot enroll Iowa landowners until Congress gives USDA authority to begin enrollment under a new farm bill.

(Iowa DNR Press Release)

Police in Red Oak are investigating a recent incident of vehicle vandalism. According to the police department, a Red Oak resident told authorities Monday, that while he was away from his home, the driver’s s side window of his 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup was smashed, and the entire vehicle scratched by an unknown device. The incident occurred while the vehicle was parked near the man’s residence. Authorities estimated damage to the pickup at around $3,000.

If you have any information about the incident, call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at (712) 623-5107, or Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-432-1001.

A study of cancer survivors from Iowa and Nebraska finds exercise may have an important impact on how patients respond to treatment and how quickly they recover. Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha looked at how exercise boosts the immune system of cancer survivors. UNMC’s Dr. Laura Bilek says the results are preliminary.  “It appears that exercise may help combat some of the negative side effects from chemotherapy and radiation,” Dr. Bilek says. “We hope that this may help cancer survivors enhance their ability to ultimately fight cancer.” Therapies like radiation and chemo can leave a person feeling wiped out.

“When the immune system recovers, we’re left with a lot of cells that are old and not terribly functional,” Bilek says. “Those hang around for a long time. We know in other areas of research that exercise can help to get rid of those slowly and make room for cells that are more helpful.” The study finds those new cells, sparked by exercise, may be able to help the body to fight infections and possibly kill surviving tumor cells. The older we get, Bilek says the more of those older, unhealthy cells we’re carrying around.

“That’s why older individuals are more prone to infection,” she says. “We also know that in the aging population, persons that are more active have a lower number of these non-functional cells and we also know older individuals who exercise tend to get less infection.” This is an early study and Bilek says more research is needed.

(Radio Iowa)