More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Council Bluffs say a Council Bluffs couple escaped injury during a home invasion early this (Tuesday) morning. Officers were called to 3545 9th Avenue at around 2:15-a.m. with regard to the incident. The victims, 53-year old Timothy Freeman and 50-year old Candy Freeman, reported that they were in their bedroom when they heard someone kick in their back door and start yelling their name.

Timothy Freeman walked down the hallway and saw three suspects standing in his kitchen. One of the suspects pointed a black semi-auto handgun at him. Freeman said when the suspects saw him, they ran out of the house and eastbound down the alley.

The incident remains under investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Criminal Investigations Division. Anyone with further information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 712-328-STOP (7867)

The operator of a motorcycle suffered serious injuries after the machine hit a deer early this morning, in Council Bluffs. Authorities say Corey Danker, of Council Bluffs, was driving the cycle when a deer ran into his path at around 1:30-a.m. near the intersection of Bennett and Franklin Avenues.

Danker suffered bleeding on the brain and a spinal cord injury during the collision. He was transported to Jennie Edmundson hospital for treatment.

CYLINDER, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 58-year-old Iowa man tried to rescue his son who was overcome by fumes in a hog manure pit, but both men later died. The accident occurred Saturday afternoon in the northwest Iowa community of Cylinder. The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office says Gene Opheim and his 32-year-old son, Austin, were making repairs when Austin was overcome by the gases. His father then entered the pit to save his son but also was overcome.

Fire and rescue personnel were called to the scene. The Sheriff’s Office says the men were removed from the pit and taken to Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg, where they were pronounced dead.

The prelude to today’s big livestock sale at the Cass County Fair was held Monday evening, with the Parade of Champions and Grand Champion Beef Selection Show.  Among the big winners during Monday’s event were Lindsey Dinkla and Hannah Carlson. Carlson exhibited the Grand Champion Market Heifer, which weighed 1,388-pounds. Hannah is the daughter of Mike and Pat Carlson. Lindsey Dinkla, the daughter of Gary and Beth Dinkla,  exhibited the Grand Champion 4H Market Steer, which weighed-in at 1,326-pounds.

The Reserve Grand Champion Market Heifer was shown by Caroline Pellett, with the Pymosa 4H Club. She is the daughter of Brad and Kristi Pellett. The Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer was shown by Haley Carlson, with the Pymosa 4H Club. Haley is the daughter of Mike and Pat Carlson. Haley also exhibited the Grand Champion FFA market heifer.

Marshall McDermott, of the Atlantic FFA displayed the Reserve. Marshall is the son of Mike and Melanie McDermott. Eric Plagman showed the Grand Champion FFA Market Steer. Eric is the son of Mike and Kristi Plagman. The Reserve went to Nate Moen, of the Atlantic FFA. His parents are Clint and Laura Fruend.

The livestock sale gets underway at 8-a.m. and will conclude when all the animals are sold. Breakfast will be served at the Foodstand from 6:30-until 10-a.m.

A man from northwest Iowa’s Pocahontas County faces three felony and numerous other charges, following a pursuit, crash and man hunt Monday. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 30-year old Mark Alan Achterberg, of Laurens, was arrested at around 2-p.m. Monday, after authorities had been unable to locate him earlier in the day.

The incident leading up to his eventual arrest began at around 1:24-a.m., Monday, when a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy attempted to stop a 2008 Dodge Ram pickup truck in the 2400 block of O Avenue, for a traffic violation. The vehicle failed to stop and led deputies on a pursuit, with speeds reaching in excess of 100-miles per hour. The pursuit ended at 260th Street and G Avenue, where Achterberg wrecked the pickup in the west ditch. The vehicle was heavily concealed by the brush and not visible from the road.

Achterberg took off on foot. Despite a massive search that included members of the Iowa State Patrol, Red Oak Police, Cass, Page, Fremont, and Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies, as well as Shenandoah Police, authorities were unable to locate the suspect. He was apprehended later in the day. Achterberg faces felony charges that include: Eluding, Assault of a Peace Officer, and Possession of a Stolen Vehicle. He was also cited for numerous traffic violations. The man was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash bond.

A researcher at Iowa State University finds a link between the insulin that regulates blood sugar in our bodies and Alzheimer’s disease. I-S-U’s Auriel Willette conducted the study with a researcher from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute. “In certain brain regions that are affected by Alzheimer’s disease, they show that these neurons are using less and less blood sugar. And so, these problems with using blood sugar were also selectively related to — in these same people — to having problems with memory,” Willette says.

People who are obese tend to become insulin resistant, which could lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Willette says they found the link between the insulin resistance and memory issues. “Immediate memory over the course of a couple of minutes, all the way down to 20 minutes later,” Willette says. He says this study may be enough warning for people to think more about losing weight now, to prevent the possible onset of Alzheimers. Willette wants to do more work on the impact of blood sugar levels on the brain.

“Some subsequent work that I want to do is trying to see…if you are overweight or if you are obese, if you do engage in moderate exercise, could that have an affect on the brain where we don’t see the relationship we’re seeing here?,” Willette says. Willette says having less sugar means the brain has less energy to relay information and function, but there’s a lot that isn’t known.

“We as brain scientists know very little about the dynamics of how this works,” Willette says. “We are just now kind of beginning to understand this as to how we perceive food and things along those lines.” He says this new link involving brain sugar and insulin raises more questions. “In relation to how insulin might give us that extra jolt of energy to be able to figure something out or to remember something or to make a new memory — things along those lines — we really don’t understand much of how that works at all. It’s just a really, really new field, and so know we are just trying to puzzle out what it all means,” according to Willette.

Willette’s findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology.

(Radio Iowa)