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Rep. Cindy Axne will visit Atlantic Feb. 23rd

News

February 20th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Iowa 3rd District Democrat Representative Cindy Axne will hold a “Connect with your Congresswoman” town hall event in Atlantic, Wednesday (Feb. 23rd). The event takes place at the Atlantic Public Library, beginning at 5:15-p.m.

Axne will be available to answer questions about her work in Washington and discuss issues or concerns facing constituents. Attendees are asked to wear a face mask to slow the spread of COVID-19 variants.

Audubon & Griswold School Board to hold separate meetings, Monday

News

February 20th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

At least two area school district boards of education will hold their regular monthly meetings, Monday evening (Feb. 21st). In Griswold, the School Board meeting gets underway at 5:30-p.m. in the Conference Room at the High School. New Business on their agenda includes (but is not limited to…), considering and possible approval of:

  • Auditor bids for Fiscal Years 2023,2024, & 2025 (Decision Required [D.R.])
  • E-Rate Application [D.R.]
  • Chemical Application, Middle School Gym, and Baseball Field Maintenance bids. [D.R.]
  • Mowing Specifications [D.R.]
  • An adjustment to Substitute Pay (Information only, or [D.R.])

The Griswold School Board will then consider/act on entering into a Closed Session for strategy negotiations with the Certified Bargaining Unit.

In Audubon, the District School Board meets at 7-p.m., Monday, in the High School Board Room. Action items on their agenda include:

  • Naming the Audubon Education Association as the Official Bargaining Unit for Teachers.
  • Setting the time and dates for: Public Bargaining Meeting (Board opening proposal), & a hearing on the School Calendar.
  • The Board will also act on approving an agreement with Advantage Administrators, re: Early Retirement HRA.
  • Act on approving the second reading of policies (105, 200.1, 210.8, 212, 212.1, 401.4, 502.4 & 606.6)
  • Rescinding Policy 307,
  • and they will act on any Personnel matters to come before the Board (Resignations, Contracts, etc.)

The Audubon School Board is expected to receive an Open Bargaining Proposal from the Audubon Education Association, prior to hearing regular monthly reports from the Superintendent, Principals and with regard to Transportation.

 

Woman faces assault charge in Shenandoah

News

February 20th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Shenandoah, Iowa) — Police responding to an altercation early Saturday morning, in Shenandoah, arrested a woman on a assault charge. Shenandoah Police Department were called to the 1100 block of West Lowell at around 6-a.m., and upon further investigation, officers arrested 26-year old Taylor Dawn Fleming, of Shenandoah, for Domestic Assault/1st offense.

Fleming was transported to the Page County Jail and was being held without bond.

(Updated) – 4 injured, 1 from Perry dead, following eastern Iowa crash, Saturday morning

News

February 19th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Hazleton, Iowa) – Four people were injured and a person from Perry died early Saturday morning, following a crash in eastern Iowa’s Buchanan County, south of Hazleton. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened on Highway 150, at around 2:38-a.m.

Authorities say a 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 27-year-old Brian Goedken, from Independence, was traveling south on Hwy 150, when the vehicle crossed the center line, and struck a northbound 2008 Pontiac driven by 31-year-old Ronald Landals, from Perry, head-on. The pickup also struck a 2021 Ford Explorer. The SUV was driven by 26-year-old Mitchel Franck, from Fairbank, Iowa. Franck is a Buchanan County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Landals died at the scene. The other two drivers were injured, along with 21-year-old Meadow Lynn, from Independence, and 28-year-old Erin Bernardino, from Des Moines.  All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts. Of those injured, Goedken and Lynn were taken to St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids. The other two were transported to separate hospitals, with Bernardino taken to the UIHC in Iowa City, and Franck transported to the Buchanan County Hospital in Independence.

The accident remained under investigation. Assisting the Patrol at the crash scene, were deputies from the Buchanan and Fayette County Sheriff’s Departments, along with Hazleton Fire and EMS.

DNR/ISU trying to help a turtle species grow

Ag/Outdoor, News

February 19th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is joining with Iowa State University on a project to document and help a specific type of turtle increase its numbers. The D-N-R’s Karen Kinkead says the Blanding’s turtles don’t mature and reproduce at a very fast rate. “The average is about 14 years — but it varies individually by turtle before they lay their first eggs. And the nests are very susceptible to predators — particularly raccoons and skunks,” Kinkead says. She says there’s been less trapping in the state and that has led to increased predators for the turtle. The Blanding’s turtles are found in wetland areas of northwest and central Iowa. “They are a state-listed species, so we don’t give out specific locations,” according to Kinkead. “They’ve got a bit of a black market following, so we try to keep that private so that the turtles aren’t collected illegally.”

Blanding’s turtle (IA DNR photo)

The plan is to monitor the turtles with radio transmitters. “The University of Northern Iowa has been doing some work on a different species of turtles for a very long time — and so they’ve sort of figured out the methodology of which transmitters to use and how to set them and how to attach them to turtles. And it should work the same way on the Blandings turtles that we are interested in,” she says. They also plan to work with the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines to gather some eggs and hatch out turtles to be placed back in the wild. “We think that doing it that way a turtle in captivity will be about the size of a three-year-old turtle in the wild after about a year,” Kinkead says. “And just that just gives them a bit more protection and gives their shell will harden and they get to a larger size — so it’s harder for like a great blue heron to swallow them whole for example.”

The Blanding’s turtles can live to be 75 years old. She says it’s important the D-N-R’s Wildlife Diversity Program does what it can to help this species. “They’ve certainly been around a very, very long time and I don’t think it is responsible of us to let them go extinct on our watch if we can help it,” Kinkead says.

The D-N-R is providing 163-thousand dollars for the project, with I-S-U chipping in 57-thousand. They have a two-and-a-half-year agreement to track and detail the lives of the turtles.

Trial in Atlantic Attempted Murder case delayed for a month

News

February 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The trial for an Atlantic man facing felony charges of Attempted Murder and Willful Injury Causing Serious Injury, has been continued (delayed) for one month. 34-year-old Richard J. Doss, Jr., was set to stand trial this Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, but according to online court records updated Friday (Feb. 18th), the trial has instead been moved to March 22nd, at 9:30-a.m. His Pre-Trial Conference will be held March 14th.

Doss is accused of stabbing a man on Jan. 5th at an apartment complex across from Cass Health, in Atlantic. He has plead not guilty, and earlier waived his right to a speedy trial. Doss Jr., was arrested Dec. 6th, hours after a man arrived at the Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room on Jan.5th, after being stabbed.

Photo of Richard DOSS Jr. (Iowa DPS photo)

The victim – whose name has not yet officially been released – was treated at the hospital and then transported by helicopter to UNMC in Omaha for further treatment.

Healthy and Homemade Workshop to Feature Slow Cooker Meals: Class Scheduled for February 23 in Atlantic

News

February 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Atlantic, Iowa) – If you’re looking for ideas on how to eat healthy and make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen, a slow cooker workshop is just the thing for you! You are invited to join Leah Brooke, ISU Extension and Outreach Human Sciences Specialist in Food and Health, for a Slow Cooker Meal workshop on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, from 6-until 8-PM, at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic.

Healthy and Homemade is a series of workshops focused on strategies for using your time, money and skills wisely to save money while preparing nutritious food safely right at home. In our slow cooker workshop, we will focus on the benefits of using a slow cooker to prepare meals, discuss safe food preparation tips, and learn about different meal ideas that work well in a slow cooker. Samples will be available for tasting some of the recipes discussed.

Cost for the workshop is $10.00, which includes all class materials. Pre-registration is required in advance of the workshop, and can be done online at https://go.iastate.edu/GALD1L. If cost is a barrier, please contact the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132 to inquire about scholarships. Information about the class is also available on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or by stopping into the Extension office at 805 West 10th Street in Atlantic.

You can also contact Leah Brooke, Extension Food and Health Specialist, at lbrooke@iastate.edu or 641-782-8426 with questions regarding the class or online registration.

Sioux City drug conviction involving dog thrown out

News

February 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out a drug possession case in Sioux City involving a drug dog. Yale Stevens of Sioux City was convicted of possessing meth following his arrest when his brother was pulled over in February of 2020 for having a tail light out. Stevens was a backseat passenger in the car and says the evidence should be suppressed because a drug dog indicated drugs were present at the driver’s door — but never indicated he had the drugs in his pocket.

The Supreme Court agreed the drug dog’s positive alert outside the driver’s door did not alone create probable cause to search a backseat passenger without a warrant.

Reynolds raises concerns about sales tax element of Senate GOP’s tax plan

News

February 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate are about two-thirds of the way toward reaching a final agreement on a tax plan. The governor is raising concerns, though, about the Senate G-O-P’s idea to convert more than 800 local option sales taxes into one statewide tax. It’s a legal maneuver so lawmakers could use other state tax money to fill the empty Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Fund, but Reynolds says she’s concerned because the move impose a one percent sales tax in three counties* and four dozen cities that aren’t collecting it today.

Reynolds made her comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S. The other sticking point in the G-O-P tax negotiations is whether to cut the corporate income tax. Reynolds has proposed a significant cut. Senate Republicans propose a cut, along with reductions in some tax credits corporations typically claim. Reynolds says she’s not ready to agree to reducing the research activities tax credit, for example.

Reynolds says that study can start this summer. House Republicans have passed a bill that solely focuses on reducing personal income taxes and would not cut the corporate income tax rate.

*the three counties that do not have a local option sales tax are Clarke, Johnson and Osceola

Seattle man arrested after traffic stop & pursuit in Mills County

News

February 18th, 2022 by Ric Hanson

(Glenwood, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 4:35-a.m. Friday (today), in Mills County, escalated into a pursuit and the arrest of a man and a woman. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Sergeant the the Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation. The vehicle refused to yield and a pursuit initiated. A short time later, the vehicle stopped, and the male driver took off on foot. His female passenger remained in the vehicle. She was taken into custody without incident.

The Mills County K9 unit, Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Iowa State Patrol and Montgomery County EMA all responded to the scene. The EMA launched their “Eagle One” drone, equipped with night vision (FLIR) technology, to locate heat signatures. After about two-minutes, the drone located a “hot spot” in the tree line, about one-half mile from where the driver abandoned the vehicle. The image showed a male laying face down.

Crowe & Hernandez (Mills County S/O booking photo)

A K9 search was formed and started down the tree line to locate the suspect. With continued assistance from the drone, the suspect – identified later as Vince Crow, of Seattle, WA, was taken into custody without further incident. An empty handgun holster was found on Crowe. The Mills County K9 “Danken” was deployed, and found the gun Crowe allegedly tossed into the tree line.

A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted, resulting in the recovery of approximately 30.4 grams of heroin, 52.7 grams of marijuana, 90 Oxycodone pills, a small amount of meth, a digital scale, and multiple pieces of drug paraphernalia. Once at the Mills County Jail, the passenger who was in the vehicle gave a false name, but was eventually identified as Mariah Hernandez, of Dallas, Oregon.

Crow faces numerous charges, including: Felony Eluding; Possession with Intent/Heroin; Poss. w/intent-marijuana; Poss. of Oxycodone; 3 counts of Failure to Affix a drug tax stamp; Poss. of a Firearm by a convicted felon; Interference w/Official Acts, and multiple driving citations. Hernandez was charged with Poss. of Meth/3rd or subsequent offense, and providing false information to law enforcement.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office extends thanks to the aforementioned agencies for their assistance in handling the incident.