The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Council Bluffs man was sentenced Tuesday, December 14th, to10-years in prison for being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm. According to court documents, 58-year-old Clarence L. Woolsoncroft, plead guilty to the firearm offense in August of 2021. Woolsoncroft will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

In April of 2021, the Council Bluffs Police Department received an anonymous telephone call reporting Woolsoncroft, who was a convicted felon, used drugs and had firearms. The caller
also reported Woolsoncroft threatened them. Council Bluffs Police Department began an investigation which led to a search warrant being served on Woolsoncroft’s residence and the
subsequent recovery of two handguns and three shotguns with a large amount of assorted ammunition. The investigation also developed Woolsoncroft regularly used methamphetamine, and an incident in which after Woolsoncroft had used methamphetamine, he pointed an unloaded handgun at a person and pulled the trigger, before telling the person the firearm was not loaded.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

DES MOINES – Iowa is receiving more than $24.5-million ($24,547,901) in new federal funding for its airports from a bipartisan infrastructure law signed earlier this year. The funding administered by the Federal Aviation Administration is part of more than $5 billion that is projected to reach Iowa over the next five years.

In our area, the following airports will received $159,000 each: Atlantic; Clarinda; Council Bluffs; Creston; Red Oak, and Winterset. The Greenfield and Guthrie Center airports are receiving $110,000 each.

Iowa 3rd District Representative Cindy Axne says “Iowa relies on its airports – both big and small – to transport our goods to market and our people to where they need to be. This investment will help our airports develop vital infrastructure to keep them safe. I’m proud to have voted to ensure our airports received this much-needed funding so they can meet our needs for years to come.”

Rep. Axne previously announced the state will receive over $650 million in the first round of new funding for Iowa’s roads and bridges and $110 million to upgrade Iowa’s aging water infrastructure from the bipartisan infrastructure law.

US Property, Inc. constructs new division in Council Bluffs:

US Property, Inc., a real estate development company based in Lincoln, NE that develops and manages both industrial and mixed-use commercial properties across North America, created a cold storage division that will support the local and regional protein manufacturers. The company will construct a 160,000 square foot facility to include racking, freezing and transportation components to serve the modern cold storage distribution industry. The project represents a $49.3 million capital investment and is expected to create 58 jobs, of which eight are incented at a qualifying wage of $23.56 per hour. The board awarded the company tax benefits through the Targeted Jobs Withholding program.

Iowa State University’s College of Design approved for Strategic Infrastructure Program grant:
The board approved a $1.4 million grant to Iowa State University’s College of Design for the 3D Affordable Innovation Technologies Housing Project, which will support the development of a 3D printed housing industry in Iowa. To meet a strong housing demand and identify a cost-effective and thoughtful labor strategy, the project will design an innovative 3D construction printing program that combines advanced technologies for the construction of affordable, resilient housing. Iowa State University will use the funding to acquire a 3D Construction Printer, materials, and a vehicle for transportation of the printer and equipment, which will help establish the infrastructure necessary to develop the suite of tools, research and curriculum.

(Pottawattamie County, Iowa) – A judge in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Thursday, sentenced a Mills County man to prison for Possession with the Intent to Distribute/Methamphetamine. Authorities say 42-year-old Joshua Matthew St. John, of Glenwood, was sentenced to 11-years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, St. John pleaded guilty to the methamphetamine offense in May of 2021. His co-defendant, Sarah Diane  Adams, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2022.  On April 2, 2020, a confidential source arranged with St. John to purchase a quarter pound of methamphetamine. The confidential source traveled to St. John’s residence in Glenwood and was instructed by Adams to follow them to a stash location. The quarter pound of methamphetamine was measured from a larger amount and delivered by Adams to the confidential source.

On April 24, 2020, the confidential source met St. John at his residence to purchase methamphetamine and reported seeing a large quantity of methamphetamine. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on St. John’s residence and recovered approximately a half pound of methamphetamine and distribution paraphernalia.

The Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Council Bluffs Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, and Glenwood Police Department investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa

(Atlantic, Iowa) –The Trial date was set Thursday afternoon, for an Atlantic man charged with Attempted Murder. According to online court records, during a preliminary hearing for 34-year-old Richard J. Doss, Jr., 4th District Judge Michael Hooper set Doss’ arraignment for Jan. 10th, 2022. His trial will be held Feb. 22nd, 2022.

Doss was arrested during the early morning hours of Dec. 6th, following a stabbing incident. The victim, whose name has not been released, arrived at Cass Health E-R in Atlantic on Dec. 5th at around 11:50-p.m. The incident took place at the Walnut Hill Terrace Apartments, in Atlantic. The victim suffered serious injuries and was subsequently flown to the UNMC in Omaha.

Doss, Jr., was taken into custody without incident. He faces felony charges of Attempted Murder and Willful Injury – Causing Serious Injury. Doss remains held in the Cass County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.

DES MOINES, IA – Officials with the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, Friday (Today), said a man who is formerly of the Des Moines and Ottumwa areas, was sentenced to a little more than 15.6-years in prison Thursday, on child pornography-related charges. A judge sentenced 26-year-old Matthew Eric Mason to 188 months in prison for Receipt of Child Pornography. Mason pleaded guilty to the offense on August 25, 2021.  Following completion of his prison term, Mason will be required to register as a sex offender and  will be on supervised release for ten additional years.

According to court documents, Mason began communicating with multiple minor boys in  2019 while playing online video games. Multiple times in early February 2019, Mason knowingly persuaded and enticed a 13-year-old boy, who resided in New Hampshire, to take “selfie” photographs of that boy’s genitals and send the photos to Mason via an online application. The boy did so. Mason knew that the boy was 13-years old when Mason used the boy to create and send the photographs. In the summer of 2019, Mason knowingly persuaded and enticed a 12-year-old boy, who resided in Maryland, to take a photo of the boy’s genitals and send the photo to Mason via text message. The boy did so. Mason knew the child was in middle school when Mason used the boy to create the photograph. Police searched Mason’s Des Moines apartment in November 2019 and discovered several electronic devices that contained dozens of
videos of child pornography depicting adolescent boys.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Nashua (New Hampshire) Police Department, Ottumwa Police Department, Wapello County Attorney’s Office, and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the United States Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

LENEXA, KAN. – (DEC. 17, 2021) – BNSF Railway Corporation has agreed to pay $1,513,750 to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), BNSF released approximately 117,500 gallons of heavy crude oil when one of its freight trains derailed outside of Doon, Iowa, in June 2018, resulting in discharges to the Rock River, Little Rock River, and Burr Oak Creek.

EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister says “Illegal discharges of oil into streams, rivers and wetlands present a significant threat to human health and the environment. EPA is committed to protecting our nation’s waterways and will ensure that Clean Water Act protections are upheld.” The EPA says the derailment occurred during heavy flooding in the area. Impacts from the oil spill included an evacuation order for nearby residents, elevated levels of hazardous substances within the affected site, closure of nearby drinking water wells, destruction of crops, and deaths of at least three animals.

BNSF, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America. Discharges of pollutants, including oil, into federally protected waterways are violations of the Clean Water Act.

(Radio Iowa) – A children’s story about the governor’s mansion in Des Moines will be featured at this Sunday’s “Christmas at Terrace Hill” event. “I was asked to write a Christmas story about the house,” Susan Maupin Schmid, a tour guide at the mansion, told Radio Iowa, “so I suggested that we turn the house into a character. Maupin Schmid, by the way, is also a children’s book author. “I took Terrace Hill and made her the grand old lady of the prairie who loves celebrations and parties and Christmas, but this year she’s all alone. The family’s gone, the house is dark and quiet,” Maupin Schmid said. “To me, the story is about the experience that children in Iowa have been through the last couple of years…The message of the story — without spoiling the plot — is that you’re not forgotten.”

The governor will read the story once Sunday afternoon, at the Carriage House on the property. Animated illustrations created by Ames artist Tara Gartin to go along with the story will be projected on a screen. “That’s really, I think, one of the things that makes this event special and exciting because it’s going to be a one of a kind media presentation,” Maupin Schmid said. “There’ll be the story, but there’ll also be this beautiful artwork. I think kids will really enjoy this.” Maupin Schmid hopes to get the story and illustrations released in book form later. Her first children’s book was published in 2008 and in 2016 she released a trilogy.

“I write fantasy,” Maupin Schmid told Radio Iowa, “and so the books that are currently on the market from Random House are ‘If the Magic Fits’, ‘Ghost of a Chance’ and ‘The Starlight Slippers’ and they’re about a little girl named Darling Dimple who works in the under cellar of the castle.” Maupin Schmid’s fascination with castles and large historic homes like Terrace Hill started when she was in grade school and took a tour of the Dodge House in Council Bluffs, “and the Dodge House had the same architect as Terrace Hill,” Maupin Schmid said.

It seems natural, then, that she wound up giving tours at Terrace Hill, but someone else prodded her to apply. “My daughter and I were touring the home and I had just such a good time talking to the docent who was taking us on the tour and I said: ‘How come I don’t ever meet people who are interested in these things?” And my daughter said: ‘Well, maybe you need to go some place where those people are at!’” Maupin Schmid said. “And it was one of those, like, no-brainer moments.”

More than 300 tickets have been sold for Sunday’s event, which starts at 1 p.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Guests will be able to tour the home’s first and second floors, which have been decorated for the holiday. Maupin Schmid, in tour guide mode, said those with keen eyes will notice important details. “You walk inside and here is a 200 pound walnut door, one of 8000 pounds of doors on that main level — just on the one level of the house, and that door has been hanging on those big hinges for 150 years,” Maupin Schmid said. “And I like to swing that door a little bit for people and ask them what they hear and they always say: ‘I don’t hear anything.’ That’s because of the craftsmanship that went into building that house, which is why it’s still standing.”

She also credits those who’ve maintained the home over the years. “It’s one of the premiere houses in the nation from the time period that’s still standing,” Maupin Schmid said, “that’s in that kind of condition.” Online ticket sales for the event end at midnight Saturday. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are $25 each and $50 for a household. The money goes to a fund for upkeep and improvements at the mansion. A “Christmas at Terrace Hill” event was held in 2019, but nothing was planned for last December due to the pandemic. The event coordinator for Terrace Hill says guests this Sunday are welcome to wear face coverings if they wish, but it won’t be required.

More area and State News from Ric Hanson.

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