(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A central Iowa man was arrested Sunday evening, after he almost hit a building, pedestrians and a fuel pump, in Guthrie Center. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, 24 -year-old Florencia Montes Gregorio, of Ankeny, pulled up to the front door of the Casey’s General Store at around 5:55-p.m., Sunday. After he came out of the store, he returned to his 2004 Nissan Maxima and put the vehicle in drive, nearly driving through the front door of the store while customers were walking out. Officials say that happened “Multiple times” before Gregorio finally put the vehicle in reverse and erratically backed into a post barrier near a gas pump. Gregorio then pulled up next to the pump he almost struck, to get fuel. Deputies placed him under arrest for OWI. He was also cited for having No Valid Driver’s License, Open Container as a driver, reckless driving, and failure to provide proof of insurance – accident related. Damage from the incident amounted to $2,700. No injuries were reported.

And, at around 11-a.m. Saturday, a 2017 Hyundai Sante Fe SUV driven by 81-year-old James J. Kloewer, of Lawson, MO, was traveling west on Highway 44 in Guthrie County, just west of Frontier, when a deer ran into the driver’s side of the vehicle. Kloewer was not injured. His SUV sustained about $4,500 damage,

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(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon today (Monday), reports North Olive Street (S. of Interstate 80), remains closed and a detour remains in-place, until further notice. Kennon said “Utility crews worked over the weekend and set temporary poles (in-place), and actually got lines off the roadway,” but he said it “looks like more work and cleanup needs (to be) done.”

He will let KJAN News know when the road is re-opened, and we’ll pass that information on to you, over the air and via social media. The power transmission lines fell during the Dec. 15th tornadoes that struck Cass and other area counties.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department today (Monday), said there six arrests over the previous three days. Two arrests took place early Sunday morning:

• 29-year-old Micah William Denman, of Ankeny, was arrested at a residence in the 800 block of N. Spruce Street. His charges include Domestic Abuse Assault by strangulation, Obstruction of E-9-1-1 communications, and False Imprisonment. He was later released on a $6,300 cash/surety (C/S) bond, after appearing before the magistrate. And,
• 37-year-old Matthew Charles Parsons, of Shannon City, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was later released on a $1,000 c/s bond.

Just before 12-a.m. Sunday, 37-year-old Harold Ezra Brown, of Clearfield, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center (LEC), on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was later released on a $300 s/s bond. Saturday afternoon, 19-year-old Steven Shane Mills, of Kent, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. He was cited and released from the scene on a Promise to Appear (in court). And, at around 7:35-a.m., Saturday, 31-year-old Tonya Elizabeth Tindle, of Clearfield, was arrested at the Union County LEC, on a warrant for Probation Violation, with regard to an original Felony charge of Controlled Substance Violation. Tindle was being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $10,000 c/s bond.

Creston Police said also, that on Friday morning, 36-year-old Michael Scott Walton, of Clearfield, was arrested at the Union County LEC, on three Union County warrants for Probation Violation stemming from original charges that include: Attempted Burglary in the 3rd Degree; Theft in the 4th Degree; Felony -Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd Offense, and Felony – Theft in 1st Degree. Walton was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $22,000 cash/surety bond.

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(Glenwood Iowa) – The holiday season is known for being merry and bright, but the Mills County Sheriff’s Office says it is also known for being the deadliest season when it comes to impaired driving. Deputies in Mills County, and their Iowa Law Enforcement colleagues across the state, will partner with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this holiday season to remove impaired drivers from the roads and help save lives. Between now and January 1, 2022, motorists will see an increased presence of law enforcement.

Sadly, the statistics prove that we have a lot of work to do to put an end to drunk driving. According to NHTSA, 10,142 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of traffic crash fatalities. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2015 to 2019 — one person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 52 minutes in 2019. This is why Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is working with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death. As you head out to the holiday festivities, remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

Sobering Statistics according to NHTSA:

• 837 people lost their lives nationally in traffic crashes involving a drunk driver during the month of December, 2019.
• During the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday periods in 2019 alone, there were more drunk-driving-related fatalities (210) than during any other holiday period that year.
• An OWI can cost you $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, repairs, and lost time at work!
• Don’t be the reason someone doesn’t get home this holiday season.

Always remember to plan ahead if you will be celebrating with an impairing substance. If you plan to indulge, plan for a sober driver to take you home. Call a taxi, friend or Uber! Is it your turn to be the designated driver? Take the role seriously and do not partake in alcohol or any other drugs.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, are expected to act on an ISAC Group Health Insurance Renewal plan for Fiscal Year 2023. Their meeting takes place in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Courthouse, beginning at 9-a.m.

The Board will also likely act on approving the employment of a Secondary Roads Department Equipment Operator who’s been offered the position after a number of candidates were interviewed.

Additional agenda items include:

• Closing-out Willow Heights/Partnership for Progress (discussion only)
• Discussion and possible action on the establishment of an incentive plan for property improvements to certain classes of property, in the non-incorporated portion of Cass County.
• and, discussion on a proposed plan from the Temporary Redistricting Commission.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Lottery is coming off a record year for sales — but the new fiscal year is unlikely to do it again. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says things are good for the current fiscal year which started in July. “So far in the fiscal year, lottery sales overall continue to hold at a really strong pace. As has been the case in the last several years — lottery scratch tickets continue to lead the way for us,” Neubauer says.

The sales thus far at up six-point-seven percent compared to this time last year at 178-point-five million dollars. The big driver in the record sales that happened last January is not likely to happen again. “For the first time ever, the jackpots in Powerball and MegMillions both topped the 700 million dollar mark for the first time — and they both went on to almost reach a BILLION dollars,” she says.

Neubauer says that gave a big boost to the bottom line. “Obviously, when the jackpots are huge like that, it drives not only Powerball and MegMillions — but our other products as well. I don’t think Iowa Lottery sales are going to be able to keep up once we get to January of this year,” she says. Neubauer says the year should still be strong. “We don’t think it’s going to end up being a record-setting year like last year was. It probably will still be our number two year overall in terms of the lottery’s performance,” according to Neubauer. “…it’s not that it’s not something to be proud of, but it probably won’t keep up overall with the pace that we saw in fiscal 2021 with COVID and just everything that we saw go on in the past year.”

Neubauer says they will likely return to a more normal year of sales unless the jackpots would grow very large again. But she says that is never something they can plan to happen.

(Radio Iowa) – With all of the things worrying Iowans as we approach the end of 2021, one expert says we can put concerns about poinsettias out of our minds. While there are long-standing rumors about the red-and-green flowers traditionally associated with Christmas being deadly if eaten, registered nurse Tammy Noble at the Iowa Poison Control Center, says that’s simply not true. “Poinsettias have had a bad rap over the years,” Noble says, “but we’ve found that they’re not as toxic as what we thought 50 years ago.”

One study found that a child would have to eat as many as 500 poinsettia leaves to become poisoned, but aside from that, Noble says the leaves taste terrible so no one would likely ever eat a lethal dose of them. They’re a lovely plant, she says, and they shouldn’t concern you. “We know that swallowing some of the leaves can cause mild upset stomach,” Noble says, “but it’s okay to have poinsettias in your house or to give to family members who are in nursing homes. They’re low risk.”

Other plants that may appear in your house during the year-end holidays could pose a more significant threat. Noble says to take care with holly berries and mistletoe as they -can- be poisonous. If you have a question or concern, call the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center anytime at 1-800-222-1222.
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The poinsettia is native to Mexico and dates back centuries to when the Aztecs cultivated them to be more like trees that grew to be ten feet high. Seventeenth-century Franciscan priests in Mexico used poinsettias in nativity processions, the first recorded use for a Christmas celebration, though they weren’t called poinsettias then. That didn’t come until Joel Robert Poinsette introduced the plant to the U.S. in 1825 while he was the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. The plants were later named to honor him.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks expects her bid for a second term in the U.S. House to be among the most closely watched races in the country. Miller-Meeks won her first race in 2020 by a six-vote margin. “I think that this election cycle will be different, both pros and cons. You have a congressional record — a voting record now that can be brought up, but you also have those things which you have achieved,” Miller-Meeks says. “So I think given the things that I have done, I expect to be reelected and by a much larger margin that six votes.”

During a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S, Miller-Meeks joked that her margin of victory would be at least triple what it was in 2020. Miller-Meeks also discussed running in the new first congressional district, where about 35 percent of registered voters are Democrats, 32 percent are Republicans and the rest are independents. “I in no way think that this is going to be an easy reelect,” Miller-Meeks says. “It’s going to . I’m known to be a very strong campaigner. I’m known to be out and visiting with people and I will continue to do that.”

Marianette Miller-Meeks. (photo from Miller-Meeks office.)

Miller-Meeks says she’s visited all 24 counties in Iowa’s current second congressional district four times since being sworn into office last January. Miller-Meeks says she decided to seek reelection in Iowa’s new first congressional because it covers most of the territory in her current district — but Miller-Meeks also considered running in the district that includes Ottumwa, so she could keep representing her hometown. “Wapello County was put into district three,” Miller-Meeks says. “…and so it was an extraordinarily difficult decision to make and finally came to the decision that I would run in the district which 80% of I currently represent.”

While there’s no requirement that members of congress live within the boundaries of the district they represent — they just have to live within the state — four of Iowa’s congressmen moved after district lines were redrawn in 2001 and 2011. Miller-Meeks, a Republican, won’t be selling her home in Ottumwa, but does plan to establish a residence in the new first district. “I have a variety of housing options,” Miller-Meeks says. “I’ll be able to be in the district and live within the district.”

Miller-Meeks, who is an eye doctor, has worked at a clinic in Burlington she taught in the University of Iowa Medical School in the late 1990s. She may face a G-O-P Primary in 2022. Kyle Kuehl, a Bettendorf business owner, also announced his candidacy as a Republican in the new 1st District. Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa Law School professor who’s a member of state legislature, announced earlier this year she intended to challenge Miller-Meeks in 2022.