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Centerville man sentenced to 27 years on child porn charges

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – A south-central Iowa man will serve 27 years in prison on child pornography charges. Forty-nine-year-old Ryan Ford of Centerville was sentenced in U-S District Court for production of child pornography and receipt of child pornography. Court information shows Ford secretly recorded minors in the shower in 2018 and distributed some of the images to others. In 2018 and 2019, investigators say he downloaded images of child porn.

Police used a search warrant and found 18-hundred images and 27 videos of child pornography on his cell phone.

3 arrested in Mills County

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests. On Tuesday (April 13), 48-year-old Yadira Valquier-Cruz, of Omaha, was arrested on I-29 at around 4-a.m., for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at $1,000.

At around 2:15-a.m. on Monday, 31-year-old Melvin Stewart Alexander – who is Homeless- and 33-year-old Waymond Lee Foster, of Creston, were arrested at 195th Street at Highway 34 in Mills County, for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Alexander was additionally charged with being a Fugitive from Justice. He was being held without bond. Foster’s bond was set at $2,000.

Man arrested on Page County warrant, Monday

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Monday, arrested 32-year-old Christopher Lee Gillette. He was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail on an active warrant for Failing to

Christopher Gillette

appear on a Theft in the 4th degree charge.

Ernst seeking price transparency in cattle market, promoting meat consumption in gov’t

Ag/Outdoor, News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is co-sponsoring legislation designed to foster more disclosure of the prices paid for cattle, as well as a bill to block federal agencies from promoting a “meatless” diet among employees. Ernst, a Republican who grew up on a farm near Red Oak, says these issues are important to her since her family raised hogs. “Here in Iowa, folks, we are all about the meat,” Ernst says. “Farming and ranching is not only critical to our jobs, our economy, our culture and our way of life here in Iowa, it’s also in our DNA.”

Ernst is co-sponsoring a bill that would give independent cattle producers more data about what meatpackers are paying for cattle. Since packers often buy directly from feedlots, cattle prices aren’t well represented in public sales. The bill would set up a system already used to help track hog prices. Ernst warns getting the bill through the Senate will be difficult. “What we’ll see is a little bit of pushback coming from different areas of the United States,” she says. “…You see those beef producers maybe in Texas or Oklahoma that have a different thought on how it should be handled.”

Ernst and a Kansas senator are co-sponsoring a bill that would ban federal agencies from excluding meat from the menu in government cafeterias and dining halls. “When I hear calls from the liberal left, everyone from out-of-touch politicians to Hollywood elite encouraging people to ban meat and the quality agriculture products we produce here in Iowa it makes me sizzle,” Ernst says.

Ernst is calling this bill the TASTEE Act, which stands for Telling Agencies to Stop Tweaking What Employees Eat Act. Ernst says it’s one way supporters of animal agriculture can start pushing back against the so-called Green New Deal and prevent another episode like the U-S-D-A newsletter reference to “meatless Mondays” that was retracted in 2012.

New PK-5 Principal announced for Exira-EHK; Mask requirement continues for a few more weeks

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Exira-EHK School Board, Monday evening approved the hiring of a Principal for the Pre-K through 5th grade school.

That’s Exira-EHK Superintendent Trevor Miller. Mr. Miller said also the Exira-EHK Board voted to continue with the mask mandate through the end of the current school year.

The Exira-EHK Board also approved: filling a Librarian vacancy through an AEA Sharing Agreement; An Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for a School Business Official (SBO). Kyle Wagner will be leaving this Friday and taking another H-R position. He’ll be replaced by Mallory Meyer, who currently serves as a shared SBO.

And, the Board approved continuing the Operational Sharing Agreement with IKM-Manning for Superintendent. Trevor Miller

A Technology agreement was also reached with IKM-Manning for Dan Spooner, who will do a 60/40 split, with 60% of his time at Exira-EHK and 40% at IKM-Manning. The current arrangement is 50-50. In other board meeting news, they approved a bid of $84,900 from TBB&M Construction for renovation of the staff restroom in the Exira building. There were three bids in all, for the project, which involves taking two small bathrooms and turning them into one Uni-Sex bathroom.

Miller says the facility hasn’t had any updates since the school was built in 1957. Work is expected to take place over the summer and be ready by next school year.

Omaha Man Sentenced to Prison for Possession of a Firearm

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Jacob Benjamin Tuttle, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced Monday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He is required to serve 84 months in prison, plus 3 years of supervised release following his prison term. He’ll also have to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. Tuttle pleaded guilty to the offense on August 11, 2020.

On November 26, 2019 Tuttle was driving a stolen car on a rural two-lane highway in Mills County, when Tuttle saw a Sheriff’s patrol vehicle behind him. Tuttle accelerated to 100 mph
before he crashed the car on the side of the road and ran from the scene. He was arrested a short time later. On the front passenger seat of the stolen vehicle, officers found a Taurus .357 Magnum, along with 12 grams of methamphetamine. Tuttle is a convicted felon and drug user, therefore, prohibited from possessing firearms.

The investigation was conducted by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to Prison for Gun Charge

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on Monday, April 12th, United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger sentenced 35-year-old David Robert Blake Vanderpool, of Council Bluffs, to 50 months (4.1 years) in prison for knowingly possessing a short barrel shotgun that was not registered to him. Vanderpool was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. There is no parole in the federal system.

On June 23, 2020, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on Vanderpool for speeding on Interstate 29. During the stop, troopers observed a sawed-off shotgun, found to be loaded, on the backseat of Vanderpool’s car. A check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record by law enforcement found the firearm was not registered to him. Vanderpool pleaded guilty on November 20, 2020, to the firearm charge.

The matter was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Iowa.

Cass County Supervisors praise Public Health vaccination efforts

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Cass Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, praised Cass County Public Health for helping to vaccinate the local population. Supervisors Board Chair Steve Baier said “Things are winding down and a big part of it is a sense of urgency and people are becoming more relaxed,” in hopes things are getting back to normal. Baier said the County COVID vaccination program has been better handled than other counties’ programs.

He said there are about 200 people still on a list waiting to receive their vaccinations, and that “We’re getting to the point where just about everybody [who] wants vaccinated has been vaccinated.”

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors, Tuesday, approved the five-year Secondary Roads Construction Program, and new hires for three Maintenance positions. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman says that includes…

County Engineer Trent Wolken said he had 35 applicants for three maintenance positions and they were all very qualified candidates.

The Board passed a Resolution for the 2021 Weed Control Program, which was the same as last year, with the exception the year was changed from 2020 to 2021. They also established a Cass County Temporary County Redistricting Commission, with districts based on 2020 census data.

Once again here’s Dale Sunderman…

The unpaid Commission will include Steve Baier and Dale Sunderman as members. There were no candidates to appoint to the Cass County Zoning Board of Adjustment and/or Zoning Commission, nor was there a licensed physician’s name available for appointment to the Cass County Board of Health, so those items were tabled during Tuesday’s meeting.

Iowa COVID-19 update for 4/13/21: No additional deaths; 565 additional cases

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, Tuesday, showed that for the second day in a row, there were no additional deaths from COVID-19 to report. The pandemic total remains 5,857. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,295 of the total number of deaths across the state. That is unchanged from Monday’s report.

There were 565 additional positive test results for COVID-19 returned from the labs, for a total of 386,469. There remain three Long-Term Care facility outbreaks, with 30 positive cases among residents and staff within those facilities.

Health officials say COVID-related hospitalizations are 220 (unchanged from the past 24-hours), and there are 56 COVID patients in an ICU. The IDPH says 31 people were admitted to a hospital across the state, and 20 patients remain on a ventilator.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show: There are 26 hospitalized with COVID (4 less than on Monday); 12 COVID patients are in an ICU; one person was admitted with symptoms of COVID, and there remain two COVID patients on a ventilator.

The 14-day positivity rate remains at 4.9%, while the seven-day rate ticked down slightly to 4.8%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

  • Cass, 1,419 cases; {+3}; 54 deaths
  • Adair, 960; {+0}; 32
  • Adams, 336 {+0}; 4
  • Audubon, 512 {+1}; 9
  • Guthrie, 1,251 {+5}; 28
  • Harrison County, 1,882; {+4}; 73
  • Madison County, 1,659; {+4; 19
  • Mills County, 1,742; {+4}; 20
  • Montgomery, 1,076 {+0}; 37
  • Pottawattamie County, 11,688; {+14}; 160
  • Shelby County, 1,323 {+2}; 37
  • Union County,  1,321; {+1}; 32

Prison officials dispute OSHA citations at Anamosa State Penitentiary

News

April 13th, 2021 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – State prison officials are disputing an OSHA report that cited deficiencies in the radio communications system for staff at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. The report from the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration was issued eight months before a correctional officer and a nurse were killed inside the Anamosa prison. The Iowa Department of Corrections is appealing the 20-thousand dollar OSHA fine. Department spokesman Cord Overton says data from incidents when staff hit the emergency button on their radios will be introduced as evidence this summer as an administrative law judge reviews the case.

Overton says he cannot address specific details until after the case is resolved, but he says the agency is confident the radio communication system has not caused any delays in response to staff assaults. The OSHA investigation at Anamosa, which happened in February of last year, did not include interviews with prison managers according to Overton.

K-C-R-G T-V was first to acquire the Iowa OSHA report through a public records request. The report indicated the Anamosa prison’s communication system would not show the location of an emergency if an employee radioed that he or she was being attacked. OSHA cited other deficiencies, including dropped calls within the prison. Governor Kim Reynolds has said she is committed to addressing any security issues that are identified by reviews launched after last month’s murders of two Anamosa prison employees.