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2 arrested in Montgomery County for Violation of No Contact Orders

News

December 3rd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop at around midnight Monday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of Jennifer and Christopher Traeger, for Violation of a No Contact Order. The couple was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 cash bond, each. Sheriff’s deputies were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Police.

Garage/partial residential fire in Atlantic Monday night

News

December 3rd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Firefighters from Atlantic were called at around 8-p.m. Monday to the scene of a garage fire that had reportedly breached an interior wall of the adjacent residence owned by Greg Blunk. Crews responding to the scene at 1100 Cypress Street found the attached garage fully engulfed in flames, with the fire penetrating the wall into the kitchen area of the residence.

Photo courtesy Cass County EMA Director Mike Kennon.

Chief Mark McNees has said firefighters got a quick knockdown of the flames, but there was substantial damage. A four-wheeler in the garage along with the rest of the contents were lost, and there was heavy smoke damage to the residence.

An initial investigation into the cause pointed toward carelessly discarded smoking material. No injuries were reported.  Atlantic Police Department, Medivac Ambulance, and Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon assisted at the scene.

Iowa early News Headlines: Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, 2019

News

December 3rd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa on Monday agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by three men who worked at the Department of Revenue and claimed they were harassed by another male coworker who followed them into the restroom and secretly videotaped them. The lawsuit was filed by Daniel Wagner, Lloyd Lofton and Joshua Bates, who claim when they reported Kenneth Neal Kerr’s intrusive behavior to supervisors they failed to appropriately act, and it continued for several years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal court judge says the state of Iowa cannot enforce its latest attempt to stifle undercover investigations of livestock farms and denied the state’s efforts to dismiss a lawsuit challenging this year’s so-called ag-gag law. The Republican-led legislature passed the state’s second such law in March, two months after a federal judge struck down the previous 2012 law, saying it violated constitutional free-speech rights.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa has agreed to pay $130,000 in legal bills for two eastern Iowa anti-abortion rights protesters who successfully challenged a portion of the state’s disorderly conduct law. Anthony Miano and Nicholas Rolland frequently read aloud from the Bible and preach on public sidewalks outside abortion clinics. They sued last year after Miano was found in violation of a law making it a simple misdemeanor to create loud and raucous noise near residences or public buildings.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say they are investigating the death of a man found inside a car with a gunshot wound. Police say it’s considered a suspicious death. Officers and medics were called to the car Monday afternoon in the Sherman Hill neighborhood, just west of downtown. After finding the man, officers and then medics initiated CPR and he was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later. The man’s name wasn’t immediately released.

Mills County Sheriff’s report (12/2)

News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Six people were arrested over the past week in Mills County, including three who were taken into custody drug charges. Authorities say 37-year old Dawn Elizabeth Gabriel, of Nebraska City, NE., was arrested at around 4:45-p.m. Thursday following a traffic stop on I-29. Gabriel was charged with Driving While Barred, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $15,000.

Saturday night, 30-year old Michael Lashell Mytriel Goyner, of Omaha, was arrested at 315th Street and Highway 34, for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession with the intent to deliver, a drug tax stamp violation, and speeding. Bond was set at $10,000. At the same location about 50-minutes earlier, 21-year old Darrell Leroy Thompson, also of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, and two counts of Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. His bond was also set at $10,000.

44-year old Shawn Bernard Studey, of Shenandoah, was arrested Nov. 27th at the Page County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear. 38-year old Christopher Michael Hall, of Glenwood, was arrested Nov. 30th for Public Intoxication. And, 22-year old Michaela Cheyenne Goodman, of Malvern, was arrested Sunday night for OWI/2nd offense and Driving While Revoked.

Iowa will pay anti-abortion protesters’ legal bills

News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa has agreed to pay $130,000 in legal bills for two eastern Iowa anti-abortion rights protesters who successfully challenged a portion of the state’s disorderly conduct law.

Anthony Miano and Nicholas Rolland, both of Davenport, frequently read aloud from the Bible and preach on public sidewalks outside abortion clinics. They sued Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness last year after Miano was found in violation of a law making it a simple misdemeanor to create loud and raucous noise near residences or public buildings that cause unreasonable distress to occupants.

On Sept. 26, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger found a section of the Iowa Code unconstitutionally vague because it subjects speakers to criminal punishment based on the reactions of third parties. She ordered the state to pay legal fees for Miano and Rolland.

On Monday, the Iowa Appeal Board approved payment of $127,300 to the Virginia-based American Center for Law & Justice, a Christian-based activist group, and $6,742 to Iowa-based Munro Law Office.

Judge halts enforcement of Iowa’s newest ag-gag law

Ag/Outdoor, News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal court judge says the state of Iowa cannot enforce its latest attempt to stifle undercover investigations of livestock farms and denied the state’s efforts to dismiss a lawsuit challenging this year’s so-called ag-gag law.

The Republican-led legislature passed the state’s second such law in March, two months after a federal judge struck down the previous 2012 law, saying it violated constitutional free-speech rights. The new law created a trespass charge for undercover investigators. Lawmakers claimed they crafted it more narrowly to avoid free speech claims.

However, U.S. District Judge James Gritzner said in his ruling filed Monday that the animal rights and civil rights groups filing the lawsuit had raised enough legal issues to allow the case to proceed. Gritzner also prohibited the state from enforcing the law while the lawsuit moves forward.

Similar laws in Idaho and Utah have been struck down as unconstitutional.

November below normal in temperature and precipitation, above in snow

News, Weather

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa/KJAN weather data) — State Climatologist Justin Glissan says November was below normal in a couple of areas. “Temperature wise — we were at 32-point-four degrees Fahrenheit — which is four degrees below average,” according to Glissan. “Looking at the precipitation side of things, we were at one-point-four inches. Which is about six-tenths below average.

In Atlantic, our average High for the month was 45, the average Low was 23, and we received just .85” (eighty-five one-hundredths) of an inch of precipitation (including both liquid and frozen forms), which was one-inch below normal. Statewide, Glissan says snowfall was the one area that was above normal for November. “We had four-point-four inches statewide — which is about two inches above average. And a majority of that fell in the northern part of the state,” Glissan says.

Atlantic was on the low side of the snow, however, at just 1.1 inches for the month. We entered the winter season on Sunday and Glissan says the outlook calls for more precipitation than normal in the coming months. “We’re looking at December, January, February. We do have a precipitation signal in the climate outlook that show us an elevated change of wetter than normal conditions all across the upper Midwest. In fact stretching from Seattle all the way to the east coast and down to Missouri,” Glissan says. “So yes, we’re in that higher probability of wetter than average conditions.”

He says there isn’t a clear read on what the temperatures will be like. He says we are in what’s called an E-C or equal chance of above, below or average temperatures moving into winter. Glissan says December is normally the third driest month of the year.

Iowa considers settling stalking lawsuit filed by 3 workers

News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa is proposing to settle a lawsuit filed by three men who worked at the Department of Revenue and claimed they were harassed by another male coworker who followed them into the restroom and secretly videotaped them. The lawsuit was filed by Daniel Wagner, Lloyd Lofton and Joshua Bates, who claim when they reported Kenneth Neal Kerr’s intrusive behavior to supervisors they failed to appropriately act, and it continued for several years.

Kerr was investigated and fired in 2015. He was charged and pleaded guilty in 2016 to invasion of privacy and sexually motivated stalking. The three men sued their supervisors and the state in 2017. The State Appeal Board will consider a recommendation by the state solicitor general to settle the lawsuit for $900,000 at a meeting Monday.

Bedford man arrested for OWI/1st offense

News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop Nov. 28th in Page County resulted in the arrest of 20-year old Cody Dale Sleep, of Bedford. He was taken into custody for O.W.I. 1st Offense and transported to the Page County Sheriff’s Office where his bond was set at $1,000.

Clarinda man arrested for alleged Election Misconduct & Perjury

News

December 2nd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a Clarinda man was arrested sometime over the past couple of weeks on felony Election Misconduct and Perjury charges. On November 19th, the Page County Attorney presented a complaint to the Page County Sheriff, alleging 29-year old Bradley Aeron Haley, of Clarinda, committed the offenses, following a complaint filed by the Page County Auditor. The Page County Sheriff’s Office then began an investigation into the complaints. Haley was arrested in Clarinda, and was being held in the Page County Jail on $10,000 bond pending future court appearances.