MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — Police in the eastern Iowa city of Manchester are investigating the vandalism of a cemetery there. Television station KCRG reports that nearly 30 headstones were found damaged or broken in Oakland Cemetery in Manchester.

Police say in a post on the department’s Facebook page that they suspect the vandalism was carried out Thursday night. In all, 29 headstones were damaged.
No arrests have been reported. Anyone with information on the vandalism is asked to call police.

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha police helicopter has crashed at Blair Airport, where it’s based. Omaha Deputy Police Chief Kerry Neumann says two pilots on board suffered minor injuries, but they were taken to a hospital to be checked. They were identified as Matt Baughman and Brian Yaghoutfam. The crash cause is being investigated.

The heavily damaged aircraft ended up lying on one side, its tail rotor missing, on a stretch of concrete. The crash leaves the Omaha force with but one helicopter to deploy. Police moved the two helicopters to the Blair Airport last month.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate climbed slightly in July to 2.5% but remains among the lowest in the nation. Iowa Workforce Development announced Friday that the unemployment rate rose from 2.4% in June. The rate had been stuck at that level since July 2018. Although the unemployment rate increased, the number of residents with jobs also rose by about 4,000 compared to June. The number of unemployed residents increased by about 1,400.

Iowa’s unemployment rate was third-lowest in the nation, behind Vermont and North Dakota and tied with New Hampshire. The national unemployment rate in July was 3.7%.

DES MOINES, IA – Democrat Presidential candidate John Delaney will campaign in Iowa from the 20th to the 21st of August. Candidate Delaney will be meeting with Audubon County Democrats in Exira on Tuesday, August 20th, for a “Picnic & Policy” session. The picnic is open to the public. His schedule calls for him to hold the event from 5-until 6-p.m., at Legion Park, in Exira (199 S. Florence St.).

Later that same evening Candidate Delaney will meet with Cass County Democrats at their monthly meeting in the basement of the Cass County Courthouse. The event runs from 7-until 8-p.m., and is also open to the public.

The Atlantic Police Department reports four, recent arrests. On Monday (Aug. 12th), 29-year old Norrin Bishop, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on Cass County warrants for Prostitution, and Pandering for Prostitution. On Aug. 9th, 42-year old James Almudarris, of Winnetka, CA., was arrested for Theft in the 4th degree (Shoplifting), stemming from an incident on Aug. 1st, Theft in the 5th degree (Shoplifting), and Operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. That same day, 55-year old Veronica Perez, of Lancaster, CA., was arrested for Operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

And, on August 8th, 43-year old Eric Grayling, of West Salem, IL., was arrested for OWI. All four subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

(UPDATE 12:30-p.m): Adventureland has re-opened) ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — The search for a robber has caused officials to delay the opening of a suburban Des Moines amusement park and evacuate a nearby hotel. Altoona police say the robber was armed but didn’t fire any shots as he held up Spectators Sports Bar & Grill around 7:35 a.m. Friday. Officers evacuated the bar and the Adventureland Inn to conduct a room-to-room search. Hotel guests were allowed back into their rooms about two hours later.

No arrests have been reported. Adventureland delayed its opening but was expected to resume normal operations by early this afternoon at the latest.

The Altoona Police Department reports a robbery took place at around 7:35-a.m. today (Friday), at Spectators Sports Bar. The suspect, at last OFFICIAL report, was not in custody. The suspect is a black male, 5-feet 5-inches tall, wearing white button up shirt, blue pants, brown shoes, & dark hat. Authorities say he displayed a black handgun. Stay away from the area of Adventureland and Prairie Meadows. If you see the suspect, do not approach, call 911.

Earlier reports that the suspect was apprehended in the parking lot of a Target Store were not correct. That was a shoplifting arrest, according to the police department.

Spectators Bar robbery suspect (Altoona PD photos)

The Cass County Auditor’s Office is reminding persons who wish to run for School Board or City Office in Cass County towns, that Monday, August 26th is the first day to file nomination papers for those offices. Please remember that you file papers for City Offices with the Auditor. All papers for School Offices are filed with your respective school district.

CITY OFFICES (click to enlarge the list)

School District Offices (Click to enlarge the list)

Here are the offices/Board seats to appear on the Nov. 5th ballot:

(UPDATE 10:13-a.m.) — Joslyn Shum has been located by the father, Matthew Shum as well as her location confirmed by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.  She has found to be in a Safe place at this time.  The Page County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating this incident.

(Original report at 10:04-a.m. follows…)

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports they received a missing person’s report this (Friday) morning, from Matthew Shum, of Yorktown. Shum told authorities that his 14 year old daughter, Joslyn Grace Shum, also of Yorktown, was missing. It is believed that Joslyn left the residence willingly with another family member in a white car.

Anyone with information about Joslyn Shum’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office @ 712-542-5193 or their local Law Enforcement Agency.

(click to enlarge)

These are recent photos…..

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Four Midwestern farmers who cheated organic food customers are scheduled to be sentenced for the largest fraud scheme of its kind in U.S. history.
Federal prosecutors say the farmers are responsible for a seven-year scheme that tricked thousands of customers into paying premium prices for products that were marketed as organic but were not.

Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences for the alleged leader of the scheme, Missouri farmer Randy Constant, and three Nebraska farmers who worked with Constant. All four have pleaded guilty to fraud charges. They admitted that they grew non-organic corn and soybeans, and a small amount of certified organic grains, and falsely marketed them all as organic. Most of the grains were sold as animal feed to companies that marketed organic meat and meat products.