(Radio Iowa) — Charges have now been filed in the shooting death of a woman in a Creston home earlier this summer. Thirty-seven-year-old Charles Keeton of Creston is charged in the slaying of 44-year-old Christy Hribral on June 19th. Union County Attorney Tim Kenyon said “Formal charges were filed in connection with the death of Christy Hribal. Defendant Mr. Keeton was originally charged with felon in possession of a firearm. The formal charge of murder in the second degree was filed. He is now facing that as count one. The felon in possession of a firearm matter as count two.”

Hribal was visiting the home where the shooting took place. Keeton’s arraignment is scheduled for August 9th. He’s held on a $60,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) No one was hurt in the derailment of a B-N-S-F train in northwest Iowa near Hull on Wednesday night. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office says approximately 25 cars of the 83-car train derailed. The cars were carrying refrigerated meat, tank, freight, rock, and denatured alcohol products. Sheriff’s Captain Jamie Van Voorst says the car carrying the denatured alcohol did have a very slow leak, but it was being contained as of early Thursday morning.

Van Voorst says, “There’s not an immediate danger but they don’t want to have people driving through, causing any fire or spark, anything like that, so the crews can get in there and be uninterrupted.” He says it’s too early to know the cause of the derailment and he urges people to stay away from the area as crews work to complete the investigation. Last June, a train derailed on that same track just a few miles away.

BRITT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man has died after being injured in an explosion at a northern Iowa business. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that 62-year-old Gary Olson died in the explosion Wednesday morning at Miller and Sons Golf Cars just south of Britt. KIMT-TV reports an investigation shows the explosion occurred when a metal barrel used to collect oil somehow ignited. Olson was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where he died Wednesday afternoon.

Mark Miller, an owner of the business, was injured when he fell while trying to help Olson. He was being treated for a head injury at a Mason City hospital. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the explosion.

DAWSON, Iowa (AP) — An Oskaloosa man has been given 50 years in prison for stabbing to death a college basketball player. Court records say the sentence was handed down Friday to 24-year-old Luke VanHemert. He’d been convicted in April of second-degree murder for killing 22-year-old William Penn University player Marquis Todd.

VanHemert’s lawyers had argued that he was defending himself when he killed Todd during a fight after a car crash in March 2018. They said VanHemert should have been exempt from prosecution because of Iowa’s “stand your ground” law. The law enacted in 2017 says a person doesn’t have to retreat before using deadly force if he or she reasonably thinks his or her life is being threatened.

But the judge said that law didn’t apply in VanHemert’s case and ordered him to go on trial.

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District report online student registration is now available for the upcoming school year. An email was sent to parents this (Thursday) morning letting them know it is now available. The email said the “Atlantic Community School District will continue to utilize the “rollover” online registration process with JMC, the district’s student information system. Parents of student(s) who attended ACSD last school year (2018-19) and were still in attendance on the last day of school will need to complete the Register for 2019-2020 process in JMC as well as pay student fees and make lunch deposits.

“Students who are new to the school district and are planning to enroll for the 2019-20 school year will need to register for school at our school buildings.” School officials said also, that “During this time we will be more than happy to give new students tours of their new school.”

Parents can access more registration information including free/reduced meal applications, athletic physical forms, and much more by visiting the district’s registration web site, http://www.atlanticiaschools.org/registration

A Glenwood woman wanted in connection with a shooting late Wednesday night was arrested at around 10:50-a.m. today (Thursday) without incident, inside her Glenwood home. 37-year old Brandy Clark was taken into custody after she returned to her home, to check on her dog. The woman was reportedly seen by a neighbor entering her home. Police found her hiding inside a closet. Authorities had earlier described Clark as “armed and dangerous.” The Mills County Attorney’s Office said Clark was being held in the Mills County Jail pending charges, and an initial appearance before the magistrate.

Brandy Clark

Glenwood Police were called to the home in the area of 307 N. Vine Street at around 8:30-p.m., Wednesday. Upon arrival, officers located a 34-year old male who had suffered from multiple gunshot wounds. The man was safely evacuated from the scene and transported to a medical facility. Investigators initially believed Clark had barricaded herself inside a home after the shooting. They blocked off the neighborhood and evacuated people from several nearby homes. The Iowa State Patrol said a tactical unit eventually made entry into the home and only found a dog inside.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Law enforcement officials say they have lost track of evidence from a 1980 murder case that an Iowa inmate wants to examine for DNA that could prove his innocence or guilt. The missing evidence comes in the case of William Beeman, who is serving a life sentence in the stabbing death of 22-year-old Michiel Winkel.

Its absence could prevent the public from knowing definitively whether Beeman was the right man in the rape and killing of Winkel — or should be Iowa’s first inmate exonerated by DNA.
Winkel’s nude body was found in April 1980 at Wildcat Den State Park near Muscatine. Beeman was convicted based largely on a confession that he claims was coerced. His lawyers filed a motion seeking DNA testing on a sexual assault kit that included sperm recovered from Winkel and items of her clothing found at the scene. But the Division of Criminal Investigation and Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office said last week that they have searched and cannot find the evidence.

A court hearing is set for next week.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Fremont County have arrested two people in connection with the theft of items from a flood damaged home, in Hamburg. 37-year old Christopher Cody Endicott and 34-year old Jhezerae Lauryl Lungenbeal, both of Essex, were arrested for Theft in the 1st Degree and Burglary in the 2nd Degree. Both are being held at the Fremont County Jail on $20,000 cash bond.

Christoper Endicott

Jhezerae Lungenbeal

Their arrests occurred after Fremont County deputies were called at around 11:45-p.m. Wednesday, to the area of F Street and Adams Streets in Hamburg for a report of a suspicious vehicle. Deputies made contact with a white Chevy Trailblazer, pulling a trailer, occupied by Endicott and Lungenbeal. Deputies determined the vehicle and trailer contained items stolen from a flood damaged home with a value in excess of $10,000.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the citizens of Hamburg for their continued vigilance and assistance. The investigation is ongoing at this time.

More than 75 years after fighting in the siege of Myitkyina (Myt’keena), Burma during WWII, Cpl. Ralph L. Bennett is returning home to Iowa.  Bennett, a 22-year-old Ames, Iowa native serving with the Headquarters Company, 209th Engineer Combat Battalion, was last seen June 13, 1944 as his unit participated in the siege of Myitkyina, after they successfully took an airfield west of Myitkyina from Japanese control. After the battle at Myitkyina, Bennett was reported Killed in Action (KIA). Despite initial efforts, U.S. forces were unable to recover Bennett’s remains.

Cpl. Ralph L. Bennett

Cpl. Ralph L. Bennett

The remains of fallen U.S. troops in the region were buried in at least eight different temporary cemeteries and numerous isolated burial locations, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Eventually, all known burials were concentrated into the U.S. Military Cemetery at Myitkyina, then later disinterred and transferred to the U.S. Military Cemetery at Kalaikunda, India.

One set of remains was reportedly disinterred in October 1947 and transferred to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where they were unable to be identified. They were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, in March 1949. Due to new historical investigations and new technology that could link an identification to the remains, they were disinterred in July 2018 by the DPAA. Dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence, were used in the identification of Bennett’s remains in 2018.

Bennett’s military awards and honors include the Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with one bronze service star), World War II Victory Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and Honorable Service Lapel Button – World War II.  A memorial service will be held at the Ames Municipal Cemetery, 2019 E. 9th St., Ames, Iowa this Saturday, August 3rd at 11:00 a.m., with full military honors provided by the Iowa National Guard. The public is welcome to attend the memorial service.

Cass County ISU Extension is offering three different camps and workshops to wrap up summer before school starts in late August. With a variety of topics, there’s something for everyone to get in a little day camp fun before the summer’s over. Here’s a list of the upcoming Youth Day Camps and registration information:

Tuesday August 6- Rainwater Runoff STEM Day Camp for 3-5th graders:

Design, Build and test a model of subsoil for a rain garden, and learn how We All Live in a Watershed from the ISU Water Rocks! Team. Youth will develop an understanding of how water is distributed on earth and how several kinds of pollution affect natural sources of water! There is no cost to attend this camp, and any youth who have completed 3rd-5th grade are invited to sign up for this day of hands-on learning! Camp will be held at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic. Please RSVP by August 5 to the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132. Space is limited so register early! Plan to bring a sack lunch to this camp.

Tuesday August 13- Fun with BOTS Camp for K-2nd graders: Join Extension staff on August 13 from 9 AM– 3 PM to learn all about robotics! Work with Bee-Bots, Hexbugs and Dash & Dot to master how robots work and move. Learn to code and program different machines. Dash & Dot are even going to do fun fair-related activities! There is no cost to attend this camp, and any youth who have completed K-2nd grade are invited to sign up for this fun day camp! Camp will be held at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic. Please RSVP by August 9 to the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132. Space is limited so register early! Plan to bring a sack lunch to this camp.

Tuesday August 20- Babysitting Basics Workshop for Youth age 11-15: A course on how to build the skills necessary to be a successful babysitter. Any youth ages 11-15 who are interested in learning the skills to be a successful babysitter is welcome to attend. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic from 9 AM to 4 PM. There is a $10 fee per participant to sign up. Lunch is provided, along with a babysitting take home bag.

To register, bring a completed registration form and medical release/information form, along with enrollment fee, to the Cass County Extension Office by August 16. Register early! Space is limited. Snacks and lunch will be provided. For more information on any of these camps, or to register, visit the Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass, stop by the Cass County Extension Office, or call (712) 243-1132.