Officials with the Creston Police Department report 42-year old Douglas Stevens, of Creston, was arrested at around 4:52-a.m. today (Tuesday), for Driving While Barred. Stevens was subsequently released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports a central Iowa man was arrested in connection with the death of a Madison County woman. Authorities say at around 11:10-p.m., Monday, Madison County 911 received a call of an unresponsive female at 121 E. Lane Street, Lot #1, in Winterset. Responding Winterset police officers found 23-year old Rosanna Otto deceased inside the home from an apparent gunshot wound.

Jerome “Jerry” Moyer

The Winterset Police Department and the Division of Criminal Investigation identified 25-year old Jerome “Jerry” Moyer, of Norwalk, as a suspect in the woman’s death.  Moyer was arrested without incident by the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office following a traffic stop. He was being held in the Dubuque County Jail on the charge of Murder in the First Degree. Moyer will be transported to the Madison County Jail at a later date.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa has fallen from the 9th to the 12th most expensive state for hail damage, according to an annual survey from the state’s largest home and auto insurer. Andrew Peschong, a State Farm agent based in the Des Moines area, says Colorado, Texas and Illinois had the worst hail damage last year, but it shifts around, depending on where the most severe weather strikes. “In 2017, we had $132-million in hail claims alone with State Farm just in Iowa,” Peschong says. “In 2018, that number went down to $57-million, so while there still was quite a few hail events in Iowa in 2018, it was down from the previous year.”

Last year, Iowa customers reported nearly six-thousand hail claims, with the average homeowner claim topping 13-thousand dollars and more than 34-hundred dollars for cars. It may not seem like hail storms hit Iowa that frequently, but Peschong notes, they don’t have to last long to do a lot of damage. “All it takes is 10 seconds or 20 seconds worth of hail falling and you have a large percentage of a certain neighborhood that will all have claims,” Peschong says.

While nothing can be done to prevent a hail storm, you can prevent problems associated with them by doing some good tree pruning every year. Also, when building or remodeling, he suggests you consider your roofing carefully.  “If you’re going to get an impact-resistant roof or an impact-resistant shingle, you will pay a little more for it,” Peschong says, “but on the back end, it will really help a lot when you come into a hail storm, preventing that damage.”

He also advises clients to do a home inventory by taking pictures or video and store that inventory digitally. In addition, he says to talk to your agent and ask about your coverage and deductible.

KJAN has received word of water over the road at several locations on White Pole Road, between Anita and Adair. If you see water over the road, turn around…don’t drown.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Areas around Lincoln, Omaha, Bellevue and other cities in eastern Nebraska are under a flash flood warning after torrential rains early Tuesday. The National Weather Service has issued the warning for parts of Lancaster, Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders and Washington counties. The alert also covers a western portion of Pottawattamie County, including Council Bluffs, across the Missouri River in Iowa.

The weather service says up to 2 inches of rain had fallen on those areas overnight — most of it since 4 a.m. Tuesday. Several low-lying traffic lanes in midtown and downtown Omaha were covered with water before 5 a.m. The weather service says flooding in those areas could worsen, as more rain is expected in the region throughout the day.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say a Red Oak man was arrested at around 3:24-a.m. today (Tuesday). 45-year old Jeffrey Dean Etter was arrested on a valid felony warrant for Violation of Probation and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his cash bond was set at $20,000

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports two recent drug-related arrests. On Monday (May 27), 48-year old Jeffrey Wade Massey, of Hamburg, was arrested for the Delivery of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Massey was transported to the Fremont County Law enforcement Center being held on a $10,300 bond.

And, on May 23rd, 24-year old Toby Pritchett, of Shenandoah, was arrested by Fremont County Deputies for the delivery of methamphetamine. Pritchett was transported to the Fremont County Law enforcement center being held on a $10,000 bond.

Jeff W. Massey

T. Pritchett

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A tornado hit an area near the Floyd County fairgrounds in Charles City, destroying several buildings and damaging others. The Des Moines Register reports the tornado hit the fairgrounds and homes in the northeast Iowa city about 12:30 p.m. Monday. Craig Anderson, the fair board treasurer, says the tornado destroyed two fairgrounds buildings and severely damaged two others. Two buildings at the nearby Floyd County Ag Center also were destroyed. No injuries were reported.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa voters are overwhelmingly white, but the state’s few black voters could play an outsize role in choosing the winner of the first contest among Democrats seeking to challenge President Donald Trump. The Iowa caucuses tend to draw the party’s most motivated voters, and this year Democrats say black voters are energized as seldom seen. That could give the candidate who rallies the biggest share of the state’s 2% black population a narrow victory in a crowded field.

MOSBY, Mo. (AP) — Some property owners who accepted a buyout from the federal government because their homes are prone to regular flooding say they’ve grown frustrated with the long wait times to get their checks. An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows the government has spent more than $5 billion over the past three decades on its flood buyout program, and the costs have been rising over the past decade. This spring’s Midwest flooding is likely to add even more homes to the buyout queue.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa women shot during a convenience store robbery are recovering in a Sioux City hospital. According to the Le Mars Police Department, a male suspect demanded money from the two Le Mars Hy-Vee Gas Station clerks Sunday. He then allegedly shot both victims in the stomach and fled. The Sioux City Journal reports police later found the suspect dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in South Sioux City.

(Radio Iowa) — Clean-up is underway in Charles City after a tornado tore through the fairgrounds, hit the local fertilizer plant and damaged homes in the area early Monday afternoon. Floyd County Fair Board President Amy Staudt was there as the twister tore through the complex.

“Literally, like people have said before, it sounds like a train coming,” Staudt says. “I thought the noise was too big and I popped my head out and glass started shattering. We lost a couple of windows up top out of the cupola area and I thought that was the worst of it when it passed, then I looked out the window…and half the buildings are leveled out here.”

Volunteers arrived to deal with the damage as soon as the storm moved out, but Staudt is wary of having people working in some of the buildings on the fairgrounds. “We’ve got to make sure they’re structurally safe to be in because they’re twisted,” Staudt says. “That’s my main concern. The ones that are standing — are they safe to be in right now? We’ll meet with the adjusters and have some contractors out here and just double-check all safety issues.”

The twister tracked to the north and east and nearly missed Charles City, according to Floyd Emergency Management Director Lezlie Weber. “There is one housing development that got hit,” Weber syas. “Almost all the damaged houses have been contacted and we know of no injuries or fatalieis. We just want people to stay out of the area for right now.” Weber says it’s too early to discuss damage estimates, but there’s an emergency operations center at the Floyd County Courthouse where citizens can report damage.

“Get as many pictures as they can of everything, just in case, and then here probably after a while we’ll have some volunteers calling people that need help cleaning up and get some people out there to help clean up their yards,” Weber says. Another tornado touched down northeast of Elma shortly after the first tornado. It tracked through Chickasaw and Howard Counties before leaving a path of damaged homes, roofs and downed power lines in Lime Springs, where house-to-house searches begun in mid-afternoon Monday.