COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Page County woman was sentenced Wednesday in Council Bluffs, to serve 66-months (5-1/2 years) in prison plus three-years of Supervised release, for drug-related offenses. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 28-year old Devon Miller, had been charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substances namely, Oxycodone, Adderall, and Hydrocodone, while in possession of a firearm.

On July 14, 2017, a Mills County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a car driven by Miller. Miller did not have a driver’s license and provided a false name. Subsequent to her arrest, a search of the car located over 100 different pills, all of which were controlled substances. Located with the pills was a loaded .45 caliber handgun.

An Investigation by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement found Miller was selling the pills in Southwest Iowa. The case was investigated by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum has announced 35-year old Timothy Dean Curphey, from Clarinda, was sentenced Wednesday to 204 months (17 years) in prison, for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. His sentence, which was handed-down in U-S District Court in Council Bluffs, also includes seven-years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

In April 2016, a concerned citizen presented a suspicious package to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. Law enforcement examined the package, and discovered it had been sent from Mexico and contained methamphetamine disguised as candy. The investigation led to Curphey and others that had distributed over fifty pounds of methamphetamine in Southwest Iowa.

Curphey briefly escaped from the Page County Jail in the spring of 2016. He jumped the fence in an exercise yard and was captured about a block-and-a-half away.

The case against him was investigated by Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Page County Sheriff’s Office, Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman will spend 21 months in prison for cheating a dozen elderly people — including a man from Iowa — out of more than $300,000 in a lottery scam. Federal prosecutors say 26-year-old Ashley Barrett, of Hyannis, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to mail fraud. Authorities say Barrett and several others scammed elderly people between 2012 and 2016 by telling the victims they won cash and vehicles from the lottery and needed to pay taxes and fees to receive their winnings.

Authorities say the victims included a 93-year-old widow from Florida who suffered from dementia and a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran and cancer survivor from Iowa. One 87-year-old victim sent Barrett $149,000 in wire transfers and checks. Barrett has been ordered to repay $325,148.

(Radio Iowa) — A plan for a CHILDREN’S mental health system that matches what’s available for ADULTS in Iowa is getting support from advocates, but there are concerns the proposal doesn’t go far enough. Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch spoke at a statehouse hearing on the legislation.  “It’s something that we’ve needed for a long time, but to do it without funding or to start a program without funding doesn’t make much sense to me.”

The government’s Medicaid program and local property tax cover most of the costs of providing mental health care to Iowans. Local government officials say they need more flexibility in how to pay for services — and the system in general can’t be sustained under the current financing system. Others said the bill lacks deadlines for the state’s mental health regions to establish mental health services for teens and children.
Nina Rickman has adopted two children with mental health issues. She says the bill should establish a statewide hotline for individuals and families trying to FIND help.  “That would be so so helpful for families across the state to have a crisis hotline where they can call and they can get connected with services,” she said. “It would make it easy for people and, right now, it is anything but easy.”

Governor Kim Reynolds appointed a task force last year to come up with recommendations for a children’s mental health care system.   “It’s the right thing to do. We don’t have a children’s mental health system now. We’ve been talking about it for decades,” Reynolds says. “…I like where the bill is starting, but like anything that goes through the legislative process this is an opportunity to address concerns or maybe gaps or hear from different constituencies if we’re on the right path.”

A Senate subcommittee has given initial approval to the plan this week.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say at least four occupants and one firefighter were injured in a fire at an apartment building in central Cedar Rapids. Firetrucks were dispatched to Hawthorne Hills Apartments around 8:30 a.m. Thursday with reports that several occupants were trapped on the second floor of a 16-unit building. Firefighters used ladders to reach the second floor, encountering flames and heavy smoke as they entered.

A city news release says firefighters carried one man out of the complex. Three other adults also were taken to hospitals. The release says one firefighter suffered a non-life-threatening injuring while battling the blaze. The fire cause is being investigated. The names of the injured haven’t been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have charged a driver who investigators say may have caused another driver to swerve his car and plunge over a concrete wall to his death in a parking lot below. The Jan. 27 crash killed 32-year-old Grant Stokka and injured his 8-year-old son. Police say another vehicle entering traffic may have caused Stokka to abruptly change his direction of travel and go over the wall.
The charges announced Thursday indicate that investigators suspect 26-year-old Des Moines resident Tessa Mullen was driving the other vehicle.

She’s charged with failure to yield, reckless driving and with committing a driving violation that resulted in death.

DES MOINES, IOWA— Six FFA members from Atlantic FFA and other FFA members from across Iowa converged on the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines to build character and promote citizenship, volunteerism, and patriotism. Atlantic FFA members Tyler Comes, Katie York, Tate Den Beste, Craig Alan Becker, Hannah Carlson and Taylor McCreedy. Approximately 300 high school students wearing blue corduroy from 51 schools flooded the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines on February 14th. The students visited with legislators, exhibited skills learned in the agriculture classroom and learned the importance of citizenship.

Legislative Symposium Tom Shipley

Legislative Symposium Tom Moore

Legislative Group

The event was part of the 34th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol. During the morning, FFA members heard from Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, about the importance of agriculture in Iowa and abroad. Kelsey Tyrrell of the World Food Prize addressed students about the future of Iowa agriculture and the importance of being involved with statewide issues. Later that day, FFA members also heard remarks from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President, Craig Hill, about the importance young agriculturalists can play in the agriculture industry.

Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg presented the FFA Week Proclamation, declaring February 16-23, the week of President George Washington’s Birthday, FFA Week in Iowa. The proclamation signing took place during a special ceremony at the Embassy Suites downtown following legislative visits at the Iowa State Capitol Building. “I learned more about the agriculture laws that go through the house and the senate and the process behind it,” Senior Tyler Comes said.

The 34th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol was made possible with support from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation through the Iowa FFA Foundation.

On Wednesday, February 6th, 2019, 21 members of the Atlantic FFA chapter competed in the Sub District Career Development Events with three advancing to District FFA Convention. FFA member Carli Henderson competed in the Job Interview category placing 1st earning a Gold and advancing to Districts. Tyler Comes competed in Extemporaneous Speaking earning a Silver placing 3rd and advancing to Districts. Bryan York competed in the FFA Creed Speaking CDE placing 3rd earning a Gold and advancing to Districts. Katie York competed in the Public Speaking CDE placing 4th earning a Silver and will be the alternate to Districts. Tate Den Beste competed in Ag Broadcasting earning a Silver placed 5th.

Bryan York FFA Creed

Tate Den Beste Ag Broadcasting

Katie York Public Speaking

Tyler Comes Extempt

Carli Henderson Job Interview

The Conduct of meetings team of Garrett Reynolds, Alyssa Derby, Skyler Handlos, Aspen Niklasen, Drey Newell, Taylor McCreedy, and Hannah Carlson placed 5th earning a Silver. Craig Becker competed in the Ag Sales CDE placing 5th earning a Silver. In the Farm Business Management Test Atlantic FFA had 2 members compete, Nathan Behrends and Drey Newell. Behrends placed 1st and Newell was 2nd.

In the FFA Freshman Greenhand Quiz, Atlantic FFA had 9 members participate. Andrew Engler placed 1st overall, Bryan York placed 8th and Aspen Niklasen placed 9th. Cooper Jipsen, Drew Skartvedt, Logan Eilts, Malena Woodward, Torie Steinhoff and Wyatt Redinbaugh also competed in the test and all placed with a Gold or Silver rating.

FFA advisor Eric Miller commented, “I was proud of all the hard work each member put into preparing for their event.”

Atlantic FFA Director Eric Miller reports that on February 6th 2019, six members of the Atlantic FFA Chapter participated in a variety of events at the Southwest District FFA Review night at Boyer Valley High School. Tyler Comes and Nathan Behrends had their Iowa FFA Degrees reviewed by a team of FFA Advisors. In order to receive this prestigious awards, FFA members must complete all of the following: be an FFA member for two years, complete two years of high school, invested at least $1,500 in their SAE or 300 hours in excess to class time work or a combo of the two.  Recipients must have committed 25 years to community service, performed 10 procedures of parliamentary procedure, given a six-minute speech relating to agriculture, served as an officer or other satisfactory position held by chapter, and had a strong enough school record, as deemed by their superintendent or principal. Both Comes and Behrends applications passed and they will receive their Iowa FFA Degree during the final session at the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference at Ames in April.

Tyler Comes and Taylor McCreedy applied for FFA Proficiency awards this year. Tyler’s proficiency area of Beef Production – Entrepreneurship earned a Gold and advanced to State. Tyler has a cow calf operation that he began in 8th grade and has continued throughout high school. Taylor’s Equine Science – Entrepreneurship earned a Silver and also advanced to State. Taylor has taken her love of animals and turned her passion into an opportunity to work with others as she trainers horses. Proficiency Award nominees have excelled in their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Programs. These awards encourage members to develop specialized skills that will apply toward a future career. The district winners will advance to the State FFA competition where they will compete against winners from the other FFA Districts in Iowa.

The last part of Review Night is the District FFA Officer Interviews. This year Atlantic FFA had 3 members apply for the 2019-20 District FFA Officer team. Juniors Adriana Mendez, Corri Pelzer, and Tate Den Beste began the night with an FFA knowledge test. After waiting in the holding room with other candidates from various schools. The candidates then had an individual interview with the seven member nominating committee. The committee asked each candidate a few questions. Then the candidates had a one on one interview with four members of the committee. Each one-on-one interview was only one minute, so the candidate had to think on their feet.

After all the candidates were done the committee met and selected the ballot for the 2019 District FFA Convention. Adriana Mendez was balloted for the District FFA Reporter and Corri Pelzer was balloted for the District Sentinel. Adriana and Corri will each give a speech and answer 2 questions in front of the District FFA Delegates on Saturday March 2nd in Glenwood.

Members of the Griswold and Lenox School Boards held a joint meeting Wednesday evening in Griswold, to discuss and act on a Superintendent Sharing Agreement for current Superintendent Dave Henrichs. Henrichs told KJAN News the Board voted to renew his contract. The contract is for another year. Henrichs said while they didn’t have the contract ready for him to sign Wednesday night, he will accept the offer for another year.

During a separate meeting, the Griswold School Board approved an Open Enrollment application for a student from Atlantic. The deadline for Open Enrollments has passed, but both the Atlantic and Griswold Boards agreed to accept the request.