The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a Pottawattamie County man was arrested March 29th on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for felony Robbery in the 1st Degree. 19-year old Jesse Aron Shipley, of Council Bluffs was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $100,000 bond.

On March 31, 2017, Cass County Deputies arrested 20-year old Kyle Nicholas Krueger, of Atlantic, after Krueger turned himself  on two Cass County Sheriff’s Office felony warrants for Possession with Intent to Deliver Marijuana. Krueger was booked in a the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $10,000 bond.

Also on March 31st, 39-year old Matthew David Blair, of Jefferson, was arrested on a Cass County District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Blair was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $2,000 bond.

On April 3rd, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 52-year old Bobbykines F. Taylor, of Aurora, CO, on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Taylor was cited to appear in District Court at a later date. On April 4th, 21-year old Tyler Ray Osborn, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Osborn was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond.

AMES, IOWA – Three Iowa high school seniors are receiving scholarships from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation. Winners Madelynn Green of State Center, Megan Pansegrau from Gilman, and Macy Evans of Creston, each receive $1,000 from the Youth Beef Team (YBT) program for their knowledge of beef and cattle production, as well as their communication skills.

Macy Evans

Macy is the daughter of Rob and April Evans. She plans on attending Iowa State University where she will major in Agricultural Education. She chose this field of study because she wants to inspire students to achieve and promote agriculture and make an impact on the industry. It will also allow Macy to continue her passion, her cow herd. Her presentation focused on using social media to reach out to people about what we really do to care for our livestock and how important that personal connection can be to eliminate false information.

All three will also each receive an additional $500 because they completed an online course called Masters of Beef Advocacy, a program that provides additional training on communications and beef production.

Each scholarship candidate provided a written application, and took part in a personal interview and made a presentation on a beef industry issue during the final judging process in Ames on April 1st.

With these awards, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation has provided over $81,000 in scholarship support to Iowa youth since 1994. Show your support for the industry and its future by making a tax-deductible donation to the Iowa Cattlemen’s Foundation to ensure the continuation of our youth programs.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest Tuesday on a warrant and drug charge, of an Atlantic woman. 22-year old Maisie Williams was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and on a Cass County warrant for Probation Violation. Williams was booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the sentencing of a man in Crawford County District Court, four-years after he was mistakenly allowed to serve probation for a forcible felony offense. Last year, the District Court corrected the illegally lenient sentence and ordered 30-year old Christopher Jepsen to serve 10-years in prison. Jepsen was 25 when he was convicted in Aug. 2011 of two felony counts of sexual abuse in the third degree and was sentenced to serve a total of 20-years in prison, with the sentence suspended. The court then ordered Jepsen to serve 5-years of probation.

In Oct. 2014, the State filed an application to revoke Jepsen’s probation due to his admitted use of the internet to obtain pornographic images of children. While investigating the probation violation, the State noticed the illegality of Jepsen’s original sentence on Count II, where a forcible felony in the case of the 13-year old victim, is not eligible for a suspended sentence. In 2015, the State filed a motion to correct the illegal sentence and ordered an updated Pre-Sentencing Investigation (PSI).

Jepsen appealed, based on the contention the court failed to credit his corrected sentence for the time served while he was on probation, saying that the ruling violated Double Jeopardy. Because the multiple-punishment protection under the Double Jeopardy Clause turns on legislative intent, the Appeals Court examined whether Jepsen was entitled to a sentencing credit under Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure.

Because only limited records are available in the case, the Appeals Court affirmed the corrected sentence and remanded the case back to District Court to determine whether Jepsen served any of his probationary sentence in a residential treatment facility or alternative jail facility. They acknowledged he is entitled to “full credit” for any time spent in those types of facilities but no credit for time otherwise spent under supervised probation.

A whiskey bottler in west-central Iowa’s Carroll County is breaking ground today (Wednesday) on a 20-million dollar production facility. The expanded home of Templeton Rye will include a 34-thousand square foot distillery, a barrel-aging warehouse and a museum at the 20-acre facility in the town of Templeton. The project should be complete in about 18 months and will create some two-dozen jobs.

Launched in 2003, Templeton Rye faced heavy criticism in recent years — and multiple lawsuits — over its claims the small-batch rye was made in Iowa. It’s actually a stock whiskey which is — for now — distilled and aged in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and is only bottled in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports two recent arrests. Monday morning, 25-year old Ian Richard Alexander MacVenn, of College Springs, was arrested at the Page County Sheriff’s Office on a Page County warrant for violation of probation.  MacVenn was unable to post the $1000 cash only bond and was held in the Page County Jail pending further court proceedings.

And, Sunday afternoon, Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office responded to 1790 F Avenue for a disturbance. During the investigation 35-year old Michael Ryan Johnson, of Red Oak, was arrested for Assault.  Johnson was transported to the Page County Jail where he posted bond and was released pending future court appearances.

Officials with the Iowa DNR say the emerald ash borer (EAB) can now be linked to 45 counties in Iowa, as Fayette and Madison counties are the most recent to be added to that growing list. EAB is a destructive wood-boring beetle that attacks and kills all ash tree species. The exotic pest was first discovered in Iowa in 2010.

In Fayette County, the insect was discovered in a city-owned ash tree in Oelwein. For Madison County, the finding took place in a rural area south of Winterset. Insect specimens taken from these sites were confirmed as EAB by a federal identifier.

The adult beetle is metallic green in color and measures approximately one-half inch long and can be noticed during the summer months. The larvae burrow through the inner layer of bark, eating away at the vascular tissue, which supplies nutrients to the tree. Starved trees usually die within two to four years.

A federal quarantine, enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remains in effect and restricts the movement of all hardwood firewood and ash articles out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states. To help reduce the potential for people to unknowingly transport EAB and other destructive tree-killing pests, Iowans are strongly encouraged to use locally sourced firewood.

If a landowner is interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation, the treatment window for protecting an ash tree begins very soon. Soil treatments should be made from mid-April to mid-May. Basal trunk sprays should be applied mid-May to mid-June. Trunk injections begin once the tree has a full canopy. Full details are available in Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication PM2084: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/13114

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Tuesday evening in Avoca led to the arrest of 57-year old James Allen Harriman, of Avoca. Harriman’s SUV was pulled over by a Pott. County Deputy and an Avoca Police Officer at around 4:20-p.m. The two officials believed Harriman to be under the influence of a drug other than alcohol, and requested another Deputy’s assistance. Upon further investigation, Harriman was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was also given a verbal warning for having an expired registration.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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FARLEY, Iowa (AP) – The police chief in the eastern Iowa city of Farley has quit, saying he can’t work “for a city like this.” Chief Rick Wagner says he gave his two-week notice Monday night at the end of a City Council meeting during which he was criticized. A council member requested a performance review of him, expressing concern about a burglary investigation.

On Tuesday Wagner told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald “I decided I cannot work for a city like this anymore.” He’d been chief for nearly 15 years. Mayor Jay Hefel declined to discuss Wagner’s status but confirmed that Wagner was the only full-time department member. Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy says his deputies will continue to handle calls in Farley.