COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A man from Pottawattamie County was sentenced Feb. 14th to prison in connection with a firearms charge. The sentence for 45-year old Jason Henry Miller, of Council Bluffs, requires him to serve 30 months (2.5-years) in prison for being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm. His term of imprisonment will be followed by three years of supervised release. According to court documents, Miller pleaded guilty to the charge on September 2, 2021.

In June of 2020, a while investigating a drug case, law enforcement officers located a firearm that had been modified to be an automatic weapon. Officers were able to obtain information that Miller was the one who modified the weapon. The weapon had been fired on his property while in his possession. At the time of the offense, Miller was a drug user and had convictions for domestic violence and was prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The Council Bluffs Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Omaha Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A woman from Mills County was sentenced Feb. 14th in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to serve 6.5-years (78 months) in prison on drug charges. Authorities say 36-year-old Sarah Diane Adams, of Glenwood, was sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. Her term of imprisonment will be followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Adams pleaded guilty to the methamphetamine offense in January of 2021. Her co-defendant, Joshua Matthew St. John was sentenced to 132 months in prison on December 17, 2021.

An initial law enforcement investigation revealed Adams lived with St. John in April of 2020 at a residence in Glenwood and they sold methamphetamine. On April 2, 2020, a confidential source made arrangements with St. John to purchase a quarter pound of methamphetamine. The confidential source traveled to St. John’s residence in Glenwood and was then directed by Adams to a stash house location. The quarter pound requested by the confidential source was removed from a larger bag containing methamphetamine and delivered by Adams to the confidential source.

On April 24, 2020, the confidential source met St. John in Glenwood to purchase additional methamphetamine and reported seeing a large quantity of methamphetamine inside Adam’s residence. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Adam’s residence and recovered approximately a half pound of methamphetamine and distribution paraphernalia.

The Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Council Bluffs Police Department, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, and Glenwood Police Department investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen reports the roads in Sunnyside Park are once again open. The Park’s roads were closed for the season Dec. 10, 2021. Rasmussen said, while the roads in Sunnyside Park are open, the restrooms will remain closed until warmer temperatures are more consistent.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – With the announcement on Wednesday from Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman that he intends to resign from the position effective April 15^th, comes the next step of finding someone to succeed him. He’s served as an elected official for more than 37-years. Cass County Supervisor’s Board Chairman Steve Baier told KJAN News because Sunderman “has served the County so well for so many years, it’s leaving some really big shoes to fill.”

He said Sunderman’s attention to detail is what makes him a good Auditor.

Cass Co. Auditor Dale Sunderman demonstrates a new voting machine for the blind/visually impaired. (File Photo)

Baier says the Supervisors are now tasked with finding someone to work with Sunderman before his last day in office. Applications will be available on the County’s website and Cass County Auditor’s Office.

He says they hope candidates who file an application will be interviewed within about a week’s time, and by mid-March have a person who will become the Auditor, at least until the November election.

Steve Baier said he has known Dale Sunderman most of his life, since the time they were growing up in the Noble Center community.

(Radio Iowa) – A House committee has approved legislation to require Iowans casting an early vote to put their voter I-D number or driver’s license number on the outside of the absentee ballot envelope. It would prohibit Iowa’s secretary of state and county auditors from accepting private donations to help run elections. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton is one of the bill’s authors. The point of this bill is the banning of outside money for influencing public elections, ensuring that the voter ID loop is closed and we’ve checked off all of those boxes,” Kaufmann says.

The bill also updates the rules for election recounts — like the one in the second congressional district that saw some counties run the ballots through counting machines and others do a recount by hand.  “Bipartisan recount reform, so there’s uniformity across the system for all 99 counties,” Kaufmann says.

Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says making recount procedures the same across all counties makes sense. She’s concerned about the change to require voters to write their driver’s license number or voter I-D number on what’s called the affidavit envelope for their absentee ballot. Wolfe says that needs to be prominently noted and clearly explained. “In order to avoid people completely, inadvertently not seeing that,” Wolfe says, “not realizing what it is, sending their absentee ballot back in and having their ballot not count.”

The bill also would let Iowa political parties post the date and time of caucuses on the party’s public website. Under current law, parties have to publish the date, time and location of precinct caucuses in local newspapers.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports one person was arrested Wednesday: 58-year-old Scott Clarke, of Glenwood, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. His cash or surety bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A long-time bus driver for the Newton Community School District was recently fired after failing a drug test. Seventy-six-year-old Peg Esperanza says she was shocked and devastated to learn that CBD oil used for her arthritis had triggered a positive drug test. Esperanza said she started using the product a couple of months ago. She said the treatment has helped her on the job, driving children with special needs to and from school. Esperanza said she was drug tested after a minor accident in a school vehicle and failed the drug test, which came as a complete surprise. Esperanza was told the drug test contained small amounts of THC.

In Iowa, however, it is legal for CBD oil to contain THC. Esperanza said she plans to move from the Newton area because she can no longer afford her apartment. The Newton Community School District has declined comment on the matter.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Information with regard to the City of Atlantic’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, 10-year Budget Projections and 10-year Capital Improvement Plan were presented to the Atlantic City Council Wednesday night, by City Administrator John Lund. Lund first addressed the financial situation…

The breakdown of income expected, of course includes property taxes.

The bottom-line, he said, is that the Tax Levy of $16.56/$1,000 assessed valuation is unchanged from last year. Other income includes refunds for the ambulance service agreement from the County and the hospital, campground fees. Lund said with regard to Labor Costs, the baseline increases are 2.4%. The Personnel and Finance Committee he said reviewed comparable compensation from cities of similar size.

Lund says as a result of the increases and wage equalizations, the City will need to focus more on revenue in the coming fiscal year. In conclusion, John Lund had some bad and good news….

He said also, the Sanitary Sewer rates in Atlantic need to be reviewed, and increases will likely be needed to be implemented by July 1, 2023. The last rate increase/adjustment, was in 2013. He said the City will need to utilize some the ARPA (Covid relief) funds to offset ambulance service cost overruns, and a health insurance spike. The ambulance contract will be addressed within the next year, and the health insurance will need to be addressed in the next Union contract, the negotiations for which in the fall of 2023. That includes a possible option to buy down the City’s deductible. Lund said “This is absolutely not the time for any type of deficits showing up, anywhere.”

For now, though, the City’s financial position is “Still pretty strong,” according to Lund, and “We should be able to make some investments that over the long-term will shore up some of these weaknesses, and make the long-term outlook look a lot better.” He commended work being accomplished by the Housing Committee will position the City in a positive way, to turn some of the negative issues around.

A copy of the full report is available for review at City Hall.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol says one woman was killed, another hurt, in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 3 in Humboldt County late Wednesday afternoon.  Reportedly an eastbound 2019 Nissan Kicks SUV operated by 56-year-old Brenda Knight, of Fort Dodge, for unknown reasons crossed the roadway striking a westbound 2006 Hummer HU3 driven by 59-year-old Becky Rice, of Pocahontas. Both drivers were transported to the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital. Knight died of her injuries upon arrival. The accident remains under investigation.