DAVENPORT, Iowa – Two Davenport men were sentenced yesterday related to their involvement in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy.  According to public court documents, Jordan Thomas Hopper, 25, and Austen Michael Thomas, 26, were part of a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl from 2020 to 2022. The fentanyl was pressed into blue pills with “M30” on them (meant to look like prescription Percocet pills). The conspiracy resulted in numerous overdoses.

At sentencing, the Court found Hopper to be responsible for three overdoses caused by the ingestion of pills containing fentanyl. Hopper was sentenced to 420 months in federal prison. Thomas was not specifically found to be responsible for any overdoses but was also sentenced related to his unlawful possession of a firearm. Thomas was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison.

Others charged as a part of this conspiracy include: Linder Kai Divos, 27 of Davenport, who was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in federal prison; Kathan Daniel Wiley, 23 of Davenport, who was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison; and Marshall Matthew James Carver, 26 of Davenport, who is pending sentencing.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department.

(Cedar Rapids, Iowa/KCRG) – Police are investigating reports of a teacher assaulting two students at a Cedar Rapids school. One parent told KCRG TV that on Monday a teacher at Johnson STEAM Academy yanked on her son’s hoodie, choking him. Another parent said the same teacher slapped her daughter in the face. The school district confirms a teacher has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation unfolds. Police say the investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors have not filed charges.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District released the following statement:

“Cedar Rapids Community School District is aware of the reported incident and is thoroughly investigating said situation consistent with the law and our policies and procedures. The staff member has been placed on administrative leave during the process. Being an active student and staff investigation, we cannot comment on the details. Student safety and well-being are the utmost priority as we continue building safe and secure learning environments for all.”

(Madison County, Iowa/KCCI) — A former EMS worker is suing Madison County after she was fired last year. KCCI says the woman claims she was discriminated and retaliated against. Kayla Whitten and Madison County Ambulance Service Director Tadd Davis were terminated during an internal investigation. A third employee, Bryan Snyder, resigned.

In her lawsuit, Whitten claims she was facing sexual harassment from other paramedics that Davis knew about. Davis allegedly told the other EMTs to stop, but Whitten says they did not listen. Whitten also details in her lawsuit that she entered a relationship with another EMT, Bryan Snyder, who was separated from his wife at the time, and that Whitten became pregnant. Whitten says she was fired after the two broke up.

She claims the Madison County Board of Supervisors told her they “could not trust her because she was pregnant by a married man.” The county has denied many of Whitten’s claims and says her employment was terminated for legitimate and non-discriminatory reasons.

The case has since been moved from Madison to Warren County. A scheduling conference is set for next week.

(Mount Ayr, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Ringgold County report a woman from Kellerton was arrested Dec. 8^th on an outstanding Ringgold County warrants charging her with two felony counts of a Controlled Substance Violation/Intent to Deliver. 63-year-old Tammy Lynn Downey was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on a $20,000 cash-only bond. She posted bond and was released. Her preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 28^th.

Tammy Lynn Downey (Ringgold Co. S/O photo)

*Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Two people have been charged with perjury and fraud for allegedly conducting a scheme to obtain forgeries of car titles out of Iowa. According to court documents out of Woodbury County, 32-year-old Rhonda Vermilyea, of Sioux City, would forge the owner’s signature of the Sioux City towing company she worked for on abandoned vehicle affidavits from mid-2020 to January 2023. She would then allegedly supply those forged documents to 52-year-old Christopher Abelson, of North Sioux City, South Dakota so that he could obtain a fraudulent Iowa Dealer’s Title, allowing him to sell them. By forging the owner’s signature, it implied that the vehicles were in the towing company’s possession and sold with a fraudulent bill of sale. The documents specified that none of the transactions actually occurred, and the owner was not aware of the employee’s alleged schemes.

Vermilyea allegedly admitted to receiving phone calls from Abelson with the VIN, make, model, year, and color which she would use to falsify an odometer disclosure, damage disclosure, abandon vehicle affidavit, and bill of sale. The information on more than 60 vehicles had been falsified. According to the documents, Abelson allegedly started by charging $500 per title, which increased to $1,000 over time. When the scheme had come to an end, he obtained over $30,000 for all titles involved in the case. Since the forgeries implied that the vehicles had been sold by the company, it would have created a ‘huge tax issue for the company’ due to the unreported income. None of the vehicles were ever in Iowa, or the company’s possession at any time, per Vermilyea and Abelson’s admissions, documents state. Additionally, Vermilyea allegedly did not send notices to previous owners of the vehicles, or possible lien holders which is required by law.

Vermilyea and Abelson told officials that they knew what they were doing was wrong, and not “100% by the code,” according to the documents. Vermilyea admitted to acting on her own, using her knowledge base with abandoned vehicles and their paperwork at the request of Abelson. No other employees of the company are known to have conspired with Vermilyea and she has since been fired from the company, according to the documents.

Vermilyea and Abelson were both arrested and charged Wednesday with first-degree fraudulent practice, perjury, and conspiracy to commit non-forcible felony. Vermilyea was also charged with one count of forgery. The case originated out of Woodbury County.

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – A northwest Iowa man is receiving a Medal of Valor in Des Moines from Gov. Kim Reynolds, for the heroic effort he made to save the life of a man and his dog in Siouxland. KTIV reports A-J Krieg lives in Sioux Falls now, and works as a welder, but he comes back to help on a family farm that is near Cylinder, Iowa in Palo Alto County. On Nov. 28th, he was working on the farm when he realized there was smoke coming from an old house that belonged to an elderly neighbor. Then he called the fire department and went to the house to investigate.

With black smoke billowing from the house, he was able to provide a hand from a window and save the man and his dog. Krieg told KTIV he knew in the moment he needed to spring into action.

The ceremony will take place Monday (Dec. 18th) at the Iowa Capitol Rotunda at 10 a.m.

(Radio Iowa) – Inspectors from the Iowa Department of Agriculture partnered with a local shelter to hold an informational session on state standards for pet breeders in rural southeastern Iowa Wednesday. An analysis of U-S-D-A puppy mill citations showed Iowa led the nation in 2022 for the number of violations. One violation from this year that came up at the seminars was a Riverside breeder who had 131 dogs seized. State Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville says he was surprised by the citations that breeder already had. “What shocked me even more was this puppy mill has gotten three other citations,” Jacoby says.

Jacoby is hoping to strengthen regulations governing commercial breeders during the new legislative session in January. Darlene Olshansky was on her couch when she first heard about a puppy mill bust and Iowa City Shelter needed help. She says the people who went to get them were bringing out crates full of dogs. Olshansky says dogs are still dealing with the impact of inhumane treatment. “It took a lot of work and is still taking a lot of work to get these dogs to trust,” she says.

Iowa accounted for 36 percent puppy mill violations in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being encouraged to make plans to spend some time on New Year’s Day in the state’s great outdoors by taking part in any of two dozen First Day Hikes, hosted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Sherry Arntzen, chief of the D-N-R’s State Parks, Forests, and Preserves Bureau, says this is the 13th year the state’s offered these free, brisk treks on trails through state parks and forests on January 1st.

“We have nearly 20 state parks that are participating in staff-led or friends group-led hikes,” Arntzen says. “We do have some other parks that have self-guided hike opportunities that you can do at any time on January 1st, so we’re really excited to be able to offer this again.” The rationale is, if folks start off their new year getting out and into nature, being physical, soaking in some sunshine and fresh air, maybe it’ll be the beginning of a healthy habit.

“First Day Hikes are a great way for everybody to get outside, get some exercise, enjoy our wonderful natural resources that we have,” Arntzen says, “and it’s a great way to welcome in the new year with family and maybe even meet a new friend or two.” Some of the hikes will include wildlife viewing opportunities and hot beverages and snacks afterwards. The hikes will average one to two miles, or longer, depending on the location.

“We do have a number of wonderful vistas or scenic views on our trail system,” Arntzen says, “so if we have guided hikes there, they’ll talk a little bit about it. They’ll talk about the resource and of course, it’s always a treat to see the different kinds of wildlife: birds, deer, turkey, that you’ll see when you go on the hikes.”

The hikes on January 1st of 2024 will also mark the start of the 100th anniversary years for two Iowa state parks: Ledges and Pilot Knob. Find details about each hike at the website: www.iowadnr.gov/firstdayhikes

Here’s the list of parks with events:

• Backbone State Park
• Bellevue State Park
• Cedar Rock State Park
• Dolliver Memorial State Park
• Elk Rock State Park
• Gull Point State Park
• Honey Creek State Park
• Lacey-Keosauqua State Park
• Lake Anita State Park
• Lake Darling State Park
• Lake Wapello State Park
• Ledges State Park
• Maquoketa Caves State Park
• Mines of Spain State Recreation Area
• Palisades-Kepler State Park
• Pikes Peak State Park
• Pilot Knob State Park
• Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area
• Prairie Rose State Park
• Shimek State Forest
• Springbrook State Park
• Waubonsie State Park
• Wildcat Den State Park
• Yellow River State Forest

(Radio Iowa) – Former President Donald Trump is urging his supporters to guard against complacency after a recent poll found his lead in Iowa is growing.  “Sometimes, you know, you’re leading by so much, they say: ‘Oh, I think let’s sit home and watch a movie or we’ll watch the results afterwards,'” Trump said. “You don’t want to do that. You’ve got to get out and vote.”

During an event in Coralville last (Wednesday) night, Trump cited the Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” which found him leading his closest rival by 32 points. “The more we win by, the more we have a voice. Think of it that way. You’ve got to get out and vote, even if you think we’re going to win. Who knows? You know, sometimes polls are wrong, but that would be record setting, quite frankly,” Trump said, with a laugh, “but you’ve got to get out and vote, vote and then we worry about November. You know, do one thing first.”

Trump calls his 2024 campaign a righteous crusade that will be advanced by a powerful margin of victory in the January 15th Iowa Caucuses. Trump’s speech lasted for nearly an hour and 15 minutes. He reviewed his record and campaign promises and repeated his criticism of Republicans who are backing his G-O-P rivals. “What’s with these politicians, right? What’s with these politicians?” Trump asked.

And Trump singled out New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu who endorsed Nikki Haley Tuesday. “It’s meant nothing,” Trump said. “People are wise to this stuff, you know?

Before the speech, Trump met with some of the Iowans who’ve volunteered to be Caucus captains in their precincts. Trump will return next week for a similar “commit to caucus” event in Waterloo, a signal his current Iowa Caucus campaign is dedicating more resources to identifying Iowa Caucus goers and ensuring they participate on January 15th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday, approved the hiring of an additional ELL (English Language Learner) Teacher. Board member Josh McLaren said the action item was “Pretty self explanatory…the evidence is right there (referring to a document showing the increase in ELL students the District is experiencing), and they’re still coming. I’m mean, we’ve got more already this year than all of last year.”

Superintendent Beth Johnsen said “If you talk to the Principals, I think they would be able to say five-to 10 new students, just in the last month.”  Washington Elementary School Principal Stacey Hornung said she just finished testing a student that came from Central America…we also had another one [that] just started First Grade,” that knows “no English at all.”  Hornung said “Either way, it’s challenge to try and make it work for all of our kids.”

Atlantic School Board mtg., 12-13-23 (Zoom image)

On a somewhat related note, the Atlantic School Board approved submitting a request to the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC), for a modified supplemental amount of $8,398.50, related to the English Language Learning (ELL) program, for students who have exceeded five-years of weighting, that are included on the Fall 2023 Certified Enrollment headcount. Separately, they approved authorizing the district’s administration to submit a request to the SBRC (School Budget Review Committee), for a modified supplemental amount of $93,910.50, due to an increase of certified enrollment from the prior year.

And, the Atlantic School Board approved a change to the school calendar, allowing for two-hour early dismissal on the last day before the Christmas Break (Dec. 22nd) instead of a full, regular day. The move is designed to give families some additional time to prepare for any trip or celebrations they may have planned.

The Board approved also, the resignations of: Cole Lowary – Grounds/Facilities; Allison Spieker, Schuler Elementary Paraeducator (effective 12/22/23), and Caroline Pellett, 7th Grade Softball Coach; and Contract Recommendations for: Emma Maassen-Thies, Communications Specialist; Charisma Burg, Washington Elem. Para, replacing Taylor Jones, and, Summer Sport Coaches.