The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Hancock man was arrested Monday evening on Domestic Assault with Injury, Obstruction of Emergency Communications, and Public Intoxication, charges. 36-year old Eric John Rehfeldt was taken into custody at around 8:20-p.m., following an incident involving his girlfriend, that occurred at a residence in the 100 block of N. Scott Street, in Hancock. The victim suffered minor injuries during the altercation.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, 63-year old Bradley Robert Hunt, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Monday afternoon, following a traffic stop near the intersection of Garner Avenue and Railroad. Hunt was arrested on a valid felony warrant issued by Council Bluffs Police, for Ongoing Criminal Conduct and Theft in the 1st degree.

And, a Nebraska man was arrested Monday morning in Pottawattamie County, on charges of Theft in the 2nd Degree and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. A Deputy found 28-year old John C. Thirtle the 3rd, of Omaha, passed out in a pickup with a camper, near River Road and 130th Street. A check of the camper indicated it had been stolen from Omaha.

• 5 large russet potatoes, skins on, quartered
• 1 cup diced Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• favorite baked potato toppings, such as bacon bits, sour cream, chopped chives, green onions, etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously coat 15 wells of two 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick spray.  Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until tender when pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes.  Drain, place potatoes in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher.  Fold in the cheese and butter, then add the eggs, salt and pepper.

Divide the potato mixture among the prepared muffin cups, filling them to the top (the cupcakes will not rise in the oven).  Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until golden.  Cool the muffins in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pans and serving with your favorite baked potato toppings.

(Midwest Dairy Association)

The Creston Police Department reports an Adair County man was arrested on a Theft charge Monday afternoon. 27-year old Larry Warrior, of Fontanelle, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on the charge of Theft in the 3rd Degree. Warrior was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Preliminary data show traffic deaths were up 9 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, continuing a surge in deaths that began two years ago as the economy improved and travel picked up. The National Safety Council, which gets its information from state authorities, estimates that 19,100 people have been killed on U.S. roads from January through June. That’s 18 percent more than two years ago at the six-month mark. About 2.2 million people were seriously injured.

U.S. drivers have also put in a record number of miles on the road in the first half of this year.  States with the biggest increases since the upward trend began in 2014 include Vermont, Oregon, New Hampshire, Idaho, Florida, Iowa, Georgia, and Indiana.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Weather is being blamed for a drop in attendance at this year’s Iowa State Fair. Some days were rainy, some extra hot and humid and some apparently were just right for going to the fair, which ended Sunday. The attendance for the 11-day fair was 1,031,278. Attendance dropped about 86,000 this year from last year’s record-breaking 1,117,398.

Fair CEO Gary Slater told The Des Moines Register that “the numbers weren’t down because of any other reason other than weather.”

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) – The former city clerk of Boyden in northwest Iowa has been placed on probation after pleading guilty to stealing money from the city. The Sioux City Journal reports former city clerk Beth Sipma, of Sheldon, was placed on probation Monday after pleading guilty in Sioux County District Court to one count of first-degree theft.

She was ordered to pay a $1,000 civil penalty and nearly $55,000 in restitution to Boyden to cover the lost money and the city’s costs of reviewing and correcting its finances. Police arrested Sipma in June after a state audit showed she made more than $36,000 in improper spending between 2013 and 2015.

Boyden is a city of about 700 people, about 10 miles north of Orange City.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Sioux City police have identified a man who was pulled from the Missouri River and died later at a hospital. The Sioux City Journal reports  police Monday identified the man as 42-year-old Conrad Parker, of Sioux City.

Witnesses told police the man walked into the river Friday afternoon and began floating downstream. They called 911 after losing sight of him, and he was unconscious when rescuers pulled him from the river. They rushed him to a hospital, where he died. Based on testimony from the witnesses and a medical examination, his death was determined to be accidental drowning.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — The former city clerk of Boyden in northwest Iowa has been placed on probation after pleading guilty to stealing money from the city. The Sioux City Journal reports former city clerk Beth Sipma, of Sheldon, was placed on probation Monday after pleading guilty in Sioux County District Court to one count of first-degree theft. She was ordered to pay a $1,000 civil penalty and nearly $55,000 in restitution to Boyden.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is doubling down on running mate Donald Trump’s new public push for Hillary Clinton to shut down her long-time charitable foundation. Pence told a crowd Monday at a manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids that Clinton must shut down the Clinton Foundation immediately. Trump issued the same call earlier in the day through social media.

CLARION, Iowa (AP) — Wright County supervisors have approved a development agreement with a North Carolina-based company that plans to build a $240 million pork processing plant in northern Iowa. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the supervisors approved the deal Monday with Prestage Foods, of Clinton, North Carolina. The agreement includes building wastewater treatment facilities and improving roads near the plant, south of Eagle Grove. Prestage officials say they eventually plan to employ about 1,750 people.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City police have identified a man who was pulled from the Missouri River and died later at a hospital. The Sioux City Journal reports Monday that police identified the man as 42-year-old Conrad Parker, of Sioux City. Witnesses told police the man walked into the river Friday and began floating downstream. They called 911 after losing sight of him, and he was unconscious when rescuers pulled him from the river. His death was determined to be accidental drowning.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — John Deere has announced more layoffs at two eastern Iowa plants. Company spokesman Ken Golden said Monday that 115 workers in Waterloo will be laid off effective Sept 23 and 30 in Davenport effective Sept. 30.

UAW Local 838 shop chairman Tim Niedert told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that the layoffs came as no surprise. On Friday the Moline, Illinois-based company announced its 10th consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings declines, citing continuing downturns in the agriculture sector.

Golden says about 870 people are working at the Davenport plant and about 2,930 at the Waterloo plant. Those figures don’t reflect the layoffs. He says the Waterloo plant makes larger farm tractors. The Davenport plant makes construction and forestry equipment,