(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a traffic stop late Saturday night near Villisca, resulted an arrest. Authorities say 54-year-old Pedro Quintanilla-Flores, of Lenox, was taken into custody at around 10:10-pm near Highway 71 and 250th Street, for Driving While Barred – An Aggravated Misdemeanor. Quintanilla-Flores was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports the Page County Communications Center received a call a little after 8-pm Friday, about a person who allegedly fired a shotgun at his neighbor. Deputies from the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Clarinda Police Department, Red Oak Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and Clarinda Regional Health Center EMS responded to the scene at 112 2nd Street in Hepburn, Iowa.

Pictured: Michael Lee Rose Sr (Fremont County Sheriff’s Office photo)

After a short standoff Michael Lee Rose Sr. was taken into custody. He was transported to the Page County Jail where he was booked in. Lee was charged with two-counts possession of offense weapon by a prohibited person, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent, and possession of a short- barreled shotgun.

“A charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned about a new type of scam that might sound like Halloween fun, but it’s actually the first step toward having your identity stolen. Khesha Duncan, with the Better Business Bureau, says what’s known as “ghost tapping” can be frightening — to your personal finances.

“It’s actually a type of scamming that takes advantage of tap-to-pay credit cards and mobile wallets,” Duncan says. “Scammers will purchase a tap machine. If someone doesn’t have an RFID wallet or sleeve for protection, it will allow that person to just bump into you and scan your credit card.” Duncan says ghost tap scammers can use these portable machines to steal your credit card information, often in crowded places.

“Like festivals or flea markets or even concerts,” she says. “They want to get in places where they can bump into people, and it’s very, very scary. You’re much more vulnerable, so you need to be very careful about that.” As technology advances, so do the criminals, and Duncan says Iowans need to be vigilant with their personal financial data.

“If you’re in a high traffic area, even in the store, you might consider just going ahead and inserting your card or using the swipe feature for your card,” she says. A little caution can go a long way in avoiding a costly scam, Duncan says. She recommends using the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker, a free tool that helps Iowans spot and report suspicious activity.

https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court is upholding the conviction of a Washington County man for assault after he showed a gun to two deputies. The deputies were investigating an illegal fireworks report on July 9th of 2022 at Matthew Meisheid’s home in Kalona. Deputies say he responded by pulling a handgun out of his pants, pointing it at the sky, and saying “I’ll show you a firework, boom boom.”

Mieshied’s appeal says there is insufficient evidence for the charges because he did not point or move the gun in the deputies’ direction. The Supreme Court ruling says deputy bodycam footage shows he did not directly point the gun at deputies, but says a person can display an object toward another person without moving the object any closer to them or-in the case of a firearm-pointing it at them.

Mieshied was sentenced to prison with a five-year mandatory minimum as the involvement of law officers made the crime a felony.

(Radio Iowa) -[updated] Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra says tax credits for some of the middle income Americans who’ve been buying health insurance policies on the Affordable Care Act marketplace must be examined. “ObamaCare has always been very expensive. I mean, it continues to go up. It has never been affordable and when we had COVID, the tax credits were dramatically increased,” Feenstra says. “…We’re saying, ‘No, we can’t do that.'”

Americans with an annual income within 400 percent above the poverty line will still receive the tax credit next year, but current law says middle-income Americans will no longer qualify next year. Senate Democrats are insisting an extension of these health care subsidies be included in the plan to temporarily fund the federal government. “I want quality and affordable health care for all Iowans, but there’s a better way and that’s why we say to Democrats: ‘Open the government. We can talk about this. We can work through it, but we want to do it in the right way.’ And you don’t do that when you have a government shutdown.”

Feenstra was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020. That was after bills to repeal the Affordable Care Act passed the Republican-led House, but failed in the Senate. Feenstra has said protecting people with pre-existing conditions from losing their insurance should be part of any future health care legislation, but he says taking steps to inject competition in the system will reduce premium costs. Feenstra has also proposed that patients who pay with cash should get a discount on their health care bills.

This past May, Feenstra formed an exploratory committee for a run for governor in 2026, but has not formally kicked off a statewide campaign.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A federal grand jury in Des Moines has returned an 11‑count indictment on October 16, 2025, charging a Des Moines man with wire fraud. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Friday (today), as alleged in the Indictment, 65-year-old Marin James Tirrell, ran a scheme to defraud multiple individuals between February 2024 and January 2025. Tirrell’s scheme involved obtaining money from individuals that he claimed would be used to buy tickets to high-demand sports and concert events and resold at a profit. Instead, Tirrell used a majority of the funds for gambling and personal expenses, repaying loans, and paying other investors for earlier payments. In total, investors provided Tirrell several million dollars and the victim investors sustained a combined loss exceeding $1.5 million.

Tirrell was on federal supervised release for a 2019 mail fraud conviction. Tirrell was released from his 41-month prison sentence in January 2023. Tirrell made his initial court appearance on October 20, 2025, before a United States Magistrate Judge of the United State District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Trial was set for December 1, 2025. Tirrell will remain detained in federal custody pending further proceedings.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating this case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Another Iowa School District was an apparent “Swatting” target, today (Friday). AC/GC Superintendent Josh Rasmussen posted a statement on the district’s social media page to parents and guardians of students with the combined district, describing a phoned-in threat to the Adair-Casey campus. You can read his statement below. While classes at Adair-Casey were not called-off, precautions were implemented to ensure students’ and staff safety. Earlier in the day, today (Friday), classes at the Algona Community School District were canceled due to a report that was apparently linked to “swatting.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna has announced the successful completion of public testing on election equipment leading up to the November 4 City-School Election. The testing confirmed that all election equipment in Montgomery County is working properly and is ready for the upcoming election. Ozuna said during the tests, vote tabulators undergo a logic and accuracy test, which the public is invited to attend. Election officials test voting tabulators using sample ballots to ensure the tabulators are recording votes properly by feeding in correctly marked ballots and ballots that may be marked incorrectly. This includes ballots with any undervote, where a race is left blank, and ballots with an overvote, where a voter has marked too many candidates for a race.

Auditor Ozuna said “The completion of our comprehensive pre-election testing affirms that all voting equipment performed to the highest standards of accuracy, security, and reliability. Our focus remains on safeguarding the integrity of every vote cast and ensuring that the systems in place support a transparent and trustworthy election process.” Pre-election testing takes place before each election in all 99 counties and is mandated by Iowa law. To ensure transparency in the election process, the public is invited to attend and watch the testing, and members of Iowa’s recognized political parties are also invited.

Public pre-election equipment testing is just one of many safeguards in place to protect the integrity of Iowa elections. Other layers of Iowa’s election integrity include paper ballots, cybersecurity measures, post-election audits, voter ID, and bipartisan teams of poll workers. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says “Iowa has been repeatedly named a top state for election administration and integrity, and we credit that to our layered approach to election security. I’m especially thankful for Iowa’s county auditors and their staff for their dedication to administering safe, secure, and fair elections. They have conducted successful testing of voting equipment across the state, giving Iowans yet another reason to trust our elections process.”

Iowa’s City-School Election will be held on Tuesday, November 4. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Iowans can find their polling place at sos.iowa.gov. Iowans can also vote absentee in person or by mail. Voters can vote early, absentee, in person at their county auditors’ offices until Monday. November 4. Iowans planning to vote absentee are encouraged to return their absentee ballots at least a week before Election Day to ensure it is received by the county auditor by Election Day.

ALGONA, Iowa — Classes were canceled today (Friday) for Algona schools after officials said they received a threat about an explosive. According to a post on the school’s Facebook page, the threat may be part of a larger “swatting” effort impacting schools across the country.

Swatting calls are false police reports or fake 911 calls, usually about a mass shooting or bombing. According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, swatting calls are “intended to trigger an immediate and widespread law enforcement deployment or emergency service response to a specific location.”

An Iowa law that went into effect July 1, 2024, increased penalties to such crimes from a misdemeanor to a Class D Felony, which could come with up to five years in prison. If somebody is injured or even killed as a result of a swatting call, then that becomes a Class C Felony with a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Algona School Officials said they were working with the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department and the Algona Police Department to ensure the safety of the district’s buildings by following the district’s regular safety protocols.