Police in Red Oak, Monday afternoon, arrested 43-year-old Joseph Leeray Bartlett, of Red Oak, on a felony Forgery charge. He was taken into custody following an investigation into a forged check passed at the Hardware Hank Store, in Red Oak. Bartlett was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

(Greeenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports a man from Cass County was arrested Saturday, near Orient. 56-year old Michael William Magers, of Atlantic, was arrested at around 8:52-p.m. in the 1700 block of 310th Street. He was cited for OWI/1st offense, Failure to Obey a Stop/Yield sign, and speeding 76 in a 55 zone. Magers was released from the scene with his citations.

Last Thursday, Police in Adair arrested 35-year-old Roger Joseph Draman, of Casey, for Driving While Barred. Draman was released that same evening on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

And, on May 24th, 39-year-old Benjiman Ray Searl, of Panora, was arrested by Police in Stuart, on an Adair County warrant for Driving While Barred and Driving While License Denied or revoked. He was released a short while later on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Menlo, Iowa) – A man is dead and a woman was injured during a collision late Monday morning near the Adair County Freedom Rock. The Iowa State Patrol reports 56-year old Jay Douglas Thysen, of Elk Horn (IA) died at the scene. 60-year-old Karen Dena Thysen, also of Elk Horn, was injured and transported by Mercy 1 helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. The crash happened on Highway 25 at 120th Street at around 11:30-a.m.

The Patrol reports a 2014 Harley Davidson motorcycle occupied Jay and Karen Thysen, was traveling south on Highway 25 and slowing before it stopped and signaled for a left turn onto the Freedom Rock drive while yielding to a northbound 2017 Chevy Malibu driven by 41-year-old Nicole Marie Elizabeth Lindberg, of Greenfield.

20-year-old Liam Edison Reiner, of West Des Moines was driving a southbound 2012 Nissan Versa, and was distracted by the highly populated gathering on the east side of the road. The Nissan struck the motorcycle from behind, causing the cycle to be pushed into the rear driver’s side of the Malibu.

(Harrison County, Iowa) – Emergency personnel in western Iowa are searching for a person who went missing after their boat sank Sunday night on the Missouri River. The incident happened around midnight, north of the Tyson Bend Wildlife area in Iowa, near Blair, Nebraska. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Harrison County 911 received a call that a boat on the Missouri River was taking on water. A spokesperson said the boat was 35 feet long.

Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, Blair Police Department, Blair Fire and Rescue, Southwest Iowa Dive Team, Yutan Dive Team, Harrison County Emergency Management and Shelby County Emergency Management responded to the scene. A number of people were on board and were rescued, but one person was not, according to authorities.

Law enforcement at the scene interviewed witnesses and confirmed that a 20-year-old female is missing. According to authorities, efforts are underway to recover the boat and the missing person. The incident is under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says a central Iowa construction project shows the potential for a building material called mass timber. It’s layers of wood, compressed and nailed or glued together, so it can bear more weight. Vilsack says mass timber can be made from the smaller trees the U.S. Forest Service plans to remove from millions of acres of federal land over the next decade.

“Remove it from our forest areas, reducing the risk of fire, creating jobs in rural places across the country converting it into these materials that then allow folks to construct facilities like this one.” Vilsack is referring to the Junction Development Catalyst in West Des Moines, a building for commercial and residential tenants that’s made of mass timber. The project received a nearly 250-thousand dollar federal grant and construction should be completed this fall. Vilsack has announced the federal government will release another 32 million dollars in grants to spur use of mass timber.

“It’s an amazing technology,” Vilsack says, “but it doesn’t work unless there is an incentive to make it work.” Mass timber is being promoted as a low-carbon alternative to construction materials like steel and concrete. One basic form of mass timber uses boards that are first dried in a kiln. The boards are then glued together, with the wood grain of each board running opposite of the board next to it, creating large slabs.

An 18-story building in Norway was constructed with mass timber and opened in 2019. It houses apartments, a hotel, a restaurant and offices.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

(Radio Iowa) – A crime novelist and former law enforcement officer from north-central Iowa is releasing his second book. Phil Queen is a retired Webster City policeman who’s now a criminal justice instructor at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. Queen’s newest work, “Forever Two Wheels,” follows an agent on a federal task force trying to break up a war between motorcycle gangs in southern Missouri.

“I got to go down to southern Missouri, down to the Branson area, and do some research of the area,” Queen says. “So it’s not for everybody. It is fairly violent but I think it’d be a pretty good read.” Queen released his first book last year, entitled “…And Hell Followed.” Queen says he decided to let the younger generation take over, so he quit law enforcement to become a teacher and author.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time off and I still keep keep in contact with a lot of the local officers,” Queen says. “Teaching the criminal justice classes at Iowa Central, this is my 14th year now teaching there, and I still feel like I’m part of the law enforcement community.” You can order the book through the websites of either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

(Radio Iowa) – A state legislator met some of Ukraine’s soldiers during a military training mission in Europe in 2017. Todd Prichard of Charles City is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and his unit participated in drills with soldiers from NATO countries and partner nations, like Ukraine.  “My impression of them was they were quite competent and they were professional,” Prichard says. “This year they’ve demonstrated that professionalism and competency as they’ve done just an amazing job against a superior force and continue to do so.”

The training exercise in the summer of 2017 were staged in Poland and eight other countries. They focused on logistics and other defense capabilities. Some of the Ukrainian soldiers Prichard met had come directly from the Donbas region. “The border incursion fight was three years into it then,” Prichard said. “A lot of the Ukrainian soldiers looked tired and said that this was kind of a break for them to not have to be on the front line in the border region.” Prichard says the conduct of Russia’s army this year has been sobering.

“They seem to not mind to cause collateral damage to civilian populations and it’s heartbreaking,” Prichard says. “War is not kind. It’s brutal.” Prichard was an Army platoon leader in Kuwait. After the Gulf War, he joined the Iowa National Guard and was a company commander in Iraq. He’s currently in charge of logistics for the Army Reserve battalion at Fort Des Moines. Prichard says the world shouldn’t be surprised by Ukraine’s resistance.

“These are people that are motivated. They’re fighting for their freedom. They’re fighting for their country. They’re fighting for their homes,” Prichard says. “The other thing to appreciate is these countries in eastern Europe like Ukraine, like Latvia and Bulgaria — these other nations that are part of the former eastern bloc, they live in the shadow of a very large Russian aggressor.”

In the late 1800s, Russia was the largest country in the world and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about restoring Russia empire in the lead up to the invasion of Ukraine this past February.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports five arrests over the past nearly two-weeks.

On May 18th, following a traffic stop, 36-year-old Zachary Thomas Scheffler, of Harlan, was arrested on two active arrest warrants for Burglary 3rd, Theft 2nd, Criminal Mischief 2nd, Ongoing Criminal Conduct, Gathering where Controlled Substance are Used, Possession on Certain Property, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Prohibited Acts, Failure to Affix Drug Stamp, and Controlled Substance Violation. Scheffler was also charged with Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia from the traffic stop. Also arrested during the same traffic stop, was 31-year-old Kaleigh Marie Turner, of Harlan. She was charged with Prohibited Acts, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Driving While Barred.

One day earlier (May 17th), Shelby County Deputies arrested 23-year-old Clinton Paul Robinson, of Shelby, following a traffic stop in Shelby. Robinson was charged with OWI 1st, Possession or Carrying of Dangerous Weapons While Intoxicated, and Open Container.

On the 19th, 32-year-old Amanda Louise Lavender, of Kiron, was arrested for Driving while Revoked, and Failure to Provide of Financial Liability.

On May 22nd, Deputies in Shelby County arrested 28-year-old Brett Scott Wilke, of Harlan, for with OWI 2nd offense, Speeding, and Improper Lane Change.

Note: Criminal charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – After nearly five years and one-point-two billion dollars, the Interstate 74 bridge project between Bettendorf, Iowa and Moline, Illinois is finally complete — with the opening of a bicycle and pedestrian path. George Ryan, the I-74 corridor manager, says the 14-foot wide path is fully separated from the six lanes of traffic and offers a safe way for cyclists and walkers to cross the Mississippi River.  “The trail also includes an overlook area out over the channel that’s actually a destination point,” Ryan says. “There’s a 10-foot diameter glass oculus that you can stand on and watch the river flow beneath you, as well as benches and some lighting to really make that spot a destination.” Anyone who’s squeamish about great heights may be a little wobbly when they first approach the big, glass disc, with the Mississippi churning far below.

“People seem to be a little hesitant. I was a little hesitant myself the first time I stepped out on it,” Ryan says, laughing. “It’s perfectly safe. It’s laminated. It’s multiple layers and it’s plenty safe. It’ll hold more people than can physically stand on it.” The bridge path is seven-tenths of a mile long and joins existing bike trails on both sides of the river. In years to come, Ryan muses that the oculus might make a good destination for RAGBRAI riders, the next time the Quad Cities hosts the final day of the statewide bicycle ride. The path’s opening signals the close of a massive bridge project that first broke ground in July of 2017.

“Quad City residents put up with a lot of traffic detours, a lot of different construction over the past five years,” Ryan says. “They’ve responded very well to our different stages of construction and now they have a brand new pair of bridges over the interstate and a very nice corridor.” The new bridge fully opened to traffic in December. The cities of Bettendorf and Moline are assuming maintenance responsibility of the bike and pedestrian path. Bids will be taken soon on demolishing to old I-74 bridge nearby, a job that will likely take more than a year to complete.
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Just days after it was dedicated, an alleged drunk driver drove onto the new path, striking three pedestrians, killing two of them. The driver is jailed.