(Glenwood, Iowa) – City officials in Glenwood have announced the City Council of the City of Glenwood, has a vacancy of the At-Large Council seat. The council seat expires December 31, 2025, and is vacant as of January 10, 2024, pursuant to the Code of Iowa. The Council has elected to fill the vacancy by appointment, but the electors of the City have the right to file a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by a special election. Petition must be filed within fourteen (14) days of the notice or the appointment, whichever is later. The appointment will be in effect until the next pending election, as defined in the Code of Iowa.

The Council will make the appointment to fill the vacancy at the regularly scheduled council meeting on February 13, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at Glenwood City Hall. The appointment will become effective immediately and will expire December 31, 2025. Eligible electors of the City of Glenwood, Iowa, wanting to be considered for appointment should submit a request in writing or by email to the city clerk’s office by 12:00 p.m. February 2, 2024. Requests can be mailed, or hand delivered to City Hall, 5 N. Vine St, Glenwood, IA or submitted via email to cityclerk@cityofglenwood.org. Interviews with prospective appointees will be conducted the week of Feb. 5-9,2024.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Officials with the Page County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday, that a man from Clarinda was found guilty Monday in Page County District Court, of the crime of Lascivious Acts with a Child, a class C felony. 41-year-old Jesse J. Stimson was originally charged on September 13, 2023, with one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, a class B felony, one count of Lascivious Acts with a Child, a class C felony, and one Count of Indecent Contact with a Child, an aggravated misdemeanor. On January 22, 2024, Stimson entered into a negotiated plea of guilty to Lascivious Acts with a Child. As part of that plea, the State dismissed the Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree charge and the Indecent Acts with a Child charge.

Jesse J. Stimson

As part of his sentence, Stimson was ordered to serve a sentence of up to 10 years of incarceration, which was suspended, he was placed on two years of formal probation, he will be required to reside at the Residential Treatment Center until maximum benefits are achieved, and he was ordered to complete the Sex Offender Treatment Program. Stimson will also be required to register as a sex offender and placed on a special sentence which will include a 10-year parole, pursuant to Iowa Code.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will hold two Special Meetings. Both take place in the Council’s Chambers at the Atlantic City Hall. The first meeting, at 4:30-p.m., today (Jan. 24), is with regard to Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Planning.

The second meeting, at 5:30-p.m. Thursday (Jan. 25), is a Closed Session pertaining to a personnel matter, whereby the individual has requested a closed session with regard to their professional competency, hiring, performance or discharge, that is being considered.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say two people were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday. At around 3:50-p.m., Deputies took 55-year-old Gregory Allen Riley, of Red Oak, into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding an airway and/or blood flow. Riley was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, at around 9:20-p.m., Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 48-year-old Scott Allen Henneman, of Villisca, on a Page County warrant for Failure to Appear or pay Child Support. Henneman was turned over to Page County Corrections and held on bond.

(Washington, D.C.) – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced an Iowa World War II fighter pilot’s remains have been accounted for. U.S. Army Air Forces Major Theodore Willhite, 26, of Muscatine, who died during WWII, was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023.

In March of 1944, Willhite was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations. On Mar 11, Willhite was piloting a B-24 “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Toulon, France. Eyewitnesses on another B-24 reported seeing Willhite’s aircraft spinning out of control at approximately 3000 feet before breaking apart and crashing into the sea. All 11 crewmembers aboard the aircraft were lost in the incident and not identified following the war.

USAF Maj. Theodore Willhite (DPAA photos)

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified seven sets of remains recovered from the Lagoubran Cemetery, at Toulon, France. At the time they were unable to identify Willhite and other crewmembers, and they were interred in the Rhône American Cemetery.

In 2019, DPAA investigators and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed the remains of X-84 Luynes, X-85 Luynes, X-86 Luynes, and X-92 Luynes and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. To identify Willhite’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Willhite’s name is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Draguignan, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Willhite will be buried at a place and time to be determined by the family.

(Menlo, Iowa) – Adair/Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Rob Kempf says the 2024 Storm Spotter Class for Adair & Guthrie Counties has been scheduled for March 20, 2024.  The class will be held at the Menlo Community Building from 7:00 pm to approximately 9:00 pm. The training will be presented by the Des Moines Office of the National Weather Service and is FREE and open to the public. This training is required every 2 years if you are a registered spotter.

The National Weather Service puts out a call for storm spotters each Spring. Spotter training classes are held through the state. They help those interested in learning about the typical, different modes of weather and what to look for when severe weather is possible. The classes teach your the difference between a shelf cloud and a wall cloud, and what differentiates a scud cloud from a funnel cloud.

Each class is about two hours long and covers all severe weather hazards including thunderstorms and tornadoes. You’ll have a better understanding of the structure and movement of severe thunderstorms, including identifying storm features and the difference between each. You will also learn important severe weather safety tips. Most classes do not require pre-registration.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa City protester facing charges for a demonstration that blocked traffic in October has rejected a plea deal and is going to trial. Tara McGovern of Coralville was one of seven people arrested under the state’s new penalties for protest-related crimes after a protest of a lecture by a California activist who opposes gender transition surgery for minors.  “I don’t believe that anybody at that protest did anything wrong. And I don’t want to plead guilty to something that isn’t wrong,” McGovern says.

The Johnson County Attorney’s Office offered plea deals to drop the serious misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges while preserving a simple misdemeanor charge for interfering with police. McGovern says the actions were within the scope of lawful assembly. “Too quickly these things get swept away and not examined. And then people with less power end up being hurt by these systems,” McGovern says. McGovern’s trial is scheduled for late February.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Sweetheart Market 2024 will be held in Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 10th, from Noon until 3-p.m. The event takes place at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA (1100 Maple St. Atlantic, IA 50022). During this holiday event, vendors will be selling an array of products including produce, local meats and eggs, baked goods, and craft items and gifts for that special someone or yourself!

There will be a free bounce house for the kids, and Zipp’s Pizza Food Truck will be on-site to feed hungry attendees.

To register as a vendor visit www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.