Andrew Lee Edwards

A Des Moines man was arrested early Saturday morning in Mills County following a short pursuit. According to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office a Sergeant attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am for speeding on Interstate 29. The vehicle failed to stop and continued for a short distance on the Interstate before stopping near the 40-mile-marker.

The driver, 39-year-old Andrew Lee Edwards of Des Moines was taken into custody on multiple charges. During the pursuit Edwards threw a bag out of his window, which was recovered and identified as methamphetamine. Edwards then admitted to swallowing a large amount of meth during the pursuit. He was taken to Mercy Hospital by Pacific Junction Rescue and later released and taken to the Mills County Jail. Edwards faces charges of Eluding, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving While Barred, and Obstruction Prosecution.

Edward also had multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest. That included a warrant out of Adel for Harassment 1st Degree. Another warrant out of Benton County, Minnesota was for Probation Violation.

The Mills Count Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Glenwood Police Department, and Pacific Junction Rescue.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 32-year-old Mildred Helenora Douglas of Red Oak on an Adams County Warrant for Failure to Appear. Douglas was arrested on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the 1300 block of North Broadway Street in Red Oak. Douglas was then transported to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and turned over into their custody.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says President Biden’s Homeland Security chief should resign. Hinson says Secretary Alejandro Mayorkis has failed to secure the southern border.

“It’s frustrating to me that I feel like here we are again after a year, we were giving these warnings a year ago about the situations not only at our border communities, for our law enforcement officers not only down in Texas and in places like Iowa who continue to raise the alarm that this crisis has worsened,” Hinson said during a hearing this week in Washington.

In March, US authorities arrested 210,000 migrants attempting to illegally cross the border with Mexico — the highest monthly total in two decades. Hinson, a Republican from Marion who spoke with Iowa reporters today by phone, said the Homeland Security secretary does not have a plan to deal with an expected surge in illegal border crossings after May 23. That’s when the order is lifted that has been sending those caught at the border back to Mexico to await immigration proceedings.

“There has been a huge void in leadership at the Department of Homeland Security,” Hinson said. “When he’s saying that he’s effectively managed the border and we are hearing about these complete failures, not to mention the safety and security risk to our entire country, that to me is a dereliction of duty.”

The Homeland Security secretary has said his agency is setting up temporary facilities along the border to handle more migrants and has proposed a new regulation to speed up deportations. Due to a court ruling, asylum seekers will still be required to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court.

(Radio Iowa)  – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says “urgent” action in congress is necessary to address the lack of competition in the meatpacking industry. The CEOs of the four companies that control 80% of the beef processing in America testified at a House Ag Committee hearing this week. Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, is a member of the committee.

“Today consumers are literally paying more for their beef, producers are getting less for their cattle and yet your four companies net income has reached record highs,” Axne said during the hearing. A Missouri man testified that he’d contemplated suicide because of the prices he’s getting for his cattle. That prompted Axne to recite the phone number for the national suicide hotline.

“The sad part is I’m sitting here at a hearing for our cattle producers, having to put out information like that, because it’s so rough on our producers in Iowa and in other places to get ahead,” Axne said.

The president of the Montana Cattlemen’s Association told Axne concentration in the meatpacking industry has made rural America “a slum.”

(Radio Iowa) – A 14-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run a few blocks from her Des Moines High School.

Des Moines Police say Ema Cardenas was struck by an SUV at about 3:45 Thursday afternoon. School officials say Cardenas was a freshman at East High and had been a student in the Des Moines school system since kindergarten.

Ema Cardenas

Late this morning, police announced they’d located a vehicle about a mile away from the accident and early this afternoon, police said they had arrested 38-year-old Terra Jean Flipping. She’s been charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing serious injury or death.

(Shelby County, Iowa) – Several area fire departments responded to a house fire mid-day Friday (today), at 1622 Peach Road, near Kirkman. Crews from Kirkman, Irwin, Harlan, Defiance, Westphalia and Earling. According to Fire Chief Roger Bissen, it’s believed the fire was electrical in nature, but they will investigate further, on Monday. No one was home when the blaze broke out, and no injuries were reported.

Photos via the Shelby County Emergency Services Association FB page

(Atlantic, Iowa) – For the second year in a row, Cass Health, in Atlantic, is one of the nation’s overall top 20 critical access hospitals as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. Cass Health CEO Brett Altman said “Though the award is called ‘Top 20,’ we understand that for each of the past two years we have actually been in the Top 10 on that list of hospitals. This puts Cass Health in the top 1% of 1,353 critical access hospitals in the country, which is a remarkable accomplishment. What really amazes me is that our team has achieved this status for two years in a row, during an incredibly challenging time for healthcare organizations.”

This esteemed group of hospitals was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2022 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital list, which was released earlier this year. The determining factors for the top hospitals are based on the results of the Hospital Strength Index and its eight performance measures, based solely on data for: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient survey results, cost, charge, and financial efficiency.

Altman says “Our vision is to be the best rural hospital in the country, and each year we are growing closer to that goal. By staying committed to delivering a superior experience to every patient and family, we hope to continue this trend. Not only are we grateful for our incredible staff, but also, we are thankful for our patients. Every time our patients give us top scores on patient surveys it helps us attain recognition such as this.”

The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and an awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, Missouri.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors visited with Sue Liston, owner of Imagine, on Thursday, April 28th, 2022, to celebrate the Grand Opening of her Garden Gift Store located just outside of Atlantic at Zellmer Century Farm. Chamber officials say Sue Liston and her husband took ownership of the family farm in early 2021 when Sue’s mother passed away. Sue has many fond memories of the farm and wants to share the unique experiences farm life bring to help families make memories of their own.

Photo and story submitted

Sue has big plans for the property, and the first project, a greenhouse gift shop, has been completed and will celebrate with an event for families on Mother’s Day weekend. On Saturday, May 7th, from 9AM to 2PM, families are invited to the farm to create gifts for the special women in their life.

Sue has worked tirelessly to fill the greenhouse with unique gifts by using antique, vintage, and repurposed items. The gift can be a terrarium, fairy garden, or a special planter for indoors or out. Imagine at Zellmer Century Farm specializes in providing the customer with something special to add to any project to make it one of a kind. Starting May 4th, the Garden Giftshop will be open on Wednesdays 10AM-4PM, Thursday 11AM-6PM, Friday 10AM-4PM, and Saturday 9AM-2PM.

Imagine at Zellmer Century Farm is located at 57053 Highland Road outside of Atlantic. To learn more about the Garden Giftshop, call 630-660-5661 or visit them at https://www.zellmercenturyfarm.com/

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Omaha being held in the Lancaster County, NE. Jail, was transported to Iowa, Thursday. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports 31-year-old Billy Ray Morgan, Jr., was being held in the Pott. County Jail on Iowa Felony warrants charging him with Theft in the 2nd Degree, and Burglary in the 3rd Degree (Vehicle-related). His bond was set at $7,000.