(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa man has pleaded guilty to mis-branding an injectable vitamin solution as a weight loss drug. Court documents indicate 46-year-old Brady Tomlinson of Des Moines sold an injectable vitamin B-12 solution online, starting in 2015. Nineteen months later, the Food and Drug Administration notified him he was violating federal law by selling the product without a valid prescription. Records show Tomlinson shut down the business, then created a new website to sell the same kind of mis-branded B-12 injections for 28 more months.

A special agent in the Food and Drug Administration’s Kansas City office says selling prescription drugs online with no medical supervision can cause serious harm and put the purchaser’s health at risk. Tomlinson pleaded guilty to a felony charge of selling a misbranded drug across state lines with the intent to defraud or mislead.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), said there were four arrests over the past nearly 36-hours. Tuesday afternoon, 23-year-old Blaine Michael Clark, of Omaha, was arrested at the Lancaster County, Nebraska Jail,, on a Mills County warrant for Driving While Barred. Nearly two-hours later, 44-year-old Edward Leon Milton, was arrested in Mills County for Theft in the 1st Degree, and Open Container. Bond for both men was set at $10,000.

Wednesday night, 27-year-old Aysia Lariee Leibert, of Bellevue, NE., & Justin Kyle Volentine, of Council Bluffs, were arrested following a traffic stop on Bunge Avenue. Leibert was charged with two-counts Possession of a Controlled Substance. Volentine was charged with three-counts Possession of a Controlled Substance, and five-counts of Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. His bond was set at $47,000. Bond for Leibert was set at $2,000.

(Red Oak) – Snow or no snow, a “Winter Wonderland” event will take place this weekend, in Red Oak. Montgomery County Family YMCA Director John Blomstedt says this will be the third time in the last four-years they’ve held the event designed for children and their families. Last year, COVID precautions dictated the extent of the fun.

Blomstedt said their “Third/fourth annual Winter Wonderland” will take place from 1-until 5-p.m., Sunday. It’s free and open to all families to help people get “Into the holiday spirit.” That includes fire truck and hay rides.

Santa will be there also, and possibly, Mrs. Claus, along with treats.

A craft table will be set up in the Montgomery County YMCA gym, also. Blomstedt said persons interested in participating in the fire truck and hay rides, need to pre-register at www.MCYMCA.com. Several spots for the fire truck ride are already filled, but there’s still time to get your child’s name on the list.

He said they are not taking phone registrations for the rides, but the forms can be e-mailed or handed out directly at the Y, if you don’t have internet access. Blomstedt says the event is make possible thanks to their sponsors: Red Oak Fareway and Hy-Vee Stores, for donations of cookie decorating supplies, the hot dogs and buns, and hot chocolate and the Red Oak Greenhouse, which has donated about 30 poinsettias for display around the YMCA.

He said they also appreciate Dave and Debbie Gammell, of Elliott, for providing being generous with their time in handling the fire truck rides, and Tony Johnson for the hay rack rides. For more information, call 712-623-2161.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrat Mike Franken, the retired Navy admiral who’s running for the U.S. Senate, says he’d vote to provide the same level of health care to all Americans that he got during his 36-year military career.  “It’s all encompassing to include preventive care and dental care,” Franken says. “That increases one’s quality of life and productivity, so in my world every American would have the type of health care that military service members get.”

Franken is one of four candidates who’ve announced they intend to compete for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2022 U.S. Senate nomination and the chance to challenge Republican Senator Chuck Grassley next November. “After 60 years, most politicians have a substantial list of accomplishments, of bills with their names on it that are nationwide famous,” Franken says. “…He has been just above the radar, doing a job, but not doing a great job.”

Retired Vice Admiral/Iowa Senate candidate, Mike Franken.

Grassley was first elected to the Iowa House in 1958. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1974 and has been a member of the U.S. Senate since 1981. Franken is a native of Sioux Center and currently lives in Sioux City. Franken ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2020 when Republican Joni Ernst was seeking reeleciton. He finished second in the Democratic Primary to party nominee Theresa Greenfield.

More (broadcast) area & state news from Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday night heard an update on the District’s Athletic Facilities project. FRK Architects’ Principal/Owner Tom Wollan said some final project items are being wrapped-up, thanks to the mild weather.

Wollan acknowledged that’s it’s “Been a long haul,” though, and that “It’s been a struggle.” He said they appreciate the District’s patience, and indicated Wednesday night’s meeting marked a “milestone night,” with regard to the contractor’s four Certificates of “Substantial Completion,” of the projects.

“Substantial completion,” he said, means “That’s when the warranty will start on the project and all the items that have one-year warranties from the contractor…” Wollan said a key thing for the Board to be aware of, is that the District is still holding on to five-percent of the project construction costs, “for retainage.” That amounts to roughly $500,000, which will not be released to the contractors until the District is “comfortable and confident that all items are complete to your satisfaction.”

The contractor can and likely will apply for”partial retainage release,”so that those parties who completed their projects satisfactorily can be paid. Superintendent Steve Barber some of the things they are holding the contractor accountable for is some concrete work and issues associated with that. Wollan says that warranty periods for some of those items has passed, but since the issues were identified during the warranty period, the issues are considered to be “Punch-list” items that the contractor is responsible to have fixed before they are signed-off on.

Wollan said the Atlantic School District is not the only district in the state struggling to deal with the primary contractor for project satisfaction. Other district’s, he said, have similar issues. Despite the delays and issues with construction, Board member Nick Hunt said “We do have a final project that looks nice, and I think the community and everyone appreciates it.”

Area and state broadcast news at 7:07-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Officials with the Creston Police Department report 26-year-old Michael Skylar Ross, of Creston, was arrested at around 8-p.m. Wednesday, for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. Ross was being held without bond in the Union County Jail, until seen by a judge.

And, a Creston man reported to police Wednesday afternoon, that someone stole a Baby Jesus display and power cord from the First Presbyterian Church, in Creston. The loss was estimated at $56.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest Covid patient count in Iowa hospitals marks another record high for 2021. The 777 figure announced Wednesday is a seven percent increase since Dec. 1st. Theresa Brennan is the Chief Medical Officer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. “We continue to struggle, as many hospitals in Iowa have continued to struggle, with making sure that we have beds for the patients that need them,” she says.

Brennan says the hospital continue to prepare for more Covid patients — including transfers from other hospitals — while employees are exhausted from the pandemic. “We’re working with the hospitals in Iowa to try to make sure that the sickest patients have the right bed to get the care that they need, but it is a struggle,” she says.

On Tuesday, the hospital on the University of Iowa campus had 40 adult Covid patients and three pediatric patients, under the age of 18, with the virus. Nearly 120 other patients with flu and Covid symptoms were screened by telephone or video conference Tuesday, according to the hospital’s website.

(Radio Iowa) – A key senator says he’ll propose charging educators with a felony if they provide obscene materials to students. Republican Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale is chairman of the committee that would vote on the bill. Zaun says he’s concerned about two books in particular that central Iowa school boards have discussed banning. “It was brought to my attention by several parents, some of the garbage that is being taught to our kids,” Zaun says. “It is not appropriate.” Zaun says passages in the books describe unhealthy sexual situations. “All I want our schools to do is teach our kids to be successful when they get out of school, give them the tools that they need,” Zaun says, “and I think we need to put a stop to that garbage.”

Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says this debate makes Iowa less attractive to people who might move here for work. “Saying that we’re going to go after teachers and librarians is not going to make Iowa’s public education stronger,” Wahls says. Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights, the Democratic Leader in the Iowa House, says book banning discussions aren’t helpful to companies trying to attract new workers. “Iowa’s brand gets damaged when stories are out there about things that fringe elements in the state are doing or proposing,” Konfrst says.

The legislators made their comments Wednesday morning, during a forum organized by the Greater Des Moines Partnership.