(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Rachel McCann, of Cumberland, filed nomination papers today (Thursday) to run for Mayor, in Cumberland. McCann joins a growing list of candidates hoping to have a seat on various City Councils in Cass County. An election for those positions will be held November 4th, as part of the City/School Election process.

As we’ve previously mentioned, the following individuals have filed their nomination papers with the Cass County Auditor’s Office:

• Deanna Andrews, of Anita – Anita City Council ( 3 seats open)
• Dori A. Borras, of Cumberland – To Fill a Vacancy on the Cumberland City Council
• Jim Triller and Russell Miller, both of Lewis, are running for two seats on the City Council in Lewis.
• Matthew Dolch is running for one of three open seats on the City Council in Cumberland.
• Rob Clausen is running for Mayor in the City of Atlantic.
• Jeremy Butler is running for an At-Large seat on the Atlantic City Council. And,
• Dana Halder is running for re-election to his 5th Ward seat on the Atlantic City Council.

The last day to file is Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 5:00 PM. City candidates shall file nomination papers with the county auditor. School board candidates shall file nomination papers with the respective school board secretary.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports  a Red Oak man was arrested this (Thursday) afternoon on a Mills County warrant. 42-year-old Miguel Angel Lopez was arrested on the warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Lopez was transferred to the custody of Mills County deputies held in the Mills County Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond.

Separately, Montgomery County deputies arrested 36-year-old Alcides Armando Gutierrez-Telule, of Omaha, NE, following  a traffic stop for speeding 80 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. He was also charged with Driving While Revoked.

Gutierrez-Telule was arrested this (Thursday) morning, and was being held for court. Authorities say he will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upon his release from the Montgomery County Jail

(Radio Iowa) – The Orange City based Diamond Vogel paint company is moving away from its retail paint stores. A statement from Diamond Vogel C-E-O Jeff Powell says their business success demands continuous innovation and focus and they will sell retail operations that cater to homeowners and contractors.

It says Spectrum Paint has agreed to acquire eleven Diamond Vogel retail locations and will assume operations the eight stores in central Iowa, with plans to retain most of the employees. The announcement says the company will refocus on industrial customers with a new industrial service center model and 12 existing Diamond Vogel locations will be upgraded to support the new model.

They are looking for a buyer for the remaining retail paint locations.

(Radio Iowa) – The Racing and Gaming Commission has put the horse racing industry on notice that time is running out to set the new race schedule, or they will step in and set it. Racing and Gaming Administrator Tina Eick says they asked the horse racing groups to do something different based a study released last year. “One of the big takeaways from that study that the Commission did was that the status quo of racing horse racing in Iowa wasn’t going to continue to sustain a vibrant industry,” she says.

Horse racing at Prairie Meadows (file photo from the OFFICIAL Prairie Meadows Backside Information Page)

The commissioners vote on a new schedule during their October meeting and Eick says they got an update last week that there is still no consensus on a 2026 schedule.  “The Commission did strongly again urge the parties, the thoroughbreds, the quarter horses, Prairie Meadows Casino and Racetrack, to come together and find a compromise because they have much greater latitude in. What kind of an agreement they come up with,” Eick says.

Eick says if the Racing and Gaming Commission has to step in, they are confined to what the law says. “And, in all likelihood, the meet that they would be required to set is not going to be favorable to any party, or no party is going to be particularly happy with the results,” she says, “so it’s really in their best interest if they’re able to figure out a compromise.”

Eick says there is still time for the horse racing groups to come up with a schedule before the October meeting in Davenport, and the Commission has let them know they will step in if that isn’t done.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Clinton man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography and attempted production of child pornography.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received CyberTips that an account, later determined to be associated with Eric Jensen Salter, 37, received files containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement seized electronic devices during a search of Salter’s Clinton residence. The investigation showed that Salter’s email account was used to seek out, receive, view, and possess child pornography, including content of prepubescent children. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office further received records from Salter’s email account that revealed an email exchange with a sixteen-year-old female between May and October 2018. Salter attempted to use, persuade, induce, or entice the minor female to engage in sexually explicit conduct, with the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, by requesting her to send sexually explicit images of herself to him.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Salter will be required to serve a ten-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Salter was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Davenport Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A woman from Nevada (Iowa) was sentenced on September 3, 2025, to three years of probation for trafficking counterfeit Louis Vuitton merchandise.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Traci Linn Hubbard, 57, in March 2023, sold counterfeit Louis Vuitton merchandise out of her store, Unique Boutique, in Nevada, Iowa. On March 23, 2023, a search warrant was executed at Unique Boutique and over 100 counterfeit Louis Vuitton items were seized.

Hubbard was also ordered to pay $13,800.41 in restitution to Louis Vuitton North America, Inc.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Cass Health in Atlantic have announced a special community event, “Car Seats and Cool Rides,” will be held September 27th, from 9-until 11-a.m., in Cass Health Employee Parking Lot (Lot D). Parents and caregivers are invited to bring their children and car seats for a complimentary safety check. Multiple certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians will be on hand to inspect car seats, help parents install them correctly, give tips about car seat safety, and answer any questions.

Maddy Peppers, RN, OB Navigator and Child Passenger Safety Technician at Cass Health, says “Car seat safety is crucial for children of all ages. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that while most parents believe they know how to correctly install their car seats, about half (46%) have incorrectly installed their child’s car seat. Whether it’s a quick trip to the store or a long road trip, taking the time to check and adjust car seats can make all the difference in keeping our children safe.”

In addition to car seat checks, families can enjoy fun activities and refreshments. The Atlantic Police Department, Atlantic Fire & Rescue, Cass County EMS, and a LifeFlight Helicopter will all be on hand for children and families to check out together and learn more about each vehicle from the first responders who operate them.

There is no cost for the inspections, but appointments are needed. Please make an appointment by calling Cass County Public Health at 712-243-7475, or easily schedule online at outlook.office.com/book/PublicHealthCarSeatCheck@casshealth.onmicrosoft.com/.

(Kansas City, KS) – A woman who graduated from the Atlantic High School in 2013 and lived in the Atlantic and Marne areas, was being held on bond in the Washington County, KS Jail, on multiple charges associated with the brutal death of her 5-year-old son and beating of her one-year old daughter.

According to the Gage County, NE Sheriff’s Department, 30-year-old Heather (Reyna) Peterson, of Liberty, NE, is charged with felony child abuse and three other misdemeanor charges. An arrest warrant for her was filed on July 31st and she was taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service in Kansas City.

Her boyfriend, 31-year-old Timothy Lee Erks, Jr., of Liberty, was being held in the Gage County, NE Jail, also on bond. Erks is charged with committing intentional child abuse to cause death, two additional counts of child abuse, and false imprisonment.

According to deputies, Peterson witnessed much of the abuse her children allegedly suffered under Erks Jr. but failed to alert the authorities due to fear of retaliation. The couple began dating in December 2024 and moved in together a short time later.

Erks was arrested in June after his Peterson’s son was brought to the hospital unresponsive. The boy passed away a week later after being declared brain dead.

(Report by Radio Iowa) – Senator Chuck Grassley says the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is pursuing as the nation’s top health official is worrisome to some Iowa farmers. Kennedy has expressed support in the past for banning the farm chemicals glyphosate and atrazine and, in May, a report from his agency linked environmental chemicals to chronic childhood diseases. Grassley is among the senators who’ve quizzed Kennedy today (Thursday) during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

“Do you think that any comments you’ve made are consistent with what you said in January, that USDA and EPA ought to be regulating farming and that the Department of Human Services should not seek to regulate farms, the tools they use or the markets that they sell into?” Grassley asked. Kennedy told Grassley he’s been working very, very closely with the U-S secretary of agriculture and is consulting every stakeholder in the farm community.

“To make sure that the MAHA agenda is consistent with their agenda, that we are producing the best food in America, that we’re protecting our soils and our soil microbiome and we’re protecting all kinds of farmers, including those who want to transition to regenerative agriculture.” Regenerative agriculture involves practices like no-till farming that doesn’t disturb the soil and either limiting pesticide and fertilizer applications or not using farm chemicals at all. Grassley also asked Kennedy if he would use his authority to require drug companies to disclose the price of their medication on T-V ads.

“Senator, I think it would be good for us to talk about this off line,” Kennedy says. “We are working on this in our agency and I’m happy to give you the details of what we’re going.” Grassley ended his five-minute time slot in today’s (Thursday’s) hearing by telling Kennedy he expects him to take steps to bar people waiting for organ transplants from skipping ahead of others in line.

In July, Kennedy announced his agency had launched a wide ranging investigation after news reports indicating an organ procurement organization in Kentucky had removed organs from patients who still showed signs of life.

(A Radio Iowa report) –  The North Polk Community School District in central Iowa is the latest place where administrators are investigating AI-generated “deepfake” videos of school staff. The videos, which are made to look like they could be real, were uploaded to TikTok and showed North Polk staff members in what the district calls “inappropriate contexts.”

Coy Marquardt, executive director of Iowa State Education Association, says kids need to learn about digital safety. “It’s all our joint responsibility to educate our students to be good citizens, to be compassionate individuals,” Marquardt says, “and to not do things like this that will harm others, so we can have welcoming schools.”

The North Polk superintendent is asking parents to be aware of their kids’ tech use. Concerning posts can be screenshotted and reported to the district. Lisa Remy, executive director of School Administrators of Iowa, says this new type of case may fall under a district’s existing policies.

Remy says, “For any type of bullying and harassment, if something happens outside of school, but it then impacts what’s happening in school, then school administrators can continue to enforce the policies that they have in place.”

North Polk district officials say all threats to safety are viewed with the highest level of seriousness and that necessary actions in the deepfakes case have been taken.