(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation celebrated its 100th birthday, riday. During a ceremony at the state capitol, Special Agent Adam DeCamp says the agency was created as the Bureau of Criminal Investigation on April 9th, 1921. “While much has changed with the world since then — the principles that led to the creation of the Bureau remain. The cooperation of effort and purpose between local authorities, the public, and the state,” DeCamp says.

Special Agent Adam DeCamp (at the podium) w/Gov. Reynolds seated on the left & Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper on the right. (Radio Iowa)

DeCamp says the tasks of the agency now best known by the acronym D-C-I have gone from chasing the Barrow gang to regulating Iowa casinos. He says the heinous crimes often overshadowed the work of the agency — which he says is to help the people of Iowa. “For more than 36-thousand days, the men and women of the D-C-I have come to work knowing that each name on a registry represents someone else’s lost innocence. Every piece of evidence represents someone’s broken life. And every phone call in the middle of the night is an invitation to someone’s worst day,” DeCamp says. “Each member of the D-C-I made a conscious choice to stand with our law enforcement partners to ensure that the guilt should not escape, nor the innocence suffer.”

Governor Kim Reynolds spoke about the longevity of the agency. “A hundred years of uninterrupted service to the people of Iowa is a monumental achievement. One made all the more impressive, considering that the agency has only grown better with age,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says she gets a report each month from the D-C-I and says there are many heartwrenching stories. “Stories of pain and brutality, abuse and theft. And of course, heartbreak and bereavement for victims,” she says. ” But D-C-I’s victim-centered approach demonstrates that there’s no contradiction between world-class investigative prowess and treating victims of profound injustice the way we ourselves would want to be treated.”

Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper spoke about his association with the organization. “I’ve worked with a lot of rock-star caliber professionals serving and protecting at the local, state, and federal level. The Iowa D-CI for me had always represented the best of the best, without a doubt,” Tupper says. “The state of Iowa is very fortunate to have high-caliber women and men serving all levels of the D-C-I.” He says the relationships the state agency builds with local officers are invaluable.

The D-C-I joined the new Department of Public Safety in 1939 as a charter bureau. It took over crime scene examination and preservation duties in 1970 with the creation of the criminalistics lab. The law enforcement agencies were unified in 1983 under a larger umbrella and took the Division name.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Red Oak Police Department reports two separate arrests on Friday.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. Officers arrested 21-year-old Tyler Blaine Baucom of Red Oak for OWI Drug 1st Offense. Baucom was arrested at 106 W Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

At approximately 11:21 p.m. Officers arrested 26-year-old Lisa Ann Blake of New Market at the intersection of Highway 34 and K Avenue for Driving While Barred. Blake was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Friday (today), said as the result of an ongoing investigation, 32-year-old Jodi Lynn Bailey, of Wiota, was arrested Wednesday, on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for three charges of Sex Abuse 2nd Degree (B Felonies) and three charges of Child Endangerment (D Felonies). Bailey was taken to the Cass County Jail where she remains held on $100,000 bond.

On April 5th, as a result of a traffic stop, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 29-year-old Kaseem T. Brewington and 28-year-old Sidney Mannan, both of Schenectady, NY, on one charge each of Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense (Serious). Subjects were cited and released.

And, on April 6th, 33-year-old Jessica Lynn Pedrin, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Cass County on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Pedrin was taken to the Cass County Jail where she remains held without bond.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Thursday, of Bobby Brice Horn. Sheriff Lyle Palmer says Horn was arrested in the 2500 block of 130th Street in rural Clarinda, for Possession of drug paraphernalia.

Bobby Horn

Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning says “We have one of best views in Southwest Iowa to observe spring woodland wildflowers right here outside Atlantic,” and “The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Wildflower Walk” to take in their beauty. The program will be held at the Pellett Memorial Woods north of Atlantic off Olive Street, beginning at 9-a.m. on April 24th. There is no charge to participate

Oak Strollers Nature Club for Families are welcome to join-in at this event. Kanning says “We invite you to walk through the early spring wildflowers with our naturalist. Learn the names, uses and history of these Wildflowers.”

Those in attendance will meet at Pellett Memorial Woods- located ½ mile north and ¾ mile east of the KJAN radio station.

(Radio Iowa) – One of Iowa’s Republican representatives in Washington is reacting negatively to President Biden’s call on Thursday to seek out ways to curb gun violence through legislation. Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says he’ll oppose the president’s call for “red flag” laws and any new federal rules to restrict gun purchases and ownership. “We have to be very careful what we’re doing here,” Feenstra says. “Our founding fathers enshrined the Second Amendment in our Constitution. I stand up for our Constitution. Our Constitution says that we have a right to bear arms and the Biden administration is trampling on our Second Amendment rights here.”

The president wants to ban assault weapons, crack down on “ghost guns” that are self-assembled, and eliminate the exemption on lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Feenstra says they’re all troublesome.  “I’m really concerned and there’s going to be a lot of discussion starting next week, Monday, on this issue,” Feenstra says. “It seems like what Biden wants to do is blatantly step on our Constitutional rights, on the right to carry, and to have law-abiding citizens have guns.”

Feenstra has spent the last two weeks of Easter Recess traveling in the district, meeting with residents and touring industries. He will return to Washington on Monday.

A dog traveling in a 2000 Chevy Impala in Union County, jumped into the driver’s lap, causing her to lose control, Thursday, resulting in a collision. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says 41-year-old Melinda Ann Foland, of Afton, was driving the car northbound in the 1700 block of Osage Street at around 12:11-p.m., when the incident occurred. When she lost control, her car entered the southbound lane. 74-year-old Wayne E. Hill, of Afton was driving a 2010 Ford Escape. He saw the car cross into his lane, and honked his horn. He also took evasive action to the point of attempting to exit the road, but his SUV was sideswiped by the car.

The driver’s side curtain airbags deployed on the SUV, Hill brought his  vehicle to a stop off the roadway to the west. As the result of airbag deployment, he suffered from swelling below his left eye. A front seat passenger in his vehicle experienced pain in her chest. Both Hill and his passenger refused medical treatment at the scene.

The car came to rest in the northbound lane of travel.  Both vehicles were declared a total loss, with the dollar amount of loss estimated at $16,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is rolling out a new pricing system for the state parks and campgrounds. Parks Bureau Chief Todd Coffelt says it’s in response to a law passed by the Iowa Legislature giving the DNR the authority to set the pricing. “The law didn’t say raise all the prices. The law said we’ll give you the tools to make the decision that is necessary,” Coffelt says. “So on an annual basis we will be comparing these and we’ll be coming back with plans every year as we report to the legislature. We are going to see how the response is.”

Coffelt says they have to look at similar attractions within 60 miles of the state facilities and see if their prices are comparable. He says they sorted everything into four tiers — with tier one being the facilities that see the fewest visitors each year. “The first tier where the use is down we actually lessen the price to get people to go there, to make it more attractive,” he says. Tier four facilities have the most use and often the most amenities, and Coffelt says they will likely see an increase. “So when you add in the amenities of your own pedestal for electricity, your own hydrant for water, and your own connection for greywater, that’s where you are going to see the price increase in those more popular areas,” Coffelt says.

State parks were shut down for a time by the pandemic — and once back open — 2020 set a record of more than 16 million visitors. Coffelt says people were looking to get out of the house in the pandemic and that seems to be continuing. “Our March numbers for this year, relatively speaking, they are double what they were last year,” Coffelt says. “So people are getting out, we’ve had nice weather, The public has the equipment, and they’ve seen the value of being able to get outside and spend time with family We are going to be busy. And we are excited by it.”

Coffelt thinks people will understand if the cost to go to their favorite park or campground increases, as that money is going back into the facilities. “We haven’t raised them for 21 years. This is going to allow us to do things to care for the resource that we haven’t been able to do because they weren’t a high enough priority,” he says. “And we are really going to take a look at how the public is using them. Options could be more staff, options could be improvements. We’ll have to take a look at that. We are just getting started.”

Coffelt says one good thing that came out of the pandemic is people became more aware of the parks last year. “It was our hundredth anniversary last year, and so we had the greatest plan ever to get people to come to the parks moving up into it,” Coffelt says. “Then all of a sudden the pandemic happened and we put the plan on the shelf and more people came to the parks than we could ever have anticipated. On one hand, it happened, on the other hand, it didn’t happen the way we thought it would.”

Coffelt says the cost changes for each facility are listed on the iowadnr.gov website. Click on the “Places to Go” tab.