(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Friday (today), released a report on three recent arrests:

• On August 30th, 36-year-old Samantha Jo Christensen, of Atlantic, was arrested for Driving with a revoked license. Christensen was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and later released on bond.
• On August 31st, 23-year-old Dylan Lee Main, of Cumberland, was arrested for OWI-1st offense. Main was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and later released on his on recognizance.
• And, on September 3rd, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 36-year-old Alysha Anne Buell, of Council Bluffs, for possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Buell was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and later released on her own recognizance.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney, James L. Varley, reports the following activities in the Iowa District Court for Page County for the week of August 11, 2025. 

Ryan David Heath, age 33, Talmage, Nebraska, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registry Requirements. The defendant was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended. The defendant was placed on probation for two years. Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $855, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

Oren William Keller, age 27, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared with counsel and admitted to violating the terms and conditions of his probation. The defendant’s Deferred Judgment was revoked and he was found guilty of Possession of Marijuana. The defendant was sentenced to 1 day in jail. The defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $430, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

Aydien Kale Price, age 21, Carson, Iowa, appeared with counsel and admitted to violating the terms and conditions of his probation. The defendant’s Deferred Judgment was revoked and he was found guilty of Possession of Marijuana and Persons Ineligible to Carry Dangerous Weapon. The defendant was found in contempt and sentenced to 4 days in jail. The defendant was ordered to pay court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.

Tory Ann Stalder, age 31, Tabor, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance, Marijuana. The defendant was fined $420 and ordered to pay court costs, surcharges and court-appointed attorney fees.

All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, today (Friday), released information about a property damage chain-reaction accident that occurred at around 12:35-p.m. on Aug. 24th, in Stanton. Authorities say the incident occurred in the 300 block of Broad Avenue, when 72-year-old David Allen Hart, of Stanton, was backing-up in his SUV, a 2023 GMC Acadia, out of his parking spot. A 2016 GMC pickup driven by 22-year-old Seth Michael Barkman, of Stanton, was passing by the parking spot, when Hart’s SUV struck the front bumper of the pickup truck.

The impact was strong enough that it set off the airbags on pickup to deploy, and it disabled the right front tire on the pickup. The accident caused Barkman to lose control of his vehicle, which struck parked vehicles that included a 2017 Hyundai Elantra registered to 38-year-old Lindsay Anne Valdez, of Red Oak. The collision caused her car to be shoved forward from its parked position into a streetlight. The other parked vehicle that was struck by the pickup was registered to 78-year-old Pamela Sue Bradley, of Red Oak. The make and model of her vehicle was not indicated in the report.

No injuries were reported. Combined damage to the vehicles amounted to $29,500. The City of Stanton streetlight sustained $1,500 damage. Sheriff’s Deputies cited David Hart for unsafe backing.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says she’s encouraged by the move to have more F-B-I agents working out of regional offices. Two weeks ago F-B-I director Kash Patel met in the Omaha field office with Bird and other law enforcement officials from Iowa and Nebraska.

“One of the things that director Patel was very interested in was what resources might be needed by us from the FBI so that they could help us in our investigations, whether it’s getting illegal drugs off the streets or human trafficking,” Bird said.

Patel’s visit came shortly after federal officials announced five people who own, operate and manage hotels in the Omaha area had been arrested and 27 victims of human trafficking had been rescued – including 10 children.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says lawyers in her office as well as private attorneys are conducting the investigation to determine if staff at Iowa’s three public universities violated the state law that forbids diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. “Iowa law tasks my office with the responsibility of making sure that when there’s a complaint, and there recently was one filed by the governor, related to D.E.I. practices at our state universities that we investigate that,” Bird said, “so that investigation is still ongoing.” Bird made her comments to reporters yesterday (Thursday).

Undercover videos released online this summer appeared to show University of Iowa and Iowa State University employees talking about how they were getting around the ban on D-E-I programming on the campuses. A month ago at a campaign fundraiser, Bird promised to pull the curtain back and release a public report once the investigation is done.

(Radio Iowa) By deciding not to run for reelection, Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst have set off a cascade of campaign announcements that will continue this weekend.

Second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion announced on Tuesday that she was running for the U.S. Senate and less than an hour later State Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, said she was considering a campaign for Iowa’s second district congressional seat. A couple of hours after that, former Congressman Rod Blum of Dubuque posted a message on Facebook that said he was ready to help the President again — and to “stay tuned.” In Iowa’s fourth district, Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra has been raising money and recently said he’ll formally kick off his campaign for governor in September. A northern Iowa farmer plans to join the four other Republicans who’ve been campaigning for the fourth district congressional seat. Twenty-nine-year-old Christian Schlaefer, a farmer from Bancroft, plans to kick off his campaign for congress tomorrow (Saturday), with an appearance at the Clay County Fair.

The four Republicans are already running in the fourth congressional district are Humboldt farmer Kyle Larsen, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Chris McGowan, Iowa Tea Party founder Ryan Rhodes and former Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl. Three Democrats have begun campaigning in the district. Former state legislator Dave Dawson of Lawton announced his campaign last week. Stephanie Steiner, a nurse from Sutherland, and Ashley WolfTornabane, a stay-at-home mom from Storm Lake, began their campaigns earlier this summer.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is part of a bipartisan group of House lawmakers pushing to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. “The shot clock starts right now. We can end insider trading,” Nunn said. “We can help restore integrity to government and this team right here is the one who’s going to get it done this cycle.” Nunn made his comments at a news conference that featured lawmakers from across the political spectrum, including New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Republican Chip Roy.

“This isn’t a Republican or a Democrat issue. This is a group of individuals that are fighting because it is unfair that members of congress are trading on insider information and performing 60% better than most of the trading companies in New York City.” Nunn — a Republican from Ankeny — backed a bill in 2023 that would have banned members of congress and their spouses from making individual trades in stocks, futures and options while in office.

Legislation that narrowly cleared a committee in the U.S. Senate in July would ban elected officials in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government from making stock trades. Some Republican senators have criticized the concept, saying it would discourage people from the private sector from seeking office.