Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports a man from California was arrested last week, following a traffic stop on eastbound I-80 at mile marker 76. The Iowa State Patrol stopped a 2016 Mini Cooper driven by 39-year old David Paul Willitzer, of San Diego, at around 7:40-p.m. Dec. 24th, after dispatch received numerous calls about a vehicle unable to maintain lanes or speed and had struck another vehicle near the 22 mile marker.

The Trooper observed the suspect vehicle cross the center line several times, and that the vehicles’ speeds varied. Following the traffic stop, and upon further investigation, the Trooper saw Willitzer apparently banging or shaking his head, while the windows to his car were rolled down. He also an open container of beer in the center console. Willitzer admitted to drinking two craft beers with 6.8% alcohol content each, with the third can in the console about half-empty.

Based on observations of his standard Field Sobriety Test, and a preliminary BrAC of .124, Willitzer was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. He was also cited for Open Container-Driver, No valid driver’s license, Operating without registration, and improper use of lanes. He was transported to the Adair County Jail and released Christmas Day on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 5:45-p.m., Thursday, 44-year old Joseph Eric Funke, of Fontanelle, was pulled over at Highway 92 and the Bridgewater Road. The Deputy knew Funke was barred from driving, and Funke admitted he knew that was true. He was cited for the offense and released at the scene.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — One of the Tyson Foods managers fired for betting on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at their Iowa pork plant says the office pool was spontaneous and intended to boost morale. Don Merschbrock, former night manager at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, said he was speaking out in an attempt to show that the seven fired supervisors are “not the evil people” that Tyson has portrayed.

Tyson announced the terminations of the Waterloo managers on Dec. 16, weeks after the betting allegation surfaced in wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of four workers who died of COVID-19.

An icy road surface contributed to accidents on I-80 Sunday morning. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the road was 100% ice covered and freezing rain was occurring, when an accident involving two SUV’s occurred at around 9:25-a.m. on I-80 eastbound. Authorities say a 2014 Jeep Cherokee driven by 68-year old Rodney Deaton, of Panama City Beach, FL., went out of control and was rear-ended by a 2019 Toyota Highlander. The driver of the Toyota – 72-year old Douglas Sawyer, of Albion, IN.  – told Deputies he saw the Jeep skid out of control, but due to the road conditions, could not stop in-time.

Deaton complained of pain afterward, but did not request or require transportation to the hospital. Damage from the accident amounted to $38,000. No citations were issued.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests over the weekend. 34-year-old Michael Edward Baker, of Creston, was arrested Saturday in Creston. He was charged with driving while suspended and possession of paraphernalia. Baker was released from the Union County Jail on $600 bond. And, Sunday night, 22-year-old Kane Allen Michael Farlow, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for failure to appear on the original charge of interference with official acts, along with a Union County warrant for violation of parole. Farlow was being held in the Union County Jail without bond.

Des Moines – The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau reports an eastern Iowa man, 38-year-old Luke Mathew McDermott, of Delmar, was recently charged with one felony count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information. The charges against McDermott stem from an investigation which began in February 2020. According to a criminal complaint filed by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, McDermott made false statements and submitted fraudulent documents in support of a fire claim.

On December 20, 2020, McDermott was arrested by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office after an arrest warrant was issued by the Clinton County District Court. McDermott was cited and released with a promise to appear in court on a later date.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Radio Iowa) – Contact tracing is an important step in slowing the spread of COVID-19, but by the time people test positive, it can be hard to remember who they’ve seen in the previous week — or longer. Iowa State University psychology professor Christian Meissner has developed a tool that helps people remember more details about where they were and who they were in contact with. He says every day matters with memory. “The more quickly that you can encourage people to access memory and to engage in this recall of close contacts,” Meissner says, “the better the quality of the memory they produce and the larger number of contacts that they’re going to be able to produce as well.”

Meissner says questions and keywords can help a person re-create scenes from the past. He found contact tracing interviews using these enhanced cognitive approaches helped people generate more robust lists of people they’d been near. “On average, about four more close contacts were recalled in that cognitive protocol,” Meissner says. “And it didn’t matter if they had been taken through the interviewer by an interviewer or if they did the self-led version.”

Meissner’s online tool is available for do-it-yourself interviews. He says the technique will help a person get started, but it’s NOT a replacement for public health contact tracing.

(By Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City’s 185th Iowa Air National Guard unit is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a specially painted plane. One of their KC-135 refuelers has been painted with what’s called a “bat” tail flash. The gothic looking bat on the tail of the aircraft is a throwback to when the unit flew F-100 Fighters in Vietnam during the late 1960s. They were known as “The Bats” because they often flew missions during the night. Chief Master Sergeant Eric Kelley, the 185th’s Equipment Maintenance Flight Superintendent, says they received special permission to paint the plane: “We just got this aircraft back — so that’s one reason why we chose to paint this aircraft with this scheme. We’ll essentially be able to fly this aircraft for five years with this paint scheme on it before we have to send it back to the depot,” Kelley explains.

Sergeant Kelley says the plane’s new paint markings will fit in wherever they go around the globe. He says the colors are subdued to they can fly it anywhere in the world. This was the first time the Air Wing has attempted a giant size tail flash on one of their KC-135 aircraft. The entire 25-foot tail section had to be removed and painted black. Once the tail was balanced and reattached, crew members from the 185th’s paint facility completed stenciling and painting.”None of this could even happen without the awesome airmen we have here at the 185thm” Kelley says. He says everyone has done what they can, including working their off days to keep the project moving.

The nose of the plane displays a 75th-anniversary diamond surrounded by silhouettes depicting each aircraft flown by the unit since its beginnings in 1946. A thunderbolt painted along with the diamond on the front of the aircraft is representative of some of the first jet aircraft flown like the F-84 “Thunderjet.” The unit flew single-seat fighter aircraft for most of it history before converting to the KC-135 in 2003.

A woman was taken into custody early Monday morning, following an accident late Sunday night, in Bayard. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, 25-year old Ashley Faith Andrews, of Bayard, faces charges that include Failure to Maintain Control, Driving While License Suspended, Denied, Cancelled or Revoked, Open container as a driver, and Failure to provide proof of insurance. Authorities say Andrews was driving a 2003 Ford Expedition, and as she was turning from an alley onto westbound 3rd Street at around 11:55-p.m., lost control of the SUV.

The vehicle struck the front of a legally parked 2007 Nissan Sentra. The impact pushed the Nissan into a legally parked 2018 Honda Civic Sport. The SUV then turned south and struck a house at 304 3rd Street. An investigation determined after the SUV struck the house, it apparently backed-up to the west, and hit a fence When Deputies arrived, Andrews was sitting in a garage at a residence nearby.  Inside the SUV, Deputies found an open 12-ounce alcoholic beverage in the center console, about half-full, and a 15-pack of beer with five cans missing.

The SUV (registered to Kelsey Klingeberg) sustained significant front-end damage, amounting to about $10,000. The Nissan sustained $4,000 damage, while damage to the Honda was estimated at $2,000. A fence owned by Michael Jacquard, of Bayard, sustained $1,000 damage and the house at 205 3rd Street, owned by Donald Olesen, sustained $50,000 damage.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors met last week during a regular session. According to the minutes provided by Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman:

• County Engineer Trent Wolken reviewed current road maintenance projects including clearing brush in road ditches.
• Postponed from Nov. 10, the board discussed the issue of use of personal cell phones for County business by employees whose job duties include the frequent need for a cell phone.  Supervisor Mark O’Brien said he wanted the board to re-consider the amount of allowance as well as who is eligible.  After considerable discussion, the issue was tabled until January.
• Sunderman notes also, SWIPCO (the Southwest Iowa Planning Council) has secured a $400,000 EDA (Economic Development Administration) CARES grant for Covid-19 economic recovery planning; and $500,000 in RLF (Revolving Loan Funds) to be targeted at Covid recovery.
• Sunderman said SWIPCO has submitted a Request for Proposal (RFP) inviting prospective partners, including CADCO, to submit proposals to assist SWIPCO with implementing its Covid-19 pandemic recovery scope of work as laid out in its grant administration with the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA).  SWIPCO anticipates expending $20,000 per county (6 counties) by June 30, 2021, and an additional $10,000, per county by June 30, 2022.  CADCO asked the board to consider writing a letter of support for CADCO as the Cass County partner.  The Board’s consensus was to provide a letter of support for CADCO.