ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa man has been arrested after police say he threatened to bring a loaded shotgun to an Iowa Workforce Development office. The Des Moines Register reports that 29-year-old Matthew Goodrich, of Altoona, was arrested Monday, and charged with making a threat of terrorism and two counts of harassment. Police say Goodrich was upset about not getting his unemployment check when he called the office.

An employee there said Goodrich threatened to bring a loaded shotgun to the office and that he said the office should be blown up with a pipe bomb. Goodrich’s preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 23.

Page County Sheriff’s Deputies who responded to a report about a suspicious vehicle in the northwest part of the county, Tuesday, came upon a vehicle towing another vehicle, without the proper equipment. Those two vehicles were being followed by another vehicle. During an investigation, Deputies made contact with 49-year old Mark Anthony Ross, of Shenandoah. He was subsequently arrested for Driving while license suspended, denied, or revoked.

Ross was transported to the Page County Jail where he later posted bond in the amount of $491.25, pending further court proceedings.

A woman from Creston suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries, during an accident Tuesday afternoon on Cromwell Road. The Union County Sheriff’s Office says 44-year old Colleen Ann Reed was traveling westbound at around 2:50-p.m., when a vehicle crossed the center line and she swerved to avoid hitting it. Her 2002 Buick LeSabre entered the south ditch and apparently rolled over before coming to rest. Reed – who was wearing a seat belt – became trapped in the car and was extricated by mechanical means before being transported by Medic 1 EMS to the hospital in Creston.

Her car sustained about $6,000 damage and was declared a total loss. Reed had a suspended driver’s license, but was not issued a citation at the scene.

Sheriff’s officials in Sac County report the second of two inmates who escaped from the Sac County Jail Friday afternoon, was apprehended Tuesday evening in Walnut. Authorities say Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 25-year old Shawn Patrick Freier at a residence in Walnut at around 6:30-p.m., Tuesday. He was found in an upstairs area of a garage, taken into custody without incident, and transported to the Pott. County Jail. Freier was set to be transported by Sac County Deputies to the Sac County jail sometime today (Wednesday).

{Previous story} The Sac County Sheriff’s office said Saturday, that at around 4:25 p.m. Friday (Oct. 9th), two inmates in the Sac County Jail over powered a female correctional officer. Authorities say 35-year old Joseph Lee Sly,  of Rockwell City, was being moved from the main cell area back to a holding cell after a shower. As the correctional officer was opening the main cell door, she was grabbed by 25-year old inmate Shawn Patrick Freier, of Lake View.

Joseph Sly

Shawn Freier

Freier and Sly pulled the correctional officer in to the main cellblock and shut the door locking the correctional officer inside. The two inmates then ran down the stairwell. A courthouse custodian heard the correctional officer screaming and opened a locked door at the bottom of a staircase. Joseph Sly pushed the custodian out of the way and ran down the hall. Sly exited the building. Shawn Freier at the bottom of the stairway enter the kitchen area through an unlocked door. Freier jumped out a first floor window.

Freier ran south from the jail and Sly ran north. Law enforcement officer from surrounding areas responded to assist in looking for the two. A drone with thermal imaging capabilities was used as well as Sac County Sheriff’s K-9. The ground search was called off after dark. On Saturday, October 10th, an off-duty Lake View Police Reserve officer was traveling through Sac City, and spotted Joseph Sly around 7:28-a.m., walking on North 5th Street. The off duty reserve officer was able to take Sly in to custody without incident and return him to the Sac County Jail.

Freier was serving time for domestic violence charges. Joseph Sly faces charges in Calhoun County for domestic violence and sex abuse charges. Both men are now charged with escape from custody. Additional charges are expected. No injuries were reported.

U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan of the Northern District of Iowa and U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum of the Southern District of Iowa announced Tuesday, nearly $662,000 in Department of Justice grants to the Iowa Department of Public Safety to fund crime laboratories, decrease DNA backlogs, support basic and applied forensic research, and help law enforcement identify missing persons. The grants, awarded by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), are part of $192 million in funding to advance forensic science nationwide.

OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan said “Developments in forensic science have given investigators an extraordinary array of tools that can be enlisted to solve crimes and bring answers to victims and survivors, often after many years and even decades. These investments in crimefighting technology, from DNA analysis to drug toxicology to forensic anthropology, will help identify and convict perpetrators, ensure justice for innocent victims and keep communities safe by deterring future criminal activity.”

Attorneys Deegan and Krickbaum said “Our offices are committed to prosecuting dangerous and violent offenders. This investment in the Iowa Department of Public Safety will allow our state and local law enforcement partners to better investigate violent crime and bring justice to victims across the state.” Since 2004, the Office of Justice Programs has received an annual appropriation for DNA and other forensic science activities. The funding, administered through OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice, supports DNA analysis, laboratory capacity enhancement and forensic science research that provides knowledge and tools to improve the quality and practice of forensic science.

For a complete list of individual grant programs, award amounts, and more information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – Several people are in custody after a shooting early this (Wednesday) morning in Carroll. Police Chief Brad Burke reports the incident occurred right around midnight in the 500 block of E. 18th Street. One male victim was transported to St. Anthony Regional Hospital and later transferred to a Des Moines hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

More details will be released later today.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – A three-member state panel agrees the Iowa economy is headed in a positive direction, but the group cautions state tax revenue won’t quite rebound to pre-pandemic levels over the next three quarters. Holly Lyons of the Iowa Legislative Services Agency says the pandemic and damage from the derecho as well as uncertainty about the election and another federal stimulus payments are all a drag on the Iowa economy. “How do you adjust to an ever-changing situation where the new normal seems to be indefinite uncertainty?” Lyons asks.

Lyons and two other members of the Revenue Estimating Conference predict state tax collections will be down two-tenths of a percent in the current state fiscal year. David Roederer, the governor’s budget director, says there are modest signs of strength in Iowa’s economy, helped by the unprecedented six BILLION dollars in direct federal aid to Iowa businesses. “I think the key is at what pace will the economy reenergize and rebound from a pandemic that refuses to leave us or be vaccinated away,” Roederer says. “All wonder when our lives are going to get back to normal, but maybe better yet how are we even going to define normal.”

David Underwood, a C-P-A from Clear Lake, says there’s reason for optimism. “The adaptability of Iowa’s businesses and non-profit organizations to adapt to the new abnormal has just been tremendous,” Underwood says. The group acknowledges losses in the restaurant, bar and hospitality industry, but cites increases in e-commerce and spending to outfit home offices. The panel predicts state tax revenue will surge four percent higher in the NEXT state fiscal year.

Officials with the Creston Police Department Wednesday (today), report the arrest at around 5:40-p.m. Tuesday, of 32-year old Corry D. Johnston, from Creston. Johnston was arrested in the 800 block of Laurel Street, on the charges that include Driving While Barred and Possession of a Controlled Substance 1st Offense. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a $3000 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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