Sheriff’s officials in Union County report 23-year old Brandon Joseph Lee Tull, of Creston, was arrested Thursday night on Union County warrants for Possession of burglars tools, and two violations of no contact/protective order-contempt.  He was taken into custody at the Jasper County Jail and transported to Union County, where bond was set at $2,300.

The search for a missing missing from southwest Iowa has tragically ended with his body being found following a motor vehicle accident in Oklahoma. 80-year old Donald Eugene “Gene” Ripley was found in his van, which was located in a grove of trees, about 100-to 150-feet down a steep embankment off Interstate 35 north of Springer, Oklahoma, between mile markers 46-and-47. The van struck one of the trees. The accident remains under investigation by the Oklahoma State Troopers.

Gene Ripley

Ripley had been missing since the early morning hours of Sept. 3rd, when he left his son’s residence in Uvalde, Texas. His license plate was last recorded in Denton County, Texas, approximately 28 hours after he left Uvalde. Texas authorities issued a silver alert following the initial report of his disappearance. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says they were notified about the accident by authorities in Oklahoma, Thursday afternoon. The Oklahoma Trooper then verified that there was one elderly male deceased in the vehicle. The Trooper identified the deceased male as Donald Eugene Ripley. The Trooper said that notification of the family could be made. Death notification was made with the family given time to notify other family members prior to any release of information to the press from the Page County Sheriff’s Office.

During the missing person search the Page County Sheriff’s Office and PAGECOMM dispatch center worked closely with several agencies following up on leads that came into Law Enforcement agencies as well as agencies along the possible route that Gene would have traveled from his son’s residence in TX to his residence in Page County. The agencies and information sites include:  were the Texas Rangers, Texas Silver Alert Program, Texas Fusion Center, Denton County Texas Sheriff’s Office, Texas Highway patrol, Como County Texas Sheriff’s Office, Spring Branch Texas Police Department, Bulverde Texas Police Department, Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Oklahoma State Patrol, Oklahoma Fusion Center, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, Kansas State Patrol, Kansas Fusion Center, Kansas Turnpike Authority, Clinton County Missouri Sheriff’s Office, United States Border Patrol, National Missing & Unidentified Persons system (NamUs), and the Missing Persons Cases Network.

(Radio Iowa) – Two northeast Iowans are charged with taking part in kidnapping. Oelwein police were advised of an alleged child abduction that took place in the 10 block of 6th Street Northwest around 8 p.m. Thursday. Following an investigation, authorities found the suspect vehicle in Black Hawk County.

A man and woman were then arrested for felony child stealing. Officials identified them as 31-year-old Raquel Bowser of Oelwein and 27-year-old Justin Green of West Union.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being encouraged to get their flu shots early this season as the upcoming flu season, coupled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, could put a bigger strain on health care systems. Shelly Jensen is an immunization nurse clinician with the Iowa Department of Public Health.  “Health care systems could be overwhelmed treating both patients with flu and patients with COVID,” Jensen says, “so getting that flu vaccine this year is more important than ever.”

Jensen says it’s still too soon to predict how severe this flu season could be. She says it’s especially important for people with underlying conditions like diabetes, asthma or cancer to get vaccinated. Jensen says the vaccine is widely available, but distribution might look a little different this year because of the pandemic. “There may be more drive-thru clinics,” she says. “It may look a little different at your doctor’s office. They may not have as many walk-in appointments.”

The flu vaccine is recommended for anyone over the age of six months.

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

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(Radio Iowa) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled residents should be able to vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling and two initiatives to regulate casinos. The ruling supports a petition from the group “Keep the Money in Nebraska” and others. The C-E-O of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe, Lance Morgan, says they want to bring the gambling into the state and there is support. “We’ve done the polling and the vast majority of Nebraskans support it. I think anybody who knows anything down in Omaha knows the Council Bluffs (Iowa) casinos are full of Nebraskans.” Morgan says. “So gaming is here — there’s gaming in every state that touches Nebraska.”

Nebraska’s Secretary of State had refused to put the measures on the November ballot, saying there were multiple conflicting issues. The Supreme Court’s split decision overrules the Secretary of State and Morgan says they will now campaign to get the measures passed. “And my guess is we’ll face some challenges — both socially oriented challenges — and then challenges probably funded by Iowa casinos I suppose,” Morgan says. “We will fight for our share of the airways and see if we can get people to join us.”

The Nebraska Supreme Court in a separate ruling rejected putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to legalize medical marijuana.

(Radio Iowa) – State medical director Dr. Caitlin Pedati says having students move around a classroom every few minutes creates more opportunities for the coronavirus to spread.  “The advice that we’ve provided is that rather have people interaction more and create more person to person interactions, really you want to have fewer person to person interactions,” she says.

The Iowa Starting Line website indicated a few Iowa school districts are asking students to get up and move around every 12 to 14 minutes, moves that could avoid quarantining students who were — for at least 15 minutes — within six feet of someone who tests positive for Covid. “I wouldn’t suggest that as an approach,” Pedati says. Some schools are doing the exact opposite of encouraging periodic movement and, instead, are keeping students and teachers together in pods throughout the day to prevent the potential spread of the virus through a school building.
“We’ve got a virus that moves from person to person and so minimizing person to person interactions is how you can minimize the transfer of this virus,” Pedati says.

Waukee administrators say they’re recommending students stand up and move up to five times an hour to promote healthy habits, but all students in a classroom will still be asked to quarantine if one tests positive for the virus. The Des Moines Register reports Woodbury-Central School District officials are evaluating whether shuffling students around every 12 to 14 minutes would prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Two, out-of-state men were arrested on drug charges Thursday night, in Creston. According to Creston Police, 19-year old Brandon Montrell Thompson, of Kansas City, MO., and 18-year old Josiah Ahmad Reed, of Sheffield, AL., were arrested at the Union County Jail. Both were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. Thompson posted bond and was released. Reed was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, 34-year old Skylar Allen Rufenacht, of Creston, was arrested today (Friday), at around 4:50-a.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury/1st offense. Rufenacht was being held without bond in the Union County Jail, until seen by the magistrate.

Creston Police said also, a man reported the passenger side mirror on his vehicle was damaged sometime between 12-a.m. and 7-a.m., Thursday. The vehicle had been parked in a lot behind a business located near the 200 block of N. Elm Street. The damage was estimated at $100.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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