COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA — A man from Council Bluffs was sentenced Wednesday to slightly less than 4-years in prison (147 months) for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. 47-year old Michael Sutton was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

The charge was the result of an investigation involving Sutton distributing a large quantity of methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs area. Local law enforcement executed a search warrant at Sutton’s residence in Council Bluffs where 724 grams of methamphetamine was found.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Omaha Police Department. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA — United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum announced on Wednesday, July 15th, 46-year old Harley Bressman, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to 17.5 years (210 months) in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Bressman was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

Sabrina Spahn, age 48, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to nearly 6.5 years (77 months) in prison for her role in the methamphetamine conspiracy. She was ordered to serve five years of supervised
release to follow her prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

The charges were the result of an ongoing investigation involving Bressman distributing a large quantity of methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs area. An undercover investigation led law enforcement to execute a search warrant at Bressman and Spahn’s residence in Council Bluffs, where over four pounds of methamphetamine was located as well as seven pounds of methamphetamine discovered at a related location.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Middle Iowa Narcotics Enforcement, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged an 81-year-old man with first-degree murder in a deadly Iowa shooting. A complaint and affidavit filed Thursday in Plymouth County District Court said Thomas Knapp, of Merrill, confessed to shooting 51-year-old Kevin Juzek in May during a disturbance at their home. The Sioux City Journal reports that Knapp previously pleaded not guilty to domestic abuse charge in the case.

Authorities responded after his wife called 911 to report that her husband was assaulting her and her son with a stick and also pointed the shotgun at her. She also said Juzek, who also lived in the home, had just been shot.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. government has put to death an Iowa chemistry student-turned-meth kingpin convicted of killing two children and three adults. It is the third execution by the federal government in one week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years. Dustin Honken, who prosecutors said killed key witnesses to stop them from testifying in his drugs case, received a lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Two others were also put to death this week: Kansan Wesley Purkey and Oklahoman Daniel Lewis Lee.

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WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former Waterloo teacher who stole tens of thousands of dollars from the local teachers union to feed a gambling habit has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison. Federal prosecutors for Iowa say 59-year-old Anthony Dehl was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Dehl pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud.

Prosecutors say Dehl took more than $54,000 from the union’s accounts over about five years, when he was the union’s treasurer, withdrawing most of it at a local casino. Investigators say Dehl concealed his scheme by submitting false treasurer reports and other yearly reports to the organization.

An additional case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in a resident of Montgomery County, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to eighteen (18). Health officials said Friday (today), the person affected contracted the virus via close contact with a previously reported positive case.

The case is an adult (18-40) and currently isolating at home.

WINTERSET, IA – The Madison County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors says it has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Madison County Covered Bridge Festival that was to be held October 10-11. We are saddened by this outcome and will miss the joy of coming together and making memories with family, friends, and guests to our community.

Officials say “The Madison County Covered Bridge Festival is a long-standing tradition in our community that is well attended by both vendors and patrons, as well as guests from across Iowa and the Midwest. It is of the utmost importance to our organization and to the community that its integrity and quality is maintained. This 50-year-old community celebration of Madison County’s history and heritage needs to be a full-on celebration. In order to have the Festival this year, while maintaining safe social distances and hygienic practices, many elements that make our event special and unique would have been eliminated, and it would simply not be the same event that residents and visitors know and love. Sponsorship cutbacks, decreased vendor participation, fewer volunteers, and the added costs for preventive measures weighed heavily on our decision.”

The Board said also, “We are obligated to our sponsors, vendors, and other partners to give them time to make their own business decisions. All of us are mindful of the economic impact that the Covered Bridge Festival has on our community and know that our locally-owned and operated small businesses and non-profit groups need our support now more than ever. While the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival will take a year off, a group of volunteers from the planning committee is exploring ways to safely celebrate our community’s history and heritage this fall, as well as to adopt a few events that can better incorporate social distancing.” More information will be announced as they continue making those plans.

All sponsors, artisans, crafters, and vendors are invited to return for the 2021 Madison County Covered Bridge Festival, which will be held October 9-10, 2021.

(Updated) VAN METER, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is overriding local school districts and requiring students to spend at least half of their education time in classrooms despite concerns the move could endanger children and teachers as the number of coronavirus cases increase in the state. Reynolds’ decision Friday essentially invalidates plans implemented by some districts to limit in-person classes to one day a week for most students with online learning on other days. The governor’s actions are in line with the fervent recommendations of President Donald Trump. Reynolds says districts could seek waivers from the 50% requirement to the state Education Department. There will be no change in the Education Department’s recommendation that districts not require that students and teachers wear masks in school. (Read the entire proclamation here)

The proclamation directs all state agencies, school districts, and local governments to focus on preparing to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person in the fall.  It also provides clarity for when a school may move to primarily remote learning, authorizing it when:

• Parents select remote learning as the best option for their family;
• The Iowa Department of Education in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health approves a temporary move to online learning for an entire building or district in response to public health conditions;
• A school, in consultation with state and local public health officials, determines that individual students or classrooms must be temporarily moved to online learning; or
• A school chooses to temporarily move to online learning because of severe weather instead of taking a snow day.

Finally, it provides regulatory relief to address the education workforce, including removing limitations on how often and long substitutes teachers can teach and expanding the pool of Iowans who are eligible to serve as substitute teachers.  Mike Beranek, President of the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) said Friday, “On the same day Iowa reports one of the highest one-day totals since the pandemic began, we are outraged that Governor Reynolds’ response to this spiraling community spread of COVID-19 is to make it harder for school districts to move quickly to protect the health and safety of students, school employees and communities at large.

The proclamation, he said “Does nothing to increase protections in our schools including how they will pay for extra PPE, disinfectants and cleaning, access to testing, contact tracing, and a host of other data driven mitigation efforts making them safe for students, teachers and school employees to go back to in-person  instruction.” Beranek called the Governor’s proclamation “Short-sighted at best.”

A report prepared for the White House Cornavirus Task Force suggests Iowa is among 18 states where rising infections rates should prompt new restrictions.  Following the Governor’s speech, Progress Iowa executive director Matt Sinovic said “More students, educators, and Iowans will get sick and die because of Governor Reynold’s announcement today. Forcing kids back into the classroom when Iowa is a coronavirus ‘red zone’ according to the White House is completely inexcusable. Case counts are rising, we’re one of only two states without any mask requirements, and the entire response from the Reynolds administration has been a failure. The Governor may just want this crisis to be over, but it can’t be wished away by pretending we’re back to normal. We need real leadership and tough decisions to be made, and I’m afraid we’re never going to get it from her.”

Sinovic said “Iowa students shouldn’t be the subject of Kim Reynolds dangerous and twisted science experiment. Their lives matter more than she is giving them credit for.”

Officials with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) today (Friday) announced the launch of the new Small Business Utility Disruption Prevention Program. The program will provide short-term relief to eligible small businesses and nonprofits that faced significant hardship in the payment of utility bills for service provided during the months of disruption to their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offers grants up to $7,500 to be applied to utility bill debt for eligible small businesses.

IEDA and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham says “Iowa’s small businesses and nonprofits keep our communities and our economy moving forward, and they have been hit hard in these unprecedented times. We are proud to work with our utility partners statewide through this new program to help reduce the burden and position small businesses for recovery and growth.” A funding allocation of $14.5 million from the CARES Act is available to IEDA for this initiative. To be eligible to receive assistance, businesses must have:

• a physical (non-residential) location in Iowa and 50 or fewer employees;
• not received funding from the IEDA’s Small Business Relief Grant Program;
• experienced a COVID-19 loss of revenue on or after March 17, 2020, that resulted in unpaid bills for electric or natural gas service provided between March 17, 2020, and June 30, 2020; and
• remained in operation or re-opened at the time of application.

For a full list of eligibility requirements, additional information and to apply, visit iowabusinessrecovery.com. Applications will be accepted between July 17, 2020, and August 21, 2020, or until funding is depleted, whichever comes first. Applications will be reviewed in the order received. Assistance will be awarded based on application completeness and eligibility until all funds have been exhausted.

Questions regarding the Small Business Utility Disruption Prevention Program can be submitted via email to energyrecovery@iowaeda.com or by phone at 1.855.300.2342.