INDIANAPOLIS — A Texas man accused of stalking and sending “sexually violent” social media messages to Caitlin Clark has pleaded guilty. According to KCCI-TV, Michael Lewis, who was 55-years-old at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody in January after investigators say he threatened and stalked Clark. He was arrested at a hotel in Indianapolis after traveling there from Texas.

Lewis proclaimed himself “guilty as charged” during his first court appearance. The court filed a not guilty plea on Lewis’ behalf.

Lewis pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, some of which has already been served. He is also prohibited from contacting Clark and is banned from all Pacers and Fever games and events.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The theme for this Thursday evening’s Produce In the Park in downtown Atlantic, is “Drumstick Night.” Organizers say it’ll be  a “Drumtastic time,” with the Atlantic Public Library’s all-ages drumming activity.

Drumtastic at the Atlantic Public Library

The event – which takes place from 4:30-until 6:30-p.m., features chicken drumsticks from a local vendor, and, Cass County Tourism is giving away 100 ice cream drumsticks, first come, first served!

There will be over 25 vendors set-up at the downtown Atlantic City Park, featuring: Fresh Produce (tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, green beans, and more), Farm-Fresh Eggs, Local Meats (including chicken drumsticks!), Baked Goods & Desserts, Freeze-Dried Snacks, Local Honey, Arts & Crafts, Garden Decorations, Compost.

Pho Wheels & Sushi Food Truck will be at Produce in the Park July 31

Food Trucks on site include : Pho Wheels and Sushi, and the Teeny Weeny Weiner Wagon. Kids’ craft activity, accordion tunes, and Visiting organizations: Healthy Cass County, Cass Health, Atlantic Kiwanis, and more!

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HxDwrhn5k/

(Via the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Corn rated nearly 90% good to excellent during the reporting period from July 21 through July 27, while wet conditions limited farmers’ activities in the field, according to the latest crop progress and condition report.  Iowa crops continue to progress slightly ahead of schedule while above-average temperatures and precipitation caused humid conditions and in some cases, caused excessive soil moisture.

Across the state, topsoil moisture went from 21% surplus last week to 30% surplus this week. Subsoil moisture conditions also increased to 24% surplus, up from 17% last week.  According to State Climatologist Justin Glisan, the weekly average precipitation was 1.58 inches for the reporting period, which is 0.61 inches above the normal. Some regions of the state, however, received as much as 7.2 inches during the reporting period and southeastern Iowa had between 3 and 5 inches.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said with only a couple of days left in July, it “could rank among the top ten wettest Julys on record. Last week was hot and muggy as a heat dome settled over the Midwest, producing some sweltering heat and humidity,” Naig said in a statement. The average temperature for the week, at 77.5, was more than 4 degrees above normal. Temperatures throughout the period were between 2 and 6 degrees above the 30-year average.

Soybeans also rated 82% good to excellent for the reporting period and 81% of soybean acres were blooming. Soybeans are five days ahead of last year and two days ahead of the five-year average in terms of setting pods, as 52% of the crop across the state has reached that stage. According to the report, nearly half of Iowa oat acres have been harvested, with higher percentages of harvest completed in southern regions of the state.

Oats rated 83% good to excellent and hay rated 86% good to excellent.  Across the state 87% of alfalfa hay acres have had a second cutting and 28% have undergone a third cutting. Pasture conditions also rated well at 82% good to excellent, though according to the report, some livestock stress was reported on account of the heat and humidity.

(A report from the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A legal organization focused on freedom of expression filed a new legal brief Monday asking the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the injunction in place blocking Iowa’s ban on books that are not “age appropriate” from K-12 schools.

PEN America, a nonprofit focused on freedom of expression, filed the brief in support of the legal challenge mounted by publishers including Penguin Random House, the Iowa State Education Association and several authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green and Jodi Picoult. The plaintiffs are challenging Senate File 496, a 2023 Iowa law that  prohibits books depicting sex acts from being available in K-12 school libraries, as well as banning programs, materials and instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation for K-6 students.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher has ruled to block enforcement of multiple portions of the law, including the prohibition on books involving sexual or LGBTQ+ content. But that injunction could be overturned by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ruled in August 2024 that Locher’s “analysis” of the case was not correct and returned it to the district court.

These are some of the books recently banned from Iowa schools under a new state law. (Photo by Ed Tibbetts)

PEN America argued in its brief for the appeals court to keep the latest injunction in place, saying the law “undermines public education systems in violation of the First Amendment by denying students’ rights to receive information, infringing on authors’ free speech rights, and misapplying the obscenity doctrine.”

Iowa public schools had removed 3,400 books from school shelves by the end of 2024, according to the Des Moines Register, including classic literature like “1984” by George Orwell, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. Many school districts have expressed uncertainty about what books can be available in schools under the law, as the Iowa Department of Education had declined to respond to advocates asking for more clarification about “age appropriate” materials as defined by SF 496.

Locher wrote the law “places the burden on local school districts and school officials to determine whether a book is permitted,” and that the measure was “facially unconstitutional” when looking at previous court precedents on First Amendment cases.

In the Monday court brief, PEN America staff attorney Elly Brinkley echoed these concerns, writing that laws that target any and all descriptions of sex in literature have been “squarely condemned” by the U.S. courts in previous decisions, as it abridges students’ First Amendment rights to receive information.

In addition to the lawsuit filed by Penguin Random House, ISEA and authors, there is another challenge filed by Lambda Legal and ACLU of Iowa on behalf of students, teachers and the organization Iowa Safe Schools. Locher ruled in May that parts of the law challenged by Lambda Legal and the ACLU are also unconstitutional, issuing an injunction in May ruling that K-6 students must be allowed to join Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSA) and other student groups related to LGBTQ+ identities and that school districts and teachers must be allowed to provide instruction and materials that contain references to gender identity and sexual orientation, though they cannot be focused on these topics.

(Radio Iowa) _ Some Haitian refugees in Iowa are on the brink of becoming homeless when the federal government ends their temporary protected status in August. Erin Bell is a board member for the nonprofit group Des Moines Refugee Support and says the refugees will get evicted if they can’t find any other employment.  “If they become homeless, they literally will be on the street and then, like, I mean, there’s no way to make it if you can’t work. And that’s all they want is to work,” she says.

She says they’re begging for help finding employment.  “One, for example, worked at HyVee and was let go, and they won’t rehire him, and it has to do with the immigration status and paperwork,” Bell says.

Bell says their option outside of homelessness is to self deport. She also says refugees may not be eligible for government assistance if they end up homeless.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) is celebrating Ride Transit Week this week July 28th through August 1st and encourages the public to find out more about public transit in the region and take a ride on SWITA. Student transportation registration has also opened for the 2025-26 school year.

Public transit gets Americans to work, to education, to healthcare, and more. It also helps job creation, alleviates traffic congestion, and reduces emissions. In 2024 Americans traveled 39.7 billion miles on public transit during 7.66 billion trips. 6 billion gallons of gasoline are saved each year by using public transportation and a 5-to-1 economic return is produced by long-term investment in public transit.
SWITA is proud to be part of that public transit equation right here in eight Iowa counties. SWITA has continued to support record public transit ridership in the region year-over-year with 552,231 rides in fiscal year 2024 and anticipating an official total near that mark for fiscal year 2025. SWITA’s ride services include taxis in six communities, medical transportation, student transportation, workforce transportation, and special/charter trips.

SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal attendant rides free. SWITA has earned major honors for its service this year. SWITA was named the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Regional Transit System of the Year for the third year in a row.  SWITA will be celebrating Ride Transit Week with themed days throughout the week along with hosting driver appreciation events. Stay tuned to the SWITA Facebook page and website for updates throughout the week.

Also, this week, SWITA student transportation registration has opened. SWITA serves in-town student transportation in Atlantic, Glenwood, Harlan, and Red Oak. Registration and payment can be done at www.SWITA.com . Rides are $1.75 each way and a $30 minimum balance is needed to start the school year. To find out more about SWITA and the services offered you can browse SWITA.com or call 800-842-8065 or 712-243-2518.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests took place this past week. On July 21st, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle authorities received multiple complaints about, with regard to the vehicle being unable to maintain its lane. The vehicle was pulled-over at around 4:30-a.m., and the driver, 62-year-old Kenneth Lee Oglesby, of Lincoln, NE, was arrested following an investigation. He was charged with Possession of Marijuana/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Oglesby was later released on his Own Recognizance.

At around 2:15-p.m. on July 24th, Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 30-year-old Cody Alan Brommel, of Stuart, on an Adair County warrant charging him with Stalking – Possession of a Dangerous Weapon, and Going Armed with intent. The charges were the result of an incident in Greenfield. Brommel was later released on a $20,000 cash-only bond.

At around 2-a.m. Friday, an Adair County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested 27-year-old Macie Ann Tish, of Adair, as she was walking on the eastbound shoulder of I-80, near Casey. Tish was charged with Public Intoxication, and later released on a $300 bond.

Saturday evening, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper arrested 34-year-old Carnell Leshaun Rooks, of North Chesterfield, VA, following a traffic stop on I-80 at Adair. Rooks was charged with being a person ineligible to carry a weapon (2 loaded handguns, 2 extra magazines, 2 boxes of ammo, a cleaning kit and two holsters). He was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Rooks was later released on a $1,000 bond.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Two people were injured in separate rollover accidents recently, in Guthrie County. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, 25-year-old Emily Peggy Hinners, of Aracadia, suffered suspected minor injuries, when, according to Hinners, the 2018 Dodge Journey SUV she was driving went out of control on loose gravel, as the vehicle was traveling westbound on 120th Street at around 1:45-p.m., Friday. The SUV entered the north ditch and rolled-over before coming to rest on its top. Hinners was transported to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Carroll by private vehicle. Her SUV sustained an estimated $7,000 damage and was declared a total loss.

The second rollover accident in Guthrie County, happened at around 12-a.m. Saturday, as a 2008 Chevy pickup driven by 26-year-old Tanner David Goehring, of Guthrie Center, was traveling east on 265th Street. Goehring told authorities he was looking down at his cell phone when the pickup drove-off the road and struck a guard rail caution sign. The impact caused the pickup to roll onto its top into a creek. The vehicle sustained $1,501 damage and was deemed a total loss. Goehring was transported by Panora EMS to Methodist Hospital for treatment of suspected serious injuries.

No citations were issued following either accident.

And, no injuries were reported when a 2004 Honda Accord went out of control at around 3-p.m. Saturday, in Guthrie County. Authorities say the car, driven by 19-year-old Hayden Alyssa Garza, of Midwest City, OK., was traveling north on Zenith Road, when the accident occurred. The car overturned in the west ditch before coming to rest. Damage was estimated at $3,000 (A total loss). Garza was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who are in the market for a vehicle need to be careful if they’re shopping for those new wheels online. Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Lisa Schiller says you should never buy a car sight unseen. “Always take a test drive before you sign the final paper,” Schiller says. “There’s no substitute for seeing a car in person.” She also recommends getting the car independently inspected, especially if it’s coming from a private sale rather than a dealership.

Image from the Center for Auto Safety.

Schiller says it’s important to know the vehicle’s history and to get a look at it before you sign a title.”You’ve got to look under the hood, sit in the driver’s seat,” she says, “and ensure that the engine runs smoothly.”

Schiller says it’s also worth it to shop around and make sure the price you’re expected to pay is reasonable, and check for discounts from competitors.

(Radio Iowa) – Scattered damage to trees and power lines is reported across northern and central Iowa after thunderstorms last (Sunday) night and early this morning, some of which packed strong winds. MidAmerican Energy reports the power was out to 30-thousand homes statewide at the peak of the storm. National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says those winds are to blame. “Around midnight or so we had some gusts between 60 to 70 miles an hour,” Hagenhoff says. “As the storms have gone south through the early morning hours, we’re still seeing gusts between 40 to 50 mph across central to southern Iowa.” Once these storms pass, Hagenhoff says another muggy July day is ahead.

“The heat builds in really quickly and with that also humidity with all of this rain that’s around,” she says. “We’re looking at the heat index this afternoon, that feels-like temperature between 105 to 110 or even higher, so dangerous heat here settling in.” An Extreme Heat Warning will be posted starting at noon for western Iowa and for the state’s southern half, as heat indices may reach as high as 115 degrees, though Hagenhoff says a cool-down is coming soon.

“Southern Iowa is still going to be pretty steamy on Tuesday, but by Wednesday, the entire state is going to see high temperatures just in the 70s,” she says, “so quite a bit of relief on the way if we can just make it to Wednesday.” No injuries were reported in this morning’s severe weather.