(Atlantic, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Cass County, today (Friday) released a report on arrests that took place from July 11th through the 18th. Most recently:

On Friday (July 18), Deputies in Cass County arrested Derrick Michael Moorman Spencer, on charges of sexual abuse 2nd degree, and sexual abuse in the 3rd degree. Moorman Spencer was transported to the Cass County Jail booked-in and held.

There were two arrests Thursday (July 17) in Cass County: 36-year-old Samantha Jo Christensen, of Lewis, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She was later released on her own recognizance; And, 61-year-old Brian Joseph Iwersen, of Atlantic, was arrested for a controlled substance violation, possession of less than 5-grams of methamphetamine, and drug trafficking (5-grams to 100 kilograms) of meth. Iwersen was being held in the Cass County Jail.

The past Wednesday (July 16), Sheriff’s Deputies in Cass County arrested 43-year-old Nathen Scott Teneyck, of Atlantic, on a warrant for not complying with his sex offender verification. Teneyck was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked-in, and later released on bond.

On the 14th of July, 50-year-old Richard Dale Wood, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County arrest warrant charging him with: Theft in the 1st degree (embezzlement >$10,000); fraudulent practice in the 1st degree; fraudulent practice in the 2nd degree; and unauthorized use of credit card over $1,500 under $10,000. Wood was being held in the Cass County Jail.

On July 13th, 34-year-old Johnathan Aaron Hartsfield, of Lake City, FL, was arrested in Cass County on charges of possession of schedule IV/V controlled substance, and drug tax stamp violation. Hartsfield was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked-in, and later released on bond.

And, on July 11th, 38-year-old Joshua Kenneth Wolcott, of Atlantic, was arrested for driving while barred and possession of drug paraphernalia. Wolcott was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and also later released on bond.

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision in Afton this (Friday) morning, resulted in two people being transported to the hospital in Creston. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2015 GMC Acadia SUV driven by 37-year-old Danny Alan Fry, of Creston, was traveling east on U-S Highway 34 at around 10:50-a.m., at the same time a 2014 Jeep Compass SUV driven by 17-year-old Alexis Goodemote, of Thayer, was traveling westbound.

As the Jeep moved into the turn lane from Highway 34 onto southbound U-S Highway 169, Goodemote failed to see the GMC SUV, and pulled in front of the vehicle. The teen failed to yield the right-of-way, her vehicle was struck by the oncoming SUV. Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the eastbound lane of Highway 34.

Two passenger’s in Fry’s vehicle were injured, and transported by medics to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston. They were identified as 39-year-old Stephanie Todd, and 46-year-old Kylie Clayton, both of Creston. No other injuries were reported.

Damage from the crash amounted to $20,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are sometimes bugged by bugs, and if you come across a creepy crawler you’ve never seen before, the experts can likely identify it at the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic at Iowa State University. Zach Schumm, an insect diagnostician at the clinic, says there’s been concern this summer with very small critters called springtails.

Iowa’s had plenty of rainy days interspersed with hot, dry days, and that can sometimes prompt springtails to find a way to invade our homes.

Iowans who plan to be spending time outdoors over the coming weeks might be wise to heed a few words of Schumm’s advice.

And if you’ve been nibbled by a flying pest that was out for blood, he notes there are 57 species of mosquitoes in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s congressional delegation is hailing House passage of bills that establish a new set of federal rules for the cryptocurrency industry. Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says it’s about unlocking potential.

Feenstra says the legislation sets clear roles for federal agencies that regulate digital assets.

U.S. Capitol Building (RI file photo)

Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, says the CLARITY Act ensures it’s U-S — and not adversaries like China — writing the rules of the road for digital assets. “This is truly a bipartisan opportunity to help America deliver as a crypto capital for the entire planet,” Nunn said.

All four Iowa Republicans voted in favor of three crypto-related bills that passed the House late this week. Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Davenport says the bills give clear rules, protect privacy, and help the U.S. out-compete the Chinese in digital innovation. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says the legislation will prevent a central bank currency, protecting Americans’ privacy, and will reinforce American leadership in global finance.

(DES MOINES, IA) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board, today (Friday),  approved assistance for startup businesses in Ames, Des Moines and Urbandale. The board also approved Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant awards in Des Moines, Floyd, Harlan and in Hardin County.

The City of Harlan was awarded $402,667 to build the Dream Playground, which will feature accessible and inclusive equipment, shades, gathering structures and educational equipment. As the first step in a larger plan to revitalize and expand recreation opportunities in Harlan, the playground will serve as the central feature of their public park. The total project cost is nearly $1.6 million.

The CAT program provides financial assistance to communities for the construction of recreational, cultural, educational or entertainment facilities that enhance the quality of life in Iowa. Award recommendations for these funds are made by the CAT Review Committee to the IEDA Board for approval.

(Story from the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A civil lawsuit alleges an Iowa State Patrol trooper has a history of bullying citizens and initiating illegal searches. Dominic Tangen of Black Hawk County is suing Trooper Bryce Bilharz, alleging he’s guilty of “humiliating and bullying” citizens, and Trooper Michelle Beck of the Iowa State Patrol in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. In his lawsuit, Tangen alleges that on the afternoon of July 12, 2023, he was northbound on Highway 63 in Bremer County when he was pulled over by Bilharz, who correctly suspected Tangen’s car windows were tinted darker than allowed by Iowa law. During the stop, Bilharz allegedly asked Tangen “about the red tint inside his mouth,” and Tangen replied that he had acetaminophen tablets dissolving on his tongue, adding that he often used the pain reliever to help manage pain related to sciatica in his legs. A bottle of acetaminophen tablets was sitting in plain view in the passenger seat, the lawsuit claims.

At that point, the lawsuit alleges, Bilharz frisked Tangen, searched him, placed him in his patrol car and asked him to submit to field sobriety tests. Tangen agreed but allegedly told Bilharz he might be unable to keep his balance due to his sciatica. In his police report, Bilharz said he observed indicators of impairment during Tangen’s performance of the “walk and turn test” and the “one-leg stand test” — although, the lawsuit claims, a preliminary breathalyzer test administered at the scene indicated Tangen had a blood-alcohol level of 0.000. Bilharz allegedly handcuffed Tangen and transported him to the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department for a urine test. At the sheriff’s department, Tangen consented to a second blood-alcohol test that allegedly indicated a blood-alcohol level of 0.000.

While being detained for roughly three hours, Tangen alleges, he was only allowed to use the bathroom once, when Bilharz and Beck collected a urine sample for a drug test. Tangen alleges he was then arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, was stripped and placed in a holding cell. The lawsuit claims “Tangen was released after 9 p.m., after being held for almost six hours, and was given his keys and a note as to where he could find his truck.”  Court records show that on Sept. 28, 2023, the Bremer County Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the OWI charge against Tangen, informing the court the state lacked “sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution.”

According to the criminal court file, county prosecutors acknowledged the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s laboratory had “made three examinations or evaluations” of Tangen’s urine and “all three resulted in a determination that no detectable level of controlled substances was present in the defendant’s body when the sample was taken.” The records also indicate Bilharz’s decision to arrest Tangen was based in part on Bilharz’s status as a drug recognition expert and his alleged observations of Tangen being talkative, “constantly sniffling his nose,” and displaying body tremors during the traffic stop. Throughout Tangen’s encounter with Bilharz, the lawsuit states, the trooper “bullied” Tangen and behaved in a “condescending” manner.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for unlawful search and seizure, false arrest and abuse of process. According to the Iowa State Patrol’s Facebook page, Bilharz graduated from the Iowa Department of Public Safety Academy in 2020, has worked with the patrol’s District 10 team in Oelwein, and is a field training officer and defensive tactics instructor.

(Radio Iowa) – The four Iowans who serve in the U.S. House joined other Republicans early this (Friday) morning in giving final approval to a nine BILLION dollar package of federal budget cuts. First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says the bill cutting waste, fraud and abuse identified by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is a win for the American people. Second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she’ll never stop fighting alongside President Trump for a smaller, more efficient and accountable government and the bill will stop funding for things like Sesame Street in Iraq and propaganga at N-P-R and P-B-S.

The bill withdraws over a billion dollars in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In Iowa, that amounts to an 18 percent budget cut to Iowa P-B-S and a 10 percent cut to Iowa Public Radio.

The bill also ended about eight BILLION dollars in previously-approved funding for the U-S Agency for International Development and other foreign assistance.

(Radio Iowa) – A robotic space mission is scheduled for launch later this month to study what’s known as space weather, and the University of Iowa is the lead institution on the 166-million dollar project, called TRACERS. Professor David Miles, in the U-I’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the mission’s principal investigator. “TRACERS stands for the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites,” Miles says, “but really what TRACERS is doing is, it’s going to study how the output of the sun couples to near-Earth space.” The mission involves twin spacecraft that will focus on space weather, which is responsible for beautiful phenomena like the Northern Lights, but also for technological turmoil, like when satellites stop working — cutting off our phone calls, T-V shows and G-P-S navigation systems. Miles says space weather is always shifting and they want to learn more about why.

NASA illustration of TRACERS

“The sun is a burning, fiery ball of plasma, and as it burns, it blows off an exhaust that we call the solar wind, and that’s always streaming from the sun towards the Earth,” Miles says. “Sometimes the magnetic field of the Earth basically stands it off in the same way that if you have a rock in a stream, the water kind of flows around it.” The two spacecraft will be placed in Earth orbit and will be flying into those areas where the solar wind and the planet’s magnetic field meet. “We have two spacecraft and they’re going to follow each other in a very close separation, so, one spacecraft goes through, and 10 to 120 seconds later, the second spacecraft comes through,” Miles says. “That gives us two closely spaced measurements that allow us to pick apart, is something accelerating and slowing down? Is something moving around? Is something turning on and turning off?”

Key instruments onboard the two spacecraft were designed and built at the Iowa City institution and they’ll be launched aboard a single rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, sometime before the month is out, though a specific date isn’t yet set. With the U-I serving as the lead institution on the $165.7-million mission, this marks the largest external research award in university history.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and other Republicans on the panel have advanced the nomination of President Trump’s former defense attorney to a seat on a federal Appeals Court. Emil Bove is currently a top official in the U-S Justice Department and Grassley says Democrats on the panel unfairly criticized Bove. “Frankly, it crossed the line,” Grassley said. “I’ve served on this committee longer than anyone else in this room. I’ve seen a lot of confirmation fights. What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job.” Democrats pressed to delay the vote and have testimony from a whistleblower who says Bove suggested the Trump Administration should ignore court orders. Democrats eventually walked out and did not vote when Grassley ended committee debate on Bove’s nomination.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley calls for a vote on nomination of Emil Bove on July 17, 2025.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin says Bove shouldn’t be considered for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. “He has been trailed by a history of complaints, long predating his affiliation with President Trump, about his temperament, and lack of candor before the court,” Durbin said. Grassley says he takes whistleblower complaints seriously, but he determined comments from this whistleblower conflict with how others interpreted Bove’s advice. “In short, the documents don’t say what my Democratic colleagues say they do,” Grassley said. “…Mr. Bove has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. He deserves fair treatment. The vicious, partisan attacks and obstruction of nominees we’ve seen from Democrats this Congress have to stop.”

Grassley and other Republicans on the panel also advanced former Fox News host Jeanine Pirrio’s nomination to serve as the U-S Attorney for the District of Columbia. She’s been serving as acting U-S Attorney in the district since May.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Adair-Casey Guthrie Center School Board held their regular, joint monthly meeting Wednesday, July 16^th , in Guthrie Center. Shared District Superintendent Josh Rasmussen told KJAN News the Board reviewed their current, Summer projects.

The Boards accepted the resignation of their High School Principal.

They also the hiring of Bob Bolton, Route/Activity Driver, and Chelsea Pearey as new Elementary School Secretary. They discussed District facilities needs and wants, and are continuing to refine that list.

Josh Rasmussen says the Boards approved 2025-26 Student Registration Fees and Meal Prices.

He said also, the AC/GC Booster Club will hold its Golf Outing and Dinner on July 26^th, and a New Teacher Meet & Greet on August 18^th. School starts August 25^th in the AC/GC District. Ramussen said there are a couple of school board members whose terms are expiring this year, and the filing period for persons interested in serving on the Board is open from August 25^th through September 15^th.