(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A man and woman on a motorcycle were injured Saturday afternoon during a collision with an SUV, north of Panora. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, the SUV, drive by 40-year-old Sarah Ann Hefel, of North Liberty, was traveling north on Highway 4 a little after 12-p.m., and slowed to turn west onto 180th Street. Witnesses confirmed the vehicle’s turn signals were on prior to making the turn. When she began to slow, Hefel’s SUV was struck from behind by a Harley Davidson motorcycle, operated by 63-year-old Dana Scott Rutherford, of Bagley.

Rutherford suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries, and was transported by Lifeflight helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. A passenger on the motorcycle, 70-year-old Lynn Rutherford, of Bagley, was also seriously hurt. She was transported by Mercy Air to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Sarah Hefel was not injured in the collision. Damage from the accident amounted to $20,000.

And, the teenage driver of a pickup truck suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries during a rollover accident late Friday morning in Guthrie County. The Sheriff’s Office says a 15-year-old female was traveling west on Highway 44, about one-quarter of a mile west of A Avenue at around 11:58-a.m., when, according to the report, she found a tick on her body, and became distracted. The 2007 Chevy Silverado pickup she was driving crossed the center line of the road, into the eastbound lane, before it entered the south (eastbound ditch). The teen over-corrected, causing the vehicle to cross both lanes of traffic and enter the north (Westbound) ditch, where it rolled over and came to rest in a field of standing corn.

The teen suffered minor injuries caused by her seat belt, but declined medical treatment. The pickup sustained $5,000 damage. Damage to the corn was estimated at $100.

(Creston, Iowa) –  The Creston Police Department reports four arrests occurred over the past week. Three arrests took place on Friday (July 11):

• 41-year-old Carlos Rafael Rivera, of Creston, was arrested at his residence at around 9:30-a.m., Friday, on a warrant for original charges that include: OWI/1st offense; Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS)/1st offense, and PCS/Marijuana-1st offense. Rivera was being held in the Union County Jail on a $3,000 cash-only bond.
• 19-year-old Michael Joseph Cooley, of Afton, was arrested at around 11:30-a.m. Friday, on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. Cooley was being held in the Union County Jail until seen by a judge.
• And, 42-year-old Nicki Renee Jones, of Creston, was arrested her home at around 6-p.m., Friday, on a charge of Theft in the 3rd Degree. She was released with a citation, and a Promise to Appear in court.

Creston Police said also, 42-year-old Rebekah Ann Baker, of Waukee, was arrested July 9th, for OWI/1st offense. Baker later posted bond, and was released from the Union County Jail.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, during their meeting Wednesday evening at City Hall, will discuss recent changes to the law, with regard to setting the size limits of fireworks used within the City, and hours of sale for fireworks. In his City Council Agenda notes, City Administrator John Lund says two questions have been raised as the result of recent legislative action: “Does the City have the authority to set size limits for fireworks within the City?,” and “Can the City set business hours for the sale of fireworks?”

Lund went to the Iowa League of Cities for answers. He says according to ILC Deputy Director of Services Mickey Shields, the Legislature intends to prevent local governments from placing restrictions specifically on fireworks vendors. While a city may have some leeway to regulate general business hours through zoning ordinances, such regulations must apply broadly and not single out specific types of businesses, such as those selling fireworks. Even then, Shields advises caution, given the current legal landscape surrounding fireworks sales and state law. Regarding the size and type of fireworks, Shields said a section of the Iowa Code outlines general restrictions on what qualifies as “consumer fireworks” and includes provisions for other categories. He said also, the State Fire Marshal has authority over what vendors can sell through the state’s permitting and licensing process.

No action is expected by the Council, as the information Lund will present is simply meant to update members on the law and its implications. In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on passing the second reading of an amended ordinance with regard to “Parking Violations.” The first reading of the ordinance was passed during the Council’s meeting on July 2nd. The Ordinance (#1060) says “Uncontested Violations of parking restrictions…shall be charged upon a simple notice of a fine, payable at the office of the City Clerk.” The fine amounts to $30 for all violations EXCEPT snow route parking violations and improper use of a persons with disabilities parking permit. Those fines are $50 and $100, respectively. Any fines not paid within 30 days, will be increased by $20.

The Atlantic City Council will act on passing a Resolution “Assessing unpaid fees and costs to property taxes,” in cases where City employees have to deal with property cleanup and mowing, nuisance abatements, emergency services or utility disconnections, or other municipal services performed, due to non-compliance by the property owner. The Resolution states the City will send notices to each affected property owner by regular mail, including the Resolution, and the specific amount owed. Property owners will have the right to object, or request a hearing within 10 days from the date of notice. City Administrator John Lund says the City has billed violators of the Public Nuisance Codes, but the approach has “Not achieved the desired effect,” and that “Enough is enough.” The City Council packet shows 10 properties where fees amounting to a total of $10,903.28 have not been paid.

(Iowa News Service) – A new report shows while the gender pay gap is closing in Iowa, there is still a wide margin between what men and women are paid for doing the same jobs. The most recent research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that women working in Iowa earned just over $900 a week, compared to men who earned more than $1,100 for doing the same work. Report co-author Mary Gatta, director of research and public policy at the National Association of Colleges and Employers, said segregated work environments are the main reason for the disparity. “Some of that, as we see in our survey, is attributed to men and women working in different industries and different types of work,” said Gatta, “so we called it ‘occupational sex segregation.'”

The report shows that women in Iowa and nationwide are more likely to have student loans than men, and earning less money means it’s harder to repay them. While the report indicates Iowa women are largely satisfied with their career choices, Gatta said less pay for the same work has long-term implications. “The pay gap continues as women continue in their careers, with less money they are paying into Social Security, it’s less money they are putting into their retirement,” said Gatta. “So, it has immediate impacts around economic security, but also economic security as we age”

The report shows that while almost three-quarters of men work for private-sector companies, just over half of women do. Thirty percent of women work for nonprofits, where compensation is typically lower than in the private sector.

Gatta said more women are now focused on finding non-traditional jobs, which could eventually help close the gap.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a Creston man was cited, following a property damage accident Sunday evening. Authorities say 22-year-old Kaden Lee Briggs was driving a 2010 Chevy Malibu northbound on Summit Lake Avenue, at around 5:25-p.m., when he apparently suffered a medical episode, according to a statement he made to a Sheriff’s Deputy. Briggs’ car swerved-off the road and struck a 9-1-1 residence sign and a mailbox, causing an estimated $500 damage to the property.

Briggs’ car sustained damage amounting to an estimated $1,500. No injuries were reported. The Sheriff’s report said Briggs initially left the scene following the accident, but was located a short time later, and admitted to hitting both the mailbox and sign. The owner of the mailbox was notified.

Briggs was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

(Radio Iowa) – AmeriCorps funding for a conservation nonprofit in eastern Iowa is being restored, after the Trump administration cut 230-thousand dollars from the Bur Oak Land Trust in Iowa City this spring. A federal judge in Maryland ruled the money needed to be reinstated as grant recipients didn’t get the proper warning. Trust director Jason Taylor says it will be hard to rehire the workers who left their posts.  “When they were told in April that they no longer had positions with us, they had the ability to go out and find full-time employment, they had to,” Taylor says, “their livelihood was taken away from them.”

While the funding was restored, Taylor says rebuilding will be difficult since so many former staffers have scattered to find work elsewhere. “What we’re doing is trying to figure out the best kind of avenue to really focus on, what is going to make it right on their side,” Taylor says. “A lot of it is going to be making sure that they get paid what they had originally been contracted to be paid.” The land trust is one of a handful of AmeriCorps grant recipients represented by the group Democracy Defenders in the lawsuit.

It marks the second ruling by a federal judge against the Trump administration’s move to cut 400-million dollars in AmeriCorps grants nationwide.

(Radio Iowa) – State Regulators have levied 125-thousand dollars in fines for violations by the operators of the online gambling company FanDuel. The five violations ranged from allowing bets that are not legal in Iowa on the Superbowl, soccer matches and golf matches. And the largest fine of 30-thousand dollars was for not having working options for responsible gaming. FanDuel spokesman Ben Roth represented the company before the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Friday. “We take responsibility for the matters represented in the settlement before the Commission today and understand that we did not meet the high standard that we hold for ourselves,” he says. Roth says they have been working to be sure all the issues are corrected.

“In response to the issues before you today, FanDuel has worked to remediate the various root causes through a combination of manual remediation efforts. That includes increased training, more detailed checklists and runbooks for the deployment of content and of course, automation wherever possible to avoid the potential for manual error,” Roth says. Roth says they refunded money to bettors where they could. “Finally, FanDuel has addressed each issue by ensuring that no impacted customer has been adversely affected by these issues and sandal has disgorged itself as any resulting revenue as a result of these,” Roth says. Commissioners expressed concern that it took too long to report the problem with the responsible gaming issue, and most of the violations came in the same year. Commission chair Daryle Olsen says that was a big issue.

“Five counts within a very short period of time is just too much, you know, and so and I know they’re dealing with a big volume. I believe FanDuel are number two operator in the state. But we just expect more,” he says. Olsen says they can’t treat online providers different than the ones that operate at a casino. “I think in fairness, the Commission has to look at how we treat our out of state operators versus our brick and mortar casinos, because we need to be consistent and that’s all we’re trying to do. We expect more,” Olsen says. Olsen says every state has different regulations for sports betting, and Iowa’s regulations have to be enforced. “I think our our job is to tell them what we expect, lay out the concerns, and then hopefully they go back and fix it and we don’t have to deal with this again,” he says.

One of the violations involved only 330 dollars in wagers, another was pulled before it was used, while some 89-thousand dollars was bet on the golf wagers and 62-thousand dollars was bet on the Olympic wagers.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest at around 3:40-p.m., Sunday, of 39-year-old Jacob Wayne Dykes-Vargas, of Red Oak. Dykes-Vargas was taken into custody in the 100 block of E. Prospect Street, for Simple Assault. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the world is a dangerous place and she’s urging Iowa’s evangelical community to be allies in President Trump’s movement.  “Taking the fight the forces of darkness, frankly, that threaten us all,” Huckabee Sanders said. “America is the greatest country has ever known because we’re the freeist country that the world has ever known, but we have to do our part to protect that freedom.”

Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary during Trump’s first term, was the closing speaker Friday at The Family Leader’s summit.  “With God as our guide and President Trump back in the White House, we will show the world that America is the place where freedom reigns and liberty will never die,” Huckabee Sanders said. Huckabee Sanders, the nation’s youngest governor, called Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds a mentor and reminisced about her father’s successful 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign.

“What you may not know is that I actually met my husband here in Des Moines back in 2008 when I was working for my dad,” Huckabee Sanders said. “We like to joke in our family that he didn’t win the campaign, but he got a son-in-law and three grandkids out the deal, so a pretty decent trade.”

Her father, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, is currently the U-S Ambassador to Israel and she said he’d spent the better part of the last month in a bunker amid warnings about incoming missiles from Iran.

CORNING, Iowa — A man from Adams County was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison after he allegedly shot at a group of teenagers on Oct. 27, 2023. Court records show 40-year-old Cole Inman, of Corning, plead guilty to one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, a Class-C Felony. He was sentenced July 10th. He was also issued No Contact Orders against the victims.

Inman chased after a group of teens in his car in 2023 and fired shots at their truck several times. (CORRECTION): His wife, 39-year-old Lisa Inman, and their children were also in Inman’s truck at the time. She faces charges that include:

• Conspiracy to commit a forcible felony (Class C felony)
• 2 counts of Child Endangerment
• Obstructing Prosecution or Defense.

Lisa Inman’s jury trial is set for 9-a.m. August 6th.