The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports six arrests from the past week. On April 11th, 23-year-old Kaylee Renae Roach, of Atlantic, was taken into custody following a traffic stop on Highway F58 near the 1900 block.   Upon further investigation, it was determined that Roach’s driving privileges had been suspended through the State of Iowa.  She was taken into custody without incident, and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, no proof of insurance, and operating a non-registered vehicle.  She was held until she was released the following morning on her own recognizance.  26-year-old Dakota Lynn Blum, of Lake View, was also arrested April 11th. She was taken into custody following a traffic stop along Highway 59.  Blum, who had a statewide warrant for her arrest out of Sac County, was taken into custody without incident, and later transferred to Sac County for appearance on her outstanding warrant.

On April 12th, Deputies in Shelby County arrested 22-year-old Emmanuel Alexis Mejia, of Denison, following a traffic stop along the 600 block of Highway 59, for a traffic violation.   Upon further investigation, it was determined that Mejia driving privileges were suspended through the State of Iowa.  The passenger in the vehicle, a juvenile male was transferred to the Sheriff’s Office where he was released to a family member without incident.

On Sunday, Deputies arrested 46-year-old Karen Diane Barker, of North Wilkesboro, NC, following a traffic stop on Highway 191 in Shelby County.   Upon further investigation, Barker was charged with possession of controlled substance (pharmaceutical) and possession of drug paraphernalia.  She was transported to the jail without incident and released a short time later after posting the $1300 surety bond.

On April 9th, the Iowa State Patrol arrested 37-year-old Randy Glen Newman, of Council Bluffs, following a traffic stop for a speeding violation along Highway 59, in Shelby County. When it was determined Newman’s driving privileges had been barred in the State of Iowa for being a habitual offender, he was transported to the Shelby County jail without incident and charged with driving while barred, habitual offender and held under $2000 cash or surety bond, which was posted a short time later that evening.

And, on April 8th, authorities in Shelby County were dispatched to a residence in Shelby, for a reported disturbance between a man and a woman.  Upon further investigation, 50-year-old Chad Ian Dills was arrested for domestic abuse assault. He was transported to the Shelby County Jail without incident and released on his own recognizance the next day, after appearing before the magistrate.

Two people were arrested on separate drug and other charges in Creston, last Friday, According to Creston Police, 44-year-old Ian Stover, of Creston, was arrested Friday evening on a Union County warrant for Failure to serve his jail sentence on an original charge of Violation of a No Contact Order. Stover was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense, and Possession of Paraphernalia. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,300 bond, and until the balance of his original sentence is served.

Friday night, 28-year-old Casey Welcher, of Afton, was arrested in Creston for Possession of a Concealed Weapon, Assault on a Peace Office (without injury), Interference with Official Acts, and Possession of Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,600.

Friday afternoon, 21-year-old Garrett Abel, of Afton, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. She was cited and released from custody on a Summons to Appear. And, Saturday afternoon, 19-year-old Carter Menefee, of Greenfield, was arrested in Creston for Public Intoxication. He was later released on $300 bond.

With News Director Ric Hanson.

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Two men from Pottawattamie County were arrested at around 1:23-a.m. today (Monday), in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 25-year-old Robert Michael Guzman, Jr., of Carter Lake, and 24-year-old Jacob Lee Mattox, of Council Bluffs, were taken into custody for possession of marijuana. They were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash-only bond, each.

(Radio Iowa) – A court challenge is expected quickly to what opponents are calling an “ag gag” law that won final Iowa legislative approval this week. Adam Mason, state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, says the bill which criminalizes certain types of trespassing on agricultural properties is waiting on Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature. Mason says if she signs it into law, there will be lawsuits.

“Because this one specifically addresses photo and video evidence, we assume it to be unconstitutional and that was one of our arguments in fighting them,” Mason says. “We do anticipate a court challenge. The question is, who that will be coming from.” While I-C-C-I is considering its next step, Mason says he’s heard animal rights activist Matthew Johnson, who was arrested on trespassing charges at an Iowa pork operation, will likely be taking the issue to court. Mason says his group has multiple worries about the bill.

“Folks who have concerns, either about environmental violations at factory farms,” Mason says. “Or because this law is pretty broad, it could prevent workers inside packing plants or other food processing facilities from documenting workplace violations.” Mason fears this type of measure could have far-reaching impacts and it will take time for the various courts to unravel all of these surrounding issues.

“If folks see something wrong, they should be able to say something but this bill tries to turn that into a crime,” Mason says. “That’s a huge concern for us and it’s going to prevent folks from speaking out when they see either environmental violations or workplace violations.”

Under the bill, knowingly entering private property without the owner’s consent and taking soil and water samples or samples of an animal’s bodily fluids would become an aggravated misdemeanor on the first offense. It carries a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison. A second offense would be a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that criminalizes certain types of trespassing on agricultural properties has passed the Iowa legislature and now awaits Governor Kim Reynolds’ signature. Drew Mogler, the public policy director at the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says it creates new penalties for those found guilty of trespassing to set up surveillance equipment on someone else’s property to secretly capture images or video.

“It does have some important protections for not just our members but really anyone who has private property and that was really the basis of this bill,” Mogler says, “protecting private property rights for folks in the state of Iowa, to have some strong support from some of the business groups in the state as well.” Iowa legislators have been trying for years to enhance trespassing laws in response to undercover operations that target large-scale livestock operations. Mogler says the way the bill was written should help it withstand any possible lawsuits.

“We’ve had trespass laws on the books for quite some time in Iowa, it strengthens those,” Mogler says. “We really believe that should pass the court’s muster and shouldn’t be challenged from that standpoint.” Earlier measures were written as what critics called “ag gag” laws, which were thrown out, although some of those measures are still being argued in court. Mogler says trespassers need to be held accountable and this bill will ensure it happens.

“Producers deserve to be protected from folks who are trespassing on private property or breaking into their properties and trying to do harm,” Mogler says. “This bill will offer more protections for farmers for their private properties and also for other businesses across the state as well.” The measure passed the House on a 72-to-20 vote while the Senate approved it 35-to-11. The governor is expected to sign it into law.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is co-sponsoring legislation to make a retroactive change in the federal Paycheck Protection Program for some farmers and small business owners. The P-P-P was created last spring and quickly ran out of money. A third round of funding was approved by Congress in December. “Currently, there’s a technicality with the PPP that’s preventing some Iowa farmers and self-employed small business owners from receiving their full PPP forgiveable loan,” Hinson says.

Hinson, a Republican from Marion, and Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, are co-sponsoring the bill. Hinson says a technicality had prevented some farmers and self-employed small business owners from using gross income rather than net profit to determine the size of their P-P-P loans.

“Basically it just fixes that disparity, allows the retroactivity and then allows them to recalculate to get the whole payment,” Hinson says, “regardless of what the loan status was before.” The National Federation of Independence Business has endorsed the legislation.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is calling on congressional leaders to include money for the renewable fuels industry in the infrastructure bill they’re crafting. President Biden’s American Jobs Act proposes spending 174 billion to promote development of electric vehicles and install charging stations.  “We’ve also got our homegrown alternatives in clean biofuels that can be readily be put in place immediately,” Axne says, “much more quickly than we can move towards electric vehicles.”

Axne says she’s talked with U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about ensuring the biofuels sector gets included in the final package. There are more than 284 million registered vehicles in the U.S. — and fewer than half a percent of them run on electricity. Axne says investing now in biofuels infrastructure — like new fuel pumps that dispense higher blends of ethanol in gasoline– would have an immediate impact on air quality.

“We can get into markets more quickly,” Axne says. “We can increase the amount of ethanol used and automatically reduce our greenhouse gases and make sure we’re coming out of the gate with this bill actually making an impression from the beginning.” In a letter to six top House leaders, Axne cited recent Harvard University research that suggests ethanol’s carbon intensity score is nearly half that of gasoline and could be be even lower.

Members of the City of Atlantic’s Park and Recreation Board will meet 5:15-p.m. Monday (April 19), via Zoom. Action items and/or New Business during the meeting, will include:

• Sunnyside Tennis Court Bathrooms
• Dog Park Upgrades
• Summer Programs
• An updated Campground Kiosk
• Spotlight days
• Online recreation item reservations,
• and Little League/Soccer Association.

In the Director’s Report, Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen will discuss:

• Nesting Boxes
• Controlled Burns
• The Easter Egg Cruise
• Groundskeeper applications,
• and more.

Members of the Audubon School District Board of Education will hold their regular monthly meeting Monday, April 19th, in the High School Board Room. The meeting begins at 7-p.m. Some action items on the Board’s agenda include (but are not limited to…):

• Approving the last day of school and the list of graduates.
• Approving an AEA Purchasing Agreement.
• Approval of a “Quit Claim” Deed for the Christensen Trust.
• and approval of a late Open Enrollment request.

In other business, the Audubon School Board will receive updates from Superintendent Eric Trager, with regard to Federal COVID Relief Funds, along with a report on buildings and grounds. At the end of regular business, the Board will move into an Exempt (closed) Session, for the purpose of strategy negotiations with those employees not represented by a collective bargaining unit.

Coming out of the closed session, the board will take action on approving raises for those same employees