The Creston Police Department reports two arrests and an incident of vandalism/theft. Authorities say 37-year old Wesley Gregg, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday morning in the 100 block of N. Elm, on a Union County Warrant for Burglary 2nd Degree. Gregg was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Wednesday afternoon, 39-year old Jennifer Beard, of Creston, was arrested at her residence for Violation of Court Order/No Contact Order. Beard was being held in the Adams County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

A Creston woman reported to police Wednesday morning, that sometime during the previous night someone had broken a window on her vehicle while it was parked at her residence in the 500 block of N. Stone Street. A wallet in the vehicle was stolen. The loss was estimated at $220 altogether.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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ZEARING, Iowa (AP) — Local and state authorities are investigating the death of woman during a domestic dispute in central Iowa. The Story County Sheriff’s Office says a Zearing resident called 911 around 5 p.m. Wednesday to report that a neighbor told her he’d killed his wife. Deputies found her body outside, and it was taken away for an autopsy. The man was taken to Ames for medical treatment. The couple’s names haven’t been released.

(Radio Iowa) — A group of students are asking the state board that oversees the three state universities to host public meetings with students on the campuses in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City. Sara Castro, a Grinnell College student, says students of color are experiencing a rise in racism and are finding it more difficult to afford tuition. “We ask that this Board of Regents take us seriously. Last year, you refused to. We’re not asking any more. We’re demanding. Reach out to our staff before the end of the fall semester to schedule these town halls or we promise to shut down every one of your spring semester meetings,” Castro said. “Stop hiding from the students you represent.”

Castro is a spokesperson for “Iowa Student Action,” which is part of a national network of grassroots organizers. Castro addressed the Board of Regents during the public comment period at its meeting in Cedar Falls yesterday (Wednesday). Becky Hawbaker is president of the United Faculty, the union at the University of Northern Iowa with about 650 members. She says there are problems that must be addressed. “I’m here to support our students of color and other marginalized students who have organized and who have called this university and others to account for inadequate progress on addressing individual and institutional discrimination on our campus,” she said. “Their social media posts, their town hall meeting this week have all illustrated and given voice to problems and issues we need to collectively hear.”

Last week, U-N-I’s president formed a committee to investigate allegations of systemic racism on the Cedar Falls campus and come up with plan of action.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — A police officer who obtained a confession from the suspect in the disappearance and death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts says she made an honest mistake by initially failing to read him his legal rights. Officer Pamela Romero testified Wednesday that she tried to read Cristhian Bahena Rivera his Miranda warnings from memory during the Aug. 20, 2018, interrogation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A district court judge has rejected a request by former Gov. Terry Branstad’s lawyers to set aside a jury verdict that concluded Branstad discriminated against a former state official because he’s gay. The ruling by Judge Brad McCall filed Tuesday summarily rejects dozens of arguments including challenges to legal rulings during trial and jury instructions. McCall says substantial evidence exists to support the jury’s conclusions

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa men have been sentenced to federal prison in separate child pornography cases. Federal prosecutors for Iowa say 34-year-old Ryan Mitchell Budde, of Clinton, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. Also on Tuesday, 28-year-old Marcus Henry Benjamin was sentenced to more than seven years after pleading guilty in June to one count of receiving child pornography.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake University in Des Moines has announced it’s partnering with Des Moines Public Schools to develop a new community sports stadium in the city. The university said in a news release Wednesday that the 4,000-seat stadium will be located on the Drake campus and serve as the venue for the public school district’s high school and middle school football and soccer games. It will also serve as the home field for the Drake Bulldogs’ soccer teams.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa men have been sentenced to federal prison in separate child pornography cases. Federal prosecutors for Iowa say 34-year-old Ryan Mitchell Budde, of Clinton, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. Budde pleaded guilty to the county in July. Investigators say they found 365 images of child pornography on Budde’s two cellphones and two laptops.

Also on Tuesday, 28-year-old Marcus Henry Benjamin was sentenced to more than seven years after pleading guilty in June to one count of receiving child pornography. Investigators say Benjamin collected child pornography for more than four years, amassing a collection of over 1,200 images videos.

(Radio Iowa) — Nearly three dozen calves were killed in a barn fire early this (Wednesday) morning near New Vienna. New Vienna’s fire chief says the fire broke out in a barn on the farm of Mark and Mary McAlister about five miles east of town. When fire fighters arrived, the barn was fully ingulfed in flames. Thirty-five baby calves were lost in the blaze. The barn is a total loss. There was also damage to the house and several surrounding buildings. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)  — Just one dollar. That’s the purchase price for the deal that will see the State of Iowa turn the former Iowa Braille and Sight-saving School campus over to the City of Vinton. John Nash is director of facilities for the Iowa Board of Regents which has managed the site for decades. “The property includes 48 acres and 11 buildings,” Nash says. The main building on the Vinton campus opened in 1862. One of the school’s most famous students was Mary Ingalls, the sister of “Little House on the Prairie” author Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The number of students living at the school dwindled to just 16 in 2008 and by 2011 the school was closed. The state signed a lease 11 years ago with the federal government and the site has been used as a regional hub for the AmeriCorps program.  “Before we finalize the property sale, we do have closing documents to complete, including the transfer of the AmeriCorps lease itself from the Board of Regents to the City of Vinton,” Nash says.

The Board of Regents is expected to review and approve the deal during its meeting tomorrow (Thursday) in Cedar Falls. Most states, like Iowa, now offer technical help to school districts where blind or visually-impaired students are enrolled, rather than run a residential school, but there are still about two dozen residential programs in the country that are managed by states or privately run.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s attorney general is joining his counterparts in 21 other states in calling for the forgiving of loans to former I-T-T Tech students. Tom Miller and the other attorneys general are calling on the head of Federal Student Aid to immediately discharge the loans of borrowers enrolled at closed schools. As of May, there were 52,000 former ITT Tech students eligible for closed-school discharge relief, but only 7,000 were granted it.

The for-profit school, which had campuses in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, filed bankruptcy in 2016 after action by the U.S. Department of Education to restrict its access to federal student aid. In a news release, Miller said: “Iowans who attended ITT Tech incurred debts for a questionable education that they could not repay nor discharge.”

The Atlantic Rotary Club will host their Annual Auction Saturday, November 23^rd at the Cass County Community Center. Doors open at 5:30-p.m. Every year, the club partners with an organization to help them raise funds for items needed. This year, they are partnering with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to help them purchase body cameras and a drug dog. Raffle tickets are one for $20 or six for $100. First prize receives $1,500; second receives $1,000 and third receives $500. You do not need to be present to win.

If you can’t make the auction and would like to support by purchasing raffle tickets, stop by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.