INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — The president of a private college in southern Iowa intends to leave his post. Simpson College President Jay Simmons says he’ll continue his duties until his successor is selected. Simmons says he believes it’s time for new leadership as he enters his seventh year as president of the United Methodist Church-affiliated school. It is situated in Indianola. Simpson has been struggling financially, cutting 23 positions last year.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a handful of recent arrests. At around 12:30-a.m. today (Friday), 51-year old Douglas James Traufler, of Denison, was arrested near McClelland, following a report of a single-vehicle accident at 270th Street and Hickory Road. At the scene, a 2000 Ford Mustang was found in the south ditch. Trauffler was arrested on a felony charge of Conspiracy to manufacture and/or deliver Methamphetamine over 5 grams, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond on the paraphernalia charge was set at $300.

At around 11:45-p.m. Thursday, 26-year old Ashleigh M. Nelson, of Omaha, was arrested at Harrah’s Casino, for Public Intoxication. Her bond was set at $300. A little after 8-p.m., Thursday, Deputies in Pottawattamie County arrested 42-year old Troy Eugene Callander was arrested for Public Intoxication following incidents during and after a concert at Harrah’s Casino. At around 8:25-p.m. Thursday, 23-year old Leslie Alan Rahn, of Omaha, was arrested in Neola for Conspiracy with the intent to deliver, controlled substances (3.8 grams of marijuana, and 4 Xanax bars). An OWI/1st offense charges was pending the results of test samples submitted to the State DCI Crime Lab. Rahn’s arrest followed a report of a possibly impaired driver at the Neola Kum & Go Store. His vehicle was stopped by deputies before he could leave the parking lot.

And, at around 3:35-p.m. Thursday, 32-year old Sammy Hadeer Aburumuh, of Papillion, NE., who was in the Pott. County Jail, was served with a warrant for being a Fugitive from Justice. Aburumuh remains on a hold at the jail for another agency.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(8-a.m. News) — Authorities in Creston were involved early this morning, in the pursuit of two 16-year old males who absconded Thursday from the Clarinda Academy. Creston Police say at around 5:15-a.m., Officers located a vehicle driving in the City Limits of Creston, that had been reported stolen out of Clarinda. The vehicle fled during a traffic stop and was engaged in a pursuit. The chased ended when the vehicle crashed near Afton. Two occupants of the vehicle were flown by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. No further details are being released at this time.

Creston Police said also, 24-year old Joshua Robert Willis, of Creston, was arrested at around 1:40-a.m. today (Friday), for Driving While Suspended. His bond was set at $300.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair has stepped up security following the recent mass shootings in Ohio and Texas. Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek says there are more uniformed officers and plainclothes officers on the grounds. One hundred more security cameras have been installed and are being monitored while the fair is in operation. The fair opened Thursday and closes Aug. 18.

Doug Phillips commands the state fair police, and he told station KCCI that fairgoers may see officers in places they’ve not been stationed in the past. Parizek says security was a major concern before the recent shootings, given the big crowds and the number of presidential candidates who visit. But he says the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have raised security awareness.

Parizek says the fair is very safe, but you can never be too careful.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

SUMNER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the pilot of a crop-dusting plane died Thursday when the aircraft crashed just short of a building in northeast Iowa’s Bremer County. The fiery crash occurred around 7:20-a.m. Thursday, a few yards north of Iowa Highway 93 in Sumner. Witnesses told authorities that a wheel came off the low-flying plane when it hit a power line, which knocked out electricity to part of Sumner. Officials say the wheel hit and shattered the glass front doors of a bank, but no other businesses were damaged. The plane then hit a tree and burst into flames. The pilot was identified as 56-year-old David Baker, who lived in Swedesburg.

The crash cause is being investigated.

A jury in Clarinda has returned a verdict of guilty, in the first-degree murder trial of 34-year old Toby Lee McCunn, of Red Oak. McCunn killed 33-year old Joshua Lyle Jordan April 22nd, in Shenandoah. According to reports, the jurors deliberated for about  2 1/2 hours Thursday, before announcing their verdict.

Over the three day trial, prosecutors called 15 witnesses to the stand. DCI Special Agent Phillip Kennedy testified that McCunn was obsessed over finding Jordan in the weeks leading up to the incident to recover some stolen property. The two men had previous encounters prior to the fatal shooting.

After the verdict was handed-down, McCunn was transported to the Page County Jail, where he was being held without bond. He faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole when McCunn is sentenced September 17th.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified the woman whose body was found in the charred wreckage of her mobile home in central Iowa’s Story County. Authorities say 27-year-old Katelyne Pratt was alone in her home in Nevada when the fire started Tuesday. The home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Pratt’s body and that of a dog were found inside later.

Nearby homes suffered some heat damage, but no other injuries have been reported. Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of Pratt’s death.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2019 Iowa State Fair’s Big Boar tipped the scales yesterday (Thursday) at 1254 pounds. They call him Captain. Tricia Britt, of Monticello, says “We wanted to come up with a name that had authority.”  It’s the first time she and her husband, Bryan, have entered one of their boars in the biggest of big state fair contests.

“We’ve never been here before and we’ve never watched the ‘Big Boar’ show, but we knew about it,” Tricia Britt says. “Brian has a cousin that has done it.” Captain, who is three-and-a-half years old, was the heaviest of six boars entered in Thursday’s State Fair competition.

Each entrant was paraded into the Swine Barn’s show ring and weighed as a crowd on bleachers watched and cheered.