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

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The Creston Police Department is reporting five recent arrests. On Thursday, 38-year old Jennifer Lynn Beard, of Creston, was arrested for Harassment in the 3rd degree. She was later released on her own recognizance. Late Wednesday evening, 31-year old Clay Allen Brammer, of Arispe was arrested in Creston for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

At around 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, 37-year old Brandon Ashley Howe, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 3rd degree. His bond was also set at $1,000. And, 46-year old Tori Lynne Pettit, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday afternoon for Disorderly Conduct. She was released on a $300 bond.

Tuesday morning, 24-year old Tyler Dennis James White, a homeless person, was arrested in Creston for Theft in the 5th degree. White plead guilty to the charge, and was released.

Creston Police said also, that on June 28th, a man residing in the 300 block of Russel Street reported that sometime between June 27th and 28th, someone spray painted the side of his 1988 pickup truck while it was parked outside the residence. The damage was estimated at $330.

(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says President Trump’s Independence Day “Salute to America” in Washington, D.C. used the military as “props” for his ego. “I’ve always been proud of the fact that our country is not the kind of place where we feel the need to go over the top in proving how tough we are,” Buttigieg said. He went on to say “…America has not generally been, at least in my times, the kind of country where a leader found it necessary to roll tanks down the streets to prove that we were strong and so, in a way, I think it actually makes us seem smaller.” Buttigieg walked in Storm Lake’s July 4th parade and he says it was the kind of event that celebrated what is “good and special” about America — in contrast to the production in D.C.

“There’s this feeling with this president of trying too hard, maybe trying to compensate for his own failures when it came to his chance to serve,” Buttigieg said. “I don’t know.”  During the Vietnam War, Trump received four military deferments as a college student and another for a foot condition. Buttigieg was an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve. There’s a history of military service in Buttigieg’s family, but Buttigieg says he enlisted after volunteering for the Obama campaign in 2007 and knocking on doors in southern Iowa’s Union, Decatur and Ringgold Counties. “There I was, in my mid-to-late 20s, in Iowa, realizing that these towns are pouring out their youth into the American military and I still haven’t worn my country’s uniform. You know, what am I doing? And it was the thing that put me over the top,” he says.

Buttigieg was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. “When I left in 2014, I thought I was one of the last guys turning out the lights on the way out and five years later we’re still there. We’re still debating how to get out. We’ve got to find a way to put an end to endless wars,” Buttigieg says. “I’m afraid we’re not that far from the day when I’ll open up the news and read about an American casualty in Afghanistan who was not alive on 9/11.”

Buttigieg says the U.S. can have some military presence in Afghanistan to ensure another terrorist attack on our country originates from Afghanistan, but he says that doesn’t mean an open-ended commitment to having so many troops on the ground. Buttigieg, in an interview with Radio Iowa on July 4th, discussed his military background as well as his bid for the presidency. Buttigieg’s campaign announced it has raised nearly 25 million dollars in the past three months. Buttieg said he’ll spend the bulk of that to organize get-out-the-vote efforts in “very specific places” — beginning with Iowa. “We’re developing our ground game now to a new level because we have the resources to do it, It’s a race. It’s also a unique dynamic because there’s just so many of us,” Buttigieg said, with a laugh.

Buttigieg was among the six presidential candidates who spent their July 4th campaigning in Iowa.

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

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The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a “Movie in the Park” Campground Program. Staffers will be showing How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The public program will be held at the Campground Shelter at Cold Springs Park in Lewis tonight, beginning at 9:30-p.m. The FREE event may be rescheduled in the event of rain. The show is about what happens when Hiccup discovers Toothless isn’t the only Night Fury. He must seek “The Hidden World”, a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first. Come out for a great movie under the stars. The Conservation Board was awarded an E.F & Sylvia Schildberg Foundation Grant for their Movies in the Park. Bring a blanket or chair, Dress for the weather. You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program! We hope you will join us!

The Cass County Conservation Board is also holding a “Dutch Oven Cooking- Dinner Program.” The public program will be held at the Campground Shelter at Cold Springs Park in Lewis, on Saturday, July 6th, beginning at 5:00 PM. During the FREE program, you can learn how to make a Sloppy Joe Casserole Dinner entrée, and dessert in a dutch oven. Please bring your own place setting for samples. Free will donation for supplies will be accepted. You DO NOT have to be a registered camper to attend the program.

Police in Red Oak arrested two men early this (Friday) morning, on separate charges. A little before 2-a.m., 40-year old Jason Michael Eppenbaugh, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, for possession of drug paraphernalia. Eppenbaugh was cited into court on the simple misdemeanor charge and then released at the scene.  And, at around 2:25-a.m., 27-year old Devon Keith Hale, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in the 200 block of N. 2nd Street in Red Oak. Hale was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with Disorderly Conduct. His cash-only bond was set at $300.

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

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man was fatally shot by police after confronting them with a weapon when officers were called to a Des Moines-area home because of a domestic disturbance. West Des Moines police said the shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday less than a mile from the junction of I-35 and I-235 on the city’s north side. The man was injured and died at a hospital. No officers were injured.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Candidates collided Thursday at the Iowa Cubs ballpark in Des Moines when former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife ran into former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and his family. Biden walked into the park as the O’Rourkes watched the end of a naturalization ceremony happening on the field, and went to introduce himself and his wife. The two Democratic presidential candidates chatted pleasantly about baseball.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Court of Appeals has overturned a $3.25 million jury award against a Des Moines-area couple’s lawyer over a failed adoption where the baby boy later was murdered in 2014. The Des Moines Register reports that a three-judge panel ruled Wednesday that adoption attorney Jason Rieper’s conduct fell short of the legal threshold permitting Rachel and Heidi McFarland of Ankeny to recover damages for emotional distress from alleged legal malpractice.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new Iowa law will set aside part of the state’s lottery revenues to help the families of firefighters and law enforcement officers keep insurance after their deaths. The Des Moines Register reports that the law will allow the Iowa Lottery to provide $100,000 to a new fund for assisting the families of firefighters and law enforcement officers who die on duty. It will help cover health or accident insurance costs.

(Des Moines, IA) — On July 3, 2019, Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents and crime scene personnel were requested to investigate a shooting, which involved officers with the West Des Moines Police Department. The shooting, which took place at 1036 Woodland Park Drive in West Des Moines, resulted in the death of 26-year old Jonathan Pingel of West Des Moines.

West Des Moines Police Officer Matthew Wood and Officer Nathan Grove were dispatched to the 1036 Woodland Park Drive on a 911 report of a domestic disturbance. After meeting with the homeowner, Officer Wood and Officer Grove entered the home, where they encountered Mr. Pingel, armed with a hunting-style knife.

Officer Wood and Officer Grove gave Mr. Pingel commands to drop the knife. Mr. Pingel did not comply with the officer’s commands and advanced toward the officers with the knife. Officer Wood and Officer Grove each discharged their firearm; striking Mr. Pingel. Officers and EMS personnel provided Mr. Pingel medical assistance. Mr. Pingel was transported to a Des Moines hospital, where he died.

Body cameras worn by Officer Wood and Officer Grove recorded the encounter. The videos, which are part of the investigation, are not being released at this time.

Per West Des Moines Police Department policy, Officer Wood and Officer Grove were placed on paid administrative leave. The Polk County Medical Examiners Office will conduct an autopsy on Mr. Pingel. Once the investigation is complete, the DCI will provide all findings to the Polk County Attorney’s Office. This process may take weeks. No additional information will be released concerning this investigation.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa ethanol producers are hosting a delegation from Mexico this month. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says it’s a group involved in retail fuel sales in Mexico. “They’ve had a state-owned oil monopoly for a long time that they’ve cracked open and are now allowing competition,” Shaw says. And in 2017 Mexico, began allowing fuel with a 10 percent ethanol blend to be sold OUTSIDE the the three largest cities in the country. Shaw says these changes make Mexico an “emerging” market for ethanol produced in the U.S.

“Right now, Mexico is the number two export market for US ethanol production,” Shaw says, “about 350 million gallons.” That’s roughly equal to the annual output of more than three of the largest ethanol plants in Iowa according to Shaw. Most of the U.S. ethanol exported to Mexico has been used to make perfumes, solvents and beverages.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Kamala Harris is clarifying her position on federally mandated school busing, saying it’s only necessary in cases where local governments are actively opposing integration. Harris says that in the 1960s and ’70s, institutions “were literally working against integration of our schools.” Harris says that’s why she supported busing then but now thinks it should just be a “tool” available to local governments and school districts to address segregation. She says, “Today it is very rare that we require the courts or the federal government to intervene.”

Harris spoke with reporters Thursday before a campaign event in Indianola, Iowa. Her stance on busing came under scrutiny after last week’s debate, when she went after former Vice President Joe Biden for his stance on busing while he was a senator.