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

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The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on drug charges, Thursday. 26-year old William Gene Cromar, of Creston, and 42-year old Dixie Lou Hernandez, of Omaha, were arrested in the 200 block of N. Maple Street at around 4:10-p.m. Both faces charges that include Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Meth, and two-counts each of Child Endangerment. Cromar was being held in the Union County Jail on $6,300 bond as well as on a warrant out of Nebraska. Hernandez was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $5,300 bond.

The Creston P-D reports also: 29-year old Kenny Joe Cunningham, of Creston, was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Simple Assault. He was later released on a $300 bond; 55-year old Troy Eugene McKinney, of Creston, was arrested Thursday morning for Driving While Barred. He was released on a Promise to Appear (in court); and, Tara Joleen Oshel (address unknown), was arrested Thursday on a Union  County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. She was later released on a $300 bond.

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

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AMES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Regents has extended contracts and raised some payments in order to keep all three university system presidents on the job. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the regents took the action Thursday for the presidents at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

The board approved contract extensions through June 2023 for University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld and Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen. Northern Iowa President Mark Nook’s contract was extended through June 2025, with the option to renew for an additional two years.

They won’t receive salary increases, but regents opted to extend and, in some cases, increase payments to their deferred contribution plans.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man who authorities say was drunk when he drove into oncoming interstate traffic and collided with another vehicle has been imprisoned.
Polk County District Court records say 39-year-old Zlatan Vukasinovic, of Des Moines, was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison. He’d pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while intoxicated. Prosecutors had dropped another charge in return.

The collision occurred a little after 3 a.m. on Nov. 10. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says Vukasinovic’s pickup truck was headed east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 near Des Moines when it struck a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Frank Sylalom, who died. He lived in Grimes.

Court records say Sylalom was 16 in 2003 when he lost control of a car he was driving and it crashed into a utility pole in Des Moines, killing three teenagers with him. He was convicted in juvenile court of vehicular homicide.

(Radio Iowa) — Eight people face federal charges in connection with a drug investigation that stretched from California to Iowa, and led to arrests in Des Moines yesterday (Thursday). Authorities searched a dozen properties in the Des Moines area and arrested six people for either buying or selling drugs.

A Los Angeles man, who’s also been arrested, is accused of sending cocaine and marijuana to Des Moines. Twenty-eight-year-old Raylon Canada, of Des Moines, is at the center of the case. A court gave authorities to monitor Canada’s phone this spring. He’s being accused of getting cocaine from California, shipped to him through the mail.

Additional customers and redistributors of controlled substances who have been charged with drug conspiracy and distribution include:
• TERIKAH MEIKETIA MAHANEY, 26, of Des Moines
• MICHELLE LEE MIRELES, 39, of Des Moines
• ERIC ELMONT BOWMAN, 33, of Des Moines
• KATARIO WADE PATTON, 48, of West Des Moines
• MARVIN HAYGOOD, JR., 33, of Des Moines
• JOSEPH MANUEL JONES, 47, of Des Moines

The charges in the complaints carry a maximum penalties of twenty years’ imprisonment.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests. At around 12:45-a.m. today (Friday), 28-year old Alik Christopher Hughes, of Stanton, was arrested for Domestic Assault with bodily injury. He was arrested following an incident in the 1900 block of O Avenue, north of Stanton. Hughes was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held without bond.

At around 5:24-p.m. Thursday, following a traffic stop west of Stanton, Montgomery County Deputies arrested 34-year old Damarcus Lacell McQueen, of Omaha. He was arrested on a valid Black Hawk County warrant for Failure to Appear in court. McQueen was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $325 bond.

And, at around 3:36-a.m. Thursday, Deputies arrested 26-year old Thomas Andrew Schooling, of Red Oak, on a charge of Child Endangerment. The charge is the result of an investigation into an incident in the 2600 block of Fernwood Avenue, south of Red Oak. Schooling  was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was taken to a hospital after experiencing chest pains but has returned to work at the Capitol. The governor’s office released a statement saying Reynolds noticed chest pains early Thursday and was taken to a hospital emergency room “out of an abundance of caution.” A doctor checked Reynolds and she was given blood tests, a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram test. After all the tests came back normal, the governor was released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Beto O’Rourke alienated a lot of women mere hours into his presidential run, releasing an announcement video in which his wife sat wordlessly by his side and joking repeatedly about her raising the couple’s three young children “sometimes with my help.” O’Rourke’s wife, Amy, is now joining the former Texas congressman in make-or-break Iowa starting Friday, as he looks to jump-start a once-surging White House campaign whose momentum has stalled. The two could have their work cut out for them.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An open government group has filed a lawsuit seeking to force Polk County to release recordings and additional information about the fatal shooting of a motorist from Wisconsin. The lawsuit filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council contends that the county has refused to explain why a deputy stopped 25-year-old Isaiah Hayes outside of Des Moines last July. It says the county has not clarified whether Hayes was armed when he was killed and how many shots were fired at him.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa police captain is accusing her police chief and the city she serves of discrimination. The Telegraph Herald reports that Dubuque police Capt. Abby Simon filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging her rights have been violated under Iowa’s Civil Rights Act. Simon is also suing for harassment and retaliation. The 20-year police veteran’s lawsuit says she was passed over for promotions, even though she scored better in tests and interviews than the men who got the jobs.

(Corrected to show which vehicle hit which – apologies for the confusion) A woman who admitted to being on her cell phone caused a non-injury accident Thursday afternoon, in Creston. Authorities say a 2017 GMC Acadia driven by 80-year old Barbara Jo Crittenden, of Creston, was struck in the rear by a 2012 Chevy Cruze driven by 21-year old Paige Abagail Marken, of Creston. 

The GMC was stopped at the red light intersection with New York Avenue at around 1:05-p.m., when it was hit from behind by Marken’s vehicle. Damage from the collision amounted to $5,600. Marken was cited for Use of Communication Device. Her car was totaled in the collision and towed from the scene.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An open government group has filed a lawsuit seeking to force Polk County to release recordings and additional information about the fatal shooting of a motorist from Wisconsin.

The lawsuit filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council contends that the county has refused to explain why a deputy stopped 25-year-old Isaiah Hayes outside of Des Moines last July. It says the county has not clarified whether Hayes was armed when he was killed and how many shots were fired at him.

A grand jury declined to pursue charges against the deputy, Ryan Phillips, who has returned to work. The county says he acted appropriately but has refused to release recordings and information about the shooting, including dash camera video and audio. The county says those are “investigative reports” that can be withheld from the public indefinitely.

The sheriff’s office has said Phillips saw Hayes exit the stolen car he was driving and flee on foot. Phillips reported Hayes had a weapon and that he fired at Hayes when he refused orders to drop it. Investigators have refused to say, however, whether any weapon was found.