The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest on Monday afternoon. At 1:23 p.m. Deputies arrested 22-year-old Tyson Joseph Uhlmann for operating a motor vehicle while revoked. He was later booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some energy companies have begun implementing rolling power outages in response to overwhelming demand for power during record-setting low temperatures and wind chills. The Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities across 14 states, called for rolling outages because the supply of reserve energy had been exhausted. Some utilities said they were starting blackouts, while others urged customers to reduce power usage.

Southwest Power Pool service area

Officials with the Midland Power Cooperative issued a statement, Monday, saying “Due to unprecedented electric load, regional transmission operator Southwest Power Pool may ask power providers to shed electric load. If this happens, members may experience intermittent power outages lasting 45 minutes.

Electric co-op members are encouraged to conserve energy to help reduce the demand during this time. Please turn down your heat, refrain from or delay use of large appliances, and turn off any unused lights. Let’s all do our part to avoid power outages during the extreme weather.”

A man who received child pornography was sentenced on Thursday, February 11, 2021, to more than 8 years in federal prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the northern District of Iowa, reports 38-year old Brandon Embrey, from Coon Rapids, received the prison term after a September 20, 2020, guilty plea to receiving child pornography

At the plea hearing, Embrey admitted that from September 2018 through April 2019, he received and possessed over 600 images of child pornography.  Embrey utilized the Internet, Google Drive and Google Photos to receive and possess visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including depictions involving prepubescent minors or minors whom had not attained 12 years of age.  Over 600 images of child pornography were found in Embrey’s online accounts.  Embrey also admitted to being a user of methamphetamine.

Embrey was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Embrey was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Embrey is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikala Steenholdt and was investigated by the Iowa ICAC Task Force, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Coon Rapids Police Department.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa-based Pizza Ranch, known for its buffet of pizza, chicken and other offerings, expanded last year, even as the coronavirus pandemic hit the restaurant industry harder than most. Pizza Ranch, based in Orange City, has over 200 locations in 14 states. Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Achterhoff tells the Sioux City Journal that the chain added five new locations last year and has six or seven more openings slated for this year.

Even with the expansion, Achterhoff acknowledged that the past year has been challenging for Pizza Ranch, noting the chain weathered it by becoming more reliant on carryout and deliveries in 2020.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man who was granted a new trial by the Iowa Supreme Court last year is seeking a change of venue. The Telegraph Herald reports that 28-year-old Fontae Buelow filed Thursday for the change of venue from Dubuque County, saying media coverage of the case has made it impossible for him to get a fair trial there. Authorities say Buelow fatally stabbed his girlfriend, 21-year-old Samantha Link of Peosta, on March 31, 2017, while Buelow has maintained that Link stabbed herself twice in the chest.

Buelow was convicted of second-degree murder in 2018, but in December, the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial, saying information about Link’s prior suicide attempt and mental health records should have been allowed.

The Iowa State Patrol posted on social media, Monday, that it’s been a rough winter for the State Patrol, Dept. of Motor Vehicle Enforcement (DMVE) and DOT snowplows. “Luckily,” officials said, “there have been no serious injuries to our folks, but between Iowa DOT and Iowa State Patrol, 63 of our vehicles have been hit on Iowa roads.” Authorities ask motorists to “PLEASE slow down and watch for us ahead.”