(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday, arrested a woman wanted on a Mills County warrant. Authorities say 44-year-old Ashley Marie Hall, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 2:25-p.m. in the 1200 block of Circle Drive, in Red Oak. She was taken into custody on the warrant for Violation of Probation. Hall was transported to Mills County and then to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. She was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (KCRG & KCCI) – At least 200 workers at a meat packing plant in southern Iowa had their work visas revoked, and they must leave the United States. The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1149 confirms that between 210 and 220 employees at Ottumwa’s JBS plant were informed that their visas have been revoked and their employment terminated. A Local 1149 official said this is the largest termination of visa workers in his 23 years with the union.

Another union official told KCCI that the HTE Hormel plant in Algona is dismissing 12 employees for the same reasons.

On July 15, Ottumwa Mayor Rick Johnson told city council members that JBS has been meeting with workers from places like Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. He couldn’t confirm if more groups would be affected. The Mayor said JBS is providing workers with $1,000 dollars each to help them self-deport.

The Ottumwa plant employs around 2,500 people.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – FedEx is laying off 84 employees in eastern Iowa as part of a widespread “network transformation”. According to a release from FedEx, the company is launching a network transformation program to improve package delivery. As a result, some FedEx facilities are closing, while others are consolidating in an attempt to streamline FedEx services.

The FedEx facility on Harrison Street in Dubuque is set to close, impacting 27 employees. In addition, the FedEx facility on Beech Way SW in Cedar Rapids will reduce some of its staff. While the Cedar Rapids facility will remain open, 57 employees are set to be laid off as a result of the new program.

Staff members at both facilities were made aware of the layoffs months in advance. FedEx reports that many of the employees will be offered other roles within the company. Affected employees are being provided with career transition support, reassignment opportunities, and compensation packages, according to a statement from the company.

INDIANAPOLIS — A Texas man accused of stalking and sending “sexually violent” social media messages to Caitlin Clark has pleaded guilty. According to KCCI-TV, Michael Lewis, who was 55-years-old at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody in January after investigators say he threatened and stalked Clark. He was arrested at a hotel in Indianapolis after traveling there from Texas.

Lewis proclaimed himself “guilty as charged” during his first court appearance. The court filed a not guilty plea on Lewis’ behalf.

Lewis pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, some of which has already been served. He is also prohibited from contacting Clark and is banned from all Pacers and Fever games and events.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The theme for this Thursday evening’s Produce In the Park in downtown Atlantic, is “Drumstick Night.” Organizers say it’ll be  a “Drumtastic time,” with the Atlantic Public Library’s all-ages drumming activity.

Drumtastic at the Atlantic Public Library

The event – which takes place from 4:30-until 6:30-p.m., features chicken drumsticks from a local vendor, and, Cass County Tourism is giving away 100 ice cream drumsticks, first come, first served!

There will be over 25 vendors set-up at the downtown Atlantic City Park, featuring: Fresh Produce (tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, green beans, and more), Farm-Fresh Eggs, Local Meats (including chicken drumsticks!), Baked Goods & Desserts, Freeze-Dried Snacks, Local Honey, Arts & Crafts, Garden Decorations, Compost.

Pho Wheels & Sushi Food Truck will be at Produce in the Park July 31

Food Trucks on site include : Pho Wheels and Sushi, and the Teeny Weeny Weiner Wagon. Kids’ craft activity, accordion tunes, and Visiting organizations: Healthy Cass County, Cass Health, Atlantic Kiwanis, and more!

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HxDwrhn5k/

(Via the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Corn rated nearly 90% good to excellent during the reporting period from July 21 through July 27, while wet conditions limited farmers’ activities in the field, according to the latest crop progress and condition report.  Iowa crops continue to progress slightly ahead of schedule while above-average temperatures and precipitation caused humid conditions and in some cases, caused excessive soil moisture.

Across the state, topsoil moisture went from 21% surplus last week to 30% surplus this week. Subsoil moisture conditions also increased to 24% surplus, up from 17% last week.  According to State Climatologist Justin Glisan, the weekly average precipitation was 1.58 inches for the reporting period, which is 0.61 inches above the normal. Some regions of the state, however, received as much as 7.2 inches during the reporting period and southeastern Iowa had between 3 and 5 inches.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said with only a couple of days left in July, it “could rank among the top ten wettest Julys on record. Last week was hot and muggy as a heat dome settled over the Midwest, producing some sweltering heat and humidity,” Naig said in a statement. The average temperature for the week, at 77.5, was more than 4 degrees above normal. Temperatures throughout the period were between 2 and 6 degrees above the 30-year average.

Soybeans also rated 82% good to excellent for the reporting period and 81% of soybean acres were blooming. Soybeans are five days ahead of last year and two days ahead of the five-year average in terms of setting pods, as 52% of the crop across the state has reached that stage. According to the report, nearly half of Iowa oat acres have been harvested, with higher percentages of harvest completed in southern regions of the state.

Oats rated 83% good to excellent and hay rated 86% good to excellent.  Across the state 87% of alfalfa hay acres have had a second cutting and 28% have undergone a third cutting. Pasture conditions also rated well at 82% good to excellent, though according to the report, some livestock stress was reported on account of the heat and humidity.

(A report from the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A legal organization focused on freedom of expression filed a new legal brief Monday asking the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the injunction in place blocking Iowa’s ban on books that are not “age appropriate” from K-12 schools.

PEN America, a nonprofit focused on freedom of expression, filed the brief in support of the legal challenge mounted by publishers including Penguin Random House, the Iowa State Education Association and several authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green and Jodi Picoult. The plaintiffs are challenging Senate File 496, a 2023 Iowa law that  prohibits books depicting sex acts from being available in K-12 school libraries, as well as banning programs, materials and instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation for K-6 students.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher has ruled to block enforcement of multiple portions of the law, including the prohibition on books involving sexual or LGBTQ+ content. But that injunction could be overturned by the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ruled in August 2024 that Locher’s “analysis” of the case was not correct and returned it to the district court.

These are some of the books recently banned from Iowa schools under a new state law. (Photo by Ed Tibbetts)

PEN America argued in its brief for the appeals court to keep the latest injunction in place, saying the law “undermines public education systems in violation of the First Amendment by denying students’ rights to receive information, infringing on authors’ free speech rights, and misapplying the obscenity doctrine.”

Iowa public schools had removed 3,400 books from school shelves by the end of 2024, according to the Des Moines Register, including classic literature like “1984” by George Orwell, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. Many school districts have expressed uncertainty about what books can be available in schools under the law, as the Iowa Department of Education had declined to respond to advocates asking for more clarification about “age appropriate” materials as defined by SF 496.

Locher wrote the law “places the burden on local school districts and school officials to determine whether a book is permitted,” and that the measure was “facially unconstitutional” when looking at previous court precedents on First Amendment cases.

In the Monday court brief, PEN America staff attorney Elly Brinkley echoed these concerns, writing that laws that target any and all descriptions of sex in literature have been “squarely condemned” by the U.S. courts in previous decisions, as it abridges students’ First Amendment rights to receive information.

In addition to the lawsuit filed by Penguin Random House, ISEA and authors, there is another challenge filed by Lambda Legal and ACLU of Iowa on behalf of students, teachers and the organization Iowa Safe Schools. Locher ruled in May that parts of the law challenged by Lambda Legal and the ACLU are also unconstitutional, issuing an injunction in May ruling that K-6 students must be allowed to join Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSA) and other student groups related to LGBTQ+ identities and that school districts and teachers must be allowed to provide instruction and materials that contain references to gender identity and sexual orientation, though they cannot be focused on these topics.

(Radio Iowa) _ Some Haitian refugees in Iowa are on the brink of becoming homeless when the federal government ends their temporary protected status in August. Erin Bell is a board member for the nonprofit group Des Moines Refugee Support and says the refugees will get evicted if they can’t find any other employment.  “If they become homeless, they literally will be on the street and then, like, I mean, there’s no way to make it if you can’t work. And that’s all they want is to work,” she says.

She says they’re begging for help finding employment.  “One, for example, worked at HyVee and was let go, and they won’t rehire him, and it has to do with the immigration status and paperwork,” Bell says.

Bell says their option outside of homelessness is to self deport. She also says refugees may not be eligible for government assistance if they end up homeless.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) is celebrating Ride Transit Week this week July 28th through August 1st and encourages the public to find out more about public transit in the region and take a ride on SWITA. Student transportation registration has also opened for the 2025-26 school year.

Public transit gets Americans to work, to education, to healthcare, and more. It also helps job creation, alleviates traffic congestion, and reduces emissions. In 2024 Americans traveled 39.7 billion miles on public transit during 7.66 billion trips. 6 billion gallons of gasoline are saved each year by using public transportation and a 5-to-1 economic return is produced by long-term investment in public transit.
SWITA is proud to be part of that public transit equation right here in eight Iowa counties. SWITA has continued to support record public transit ridership in the region year-over-year with 552,231 rides in fiscal year 2024 and anticipating an official total near that mark for fiscal year 2025. SWITA’s ride services include taxis in six communities, medical transportation, student transportation, workforce transportation, and special/charter trips.

SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal attendant rides free. SWITA has earned major honors for its service this year. SWITA was named the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Regional Transit System of the Year for the third year in a row.  SWITA will be celebrating Ride Transit Week with themed days throughout the week along with hosting driver appreciation events. Stay tuned to the SWITA Facebook page and website for updates throughout the week.

Also, this week, SWITA student transportation registration has opened. SWITA serves in-town student transportation in Atlantic, Glenwood, Harlan, and Red Oak. Registration and payment can be done at www.SWITA.com . Rides are $1.75 each way and a $30 minimum balance is needed to start the school year. To find out more about SWITA and the services offered you can browse SWITA.com or call 800-842-8065 or 712-243-2518.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests took place this past week. On July 21st, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle authorities received multiple complaints about, with regard to the vehicle being unable to maintain its lane. The vehicle was pulled-over at around 4:30-a.m., and the driver, 62-year-old Kenneth Lee Oglesby, of Lincoln, NE, was arrested following an investigation. He was charged with Possession of Marijuana/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Oglesby was later released on his Own Recognizance.

At around 2:15-p.m. on July 24th, Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 30-year-old Cody Alan Brommel, of Stuart, on an Adair County warrant charging him with Stalking – Possession of a Dangerous Weapon, and Going Armed with intent. The charges were the result of an incident in Greenfield. Brommel was later released on a $20,000 cash-only bond.

At around 2-a.m. Friday, an Adair County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested 27-year-old Macie Ann Tish, of Adair, as she was walking on the eastbound shoulder of I-80, near Casey. Tish was charged with Public Intoxication, and later released on a $300 bond.

Saturday evening, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper arrested 34-year-old Carnell Leshaun Rooks, of North Chesterfield, VA, following a traffic stop on I-80 at Adair. Rooks was charged with being a person ineligible to carry a weapon (2 loaded handguns, 2 extra magazines, 2 boxes of ammo, a cleaning kit and two holsters). He was also charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Rooks was later released on a $1,000 bond.