(Harlan, Iowa)- The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has released their arrest report for covering the past week.

On Sunday, May 25th: Deputies in Shelby County arrested 32-year old Brandon Lee Bemister, of Herman, Nebraska, for Violation of Probation (Bond $10,000); 22-year old Angelica Belle Lewis, of Harlan, was arrested for OWI/1st offense (She was released that same day); 21-year old John Phillip-Smart Vasquez, of Atlantic, was arrested May 25th in Shelby County, for Driving Under Suspension. He was released from the Shelby County Jail the following day; 22-year old William Walsh Yoder, II, of Elk Horn was arrested for Domestic Assault/Bodily Injury – 1st offense. And, 19-year old David Allen Yoder, of Elk Horn, was arrested May 25th for Domestic Assault/Bodily – Injury 1st offense. Both Yoder’s were released from custody the following day.

On Monday, May 26th, Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 28-year old Jeffrey John Stephens, Jr, of Arion, for Violation of Probation.

Two arrests were made in Shelby County on Tuesday, May 27th: 44-year old Michael Aredel Hinkel, of Earling, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. And, 40-year old Albert Alexander Johnson was arrested on Shelby County warrants charging him with Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He remains held on a $10,000 bond.

On May 28th, 26-year old Gloryann Grace Erlemeier, of Harlan, was arrested for Driving while License Denied or Revoked – OWI. And on Thursday, May 29th, 19-year old Shawntelle Marie Steinkuehler of Harlan was arrested for OWI – 1st offense.

(Radio Iowa) – A non-profit group that’s raising concerns about water quality in Iowa is hosting a series of events to call attention to pollution in state owned lakes. Jim Larew is legal counsel for the Driftless Water Defenders. “The group is dedicated to the proposition that access to clean water should be a constitutionally protected right, a fundamental right,” Larew says, “and to achieve that end we’re engaging in activities that help to instruct the public, educate the public and get the public talking about things.” The group’s “48 Lakes initiative” is focused on state-owned lakes where unhealthy amounts of pollution have prompted officials to issue “Do Not Swim” warnings over the past five years.

“We think in the last year or two there’s been a significant change in public opinion in Iowa and concern about the quality of our water,” Larew said, “…and it’s time to change course.” The group is inviting Iowans to visit one of the 48 state lakes on its list and record what they see. “Tell us about the experiences they’ve had over a period of year, what observations they’ve made and maybe just their observations that day at the lake,” Larew said. “And whether they have a text message or an email or a photograph or a video, send it to us so that other people can observe it through social media.”

The Driftless Water Defenders started posting these messages on the group’s Facebook, Instagram and X accounts this past weekend. Members of the group and associated organizations are hosting other events this summer to show people how to test Iowa lakes and rivers for nitrates and assess whether fish, plants and other organisms are thriving in the water.

ELMA, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation are conducting an investigation in the tiny northeast Iowa town of Elma, into an officer-involved shooting incident. Authorities say at around 3:40-p.m. Wednesday, May 28th, the Howard County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from 49-year-old Mark Michael Zweibohmer, to conduct a welfare check at his residence located in rural Elma. When law enforcement arrived on scene, Zweibohmer began shooting at responding officers. Officers returned fire. Zweibohmer was arrested and charged with four counts of attempted murder of a police officer.

No injuries to either the responding officer or Zweibohmer were reported. The names of the officers involved will be released on a later date.

The Howard County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Cresco Police Department, Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office, Howard County Emergency Management, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. This is an ongoing investigation. No additional information will be released at this time.

(Marshalltown, Iowa) — A former Marshalltown High School administrator and substitute teacher is accused of having inappropriate contact with a student. Officers with the Marshalltown Police Department, Thursday, arrested 63-year-old Daniel Terrones, of Marshalltown. He is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee, a class D felony.

The investigation began on April 16 when Marshalltown police received a complaint about a teacher at MHS possibly having inappropriate contact with a student. The criminal complaint alleges that Terrones “engaged in a pattern” of excessive touching of a student he had authority over. It also alleges he routinely texted the victim, hugged the victim and kissed the victim on the cheek while the victim was exiting a school bus. According to Marshalltown police, Terrones was a part-time substitute teacher and club administrator. A spokesperson for the Marshalltown Community School District said Terrones resigned from his position effective May 5th.

Daniel Terrones (Marshalltown PD photo)

Terrones worked for the school district for 25 years before retiring at the MHS dean of students at the end of the 2022-23 school year. He started at Marshalltown’s Anson Middle School in 1998 and eventually became the associate principal.

(Iowa DNR News) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports Bluegills are biting in small ponds and lakes across the State. In late May and early June, male bluegill build nests that female bluegill lay eggs in. Bluegill nests are circular depressions, 1 to 2 feet in diameter. Built in clusters called beds, they appear to look like the surface of a golf ball or elephant tracks. Male bluegills are easy to catch when they are guarding the nests in shallow water. Cast from a distance instead of getting close if the water is clear. Fish will be less finicky if they don’t see you.

Bluegill have small mouths. The DNR suggests you keep your hooks, bobbers and bait small and your line light (2 or 4 pound-test). Weighted bobbers will help you cast further. Worms are a great bait option. You can also tip your jig with a small piece of artificial worm.

Male bluegills build nests (also called beds) for female bluegills to lay eggs in. These spawning beds were built on reefs at Prairie Rose Lake, near Harlan. Photo courtesy of Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Look for bluegill on any type of structure in the water. Check out the Iowa DNR’s mobile-friendly fishing atlas to see where habitat features are in your chosen lake. Many near-shore spawning structures and off shore reefs have been added to Iowa waters. Bluegills can be found in almost every lake across Iowa. Check the weekly fishing report to find out where bluegills are biting.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department today (Friday) reports six people were arrested on separate charges over the past couple of days (0ne was arrested twice):

At around 12:49-a.m. today (May 30th), 37-year-old Jacob Miles Erskine, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was cited at the scene and released on a promise to appear in court. And, at around 6:30-a.m., 41-year-old Ryan Lee Woosley, of Des Moines, was arrested in Creston for Driving While Barred. Woosley posted a $1,000 bond, and was released.

On Thursday (May 29th), 26-year-old Mauricio Andres Trejos-Castenada, of Creston, was arrested at around 9:05-p.m. Harassment in the 1st Degree/3rd offense. Trejos-Castenada was subsequently charged at around 11-p.m. Thursday, with Harassment in the 1st Degree/4th offense. He was being held in the Union County Jail separate $2,000 bonds; 41-year-old Trisha Jae Johnston, of Creston, was arrested Thursday night for Theft in the 5th Degree. She was later released on bond; and, 40-year-old Kevin Wayne Rauch, of Creston, was arrested by Creston Police on two outside warrants for failure to serve required jail time. Rauch was being held without bond in the Union County Jail until his jail time is fulfilled.

DES MOINES, Iowa (May 29, 2025) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, Thursday, announced 33 schools or school districts have received grants to participate in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program for Schools. The one-year pilot program connects Iowa schools with Choose Iowa members to encourage school food service programs to purchase and serve more ingredients and products sourced from local farmers and small businesses.  The pilot program was authorized during the 2024 legislative session and is an initiative of Choose Iowa, the state’s branding and marketing program that identifies and promotes Iowa grown, made, and raised food, beverages and ag products.

Among the area community school districts (CSD) which received grants for the Choose Iowa program, was:

• The Griswold School District
• The Clarinda CSD
• The Council Bluffs CSD
• The Missouri Valley School District, and
• The Diagonal CSD

The school pilot program has a total budget of $70,000, and each school was eligible to apply for up to $1,000 per school building. Both public and private schools were encouraged to apply. Selected schools are required to provide a minimum one-to-one (1:1) financial match. For example, a school receiving $1,000 must provide at least $1,000 from other sources for a total of $2,000 spent on local foods through the pilot program. Choose Iowa received applications from 61 schools or school districts totaling $158,249, an overall request far exceeding available funding.

Secretary Naig said “This Choose Iowa pilot program is yet another way we’re connecting Iowa farmers and small businesses with schools to provide fresh, local, and nutritious food to our students. This one-year pilot program saw strong demand from interested schools that far exceeded the available program budget. As Choose Iowa continues to expand, we will work to open even more opportunities to connect local producers and school food programs. Choose Iowa’s membership is growing quickly and is already demonstrating how it can be a powerful tool for strengthening and growing our rural communities.”

Eligible products that can be purchased include meat and poultry, dairy products (other than milk), eggs, honey and produce. Funding for milk is available through a different federal program. To be eligible for funding through the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Program, schools must purchase food from a Choose Iowa member. If selected schools wish to purchase from specific Iowa farmers, they should encourage those farmers or businesses to apply to become a Choose Iowa member. Food hubs that are Choose Iowa members are also eligible for food purchases within the program. Products purchased through food hubs must come from Iowa producers.

Find the complete list of school districts that were awarded Choose Iowa grants, HERE.

Additional details on the school pilot program can be found on the Choose Iowa website. The school program accompanies the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Choose Iowa’s Food Purchasing Pilot Program for Food Banks, which launched last summer to connect food banks with Choose Iowa members to help alleviate hunger within our communities.

(Radio Iowa) – While Memorial Day was this past Monday, today (Friday) marks what was once an important, similar holiday known as Decoration Day and it’s still being honored in northeast Iowa. The Bay Church and Cemetery near Delhi is hosting its annual re-enactment of the first Decoration Day program, according to Bob Sack, secretary of the Upper Bay Cemetery Association. “We’re honoring the soldiers of the Civil War who were from Delhi and Buck Creek, and the event is the first celebrated at that time, August 24th of 1865,” Sack says. “The war was over in May and we’re following that pretty much the same using the same songs, same layout of the program.”

May 30th, or Decoration Day, was established three years after the Civil War ended on May 5th, 1868. Sack says the purpose was for the nation to decorate, with flowers, the graves of all the men and women who gave their lives during wartime. Civil War-era letters from locals will be read as part of the program. “Their letters just grab your heart,” Sack says. “To think of these people that, ‘I miss you, my wife,’ ‘I miss you, my mom and dad, but I’m here and I’m not going to come back because we need to get this war ended,’ and they thought it was going to be a short war, and it wasn’t. It was a long war.” The Decoration Day program will be held in the shadow of Iowa’s first Civil War monument. It was built to honor 15 soldiers from the area who died in the war.

“We talk about people that get PTSD and all,” Sack says, “but with all the cannon fire and all the short-range killing, it’s just amazing what those people went through and what they became when they came home alive, if they came home alive.” Sack says they’ve gone to great lengths to keep the program authentic.”There will be speakers. We’re going to have a religious invocation, a benediction, singing of three patriotic songs that we all know historically,” Sack says. “We will have a 21-gun salute by the Legion and the Black Powder Reenactors in period uniform, and then we’re going to have several shots from the cannon, we got a ten-pound cannon coming out of Dubuque.”

The Decoration Day program will take place at Bay Church and Cemetery, five miles southwest of Delhi at 5:30 PM. All are welcome. Afterwards, people are invited to take a tour of the historic Bay Church and enjoy fellowship and refreshments.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Thursday afternoon, arrested a local man on a charge of Harassment. Authorities report 18-year-old Zachary Allen Reese, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 3:30-p.m. in the 1000 block of E. Cherry Street, in Red Oak. Reese was charged with Harassment in the 1st Degree. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the highest blends of biodiesel is now available at a retailer in central Iowa. B-99 contains just a tenth of a percent of petroleum-based diesel and it’s being sold at the Pilot Travel Center in Urbandale. Dave Walton, a soybean farmer from Wilton, says it’s a major milestone.

“It’s the lowest carbon fuel out that’s out there,” Walton says. “…On the health side, actually, the particulate matter is reduced by like 90% over petroleum diesel.” The B-99 terminal in Urbandale has two pumps. According to the Iowa Soybean Association, PepsiCo will fill its Des Moines-based distribution fleet there. Engines must be equipped with new technology to run on B-99.

Eric Fobes, a vice president for Pilot Travel Centers, says he hopes other carriers invest in the technology to cut carbon emissions. “Heavy duty trucking is very difficult to abate,” Fobes says. “This is a very unique solution to abate that carbon.” A ribbon cutting for the B-99 pump was held Thursday. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says it’s a big step.

B99 is being sold from this pump at a Pilot Travel Center in Urbandale, Iowa. (Brownfield Ag News photo by Brent Barnett)

“We can make this high-quality biofuel, but if it doesn’t make it into the supply chain, if it doesn’t end up in a fuel tank somewhere and get used then we haven’t really pulled the threat through,” Naig said. “We haven’t really completed the supply chain.”

B-99 is being sold at a Pilot Travel Center in Decatur, Illinois — the only other spot in the U-S where B-99 is available for sale in a retail setting. Iowa is the top biodiesel producing state, but the industry is in limbo. In January, five of the 10 plants shut down because a federal tax credit for biodiesel production expired at the end of 2024.