(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports the arrest on Tuesday afternoon (May 20), of 38-year-old Melissa Kay Stephenson, from Creston. Stephenson was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on four-counts of Possession of Controlled Substance/3rd or Subsequent offense. She was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

Thursday afternoon, Creston Police arrested 27-year-old  Aaron Jeffery Johnson, of Creston, for Driving While Revoked. Johnson was cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – The students’ renovations included building a two-car garage, re-shingling the roof and remodeling both bathrooms. It’s the third home that was refurbished through a special program that fixes up houses in the city’s older neighborhoods. Ryan Ellis, a senior at Marion High School, helped with the project. “I’m happy I learned how to use most of the tools, and how to measure stuff and cut stuff correctly,” Ellis says. “And now graduating this year, I want to hopefully get a job that’s kind of like that, and it’ll be easier to do that now, because I know half of the information.”

The Marion Community Build Program gives high schoolers opportunities to enhance their trade skills, while supporting the area’s low-and-moderate income housing needs. Mark Seckman is president of the Marion Economic Development Corporation. Seckman says, “What this provides is just that initial taste of what it’s like, everything from rough carpentry, finish carpentry, painting, caulking, a little bit of plumbing, things like that, where they can just get a taste of what it’s like, and now they can see a career path.”

Seckman says the house is now on the market for families earning less than 80 percent of the area’s median household income. He says the program is meant to reduce barriers for young families seeking homeownership.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa National Guard recognized the upcoming 250th birthday of the U-S Army in a ceremony at Camp Dodge in Johnston Thursday. With a little pomp and circumstance, and cake, soldiers and airmen of the guard gathered to hear Adjutant General Stephen Osborn talk about the significance of the milestone. He says for a quarter of a Millennium, our army has stood as one of the oldest and most enduring institutions in our nation. “And nowhere is its legacy more alive than right here with the Iowa National Guard, whose roots trace back to 1636, earlier than the Army itself. And our Air Force brothers and sisters. They, too, share our proud lineage. Born from the Army’s early air power of the Army Air Corps and later Army Air Forces before becoming an independent branch of service in 1947,” he says.

Major General Osborn says the Army and the military have continued to change. “And over these past 250 years, we’ve learned a thing or two. First and foremost, we’ve learned that taking care of our people and our families is the foundation of our mission. Readiness begins with people,” Osborn says. He says the current Army has something in common with the first soldiers. “Our military has always been an institution of change, adapting to meet new challenges and emerging threats, and we must continue this evolution if we are to remain the trusted force that our state and our nation rely on. That means embracing the change in the changing environment that we now operate in,” Osborn says.

Volunteers dressed in uniforms of soldiers through various periods of the Army’s 250 years cut a birthday cake at Camp Dodge. (RI photo)

General Osborn says there is no choice but to move forward and adapt. “We must seek new and innovative ways to build readiness and to meet the expectations of our civilian leaders. This includes seeking greater efficiencies in all we do, from recruiting to training, transformation, and modernization are not simply buzzwords. They are reality. And they are a necessity,” he says.

The U-S Army was established on June 14th, 1775.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports one arrest took place this (Friday) morning, and an accident occurred Thursday. Authorities say 57-year-old Rebecca Kae Sands, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 2-a.m. today (Friday), in the 100 block of Cherry Street. Sands was arrested for OWI/1st offense. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

And, no injuries were reported following an accident at around 10:40-a.m. Thursday, in Red Oak. The collision happened at the intersection of Iowa Highway 48 (Broadway Street) in Red Oak, and Oak Street. Police said a 2014 Ford pickup driven by 33-year-old Victoria Vaughan, of Villisca, was traveling west on Oak Street. A 2010 Nissan SUV driven by 49-year-old John Gross, of Red Oak, was traveling north on Broadway. As Gross’ vehicle attempted to cross the intersection, it struck the pickup, causing disabling damage to the pickup. Gross told Police he was reaching for something inside his vehicle and failed to see the red light at the intersection. He was cited for Failure to respond to a steady red signal.

The SUV sustained severe damage and was leaking fluid, but was able to be driven from the accident scene. Damage to both vehicles amounted to a police-estimated $17,000 altogether.

(Radio Iowa) – State health officials say -no- measles cases have been reported in Iowa so far this year, but more than 900 cases are confirmed nationwide. That’s more than triple the number from all of last year. Some clinics in Iowa are offering free measles vaccinations, like Delaware County Public Health in Manchester, where Krystal DeShaw is the public health manager.

“Measles is a highly, highly contagious viral infection,” DeShaw says. “It can affect people of all ages. It’s known for causing this distinctive rash, and it has a range of other symptoms, high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, conjunctivitis.” The rash typically starts at the hairline and spreads across the entire body. DeShaw says someone who’s been infected is contagious up to four days before the rash appears and for another four days after it appears. She stresses, it’s a very contagious and very potent virus.

“The thing that’s different about measles than other airborne illnesses and diseases is, it’ll stay in the air for up to two hours,” DeShaw says. “That’s why in our schools, communities, recently in Chicago, there was a measles case that exposed people in the airport and on the airplane. I mean, it hangs out in the air.” Of the 900-plus cases nationwide, three deaths have been reported that are attributed to measles. DeShaw is recommending the M-M-R vaccine, for measles, mumps and rubella, especially for young children and those with weakened immune systems.

“The main thing about this is, people who get the vaccine are very unlikely to get measles,” she says. “So think of this, if you’re exposed, if you’re not vaccinated at all and you’re exposed, you may have to quarantine up to three weeks. That’s 21 days, no daycare, no school. That is a huge, huge thing.”

The free M-M-R vaccination clinics are being offered to Delaware County residents on June 4th and 6th. Appointments are required.

(Radio Iowa) – The manager of an ethanol plant near Council Bluffs says a bill that would set new restrictions on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline in Iowa would also impact his company’s plan connect to a Nebraska pipeline. Mike Jerke is C-E-O of what’s known as SIRE — Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy.

“SIRE has engaged two different engineering companies to look at expansion of our facility,” he says. “All of that is predicated on the ability to sequester CO2 and the demand pull that would bring.” A nearly 400 mile long natural gas pipeline in Nebraska is being retooled and will start capturing carbon from ethanol plants this fall. Jerke says his ethanol facility plans to start sequestering carbon in mid-2026 and connect to the Tallgrass Trailblazer pipeline in Nebraska.

“We have 100% voluntary easements for our project,” Jerke says. “We have those secured.” Jerke says the bill requires a type of insurance that would violate the permit his company is seeking and the legislation would set a 25 year limit on operating a pipeline transporting liquid carbon dioxide. Jerke says that would be a death blow because his company already negotiated 45 million dollars worth of contracts to buy the equipment needed to sequester C-O-2.

“We’ve probably spent a little over half that because equipment purchases take time and construction will come here in the fall,” Jerke says. “Apparently this is going to be, if this is to stand or be signed into law, something that we would only be able to operate for 25 years…Just extremely problematic would probably be putting it lightly.”

Jerke made his comments during an online news conference hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. The group is urging Governor Reynolds to veto the pipeline bill.

(Creston, Iowa)  – A man on a motorcycle was injured during a collision Thursday afternoon, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 27-year-old Aaron Jeffery Johnson, of Creston, suffered minor injuries during the accident that happened at around 3:45-p.m. on Highway 25 North, at the intersection with New York Avenue.

Police say a 2017 Chevy pickup driven by 66-year-old Kevin White, of Bedford, was stopped facing north at the yellow traffic light, when Johnson, who was riding a northbound 2001 Harley Davidson motorcycle, grabbed his front brake. The action caused his motorcycle to slide onto its side before it struck the pickup’s trailer hitch.  White was not injured in the collision.

Johnson was transported to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston by EMS ambulance. Upon being treated and released, he was cited by police for Driving While Revoked and Failure to Stop in an Assured Clear Distance.

Damage to the motorcycle was estimated at $700. The pickup sustained an estimate $5 damage to the trailer hitch.

(Fort Dodge, Iowa) – A collision Thursday evening in Webster County left one person dead and two others injured. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the accident happened at around 4-p.m. at the intersection of County Highway P-59 and U-S Highway 20, in Fort Dodge. Authorities say a 2011 Honda Fit driven by 82-year-old Hal Chase, of Des Moines, was traveling north on P-59, when the vehicle failed to stop at the controlled intersection to eastbound Highway 20.

Chase’ vehicle was struck broadside by an eastbound 2023 Lincoln SUV driven by 78-year-old Diane Witt, of Arcadia. Both drivers and a passenger in the SUV, 51-year-old Stacie Segebart, of Westside, were injured, and transported by Fort Dodge Ambulance to the hospital in Fort Dodge, where Chase died from his injuries.

Multiple agencies assisted at the crash site.

(State Center, Iowa) – In an update to our previous report, the Iowa State Patrol, Thursday night, said a man on a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) has died from injuries he suffered Wednesday afternoon, when the UTV he was operating was struck by an SUV in Marshall County. 78-year-old Jeffrey Larsen. of State Center died after he was transported by helicopter to Methodist Hospital, in Des Moines.

The accident happened at around 3:40-p.m. Wednesday near State Center, when the 2021 Polaris XP-1000 Larsen was operating was struck by a 2010 Ford Edge SUV, near 190th Street and Binford Avenue.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, the SUV, driven by an (unidentified) 16-year-old, and the UTV, were both traveling eastbound on 190th Street, when the UTV entered a farm field access road, with Larsen intending to make a U-turn and head back west. When he pulled the machine out onto the roadway, it was struck by the right front side of the SUV.

The driver of the SUV and their passenger were not injured in the collision.