MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — Supporters of a right-wing group are asking a judge not to grant a “deluxe legal defense” for a Mexican national charged with killing an Iowa college student. More than 200 people have sent postcards to Judge Joel Yates protesting his decision to authorize $5,000 for an investigator to work with Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s defense.

The postcards are distributed by the Virginia-based Secure America Alliance. They ask Yates not to “award any more taxpayer money for a deluxe legal defense for an illegal alien.” Rivera is charged with killing 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 in Brooklyn. Rivera had worked for years at a dairy farm, and prosecutors say he was in the U.S. illegally.

Yates granted a routine request by Rivera’s defense last month to appoint a private investigator, writing that Rivera is indigent and the case “presents a need for an investigator.” He approved a $5,000 stipend, saying additional payments are subject to court approval.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report two recent arrests. At around 2-a.m. Saturday, 24-year old Zachary John Malloy, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center for OWI/2nd offense, following an investigation into an accident that happened at around 1:12-a.m.  Authorities say Malloy was traveling east on 160th Street when he lost control of the 1980 Chevy pickup he was driving. The vehicle entered a yard at 1675 160th Street and struck a gas line, causing a rupture in the line. He was later released from custody on a $2,000 bond.

And, at around 6-p.m. Friday, 23-year old Cody Joseph Reighard, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of theft 3^rd degree, and failure to appear on 4 counts of burglary 3^rd degree, along with possession of controlled substance.  Reighard was being held in the Union County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Documents show a candidate for county treasurer in northern Iowa’s Cerro Gordo County was fired from the treasurer’s office for sending emails that made disparaging comments about co-workers. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Natasha Lewerke worked as deputy treasurer in the Cerro Gordo County Treasurer’s Office from December 2005 to January 2016 and is running as a Republican against her former supervisor, incumbent Pat Wright, a Democrat.

The documents are part of a March 2016 administrative law judge decision on Lewerke’s unemployment appeal. They say the emails referred to several female co-workers as “lazy,” ”fat,” ”dirty,” ”annoying,” ”nasty,” ”disgusting” or an “idiot.” The documents say the emails show “a deliberate disregard of the employer’s interest in expecting decency and civility from its employees.”

She told the Globe Gazette that she’s apologized for the emails.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has scheduled a January trial for a 22-year-old Iowa drifter charged with killing a top amateur golfer from Spain. District Judge Bethany Currie ruled Monday that Collin Richards will stand trial Jan. 15 for first-degree murder in the death of Iowa State University student Celia Barquin Arozamena. Richards entered a written not guilty plea Monday morning and waived his right to a speedy trial. The filing canceled an in-person arraignment hearing that had been scheduled for later Monday.

Investigators say Richards attacked Barquin on Sept. 17 while she was playing a round at a public course in Ames, near the university campus. Her body was found in a pond on the course riddled with stab wounds.
Richards faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After nearly three months without a winner, the Mega Millions lottery game has climbed to an estimated $654 million jackpot. Unfortunately, even as the big prize for Tuesday night’s drawing rises to the fourth-largest in U.S. history, the odds of matching all six numbers and winning the game don’t improve. They’re stuck at a miserable one in 302.5 million.

The last time anyone won the jackpot was July 24, when a group from California claimed a $543 million prize. The estimated $654 million jackpot refers to the annuity option, paid out over 29 years. The cash option, which is favored by nearly all winners, is $372 million. Mega Millions is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Iowa State Patrol has released additional details about a school bus-versus-car accident that occurred Sunday afternoon on Interstate 80, in Cass County. Authorities say a 2005 Buick Lacrosse driven by 16-year old Natalie Caroline Gutschenritter, of Farragut, was westbound on I-80 at around 2:38-p.m., just east of the Highway 71 exit, when she lost control of the vehicle while changing lanes. The car slid through the median and came to rest in the middle of the eastbound lanes. A Harlan Community School District bus driven by 69-year old Neal August Gaul, of Earling, was traveling eastbound and unable to avoid hitting the car.

Following the collision, the Buick came to rest in the middle of the eastbound lanes, while the Thomas bus slid off the south shoulder, coming to rest with the right rear portion of the bus on top of a solid metal guardrail. Gutschenritter was transported by Atlantic Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. She was later cited for Failure to Maintain Control. None of the 17 persons reported to have been on the bus were injured. A Harlan Community School District bus was dispatched to transported occupants of the first bus.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue, the Iowa State Patrol and Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies all responded to the scene, along with Medivac.

(Radio Iowa) — We’re not even a month into fall and already wintry weather is hitting Iowa. Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff, at the National Weather Service, says the Sunday afternoon snowfall took some north-central Iowans by surprise. “The highest amounts we got were around Iowa Falls where they got around two-and-a-half inches,” Hagenhoff says. “There were two inches in the Emmet County-Estherville area, but Iowa Falls generally got the most yesterday while other places saw an inch to maybe just a dusting.”

Anyone in the region who’d hoped to build a snowman or go sledding had better act fast as the snow won’t last. “No, definitely not,” Hagenhoff says. “We’re expected to warm up gradually throughout the week. By Thursday to Friday, we should be in the upper 50s to right around 60.” Some social media chatter makes it sound like this taste of winter weather is closer to the end of the world, but she says a light snow during October is relatively typical. “Our average high for this time of year is right around 60 to 65 degrees, but looking back at our records all the way back to 1885, the average first trace of snow and first measurable snow both occur in October,” Hagenhoff says. “So, while it tends to catch people off guard, it’s not completely rare.”

In some areas, the snow fell on trees that were still fully leafed out and limbs snapped under the weight, dropping on power lines. In the Omaha-Council Bluffs area, as many as 50-thousand customers lost electricity on Sunday due to falling, snow-covered limbs.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, today (Monday), said a Mills County woman was arrested Friday afternoon, on a Fugitive from Justice warrant out of Douglas County, NE. 35-year old Misty Bea Petterson, of Glenwood, was already being held in the Pott. County Jail on a Probation Violation warrant. She continues to be held without bond on the NE warrant.

Saturday night, a woman from Oakland was arrested following a traffic stop. During a records check, 19-year old Jacqueline Claire Pilling was found to have had warrants out of Pott. County for Driving Under the Influence, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Pilling was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail over the weekend, on a $2,325 bond.

And, 23-year old Brandon Scott Chrisman, of Omaha, was arrested at around 3-a.m. today (Monday), after he was involved in an accident on I-29 at mile marker 46. Chrisman’s information was run through the NCIC (National Crime Information Center database), which revealed a warrant was issued for his arrested through Douglas Co. Nebraska. Dispatch verified the warrant and advised that it was extraditable. Chrisman was taken into custody and transported to the Pottawattamie Co. Jail, where he was booked in on a Fugitive from Justice charge and held without bond, before being turned over to correction staff.

The Iowa Board of Chiropractic said in an order filed Oct. 10th, that the Board and local practitioner Melissa Sternberg, Doctor of Chiropractic, have entered into a Settlement Agreement and Final Order, to settle a contested case currently pending before the Board. Sternberg, of Carson, was with Zook’s Family Chiropractic in Atlantic at the time of the Board’s original actions against her.

The allegations contained in the Statement of Charges against Respondent (Sternberg) will be resolved without proceeding to hearing, as the Board and she stipulate the following as facts in the case, which include, but are not limited to:

• The Board filed a Notice of Hearing and Statement of Charges on July 11, 2018.
• Sternberg admits the allegations in the Statement of Charges and acknowledges that the allegations, if proven in a contested case proceeding, would constitute grounds for the discipline agreed to in the Order.
• Execution of the Order constitutes the resolution of a contested case. Sternberg has a right to hearing before the Board on the charges, but has indicated she will waive the right to hearing and all attendant rights, including the right to appeal or seek judicial review of the Board’s actions, by freely and voluntarily entering into the Order.

The Order requires Sternberg to be CITED for representing herself as a chiropractic physician when her license was suspended and WARNED that failure to comply with the laws governing the practice of chiropractic in the future could result in further discipline. Sternberg furthermore agreed that she will not practice chiropractic while her license is suspended and/or on inactive status, and the Order assessed a civil penalty in the amount of $750, to be paid within six months from the date the agreement is accepted by the Board.

On Dec. 2nd, 2014, the Board filed a Notice of Intent to Suspend Sternberg’s license. On Feb. 16th, 2015, they filed a notice of Indefinite Suspension. A Notice of Hearing and Statement of Charges was filed in her case on July 11, 2018, with the Settlement Agreement and Final Order filed Oct. 10, 2018. Read more at https://idph.iowa.gov/Licensure/Iowa-Board-of-Chiropractic/Discipline-and-Public-Actions?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS