The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston report 44-year old Cassaundra Marcum, of Creston, was arrested at around 2:25-p.m. Thursday. Marcum was taken into custody following a traffic stop, on charges that include Driving while Suspended, Failure to provide proof of financial liability, and Registration violation. She subsequently bonded out on a $300 bond.

(7-a.m. News)

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man accused of sexually assaulting two of his caretaker clients has made a plea deal. Cerro Gordo County District Court records say 19-year-old Wasfie Alshara filed written pleas of not guilty Wednesday to two counts of misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Prosecutors lowered the charges of felony sexual abuse in exchange for Alshara’s pleas.
His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5.

The court records say Alshara raped one of his dependent adult clients on Nov. 21 and sexually assaulted the other in a group home on June 8. The records also say Alshara worked for an unidentified company that provides caretaking services.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday, that officials with the City of Lorimor reported earlier this week, that sometime after last Friday afternoon (Aug. 24th), someone broke into the city’s maintenance building. Damage to the door was estimated at $200. No items other than some receipts were reported missing as of last report.

(Radio Iowa) — A rural sociologist with Iowa State University is studying the potential impact the new Prestage Farms pork processing plant will have on the nearby town of Eagle Grove when it opens in a few months. I-S-U’s David Peters did surveys in the Wright County community and the surrounding area as the massive 240-million dollar facility is nearing completion. “Demographically speaking, obviously, it’s going to increase the population,” Peters says. “The town of Eagle Grove is likely to become a minority-majority community where roughly half of the population will be Hispanic or of a non-white race, and there will be a lot more children.”

The plant is expected to open, at least in a limited form, before the end of the year or in early 2019. Plans call for hiring nearly one-thousand workers initially, with the potential for a second shift to be added later, which could mean hiring 500 more people. “It will be an economic plus for the community,” Peters says. “It’ll particularly help the poorer residents in Eagle Grove, provide more job opportunities. It’ll increase housing values and increase housing occupancy.” There are ups and downs in every situation but overall, Peters says, the quality of life in Eagle Grove won’t change when the plant opens. “There’s going to be much better quality jobs in Eagle Grove,” Peters says. “Local government services will improve and child care services will improve. On the other hand, local schools will probably become a little bit worse compared to what they (are) now.”

Peters recently presented his report to Eagle Grove residents. He says he heard a lot of comments and concerns from those who attended the meeting, worries about things like population growth and crime. “The majority of questions from the community were really looking at, proactively, what they can do to capitalize on this employment jump and to help newcomers feel more integrated into the community,” he says. Initially, the plant will slaughter 10,000 hogs per day, with half of those hogs coming from Prestage’s own barns.

(Radio Iowa) — A leader in the state’s Latino community says it’s time for leaders in Iowa’s white majority to defend Latinos being targeted by a “disturbing” robocall that cites the murder of Mollie Tibbetts and calls for the deportation of 58 million “brown” immigrants.  Joe Henry of Des Moines, a regional vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said “As long as we can get the people to support us, the overall community, we can stop the hate.” He was among a group that gathered outside the statehouse last (Thursday) night. “If we can stop this right now, if people will be speaking up, if good people will do the right thing — from local officials to people at their churches — then we can stop this hateful type of behavior,” Henry said, “but we have to do it now before it gets any bigger.”

Henry says Latinos in Iowa are growing more fearful after a white supremacist group based in Idaho began sending disturbing recorded telephone messages to Iowans this week. Here’s how the call ends:

The message begins by referring to the man accused of murdering Mollie Tibbetts as a “savage intruder” and criticizes members of Tibbetts’ family for saying they do not blame a race of people for her murder. Authorities in Des Moines blocked off a city street after the words “Deport Illegals” were spray painted across both lanes of the road yesterday (Thursday). The graffiti was painted in a neighborhood where many Latinos live. It was wiped away within two hours after it was reported and the City of Des Moines posted this message on its Twitter account: “not in our city.”

MARENGO, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been found guilty of killing a truck driver at an Iowa rest stop along Interstate 80. Iowa County District Court documents say 44-year-old Mariana Lesnic was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder. Authorities say she shot 60-year-old Ernest Kummer four times in the head inside his truck cab on Sept. 6, 2017, at the westbound rest stop near Victor, about 40 miles west of Iowa City. Kummer, who lived in Monroe, was an employee of Fridley, Minnesota-based Copeland Trucking, where he had worked since 2010.

A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A traffic stop at around 12:45-a.m. today (Friday), in Red Oak, resulted in the driver of a vehicle being taken into custody on an OWI charge. 30-year old Brittney Michell Louden, of Red Oak, was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that on Thursday, Aug. 30, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office arrested two individuals involved in a sexual abuse/assault case, in Sidney (IA). 20-year old Christian Brumbaugh, of Sidney, was arrested for two counts of Class “C” Felony sexual abuse/assault. 19-year old Anthony Kelsay, also of Sidney,was arrested for one count of Class “C” Felony  sexual abuse/assault.

Both men were taken into custody at the Law Enforcement Center and held without bond until their initial appearance.

Kelsay

Brumbaugh

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ruled that the University of Iowa must pay nearly $21.5 million, plus interest, to a plumbing contractor for work done on the new Hancher Auditorium and university’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Television station KCRG reports that the Johnson County District judge made the decision this week after the Iowa Board of Regents sought to have an arbitrator’s decision favoring Modern Piping Inc., of Cedar Rapids, overturned.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Police say two teenagers have been charged in the 2017 shooting death of a Waterloo man. The Courier reported Thursday that police have arrested a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy. Both are charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the killing of 39-year-old Cedric Roy Craft. Police were called to Craft’s home on Dec. 11, 2017, for a report of a break-in. Arriving officers found Craft with a single gunshot wound to the head.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Tax returns of Iowa Democratic candidate for governor Fred Hubbell show he and his wife earned just over $3 million last year from a variety of sources including capital gains on the sale of stock, income from businesses in which he owns an interest, stock dividends and payment for serving as a director on corporate boards. Hubbell, a 67-year-old retired business executive, says he’ll release his tax forms annually if he’s elected governor in November.

NEW YORK (AP) — The political network created by the billionaire Koch brothers is announcing plans to support eight House Republicans. The sprawling conservative organization on Thursday pledged its financial resources and army of activists to help re-elect several vulnerable congressmen deemed “principled” conservatives. The announcement comes a month after President Donald Trump assailed the Koch brothers as “a total joke in real Republican circles.”