CLARINDA, IOWA, April 23, 2025: The Page County Attorney’s Office announced today (Wednesday), that 25-year-old Gavin Allen Sickler, of Clarinda, was found guilty of the crime of Burglary in the Third Degree in Page County District Court on April 22nd, 2025. Sickler was acquitted of one count of Theft in the Third Degree. The verdicts were returned by the jury after a one-day trial and a little over one hour of deliberations.

Gavin Sickler (Photo courtesy the Page County Attorney’s Office)

Sickler was charged after the investigation of a reported burglary of a car in Shenandoah where a gun was reportedly stolen on the afternoon of September 26, 2024. Sickler is currently free on a $4,000 bond and is awaiting a sentencing date. He faces up to two years of incarceration and a fine of up to $8,540.

This case was investigated by the Shenandoah Police Department and prosecuted by the Page County Attorney’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – An Indianola daycare operator is charged with first-degree murder in the death of a child. Indianola Police say they got a 9-1-1 call on October 8th of last year and found an unresponsive four-month-old child at the Indianola daycare operated by 51-year-old Melissa Hancock. The infant was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital, but died the next day.

Indianola police say their joint investigation with the D-C-I and medical examinations revealed injuries consistent with child abuse caused by Hancock. Hancock turned herself in and is being held on a one-million dollar bond.

(In an update to our previous report) – The Cass County (IA) Sheriff’s Office says a man from Cumberland was injured Tuesday morning, when the pickup he was driving was struck a semi tractor-trailer. The accident happened at around 8:10-a.m. on 630th Street (Highway 71) at the intersection with Oxford Road.

Authorities say their investigation determined 83-year-old Jon Hill, of Cumberland, was traveling westbound on Oxford Road and had stopped at the intersection. Upon entering the intersection, Hill’s vehicle was struck by a northbound 2008 Peterbilt semi operated by 43-year-old Jefferey Meyer, also of Cumberland.

Hill was injured in the crash and transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was later transferred to a hospital in the Omaha area for further care. The driver of the semi was not injured.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Lewis and Cumberland Fire and Rescue Departments, as well as Cass EMS. The incident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – Lawmakers are considering creation of a state fund to help attract major events to Iowa. Republican Senator Carrie Koelker, of Dyersville, says other states are using tax dollars to support non-profit groups making bids to host things like Taylor Swift concerts, professional golf tournaments and other big events. “Iowa’s sitting back, being missed on this, so we need eyes on Iowa, so we’re hoping that Iowa can play in the game,” Koelker said. “Right now Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana — all these other states are playing a program like this, so we’re just trying to make Iowa competitive.” A bill that’s cleared a senate committee would create the Iowa Major Events and Tourism Program and each year 15 million dollars in state taxes on sports wagering would be deposited in the fund.

Koelker says grants from the fund could finance up to 50 percent of the incentives non-profits, like local tourism groups offer to land a major event. “The entity must also present an economic analysis of the event that includes…projected hotel/motel occupancies,” Koelker said, “and projected number of event attendees from Iowa, other states and international countries.” The state grants would be available for tourism-oriented events like athletic contests, conventions or music and art festivals. Senator William Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says it’s not just about attracting tourists to Iowa.

“It’s also important to keep people here in Iowa to show Iowa can really have a good time,” Dotzler said. “…Iowa’s got a lot to be proud of and a lot to show off.” North Carolina lawmakers just created a “Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund” with over 16 million dollars in tax revenue from sports gambling. At least 21 states have some sort of program to help marketing groups bid for and in some instances operate major sporting events.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office report that during the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 23rd, they were contacted about an ongoing road rage incident on westbound Highway 44 out of Harlan. Deputies responded and located a traffic accident resulting from the incident, with one vehicle in the ditch and the other vehicle already out of the area. The victim of the accident was transported to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan and investigation was ongoing.

During the investigation the Sheriff’s Office learned a possible suspect of the other vehicle as well as many other details. The suspect was driving a white pickup truck, had fired allegedly several rounds from a firearm into the victim’s vehicle, and made contact with the victim’s vehicle at a high rate of speed, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and resulting in an accident with injuries.

Through the investigation, the suspect was identified as 23-year old Jacob Snyder. An arrest warrant was issued for Snyder for Attempted Murder, and he was later located in Bellevue, NE where he is currently in custody of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office awaiting extradition. The investigation was assisted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Bellevue Police Department and Omaha Police Department.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Adair County held a public hearing this (Wednesday) morning in Greenfield, with regard to proposed plans by Agriland FS, to expand their anhydrous ammonia storage facilities and the relocation of anhydrous ammonia tanks. Agriland representatives were on-hand to provide a brief summary of the project, which is located at 1706 160th Street, near Casey.

Having not heard any oral, nor received any written objections, the Supervisors approved the expansion plan as presented. They also approved a request from Weed Commissioner Nathan Jensen, for publication of a Notice of Weed Destruction. During Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman’s portion of the agenda, the Board passed a resolution setting a public hearing to vacate a portion of Lewis Avenue. The road was established as a straight throughway in 1879, but was relocated about a dozen years later.

The easement is for road purposes, and since it is not being used for that purpose, Kauffman said it should be vacated and quick-claim deed it back to the Baudler family and then obtain an easement, “Plus a little extra.” The Board approved setting the date for a public hearing as May 21st, at 9:05-a.m. Kauffman then presented his weekly report on Adair County Secondary Roads Department maintenance and activities.

The Adair County Supervisors discussed the Medical Examiner’s fee, with regard to mileage. The rate has not been updated for about 13-years, according to Auditor Mandy Berg. The Board’s consensus was a fee of $200 plus mileage, is appropriate considering what other counties are paying. The new rate is effective as of July 1, 2025.

They acknowledged receipt of a Manure Management Plan Update from Prestage Farms. And, the Board approved signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Decatur County, for Mental Health Advocate services. They also approved a Child Abuse Prevention Grant drawdown, in the amount of $990.40.

The same MOU was approved for other counties in the area that are part of the mental health advocate consortium.

(Radio Iowa) – In recent years, the skies over Iowa have repeatedly been clouded by smoke from distant wildfires, which is part of the reason the state dramatically dropped in the latest national study on air quality. Kristina Hamilton, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in Iowa, says the “State of the Air” report measures unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. “Unfortunately for Iowa, the air quality did worsen across the state,” Hamilton says, “and that’s in large part due to increased temperatures — warmer temperatures — and the effects of wildfires.” Other factors play a role as well, things like the chosen modes of transportation. The Iowa D-O-T says as of June of 2023, there were about 12-thousand-800 electric vehicles registered in Iowa, at least one in every county. Hamilton says that’s way too low.

“The Lung Association urges the use of zero-emission vehicles,” Hamilton says, “and then also Iowa still does have coal plants operating in the state, so we really need to speed up the phase-out of coal to improve the air quality in Iowa.” While the Des Moines-Ames metro area ranked as the 154th worst air in the country last year, the area jumped to 75th worst this year. Also, the Davenport metro area’s grade for ozone pollution fell from a B to an F, while the grade for particle pollution in the Quad Cities dropped from a B to a D. Breathing polluted air can have serious implications, and Hamilton says it can hit some of us even harder on those “unhealthy” days, when the air is hazy from wildfire smoke.

The American Lung Association says if more Iowans switched to EVs, that would help improve air quality. (Radio Iowa photo)

“If you are in a sensitive group, if you have a chronic condition like asthma or heart disease, try to limit your time outdoors,” Hamilton says. “If you can, if it’s a warm day, keep your windows closed, and then encourage policy makers to speed up the transition away from coal. Coal is the leading cause of air pollution.” See the full “State of the Air” report and see several county-by-county breakdowns for Iowa at the American Lung Association website: Lung.org/SOTA.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports a Nebraska man was arrested today (Wednesday), on an OWI charge. Authorities say 20-year-old Jason Thomas, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He posted a $1,000 bond, and was released.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two central Iowa residents were recently arrested on drug charges. At around 4-p.m. Tuesday, 54-year-old Troy Lynn McKinney, of Des Moines, was arrested in Creston for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving with Suspended License. And, around 9-p.m. Monday, 36-year-old Shaenia Laitija Raeche Allison, of Des Moines, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving with Suspended License.

Both subjects were cited and released on a Promise to Appear in court.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Emergency Management Coordinator Jill Harvey, Tuesday, issued a report on damage part of the county sustained during the April 17th tornadoes.  An EF-1 tornado touched down at around 8:40-p.m. April 17th in Fremont County, southeast of Randolph, before moving east into northwestern Page County. The National Weather Service says the tornado caused significant damage before lifting just east of Nyman, at around 9:08-p.m.

Jill Harvey reports:

• 1 residential home was destroyed
• 2 agricultural structures sustained major damage
• 43 additional structures were damaged
• There were widespread power outages due to down trees and power lines, and
• Trees and power poles at the Pierce Creek Recreation Area in Page County sustained extensive damage.

Jill Harvey says local city and county officials, along with the Essex Volunteer Fire and EMS Department, responded immediately after the event, and conducted door-to-door searched in the impacted area. EMA Coordinators from Cass, Clarke and Montgomery Counties arrived last Friday morning (April 18th) to assist with preliminary damage assessments. In addition, the American Red Cross was on-site Friday, and continues to provide assistance to affected residents.

As previously mentioned, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued a Disaster Proclamation, which activated the Individual Assistance Grant Program for Page and Fremont Counties, along with two counties in northwest Iowa. To learn more about the program and/or to apply, go to https://homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/assistance#.