Deputies in Montgomery County were called Friday at about 6:30 pm to the 1700 block of 205th Street in Red Oak.  The caller said a man was sleeping in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked on the roadway.  When they arrived, deputies found a silver Chevy Cruze parked on the road and woke the driver, 40 year old Miguel Cruz of San Pablo, Mexico.  After a brief investigation, Cruz was taken to the Montgomery County Jail with a breathe alcohol level of .202.  Cruz was booked on OWI-first offense and held on $1,000 bond.

Red Oak Police report that at about 3:30 Sunday morning, they arrested 21 year old J’lyssa Rose Kidder of Red Oak for domestic assault, first offense.  Kidder was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond.

Union County Sheriff’s officials say one person was taken to the hospital after a single vehicle rollover accident.  Sunday morning, just after 8:30 am, 63 year old Virgina Alice Aguilar of Creston was westbound on 185th Street in her Honda SUV when she was distracted by a bug inside the vehicle.  Her SUV veered off the road and the passenger side tires went into a steep ditch and the vehicle rolled over.  Aguilar was trapped inside the vehicle.  She was taken to a local hospital after complaining of pain.  The vehicle sustained approximately $20,000 in damage.

DES MOINES- The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has completed its review of the fatal shooting of Matthew Briggs by two police officers from Council Bluffs and Omaha that occurred on July 8, 2023. In a report issued today, the office concluded that the actions of the officers, who shot Briggs only after he aimed a shotgun at them from a vehicle he had carjacked, were “legally justified” and that “no criminal charges are warranted.”

The Attorney General’s conclusion was based on a review and investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The investigation found that on July 8, Briggs was identified as a suspect in a murder committed that day in Omaha involving both a handgun and shotgun. The Omaha Police Department conducted a search of the scene but did not locate the suspect. As the search concluded, a carjacking involving a handgun and shotgun was reported in nearby Bellevue, Nebraska, and police determined that the carjacking suspect was Briggs.

Omaha and Bellevue police pursued Briggs from Nebraska into Mills and Pottawattamie Counties. The pursuit ultimately lasted more than 20 minutes, during which Briggs evaded an attempt to stop his stolen car with tire-deflation devices. Finally, a Council Bluffs police officer brought Briggs’s stolen car to a halt by using his cruiser to perform a pursuit intervention technique. Law enforcement officers attempted to end the situation peacefully, but Briggs aimed his shotgun at the officers, who then opened fire.

The report is issued under the Attorney General’s independent authority under Iowa Code section 13.12 to investigate or prosecute conduct of law enforcement that results in death.

A copy of the report is available here.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced today it is updating the  Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) payment rate to support livestock producers in the Midwest who have lost cattle to the extreme heat and humidity experienced this summer. To help indemnify ranchers to reflect a trend towards higher cattle weights in feedlots, the 2023 LIP payment rate for beef calves over 800 pounds will increase from $1244 per head to $1618, an increase of $374.

“The recent heat domes plaguing many parts of the country have proven to be unsurvivable for some animals and temperatures are not expected to let up any time soon. This is one of the latest, many examples of how a changing climate is creating immediate challenges for farmers and ranchers, and we’re finding that our emergency relief programs need to adapt accordingly,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Given these circumstances and the trend towards higher weights in feedlots, it became clear that USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Payment rates were not reflective of the true market value for cattle. This change will better indemnify the investments producers have in the livestock they raise, and we will continue to find flexibilities where possible to help our farmers and ranchers in the wake of climate-related impacts.”

LIP provides benefits to livestock owners and some contract growers for livestock deaths exceeding normal mortality from eligible adverse weather events, certain predation losses and reduced sales prices due to injury from an eligible loss. Indemnity payments are made at a rate of 75% of the prior year’s average fair market value of the livestock.

The updated LIP payment rate is effective immediately and will be applied retroactively starting Jan.1, 2023, for all eligible causes of loss including excessive heat, tornado, winter storms, and other qualifying adverse weather. Producers who have already received LIP payments for 2023 losses will receive an additional payment, if applicable, commensurate with this updated rate. For details on eligibility and payment rates, review the LIP fact sheet.

FSA recognizes that an annual update of LIP payment rates does not account for the volatile nature of livestock markets and is further exploring flexibilities to establish more current payment rates.

More Information

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help producers and landowners determine program or loan options. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. For FSA and NRCS programs, they should contact their local USDA Service Center.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is on a three day campaign swing through Iowa following this week’s debate with seven other candidates. DeSantis says he chose to emphasize his record as Florida’s governor rather than quarrel with the others.

DeSantis and his family stopped at the Field of Dreams last (Thursday) night and DeSantis spoke to a crowd in Rock Rapids this (Friday) morning.

DeSantis also has promised to classify Mexican drug cartels that are shipping fentanyl into the U-S as foreign terrorist organizations.

Former Iowa G-O-P co-chair Cody Hoefert (HOH-fert) also spoke to the crowd and said after watching Wednesday’s debate, he decided to endorse DeSantis.

The campus cooling system at Iowa State is back up and running — but classes won’t return to normal until Monday.

Information from I-S-U says crews were able to restart the cooling system faster than originally thought following a fire at the university’s power plant Thursday. But it will take time for some campus buildings to cool down and classes will be virtual today (Friday).

The Ames Fire Department reported a piece of equipment at the power plant failed and caught operating oil that was connected to it on fire. It took firefighters about an hour to put out the fire.

This is the last weekend before Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, and gasoline prices are inching downward as demand drops with less travel, though prices are still high compared to a year ago and even a month ago. Triple-A-Iowa spokesman Brian Ortner says crude oil prices are gradually falling and that translates to a drop in prices at the pump.

The motor club says the average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded is now three-61 in Iowa, which is 21-cents below the national average.

Triple-A says the highest gas prices in the state are in both Ames and Dubuque at three-76 a gallon, while the lowest prices are in Waterloo/Cedar Falls at three-47.

More than 400-thousand Iowans will have to resume paying off their student loan debt in October. Nathan Nash, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, warns scammers are hoping to capitalize.

Every U-S government website ends with dot-gov. Nash says the Federal Trade Commission recently stopped scammers claiming they could get student loans forgiven — for a fee.

The defendants in the recent student loan scam claimed be from the U-S Department of Education and falsely promised to lower or eliminate student loan payments.

U.S. Representatives Zach Nunn (IA-03) and Angie Craig (MN-02) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support rural small businesses. The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Act will eliminate barriers within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) to increase support for small businesses receiving loans through the program.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our rural areas, providing needed services and a sense of community that drive the economy,” said Rep. Nunn. “As costs climb for businesses, we need to adapt to ensure additional support to these job creators throughout the areas of Iowa that need it most.”

99 percent of all Iowa businesses are small businesses, employing near half of all working Iowans. In August of 2022, 64.2 percent of small businesses reported finding it challenging to access the capital they need to start a business. Rural small businesses often find it especially difficult to find ample cash flow.

The USDA Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program provides loans or grants to small businesses to help with startup and growth. The program also provides training and technical assistance to borrowers and microentrepreneurs. Currently, loans are limited to 75 percent of the project cost up to $50,000. The loans are limited to use for certain start up, expansion, new equipment purchases, or facility improvement costs.

The bipartisan Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Act will remove those limits to ensure this program fully supports rural small businesses.  Specifically, the bill:

• Provides an inflation adjustment to the maximum loan amount given to a business.
  Allows a RMAP loan to be used for 100 percent of project costs, an increase from the current rate of 75 percent.
  Empowers businesses to use RMAP loans to finance up to 50 percent of real estate construction costs, which is prohibited under current rules.

Rep. Nunn introduced the legislation with three small business owners and the Center for Rural Affairs in Ottumwa, Iowa.