(Atlantic, Iowa) – Applications are now being accepted for the 16th Annual Trevor Frederickson Memorial Scholarship. Applications may be obtained from the Atlantic High School guidance office at 1201 E. 14th Street or the Atlantic High School website: www.atlanticiaschools.org. Up to two $750 scholarships are available to those graduating from Atlantic High School in the spring of 2025. Applicants must plan to attend a college or vocational school, show involvement in school and/or community activities, supply a copy of their college acceptance letter, provide two letters of reference along with their 7 semester transcripts, and maintain academic achievement of 2.5 or better.

New this year is a $500 scholarship available to a graduating senior from Atlantic High School who is going directly into the workforce after graduation. Graduate must secure 9 months of consecutive full time employment in the trades. The scholarships will be awarded at the Atlantic High School Class Night held in May.

Trevor Frederickson (Photo courtesy Melanie Petty)

Trevor Frederickson graduated from Atlantic High School in 2006. He went on to further his education at Southwestern Community College in Creston where he studied automotive mechanics and played baseball for the Southwestern Spartans. Two additional $750 scholarships will be available for Southwestern Community College students this fall. Trevor, who passed away in 2009, had plans of pursuing a career in law enforcement and returning to his hometown of Atlantic. “Anyone who knew Trevor, knew he valued family, life and community. Trevor continues to live on in our hearts and minds. To this day, Trevor is still giving back to the community he loved to be a part of.” (Melanie Petty, mother of Trevor Frederickson)

Funds for the scholarships are raised at an annual golf tournament. Plans are already in the works for the 17th Annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament to be held on Saturday, June 21st, 2025. Organizers look forward to another successful tournament so they can continue to grant scholarships for many years to come.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Public Hearings pertaining to the FY25-26 Atlantic Community School District Proposed Budget/Tax Levy and School Calendar, will be held beginning at 6:30-p.m. Wednesday, March 26th, in the Atlantic High School Media Center. The meeting is viewable through a YouTube link. The Board will receive public comments on both topics and close the hearing. No action will be taken at this time.

A Special Meeting of the Atlantic School Board will then convene, with action on approving the following 2025-26 new, Certified Teacher hires:

• Dani Johnson
• Erin Dillon
• Logan Gerdes.

Following the Special Session, the School Board will hold a Work Session and discussion with a representative of SVPA Architects, to review the Master Plan, Bond Options and District Facility Construction Plans.

(Creston, Iowa) – A Union County man was arrested Monday afternoon in Creston. The Creston Police Department reports 29-year-old Jacob Jack Davis, of Cromwell, was arrested at around 4:45-p.m. Monday, in Creston, on charges that include: Interfere with Official Acts, Public Intoxication – 1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Davis was taken to the Union County Jail where he is being held on a $5,900 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Seed supply shortages could cause problems for farmers in Iowa this spring. Flooding early in the season last spring devastated parts of southern Minnesota and northwestern Iowa, and Casey Staloch, with Albert Lea Seed Company in Minnesota, says seed production really suffered. “Just because we had too much water early and not enough late, and then also with our sales being up on the conventional side,” Staloch says, “yeah, we are getting sold out of a lot of numbers right now.”

Staloch says there are other seed options if a farmer can’t get access to their first choice. “You can change some maturities, different things like that. But some of these companies where sales are down now, we’re coming them back in and lowering their prices in-season to try to get rid of some seed,” he says. “So I think there’s a lot of seed to be bought yet, even only a month out.”

Heavy rains last spring led to historic flooding in northwest Iowa, in communities including Rock Valley, Sioux Rapids, and Spencer, impacting hundreds of homes and thousands of residents.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Board recently approved funds for three start-up businesses. I-E-D-A spokesperson Kanan Kappelman says Ames-based Janas Materials was awarded a 100-thousand dollar loan to help refine its product. “They developed sustainable technology for the coating industry that improves the appearance and application of wood stains. They provide a more environmentally friendly alternative,” she says. Poultry Patrol received funds for their robot. “They’re based in Coralville, and they’ve created a poultry tending robot to stimulate bird movement in turkey barns,: Kappleman says. She says the robot also alerts farmers to spills and bird health and maintenance issues.

“The robot support in the animal husbandry process keeps the turkeys healthier and saves farmers time and money. The company was awarded a 50-thousand dollars proof of commercial relevance loan,” she says. Fairfield’s Better Natural company also received a proof of commercial relevance loan. “And they developed a technology to integrate roof sheathing, roof cover and solar energy in one single layer. So this technology allows them to lower manufacturing and installation costs and create more visually appealing solar energy systems that look a whole lot like roofing tiles,” Kappleman says. The Board also approved two Community Attraction And Tourism Grants. “The Hoover Presidential Foundation was awarded 400-thousand dollars to redesign the 60 year old Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum,” she says.

A sports tourism award for 50-thousand dollars was approved to help Polk County promote the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts Fight Night at Wells Fargo Arena.

(Radio Iowa) – The legislature is still tinkering with the governor’s plan to require that Iowa school districts adopt policies that restrict students from using smart phones when they’re in classes. Senator Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia, says the bill is designed to give a nudge to Iowa public schools that haven’t developed a smart phone policy yet. “We’re encouraging school boards to take up a matter that we all know could be a problem, but it doesn’t take away local control,” Evans said. “It allows them to develop this policy in a manner that best fits their school district and addresses needs in their community.”

The bill won unanimous approval in the Senate yesterday (Monday). Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, notes the bill doesn’t prohibit cell phones during class, but calls for restrictions. “Most school districts have already adopted policies far more limiting than this bill, but if this bill encourages a few more to get on with it and adopt at least some minimalist policy I suppose that’s a good thing.”

The House approved a bill on the topic last week. Yesterday (Monday), senators added a requirement that Iowa’s Education Department provide model cell phone guidelines to schools by May 1st. The policies must be in place on July 1st. Senator Sarah Trone Garriott of Waukee and other Democrats argued the no-cell-phones-in-class requirement should apply to Iowa’s private schools, too. “It is good for kids whether they are in public schools or private schools, charter schools — whatever kinds of schools our state tax dollars are funding in some way,” she said.

Republican senators voted down that idea. Governor Reynolds also had recommended sixth, seventh and eighth grade students undergo social media training in school, but that proposal was removed from the bill by the House last week.

(Mondamin, Iowa) – A collision early this (Tuesday) morning in Harrison County resulted in two people being transported to the hospital. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 12:45-a.m. on Interstate 29 south at mile marker 92 (North of Mondamin).

The Patrol says a car and a semi were traveling southbound when the car went out of control and veered into the left lane, before returning to the right lane. The semi driver swerved into the left lane in an attempted to avoid contact with the car, but the truck struck the car on the rear, causing the vehicle to come to rest in the west ditch. The semi rolled over onto the driver’s side and came to rest partially in the west ditch and partially on the west shoulder of the interstate.

The driver of the car, 27-year-old Jonathan Terpstra, of Bellevue, NE, was flown by LifeNet to the UNMC in Omaha. The driver of the semi, 25-year-old Kreece Robinson, of Shepherd, MT, was transported by Mondamin Rescue to the hospital in Missouri Valley. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.

The crash remains under investigation. Deputies with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs report a Harrison County man was arrested Monday on warrants for Felony attempted murder and weapon charges, following a shooting investigation.  Authorities say 22-year-old Ty’Jon Lamonn Edwards, of Missouri Valley, was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on two, Class-B Felony counts of Attempted Murder, and a Class-C Felony charge of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon.

At around 2-a.m. Sunday, March 23rd, 2025, Council Bluffs Police were dispatched to a shooting at the O’Face Bar in the 2400 block of 9th Avenue, in Council Bluffs, where a disturbance had occurred as the bar was closing, which resulted in a male suspect firing multiple rounds at the bar and an occupied vehicle in the bar’s parking lot. No one was hit by the gunfire but an occupant of the car did receive treatment at a local hospital for minor injuries.

After investigators identified Edwards as the suspect, arrest warrants were obtained, and at around Noon on Monday, March 24th, members of the Metro Fugitive Task Force located a vehicle that Edwards was riding in, near 16th Street and West Broadway in Council Bluffs. Task Force members were able to stop the vehicle and take him into custody without incident.

An investigation into the shooting incident is ongoing. Authorities say additional arrests are anticipated. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Council Bluffs Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728. To remain anonymous, they may call CrimeStoppers at 712-328-7867 or submit an on-line crime tip at:
https://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/FormCenter/Police-Department-2/Online-CrimeStoppers-Tip-70

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Ames man was sentenced today to life in federal prison on each of fifteen counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Carl Dale Markley, 45, from at least 2001 to April 2023, used fraud and coercion to cause dozens of teenage boys and young men, and a few young women, to engage in sex acts in exchange for money or some other benefit. Markley was a nurse practitioner in Ames and owned several businesses. Over a course of years, Markley used his professions and position in the community to befriend and gain the trust of victims, and then groom and repeatedly sexually abuse them. For a number of victims, Markley placed hidden cameras in locations to record this abuse.

Markley exploited the trust his victims placed in him. He lied to victims that sex acts and sexual contact were needed because, among other things, he was conducting research for various research institutions or sexual-health companies, his insurance company required victims to undergo physicals which he could perform, or he was obtaining advanced degrees. None of Markley’s justifications were true.

The criminal investigation into Markley’s activities began in December 2022, when the Ames Police Department received a complaint that Markley had been conducting physicals on minor male children without parental consent. Ultimately, the Ames Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses, completed roughly thirty-five search warrants, and obtained documents and other materials from various research institutions and sexual-health-related entities. They also seized and searched dozens of electronic devices, including seven cellphones and ten computers determined to be Markley’s and on which they located the hidden-camera materials Markley had created, internet-based child pornography, including images depicting children under the age of twelve, and other evidence of Markley’s crimes.

At sentencing, Markley continued to provide false justifications for his behavior. Chief District Judge Stephanie M. Rose described Markley’s claims as “delusional.”

In November 2023, Markley was charged with 17 federal crimes, including 15 counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion, one count of sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation of a child, and one count of possession of child pornography. In November 2024, Markley pleaded guilty to the 15 sex-trafficking counts.

“This case is a stark reminder that those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain will be held accountable,” said Ames Police Department Police Chief Geoff Huff. “We commend the bravery of the victims who came forward and the relentlessness of our officers and partner agencies in bringing this perpetrator to justice.”

FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, “Carl Markley used trust and manipulation to exert control over his victims and fulfill his criminal sexual fantasies. His young victims suffered reprehensible abuse. The FBI and our local, state, and federal partners are committed to bringing sexual predators to justice, holding them accountable for their crimes and helping to provide a path towards healing for survivors.”

DCI Assistant Director Don Schnitker said, “Today marks a significant victory in Iowa’s ongoing fight against human trafficking.  The survivors in this case showed immense bravery in coming forward, and today’s outcome ensures that Markley will never harm another person again.”

“Markley’s life sentence was absolutely warranted and necessary to permanently prevent anyone from being victimized by him again,” said United States Attorney Richard Westphal. “His defiance and failure to accept responsibility only exemplifies what a monstrous sexual predator he is. Our gratitude to the courage of the victims in this investigation and the dedication of the law enforcement personnel who identified and proved Markley’s horrendous acts of sex trafficking and abuse.”

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This criminal case was investigated jointly by the Ames Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle J. Essley and Amy L. Jennings prosecuted the case with the assistance of Victim Witness Specialist Charlotte Kovacs.

Human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of youth under the age of 18 for commercial sex; the exploitation of adults for commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion; and the exploitation of any individual for compelled labor. Human trafficking does not require the transportation of individuals across state lines, or that someone is physically restrained. Signs that a person is being trafficked can include working excessively long hours, unexplained gifts, physical injury, substance abuse issues, running away from home, isolation from others, or having a person in their life controlling them or monitoring them closely. Victims particularly susceptible to being trafficked include those with criminal histories, a history of physical or sexual abuse, uncertain legal status, and dependency on controlled substances.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is occurring, be it a minor engaging in paid sex acts, or anyone being coerced into prostitution or labor, is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If anyone has information about this case, they are urged to call the Ames Police Department, FBI, or Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation, or call the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports two people were arrested Saturday, March 22nd. 32-year-old Daniel Polan, of Glenwood, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault and on three counts of Child Endangerment. His total bond was set at $7,000.

And, 20-year-old Logan Mowery, of Glenwood was arrested for OWI/1^st offense. He posted a $1,000 bond and was released from the Mills County Jail.