(Greenfield, Iowa) – A traffic stop March 3rd on Interstate 80 in Adair County resulted in the arrest of a woman from Michigan. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports the Iowa State Patrol arrested 32-year-old Bayzhi Matrious, of Suttons Bay, MI, after the vehicle she was driving crashed on I-80 westbound near mile marker 74 in Adair County. The vehicle, a 2024 KIA SUV, had rolled over several times before coming to rest in the north ditch, by a creek. The accident happened at around 12:15-p.m.

Medics and rescue crews were already on the scene when the Trooper arrived. They were tending to a man and a woman. A subsequent investigation resulted in Matrious’ arrest for OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana-1st offense, Open container, and Failure to Maintain Control.

Matrious was released from the Adair County Jail later that evening on a $2,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers says property owners across Iowa will soon receive a statement in the mail regarding potential property taxes and public hearing dates for cities, schools, and the county. The letter is required to be sent to all property owners under Iowa Code 24.2A.

Somers said the statement is not a tax bill, but an informational notice ensuring transparency and informing taxpayers when and where public hearings will be held for them to express concerns before final budgets are approved. The proposed levies can only be reduced, not increased after the hearings.

Questions regarding the statements may be directed to the school district, county or city contact information included on the statement

(Radio Iowa) – Moderate drought conditions expanded slightly last month in central and eastern Iowa, according to the state’s latest Water Summary Update. Jessica Reese McIntyre, an environmental specialist with the Iowa D-N-R, says she’ll be watching closely for worsening drought conditions, but she adds, winter is typically the driest time of the year in Iowa.

McIntyre says, “In the month of February, we saw another month of below-average precipitation, just as we did in January.” The state’s average snowfall in February was four-point-eight inches, nearly two inches below normal. “While this could raise concerns about potential drought conditions worsening, it’s still winter,” she says, “and winter is when we receive the least amount of precipitation across the state, and also, the ground is still frozen.”

Iowa DNR graphic

The National Weather Service forecast for March indicates a slight chance for above-average precipitation in the eastern half of Iowa and average precipitation in the western half.

(Radio Iowa) – The Federal Trade Commission says it got nearly 14-thousand fraud reports from Iowa consumers during 2024. The median loss was around 400-dollars, while the total lost was nearly 52-million dollars. The F-T-C says the top categories of scams reported by Iowans were business and government imposter scams, online shopping scams, and scams involving prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries.

While the category of Iowa victims age 80 and older was one of the smallest, it was the largest for losses, averaging about two-thousand dollars each. Phony investment schemes took Iowans for nearly 20-million dollars, while the second-most expensive were romance scams, costing nearly eight-million.

ANCHOR TAG: Iowans can report fraud, scams, or bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or call the Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office at 888-777-4590.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department and Mills County Sheriff’s Office released arrest reports today (Monday). The Glenwood P-D reports 40-year-old Casey Freemyer, of Tabor, was arrested Friday for Driving Under Suspension. Freemyer posted a $300 bond, and was released.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports  four arrests:

• 19-year-old Gabriel Austin Richardson, of Hamburg, was arrested today (March 10th) in Glenwood, for Sexual Assault without injury, and False Imprisonment. He was being with without bond in the Mills County Jail.
• 41-year-old Justin Edward Stephens, of Salt Lake City, UT, was arrested Saturday on I-29 in Mills County. Stephens was charged with OWI/3rd offense. His bond was set at $5,000.
• 35-year-old Christopher Lee McDaniel, of Pacific Junction, was arrested Thursday on an Out-of-County/Out-of-State warrant. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.
• And, 35-year-old Jonas Jake Wurtz, of Glenwood, was arrested March 4th in Glenwood, for Domestic Assault-Bodily Injury/1st offense, and two counts of Child Endangerment. Bond was set at $5,000.

OTTUMWA, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections says Jaron James Nathan, who was convicted of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon in Des Moines County, failed to report back to the Ottumwa Residential Facility as required Saturday, March 8, 2025.

Nathan is an 18-year-old, 5’10”, 171-pound Black male. He was admitted to the work release facility on Jan. 10, 2025.

Jaron James Nathan (IA DOC photo)

Persons with information on Nathan’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Engineer’s Office posted on social media, Friday, that a weight limit embargo on county gravel roads is in effect until further notice. The embargo means the weight limit for vehicles traveling on gravel roads, cannot exceed 10-tons. That includes school buses, which are limited to travel on hard surface roads only, until the embargo is lifted.

It was placed into effect due to the soft road conditions resulting from the rapid freezing and unfreezing of gravel road beds with the recent weather.

The weight embargo on Shelby County gravel roads will remain in effect until conditions improve and the embargo is rescinded.

(Radio Iowa) -Civil rights groups across Iowa are asking a federal appeals court to reconsider a November decision to dismiss their fees case against the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office. The suit alleges that the sheriff’s office was wrongly charging to inmates before releasing them from jail. A-C-L-U of Iowa Communications Director Veronica Fowler says they’re committed to finding ways to move the case forward.”We’re deeply concerned about this practice. We feel that it’s so clearly wrong that we’d like to continue down every legal avenue to stop it,” she says. Fowler says the group wants an appeal because the sheriff’s office is taking money without any oversight.

“What happens is, the way the sheriff’s office is doing it, is that they basically get a rubber stamp from the district court without a judge ever reviewing it,” Fowler says.

The lawsuit said the money is used to fund a shooting range for the enjoyment of sheriff’s office employees and their families. Fowler says the A-C-L-U believes the judge’s reasoning for dismissing the case was flawed.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans only know the name Marco Polo from a kids’ swimming pool game, but a guest lecturer who’ll be in central Iowa tomorrow (Tuesday) has walked in the famed traveler’s footsteps — across 12 countries. Mike Yamashita is a National Geographic photographer and he’ll share how he documented Polo’s fascinating, long journey. “You know, I’m the one and only person who has done the entire Marco Polo route, both land and sea,” Yamashita says. Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer whose travels through Asia along the Silk Road lasted from the year 1271 to 1295. It took Yamashita the better part of three years, through terrain that was challenging both physically and politically.

“The trip over goes through some very difficult places, like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, and I was between those wars,” Yamashita says. “I was probably the only Westerner to travel through those three countries, but we got access because I worked for National Geographic.” Yamashita is delivering a talk tomorrow night called, “East Meets West: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo” as part of the Explorers Series at the Des Moines Civic Center. He’ll be showing a collection of about a hundred of his photographs on the big screen, detailing his recreation of Polo’s unprecedented journey. “I was on it for about three years, shooting in a dozen countries,” Yamashita says, “and what I’m going to show is all these photographs from many of things that Marco Polo described, and I was able to find examples.”

Mike Yamashita (Courtesy of Des Moines Performing Arts)

Along with two documentary feature films, Yamashita has published 16 books in multiple languages, including his latest, “Shangri-La.” Technology, including social media and cell phones, has allowed a wide segment of our population to become amateur photographers, which irks professional photographers like Yamashita, who has decades of experience. “Yeah, it’s the worst time probably for photography, and yet it’s the best, in not only the ease of taking pictures, but the ease of showing them has never been better,” Yamashita says. “It’s hurt the industry in that — who needs a photographer, if everybody has a cell phone and is taking pictures?”

In addition to his work throughout Asia, which has included intensive concentrations in China, Japan, Korea, and India, his work has taken him to six continents. When Yamashita isn’t speaking or an assignment, he lives in rural New Jersey and is an active volunteer firefighter.

(Cherokee, Iowa) – The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies were called to a field located about one-mile east of Cherokee, Sunday, following a report human remains were found. During an investigation, it was determined the deceased individual was 45-year-old Joseph Kosiba, of Cherokee, who was reported missing in January, 2025. Kosiba had not been seen or in contact with family or friends since Dec. 20th, 2024.

Joseph Kosiba (Cherokee PD Photos)

The remains were sent to the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for autopsy. Authorities say at this time, no foul play is suspected, but the investigation is ongoing.