The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 18-year old Rosella Raeann Weaver, of Glenwood, was arrested today (Wednesday), at around 12:36-a.m..  She was taken into custody near the intersection of Highway 34 and I-29, for Theft in the 5th Degree, Driving Under Suspension, and Failure to Provide Proof of financial Liability. Weaver’s bond in the Mills County Jail, was set at $600.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested Tuesday night at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, in Creston. 20-year old Logan Daniel Houg, of Winterset, was arrested on a Union County warrant for 3rd degree burglary. Houg was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

And, 32-year old Ashley Nicole Foster, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for failure to appear, on an original charge of possession of controlled substance. Foster was being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail, on a $1,000 bond.

Members of the Washington G.E.M. 4H Group volunteered to work a shift Saturday, during the Annual Christmas Walk at the Heritage House, in Atlantic. According to spokesperson Melanie Petty, they served popcorn, cookies, snow cones, hot cocoa and hot apple cider to everyone attending.  Petty says “If you’ve never taken the time to attend the Christmas Walk make sure you attend next year.  The staff does an amazing job of decorating – it will definitely get you into the holiday spirit!”

Photo courtesy Melanie Petty

(Radio Iowa) — Forecasters say Iowa’s weather will warm up and stay dry headed into the year-end holidays, making for easier travel by road and air. Rose White, at Triple-A-Iowa, says between this Saturday and New Year’s Day, a record of 115-million people will take to the highways and skies, the eighth straight year of new record highs for travel volume. White says, “Some 104.8-million, or 91-percent of all travelers, will reach their destination by car, another 6.9-million will fly and the remaining 3.8-million will use other modes of transportation, such as bus, rail and ship.”

White says air travel volume will be the highest since 2003, an increase of nearly five-percent from last year, rising by 320-thousand passengers. People love to travel to see friends and family during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, White says, especially when times are good. White says, “With unemployment at a historically low level of 3.6%, and both disposable income and household net worth set to improve this year, Americans are well positioned to travel this holiday season.”

Gasoline prices have fallen during December, with demand at its lowest point since February. White says the national average gas price is two-55, down five cents a gallon in the past month.   “In Iowa, however, the price average is 21-cents lower than the national average, currently at $2.34 a gallon. That’s a drop of about seven cents during the last month alone,” White says. “Compared to last Christmas holiday, prices are currently about 24-cents higher.”

The motor club is offering its “Tow to Go” program to both members and non-members in Iowa between December 20th and January 2nd. The program provides a safe ride and tow home, within ten miles, for impaired drivers and their vehicles. For details, visit www.AAA.com/Towtogo or call (855) 286-9246.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A jury has convicted a Cedar Rapids man of fatally shooting a man and trying to kill a woman. Ezekiel Phillips was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder and attempted murder for the Dec. 19 shooting of Tyrice Douglas and Mone Dotson. Dotson testified that Phillips, a former boyfriend, entered her Cedar Rapids apartment and shot her and Douglas while they were in bed. A medical examiner testified that Douglas survived the shooting but later developed an infection that led to his May 6 death. Phillips’ attorneys says he wasn’t the shooter and there was no physical evidence linking him to the shootings.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Thousands of people whose state income tax refunds were withheld to pay Cedar Rapids traffic camera tickets would get refunds under a proposed $3 million lawsuit settlement. The City Council learned Tuesday that the city also would stop trying to collect fines and late fees on about 177,000 unpaid tickets issued before Aug. 31 last year. The council voted unanimously for the settlement of the 2018 lawsuit. The case stems from a December 2017 initiative in which the city sought payments for 221,000 unpaid tickets dating back to 2010. The settlement has no bearing on the current use of traffic cameras.

(Radio Iowa) — A Winnebago County supervisor has pleaded guilty to charges after bringing a gun to a meeting and being drunk. Sixty-three-year-old Michael Stensrud of Lake Mills pleaded guilty to the charges of carrying a firearm while under the influence and public intoxication. Stensrud was charged on May 21st after law enforcement was called to the Winnebago County Courthouse in Forest City for a man who was possibly intoxicated. Stensrud was at a supervisors meeting at the time, with officers saying he smelled of alcohol and had a pistol in his right pocket. Court documents state that Stensrud’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.

Stensrud had a request to have his trial moved out of Winnebago County denied, then agreed to plead guilty as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors would recommend a deferred judgment and six months probation. Under the terms of a deferred judgment, if he completes the terms of his probation, the conviction would be removed from his record. Stensrud is scheduled to be sentenced on January 24th.

Stensrud, who played football at Iowa State University before going pro, was in the NFL for a decade before retiring in 1989.

Emergency responders and law enforcement were dispatched at around 7:05-a.m. today (Wednesday), to the rollover of a delivery truck off Interstate 80, in Cass County. The straight truck was on its side between the 57 and 58 mile markers. The driver suffered from a leg injury and was extricated through the windshield, once it was removed. He transported by Medivac to CCMH for treatment of minor injuries.