Two people were arrested on separate charges Thursday afternoon, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 28-year old Tyler James Hicks, of Creston, was arrested on an Adair County warrant. He was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond.

And, 24-year old Rebecca Adeline Holbrook, of Lenox, was arrested in the 800 block of Taylor Street, in Creston, on a charge of Theft in the 5th and 4th Degrees. Holbrook was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Red Oak have arrested a man for Disorderly Conduct. 34-year old Keith Andre Smith, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 100 block of E. Grimes Street at around 3:40-a.m. today (Friday).  Smith was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

State Auditor Mary Mosiman has released a report on a special investigation of the Anthon Rescue Squad located in Anthon that shows thousands of dollars of improper use credit cards and the organization’s money. Mosiman says the investigation focused on former secretary/treasurer Kristine Roggatz. “Our investigation identified almost 92-thousand of improper disbursements and a little over nine-thousand dollars of unsupported disbursements for a total impact to the Anthon Rescue Squad of 100-thousand-956 dollars,” according to Mosiman.

A majority of the funds went to pay off credit cards. Mosiman says the improper disbursements included almost 81-thousand dollars in payments on credit cards that were in Roggatz’s name, and there were several cash withdrawals from A-T-M’s from the organization’s checking account by Roggatz.

The State Auditor was called in after the city and rescue squad staff was contacted by a collection agency regarding a Capital One credit card established in the organization’s name which they were not aware of. “We actually identified no payments using the Anthon Rescue Squad’s funds to the Capitol One card — but we did find payments to a Staples credit card, two Citi business credit cards, a Commerce Bank credit card and a Sam’s Club Discover card — again totaling almost eighty-one-thousand dollars,” Mosiman says.

She says there were 19 cash withdrawals made at A-T-Ms and purchases from phone service providers, online vendors, and retail vendors.  Mosiman says there was a lack of oversight, and it was something that could be easily taken care of by the organization. She says the easiest thing that can be done is to have the bank statements sent to someone not involved in depositing the money and they can review them and see if there is any unusual activity.

The audit covered a period from January 2009 through December of 2014, and Mosiman reported it was not possible to determine if additional amounts were improperly disbursed because bank statements and images of checks redeemed prior to January 1st, 2009 were not available. Copies of the report have been filed with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office, and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s weather during May was on the cool, wet side. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says temperatures were widely varied during the month, with a low of 27 degrees in Cherokee on May 2nd and a high of 94 in two cities, Little Sioux on the 8th and Shenendoah on the 15th.

“Temperature wise, we ended up averaging just slightly below normal, not quite one-degree cooler than usual for May,” Hillaker says. “We had a cool first few days of the month and a cool last week-and-a-half and rather warm in between, but averaging out just a little bit on the cool side.” Many farmers had a difficult time getting into their fields to plant during May as the continued rains left many acres muddy or underwater.

“On rainfall, the statewide average was not quite 5 inches of rainfall, roughly a half-inch greater than usual for the month of May,” Hillaker says. “Much of the state was near-normal to above-normal for rainfall with the exception of parts of southeast and east-central Iowa, which only got about half the normal amount of rainfall during the month of May.”

The wettest part of the state during May was west-central Iowa where some areas had almost twice the usual amount of rain. May and June are typically the busiest months of the year for severe weather and this May was on target. While there were several scattered severe storms, there was a three-day run of them May 15th, 16th and 17th.

“We had three consecutive evenings where we had widespread severe weather, the biggest of those being the final one which came on the 17th,” Hillaker says. “We had severe weather reports of either high winds or large hail from over half of Iowa’s counties, 55 of the 99 counties reported severe storms on that one evening.”

As to the month ahead, June will start out hot with highs in the 90s expected in southwest Iowa, though a cool front should arrive next week which may persist and keep temperatures somewhat lower than normal well into mid-month. The first day of summer is June 21st.

(Radio Iowa)

A substance abuse treatment provider in central Iowa has withdrawn its federal lawsuit against Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield that had alleged the insurance provider owes them millions of dollars in unpaid claims. The St. Gregory Retreat Center says it is dismissing its lawsuit and admitted its original claims of fraud and misconduct, including statements made during a 2016 news conference, were ultimately without merit.

A federal court came to a similar conclusion when it dismissed St. Gregory’s claims against the insurer earlier this year. In a news release, St. Gregory officials apologized for statements and actions that the release says “exacerbated a two-year long contract dispute over the manner and accuracy of claims the substance abuse treatment center submitted to Wellmark.

Although that dispute is now resolved, St. Gregory’s is no longer a provider in Wellmark’s network.” Wellmark has dismissed additional fraud and RICO claims it filed against St. Gregory’s following the announcement of the dismissal of the lawsuit.

St. Gregory’s Retreat Center has facilities located near Adair, and Bayard.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines teen has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for beating his grandmother to death in the home they shared. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that 19-year-old Noah LaPrei was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 50 years with no minimum. LaPrei entered an Alford plea in April to second-degree murder in the death of 79-year-old Rachel Pray.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An audit alleges the former executive director of an Iowa nonprofit that promotes healthy, affordable school meals embezzled at least $169,000 over a five-year period. The report says Norma LaMantia admitted to diverting checks meant for the School Nutrition Association of Iowa to personal bank accounts. LaMantia told auditors and a Davenport police detective last month that the money helped pay her personal expenses and support her addiction to casino gambling.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say two people have been arrested after leading troopers in Iowa, then Nebraska, on a high speed chase and ramming two Iowa patrol cruisers in the process. The Nebraska State Patrol arrested the 27-year-old man with an Oklahoma driver’s license Thursday morning after he lost control of the stolen Jeep he was driving in Omaha. A 29-year-old woman with a Wisconsin driver’s license was also arrested.

IOWA FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating how a 6-year-old boy was hit and seriously injured by a semitrailer’s rear tires in Iowa Falls. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the accident happened just after school on Wednesday. The Iowa State Patrol says the boy, who has not been identified, was rushed to an Iowa Falls hospital and later flown to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say two people have been arrested after leading troopers in Iowa, then Nebraska, on a high speed chase and ramming two Iowa patrol cruisers in the process. The Nebraska State Patrol arrested 27-year-old Michael Eugene Pierce, of Oklahoma, Thursday morning after he lost control of the stolen Jeep he was driving in Omaha. His passenger, 29-year-old Mary E. Kennison of Wisconsin, was also arrested.

Officials say the Jeep was stolen from Greeley, Colorado. Troopers in Iowa say when they had earlier tried to stop the Jeep, Pierce fled and later swerved at a trooper to avoid a spike strip, causing him to ram two Iowa Patrol cars. He was caught after crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska. Authorities say the pair face multiple charges. Pierce and Kennison were being held in the Douglas County, NE., Jail.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say a woman from Adair County was arrested Tuesday morning on an OWI charge. 48-year old Annette M. Feick, of Greenfield, was arrested at around 7:20-a.m. for OWI/1st offense. She was later released on $1,000 bond.

And, a resident of Lorimor reported to the Sheriff’s Office on May 28th, that sometime during the night someone drove through his fence on 130th Street.  The damage was estimated at $100.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Officials from six western Iowa counties are working together to mark a 209-mile bicycle route that would run from Woodbury County to Fremont County. The Daily Nonpareil reports the Frontier Iowa Trails Network is working on the designation of the Lewis and Clark Today Route. It’ll run along the Missouri River, following the path of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

The project’s first phase will create a “shared route” that runs on highways, county roads and other types of streets. The majority of the trail would be paved. The project’s second phase will be the implementation of another bicycle trail off the roadway.

Brian Leaders of the National Park Service and others are raising money for installation of the route’s signs, which is expected to cost $200,000.