The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Silver City was arrested this (Friday) morning for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 33-year old Jeremy Wayne Garner was taken into custody at around 1:50-a.m. His bond was set at $300.

And, two people were injured during an accident Wednesday night in Mills County. Authorities say the driver of the vehicle, 72-year old Phillip May, of Hastings, and his passenger, 61-year old Rosetta May, also of Hastings, suffered minor injuries, and were transported to the Montgomery County Hospital by Red Oak Rescue. The couple was hurt when the 2001 Nissan they were in went out of control on Highway 34 near 390th Street, entered the south ditch, and rolled several times. The accident happened at around 8:50-p.m.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports a woman from Council Bluffs was arrested last Sunday (Jan. 22nd), on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Parole Violation. 42-year old Tracie Lynn Frolich-Lappe was transferred to the Audubon County Jail after being taken into custody, and was being held pending transfer to Pottawattamie County.  Audubon County Sheriffs Deputies assisted in the arrest.

Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office were busy Wednesday, covering numerous accidents. At around 12:45-a.m., deputies responded to a report of a skid steer colliding with parked vehicles near Clark and 4^th Streets in Griswold. Authorities say a 2012 Bobcat Skid Steer tractor owned and driven by 33-year old Landon Rex Preston, of Griswold, was northbound on Clark Street when the bucket of the steer began to come loose, causing the skid steer and bucket to strike two vehicles in a driveway: A 1998 Chevy pickup owned by Titus Wayne Jackson, and a 2013 Ford pickup owned by Jessica Renee Jackson. The vehicles sustained a total of $4,500 damage. No injuries were reported.

At around 8-a.m. Wednesday, Cass County deputies responded to a report of a one-vehicle accident on White Pole Road. Officials say a 1997 International 4700 driven by 32-year old Paul T. Murphy, of Omaha, was eastbound on White Pole Road west of 542^nd Street, when the vehicle was pulled off the road by the snowy conditions. It went into the southbound ditch and came to rest in a field. Murphy denied medical assistance was needed at the time of the wreck. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $3,000.

And, a little after Noon on Wednesday, a single-vehicle accident happened on Highway 173 in Cass County. Officials say a 2016 Chevy Equinox driven by 59-year old Roger Berry Fleener, of Des Moines, was northbound on Highway 173 when Fleener lost control due to the snowy roadway. The SUV entered the west ditch and sustained $5,000 damage. No injuries were reported.

A traffic stop early this (Friday) morning in Council Bluffs resulted the arrest of a man on an OWI charge and for Carrying Weapons. A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped a 2002 Acura driven by 36-year old Dontar Ternell Lewis, of Council Bluffs, at around 2:10-a.m.  The vehicle was pulled over because Lewis failed to dim his headlights. During an investigation, Lewis reportedly displayed signs of impairment, but he refused to take the standard Field Sobriety Test. He was arrested for OWI/1st offense, and since he was in possession of a stun gun that he did not have a permit to carry, Lewis was also charged with Carrying Weapons. He was booked into the Pott. County Jail.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy responding to a residence in Carson Thursday afternoon, arrested a man for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding air flow. 27-year old Michael Jay Burns, of Carson, allegedly assaulted his wife during an argument. He was transported to the Pott. County Jail.

And, a Missouri Valley man was arrested Thursday night for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop in Pott. County. A 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 31-year old Benjamin John Hoyt, of Missouri Valley, was pulled over at around 11:55-p.m. because it did not have a functioning brake light. The deputy observed Hoyt had bloodshot, watery eyes and emitted a strong odor of alcohol. A fresh container of beer was in the center console of his vehicle. Based on the results of a Field Sobriety Test, Hoyt was taken into custody. He was also cited for Improper Brake Light.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says a man who showed up at the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office Thursday afternoon to make a required address change with regard to the Sex Offender Registry, was taken into custody on a warrant out of Nebraska. Authorities say 36-year old Christopher Lee Karsten, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Failure to Comply with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, and on Nebraska warrants for Domestic Violence Terroristic Threats and Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony. Since authorities in Nebraska said they wanted to extradite Karsten, a charge of Fugitive from Justice was also applied. He was being held without bond in the Pott. County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a legal doctrine going back 100 years in Iowa that allows agriculture drainage districts to maintain immunity from lawsuits seeking monetary damages. The ruling today (Friday) presents an obstacle for the Des Moines Water Works, which is pursuing a lawsuit in federal court in Sioux City filed in March 2015.

The water utility for 500,000 Iowans alleges the three counties (Sac, Calhoun and Buena Vista) that oversee 10 agricultural drainage districts, should be required to obtain federal water pollution discharge permits and pay the utility more than $1.4 million it has spent for increased filtration methods to remove the nitrates from water.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) – President Donald Trump was the first Republican to carry Iowa’s Wapello County in 44 years and his supporters there are cheering the new president’s quick action on health care, trade, energy and immigration. The voters who helped him capture the state and the presidency last November give Trump high marks for reversing eight years of Democrat Barack Obama’s policies and working to build a wall along the Mexican border.

And yet, even these voters, to whom Trump disproportionately owes his presidency, roll their eyes at his ongoing fixation with his popularity. They shake their heads over widely debunked claims about the crowd size for his inauguration and voter fraud costing him the popular vote.

Iowa farmers who are looking ahead to the spring planting season are carefully watching the demise of the La Nina weather pattern to see what may come next. Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub — based in Ames, says it’s almost over. “The La Nina right now is on life support,” Todey says. “We’ll have to see if we can call this a full-fledged La Nina or not. It did reach La Nina category but maybe not for a long enough period of time to be called a full-fledged La Nina.”

Surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are fluctuating and may have an impact across North America. Cooling temperatures the last few months created a La Nina effect, but now that may be vanishing. Todey says the climate experts don’t agree yet on what may happen next. “There’s a small chance we’ll get back to El Nino by summertime, but it seems unlikely at this point,” Todey says. “Now, we’re looking at shorter-term types of things. What’s our soil moisture looking like? Do we see any kind of big ridges that would set in for any kind of reason.”

While some parts of the region haven’t seen as much snow as usual this winter, he predicts most of the Northern Plains should see an early thaw. “It looks like most of the big-time cold is going to stay away for a while, it’s going to stay well up into Canada and that’s a good thing,” Todey says. “We actually may start to see some melting of snow in some of the areas. It should be warm enough to do that. The heavier snowpack areas, we probably won’t do too much eating into that for a while.”

He says his office should have a better idea about potential spring weather in the next month or so.

(Radio Iowa)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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