DES MOINES – State Treasurer Roby Smith today (Monday) announced Iowans broke new records for claims and searches during the 2025 Unclaimed Property Day celebration. Overall, there were more than half a million visits to GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov resulting in 13,137 individual claims, an increase of 92% from 2024.

“This year’s Unclaimed Property Day was a huge success with the value of claims filed totaling more than $4.6 million,” said Treasurer Smith. “The largest claim from the event totaled over $250,000. Even with this success, there’s still more we can do to reunite Iowans with their unclaimed property, so I encourage every citizen to search GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov to see if they’ve got something to claim!”

As of publication, more than half a billion dollars remains to be claimed in Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. As Iowa’s only legitimate source of unclaimed property, Treasurer Smith encourages past and present Iowans to search for their unclaimed property anytime by visiting GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov.

Connect with the Treasurer on Facebook,  Instagram and X, to stay informed of updates and news.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors are set to hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18th, beginning at 9-a.m. Their session will be held at the Cass County Courthouse, and electronically, via Zoom. On the agenda is a monthly report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber, and action on setting March 25th as the date for a public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Tax Levy.

The Board will also act on passing a resolution to vacate a portion of 350th Street that crosses the Cass-Audubon County line, and to pass a resolution selling Bridge #389 on the vacated road over Troublesome Creek, to John Kilworth, for the sum of One-dollar. In other business, the Board will receive a Quarterly report from Cass County Conservation Executive Director Micah Lee, and a regular report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken. They are also expected to approve and authorize Board Chair Steve Baier to sign, the plans for a bridge replacement project on Rockport Road, west of Massena.

Following the Board’s meeting, the Supervisors, acting as the Cass County Compensation Board, will hold a meeting at 10-a.m. Tuesday, to specify the data to compare salaries (In accordance with Iowa Code), and vote on the recommended compensation schedule for county elected officials for the Fiscal Year 2026. Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers reminds residents of the County, that “Senate File 2442, signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on May 1, 2024, introduced significant changes to Iowa’s property tax laws and the structure of county compensation boards. One notable change allows county boards of supervisors to assume the responsibilities of the county compensation board, which traditionally recommended compensation levels for elected county officials. In response to this legislative change, the Cass County Board of Supervisors chose not to re-establish the separate compensation board. Instead, they have taken on its duties directly. This decision was formalized during their meeting on October 15, 2024, where they acknowledged that, as a result of SF 2442, the Board of Supervisors would assume the responsibilities of the compensation board as outlined in Iowa Code §331.905 and §331.907.”

A Budget Work Session will follow the Compensation Board meeting (Beginning at approximately 10:30-a.m., Tuesday).

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department says five people were arrested over the past three days. Friday night, 61-year-old Troy Eugene McKinney, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled  Substance/3rd Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Mckinney was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $5,300 bond. Early Saturday morning, 50-year-old Amy Lynn Whitney, of Creston, was arrested for Driving Suspended, Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia, and Poss. of a controlled substance/Methamphetamine-1st Offense. Whitney was later released after posting a $1,300 bond.

A little after 9-a.m., Saturday, 29-year-old Christopher Gage Selvy, of Creston, was arrested on Union County warrants for FTA (Failure To Appear) on a warrant for Driving Revoked, a FTA warrant for operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock, and FTA warrant for Driving while license suspended. Selvy was being held in the Union County Jail on $1,600 bond. Saturday night, Creston Police arrested 18-year-old John William Egly, IV, of Creston, for Driving While Revoked, and Operating a vehicle without an ignition Interlock Device. Egly was taken to the Union County Jail where he later bonded out on a bond of $1,300.

And, at around 1:20-a.m. Sunday, Creston Police arrested 29-year-old Glenn Scott Loe, of Creston, for OWI/1st Offense, and Persons Ineligible to Carry Dangerous Weapons. Loe was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Guthrie County, Iowa (February 13, 2025) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office about an active sex abuse investigation and authorities believe the crime occurred in Guthrie County. It was alleged, that on February 3, 2025, a fourteen-year-old female ran away from home in Des Moines and was approached by an unknown, adult male near QuikTrip. The male offered to buy the female alcohol and drive around, to which the female agreed too. The female became intoxicated throughout the night and eventually lost consciousness. When the female awoke, she was in the male’s residence where the two had sexual intercourse.

The next morning, the male dropped off the female at or near her high-school and the female reported the incident to local law enforcement. Due to the help of license plate readers and security footage, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was able to identify a vehicle and suspect of interest. The fourteen-year-old female positively identified the suspect as being 39-year-old Max Pierce of Panora, Iowa. She also identified his vehicle. The female explained Pierce’s residence in detail and shared her observations.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Max Pierce’s residence on February 12, 2025, at 12:20 p.m. Evidence was seized pursuant to the search warrant. Max Pierce was present and interviewed. He admitted to having sex with the female and taking her to school the next morning. Max L. Pierce age 39 of Panora, Iowa was arrested for Sex Abuse 3rd Degree and transported to the Guthrie County Jail. Additional charges are pending.

All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic is set to meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, in their chambers at City Hall. Action items on their agenda include:

• The Third & Final Reading of an Ordinance “Amending the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlantic, Iowa, by Amending Chapter 165, Zoning Regulations.”
• And, adopting the following Resolutions:
  • “Setting a Public Hearing for the Proposed Maximum Property Tax Levy for Fiscal Year 2026 to be Held on March 26, 2025, at 5:00 P.M.”
  •  “Approving the Proposed Maximum Property Tax Levy for FY 2026.”
  • “Designating the Distribution of Sales Tax Revenues to Various Funds for Specific Purposes.”
  • “Setting the Date for Public Hearing on Proposal to Enter into a General Obligation Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement and to Borrow Money Thereunder in a Principal Amount not to exceed $90,000,” and,
  • “Setting the Date for Public Hearing on Proposal to Enter into a General Obligation Loan Agreement and to Borrow Money Thereunder.”
• The Council will also recognize the following individuals:
  • Michael Hocamp, for his achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
  • Diane McFadden, for her 36 years of service at the Atlantic Public Library.
  • Sondra Martin, for her 10 years of service to the Atlantic Public Library.
    

    Atlantic City Hall building

In other business, Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue will make a presentation on”Leveraging Technology to Sustain a Safe Community.” The Council’s final order of business is to enter into a closed session for Collective Bargaining purposes.

City Council Agenda Packet 02-19-2025_1

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 8:40-p.m. Sunday, in Red Oak, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police report 32-year-old Bradina Sky Gary, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. The woman was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond amounting to $491.25.

(Radio Iowa) – The D-N-R building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds known for its large tanks displaying the various fish species from across the state is getting a new interactive display. D-N-R spokesperson Tammie Krausman says the new feature is called the Conservation Discovery Area. “We’re going to kind of give a loose interpretation of a cave, kind of representing Maquoketa Caves. And it’s going to be interactive, where anyone can go in it. We might have some like creatures in there, some bats, maybe some different things that you can feel and learn,” she says. The inside feature will also have a tower designed into it that’s modeled after the one at Pilot Knobb State Park. Krausman says another feature will be an in-floor river.

“We are looking at doing a little bit of, kind of colored concrete, and maybe some kind of walk over areas where you can look in and kind of experience what Iowa’s waterways look like, and the type of kind of fish and creatures that live in there, again, to kind of think about the stuff that you maybe don’t really think about live in our rivers. And so how can we kind of get that really close to you, and especially for all those kiddos,” Krausman says. They had various outdoor displays in the 100 years the building has been on the fairgrounds, and an archery area has been one of the more recent popular attractions. Krausman says the new feature will fit in well with what they have now.

“Yeah, we want to keep trying to bring the elements that the state has, like the fisheries, the, you know, ability to try out some recreational archery or air rifle shooting,” she says. “And now one of the things that we can do is try to bring some really cool, iconic park things into the State Fair, hopefully get people to engage with that a little bit and get curious enough that maybe they want to go out and explore to the state parks in Iowa.” Krausman says it’s hard to nail down exactly how many visitors the D-N-R building gets during the entire run of the State Fair. “We know that we have visitors from nearly every single county in the state, and we know that we have visitors from several other states and sometimes other countries. We have seen, during a pretty solid day, a weekday, that 11-thousand people came into our building in the like a two to three hour period.”

The Natural Resource Commission approved the project at its monthly meeting and Krausman says they hope to have it done sometime in July. “We are really hoping it’ll be ready for this year’s fair. So we’re excited. Last year we unveiled the courtyard and the range and the stage, and now we’re hoping to kind of complete our phase with this big inside interactive display,” she says. The N-R-C approved a contract with Austincrete of Newton for nearly 125-thousand dollars to build the display. Krausman says the money comes from a 500-thousand dollar special legislative appropriation that was made to fund the update at the D-N-R building.

Fremont County, IA – On February 15, 2025, at approximately 9:13 PM, Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies attempted to stop a non-plated vehicle within the city of Hamburg, Iowa. The driver refused to stop, leading deputies on a high-speed pursuit northbound on Interstate 29, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph from the 1-mile marker.

The pursuit ended near the 24-mile marker, where deputies successfully stopped the vehicle and took both occupants into custody. The driver, Chelsi Rogers, 27, of Omaha, Nebraska, and the passenger, Amber Walker, 41, also of Omaha, were arrested at the scene.

During the pursuit, deputies observed and later recovered over two pounds of methamphetamine that had been discarded from the fleeing vehicle.

Walker

Rogers

Charges Filed

Chelsi Rogers has been charged with:

Possession with the Intent to Distribute over 5 Grams of Methamphetamine – Class B Felony
Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp – Class D Felony
Keeping a Vehicle for the Sale of Controlled Substances – Aggravated Misdemeanor
Felony Eluding – Class D Felony

Amber Walker has been charged with:

Possession with the Intent to Distribute over 5 Grams of Methamphetamine – Class B Felony
Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp – Class D Felony

Both Rogers and Walker are being held at the Fremont County Jail on a $25,000 surety bond. The Mills County and Shenandoah K9 Units, Mills County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office during this incident.

The Des Moines National Weather Service has updated the weather briefing concerning the following hazardous winter weather: Arctic cold temperatures and wind chills should be expected this week, along with snow on Monday over southwestern into southern Iowa. The cold weather will affect the entire State, while the snow will be focused over southwestern and southern Iowa, near the Missouri border. The next scheduled briefing will be available by 7 AM Monday.