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

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The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of a Red Oak woman on Thursday, following a traffic stop.  At around 3:35-p.m., Officers stopped a Chevy sedan at the intersection of G Avenue and Highway 34 for speeding.  Officers then determined that the driver, 46-year old Iva Mae Ransom, had a suspended drivers license.  Ransom was then arrested for Driving Under Suspension and taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $300 bond.

A Republican member of the Iowa House is making appearances on state, national and even international talk shows to discuss his “suck it up, buttercup” bill. Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, wants to cut taxpayer funding for Iowa, Iowa State or U-N-I if the universities spend money on grief counseling for students upset about the presidential electi “In all fairness, there’s a huge percentage of college students that are normal, responsible adults,” Kaufmann says, “but there are too many that are being coddled and in my opinion they’re not being prepared for the real world because you don’t get to go to a cry room when life hands you lemons.”

Officials with the three state universities say they are not spending money on “cry rooms” or other services specifically for students upset about the election. Kaufmann’s proposed bill would also increase penalties for protesters who block public roads. “It was in my district, just outside of it, with my constituents where they protested and shut down Interstate 80. I had a constituent from Bennett, Iowa, who has a blood disorder who if the protest would have lasted at a time when she needed her medication, she would have died,” Kaufmann says.

Kaufmann, the son of Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann, says he was annoyed to see colleges in OTHER states offering counseling sessions for college students upset about Donald Trump’s election. Kaufmann has taken his beef to the airwaves, with appearances on national outlets like Fox News and local radio stations in Iowa. “It’s a little surreal that I’m getting literally dozens upon dozens of media requests, thousands of emails across the country,” Kaufmann says. “I never fathomed it would become what it’s become.”

Kaufmann made his comments on K-S-C-J Radio in Sioux City, Thursday. He says the reaction he’s gotten online is positive by a 10-to-one ratio. “A lot of the negatives I get are from people that the message is directed at and they come at me with these profanity-laced, threat-laced emails and I’ve come up with a term for them,” Kaufmann says. “They’re keyboard cowboys.”

The Iowa Democratic Party issued a statement Thursday, saying as a “young Republican leader,” Kaufmann had an opportunity after the election to “bring the people of Iowa together,” but instead chose “callous comments that threaten the free speech” rights of students. On Wednesday, the top Republican in the legislature was asked if now “is the time to tell the buttercups to suck it up.”

And this the answer House Speaker Linda Upmeyer gave: “We do have one member doing that…There’s room for disagreement. There’s always room for disagreement, but this is a time to focus on opportunities that present themselves and giving people chances. I mean, we had an election and we have the results of the election and we need to move forward. I think focusing on forward is a really positive thing.”

(Radio Iowa)

A man who led the Sioux City Diocese for nearly a decade has been elected by U.S. bishops to be the top Catholic leader in the country. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo will be president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for three years. “Pray for me,” DiNardo said in a video message. “…Let’s together move ahead in the vision of mercy that Pope Francis has given us.”

DiNardo was bishop of the Sioux City Catholic Diocese from 1997 to 2006. He’s currently the leader of the Galveston-Houston, Texas, archdiocese. DiNardo was flying to Rome after the U.S. bishops concluded their meeting in Baltimore, Thursday, but he hopes to meet with President-elect Donald Trump when he returns.

DiNardo says when considering immigration policy and civil rights issues under a Trump Administration, he’ll stress the church’s call to “respect the human person in our midst.” The U.S. bishops have also chosen DiNardo’s successor. It will be a Mexican-born Cardinal who became a U.S. citizen 21 years ago.

(Radio Iowa)

Authors of a new report from an eastern Iowa think tank say the voluntary approach to reducing farm chemical run-off isn’t working. David Osterberg is with the Iowa Policy Project, a “progressive” non-profit research group based in Iowa City. “When we look at the status of water quality in the Mississippi River and also within the state, we just can’t find much improvement there,” Osterberg says.

Osterberg says billions of state and federal money has financed conservation measures in farm fields, but the so-called “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico “is as big as it’s ever been.” “All the data we find does not show that we’re making real progress,” Osterberg says.

Sara Conrad, the co-author of the Iowa Policy Project report, says there are “a lot of great farmers in Iowa,” but there’s no a lot of improvement in water quality. “We have to understand that maybe just instituting simple voluntary measures may not be our final solution,” Conrad says.

Conrad’s report concludes Iowa farmers are spending less than one-dollar per acre on conservation measures. Osterberg, the co-founder of the Iowa Policy Project, is also a former state legislator. He suggests current legislators should raise taxes on farm chemicals to get more money for on-the-farm projects to reduce run-off.

Supporters of the voluntary approach to farm chemical management say more Iowa farmers are embracing the state’s “Nutrient Reduction Strategy” and government regulations on farm chemical applications wouldn’t fully take into account the characteristics of each acre of Iowa farmland.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Creston say three people were arrested on Public Intoxication charges, early this (Friday) morning. Taken into custody at around 2:45-a.m., was: 19-year old Adam Edward Lee Austin, 21-year old Paige Marie Millslagle, and 22-year old Kevin Joseph Pellman, all of Creston. Austin was arrested for 2nd offense Public Intoxication. His bond at the Union County Jail was set at $1,000. Millslagle and Pellman were subsequently released from custody on $300 bond, each.

Creston Police said also, a woman residing in the 300 block of N. Elm Street, reported Thursday afternoon, that someone stole a ring and makeup from her home. The loss was estimated at $170.

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

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Police in Council Bluffs say one person suffered minor injuries during an assault and robbery Thursday night. Authorities say 30-year old Johnny Rowland, of Bellevue, NE, was treated at the scene of the incident by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue personnel.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

Rowland and witnesses told Police he was outside of an apartment at 901 N. 35th Street in Council Bluffs at around 10:20-p.m. Thursday, when he was confronted by three black men. The suspects assaulted Rowland using their hands,
feet, and a bottle. During the assault Rowland had his wallet stolen.

The suspects fled the scene in a white Chevy SUV. If you have any information about the incident, call crime stoppers at 712-328-7867.

A traffic stop on a truck at around 7:45-p.m. Thursday in Adams County, resulted in the arrest of a man from Villisca. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says 40-year old Daniel Elmer Bright, of Villisca, was placed under arrest for Driving While License Revoked (due to a previous OWI). Bright was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:00 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Emails released to The Associated Press show that four days before he allegedly ambushed and killed two Iowa police officers, Scott Michael Greene sent the local police department a laudatory note calling officers “absolute heroes.” In an online compliment form, the unemployed 46-year-old father wrote Oct. 29: “I love you folks.”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit by six states challenging a California law that prohibits the sale off eggs from chickens that are not raised in cages with sufficient space. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa failed to show how the law would affect them and not just individual egg farmers.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline protested in North Dakota’s capital for a fourth straight day. A couple of hundred protesters marched around downtown Bismarck on Thursday, prompting police to temporarily shut down a couple of streets. Police spokesman Sgt. Mark Buschena says eight people were arrested. Protesters have targeted numerous sites in Bismarck and neighboring Mandan since Monday, including the state Capitol and the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 30-year-old man is facing two first-degree murder charges after a shooting in Mason City left two people dead. Mason City Police say a shooting was reported around 2:15 a.m. Thursday, and officers found Melinda Kavars and Caleb Christensen dead inside a home.