DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials at the Des Moines International Airport are pushing for a crackdown on the number of taxi companies permitted to pick up travelers. The Des Moines Register reports the move follows an increase in customer complaints over service.

Airport Executive Director Kevin Foley says taxi operators have been violating the airport’s rules by having too few drivers, using damaged vehicles, charging minimum trip fees, failing to post fee lists and only accepting cash payments.

Foley wants to restrict the number of taxi companies registered for airport pickups to two. He says a limit would allow airport officials to respond quickly to issues. It could also protect riders from unfair fees and unsafe vehicles.

Airport officials plan to request applications in December from companies that want to serve the airport.

A Council Bluffs man was arrested on a robbery charge on Friday night after taking another man’s cell phone. At 8:59pm Council Bluffs Police responded to the area of 829 2nd Avenue regarding a Robbery. Officers arrived on scene and made contact with the victim, Gary Vohs. Vohs claimed that he was approached by Shane Vancleave who wanted him to got to another residence with him. When Vohs refused, Vancleave head-butted him in the forehead causing a cut and stole his cell phone and charger. Officers later located Vancleave and he had the cell phone and charger in his possession. He was then arrested for 2nd Degree Robbery.

Jacob Corbett

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Sidney man on Friday night after a traffic stop. At 10:30pm Deputies conducted a traffic stop in the 1700 block of Highway 275. After investigation 27-year-old Jacob Corbett of Sidney was arrested for Driving While Barred, Possession of Methamphetamine 2nd Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Corbett was taken to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center and held on $4,300 cash bond.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (423.5KB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Red Oak Police Department reports the early Saturday morning arrest of a Red Oak man for Public Intoxication. At 2:04am Officers responded to a call of a possible intoxicated male in the 100 block of North 3rd Street. Officers then arrested 19-year-old Tyler Austin Sowers of Red Oak for Public Intoxication. Sowers was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a central Iowa man to life in prison for hooking girls aged 12 and 15 on crack cocaine, having sex with them and later providing them to his drug dealer for sex acts in exchange for drugs.

Federal prosecutors in Des Moines described Clark Wesley Betts Jr. as a dangerous predator who should spend the rest of his life in prison. The 41-year-old Betts, from Urbandale, was sentenced Friday. He was convicted by a jury in June on two counts of child sex trafficking.

He was ordered to pay nearly $350,000 in restitution to one girl and nearly $375,000 to the other, amounts calculated to provide them counseling and appropriate medication for the rest of their lives.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that siblings who inherited a large share of their stepfather’s estate must pay inheritance taxes in a case that challenged the way Iowa’s tax laws treat stepchildren.

The Iowa Legislature in 2003 changed the state’s inheritance law so that children left money from a stepparent after the parents divorced couldn’t qualify for an inheritance tax exemption afforded natural or adopted children.

Paula Tyler and Mark Alcorn sued the state to recover $200,000 in taxes claiming the law violates the Iowa Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. They inherited the bulk of the estate of their stepfather, Donald Hitzhusen, a Rockford area farmer.

The court found that the state did not violate the constitution by revising tax laws as a way to promote close family relationships.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Economic Development Board has approved nearly $10 million in financial incentives for five companies promising to create 436 jobs. The board on Friday awarded TPI Composites in Newton $1.6 million to create 351 jobs. The company leases space in the former Maytag factory to make wind turbine blades. It plans to rent additional space to make bodies for electric powered passenger buses.

The board also approved $1.5 million for Riverdale aluminum manufacturer Arconic Inc. to support a $160 million expansion creating 30 jobs. John Deere received $2.9 million for a project in Urbandale to set up a new software and hardware technologies business to help farmers improve yields, creating 31 new jobs.

Other projects funded included a Swisher whiskey distillery and a Fort Dodge livestock feed additive maker.

Officials with the Cass County Conservation Service have announced the Trumpeter Swans have arrived at the Schildberg Recreation Area, and that the contest which began back in October, has ended. A contest was held with regard to the arrival date of the large winged birds. The winning date was November 9th, when 15 Trumpeter Swans arrived and stayed for more than 24-hours.

Officials say Leola Kanning picked the correct date, and with her good guess and won an 8×10 Trumpeter Swans print from the Cass County Conservation Board. The Board thanks everyone who took the time to enter the contest.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in solving a burglary & theft. Deputies today (Friday) investigated a burglary at 200 3rd Street in Braddyville.  The property is owned by Kevin Douglas Baughman.

Baughman reported that sometime between November 1st & November 16th, someone gained entry into his shop at this address and stole a Miller 110 wire welder valued at $1,200 and 2 Brodix Engine heads for a big block Chevy engine.

The heads were values at $2,800.  Anyone with information about this burglary is asked to contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193 or their local Law Enforcement agency.