IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – University of Iowa officials say the Gerdin family has committed $5 million for renovations and new programming at the athletic learning center that bears the family name. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that center will be getting more study rooms, a commons area and a cafe. The programming will include a life skills and leadership development program. Work on the center is expected to be finished by spring 2018.

Ann Gerdin and her late husband, Russell, started giving to the university in 1980. They founded the transportation company Heartland Express. The next Gerdin generation has continued the philanthropy.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa tax preparer indicted in a fraud case has been ordered to pay more than $61,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Federal prosecutors say 56-year-old Toui Lo, of Storm Lake, was sentenced Tuesday in Sioux City. She was given four years of probation and fined $3,000, in addition to the restitution. She’d pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of a false and fraudulent tax return.

Lo said in her plea agreement that she prepared and filed a false tax return on behalf of a client, fraudulently increasing the amount of the client’s refund by falsely claiming business expenses and various itemized deductions. Lo also admitted filing several other false tax returns between 2009 and 2013.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has reversed the deferred judgement opinion of the Pottawattamie County District Court in the case of a woman who was convicted on drug and child endangerment charges following a traffic stop on Interstate 80. The traffic stop took over an hour. Erika Lopez-Cardenas had appealed her case based on the length of time an Iowa State Patrol Trooper took to question her and the driver of the vehicle. The Trooper pulled the vehicle with California license plates over, for having dark tinted windows and because it appeared to be heavily weighed down in the rear.

The driver of the van and Lopez-Cardenas were questioned at length about where they were going, why they had stopped and what the relationship was between the two adults and a child in the vehicle (The child was Lopez-Cardenas’ niece. They were returning from vacation so the girl could begin school.) A K9 requested by the Trooper arrived 49-minutes after the traffic stop. The dog alerted on the van, but no narcotics were found. The vehicle was weighed down by several containers of fertilizer and the occupants’ personal property. No drugs were initially found in the vehicle, but a later search located three socks containing marijuana seeds.

Lopez-Cardenas contends the district court should have suppressed the marijuana evidence on the ground that the trooper unduly prolonged the stop absent reasonable suspicion, and her trial attorney was ineffective in two respects relating to the child-endangerment charge.

The appeals court concluded the trooper unconstitutionally prolonged the stop of the vehicle, absent reasonable suspicion, and the evidence gained as a result of the unconstitutional detention should have been suppressed.  Because suppression of the evidence affects the findings of guilt on both charges, the Court reversed the findings of guilt on both charges and remanded the case for a new trial.  The Court said in light of its remand for a new trial, they didn’t need to address the remaining issues.

Tornadoes can spin out of the sky during any month of the year in Iowa, but now that we’re into August, twisters are becoming much less likely. Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National Weather Service, says Iowa is wrapping up the season with fewer tornadoes than usual. “Certainly, we did start off fairly quickly in 2017, we did have a couple of tornado events, one in February and another one in March, that accounted for several tornadoes,” Donavon says. “We’re already sitting at 40 tornadoes right now. The average in Iowa is mid- to upper-40s so we’re pretty close to average, even though we’ve been fairly quiet the last month or two.”

An E-F-one tornado hit McGregor in northeast Iowa on July 19th, causing widespread damage in the historic downtown. The biggest risk going forward, Donavon says, will likely be hail and severe winds, not tornadoes. “We’re going back to another dry period and we’ll really start tailing off,” Donavon says. “Typically, in severe weather season, we tend to go more damaging wind events as we get more into July and August and our peak tornado season really ends by mid- to late-June, so, we’re starting to get out of tornado season.”

Last year, Iowa reported 43 tornadoes.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Regulators are seeking tough penalties against a former Sioux City councilman and his electronics recycling company, accusing them of repeatedly violating environmental law. Iowa Natural Resources Department documents say Recycletronics owner Aaron Rochester has wrongfully stored lead-containing glass cathode ray tubes at a Sioux City facility and illegally stored or disposed of the material at five more locations. The department says Rochester hasn’t paid more than $75,000 owed on a state loan used to buy equipment.

The department is asking permission from the state Environmental Protection Commission to turn the case over to the state attorney general’s office, which can seek higher penalties than the department. Rochester says he’s been working with the department to close Recycletronics. The department also says federal regulators have inspected Recycletronics sites in Nebraska.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors held a very short meeting today (Wednesday), in Atlantic. Officials heard from Snyder and Associates’ Engineer Dave Sturm, with regard to the Elite Octane, LLC. Gray Water Transmission project. Sturm provided the Board with a Resolution authorizing the County to request bids for the installation of pipes and related components needed for the gray water line from the Atlantic Wastewater Treatment Plant to the ethanol plant.

Sturm said they have the plans and specifications mostly finished and are just waiting on their electrical sub-contractor to provide their schematics, which are expected by no later than Friday. Afterward, they plan on going to bid for the project, with taking bids on Aug. 22nd. Bids received will be considered during the Board’s meeting on August 23rd.

A Public Hearing will be held on the proposed project plans, specifications and form of contract August 23rd, as well. Sturm was asked about the engineering costs of the gray water project. He said the most recent estimate, was $700,000. A better estimate will be available for the board prior to taking bids.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports 63-year old Daniel Leroy Finck, of Council Bluffs, received a citation/summons to court, on a charge of Simple Assault. Deputy Adam Fields said in his report, that at around 3-p.m., he was notified of a possible, belated assault report to be taken at a residence in the 14,000 block of 230th Street. A short time later, he met with the reporting party and victim, a 38-year old man from Council Bluffs, who advised he was assaulted in the day and wanted to make a report. The victim and Finck were not previously acquainted.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says two people were arrested at around 2-a.m. today (Wednesday), for Violation of a No Contact Order. 29-year old Jared Lee Pomerenke, and 32-year old Robyn Leigh Salmons, both of Glenwood, were taken into custody near the intersection of Levi Road and Highway 34. They were being held in the Mills County Jail without bond.

Police in Clarinda have arrested a man on drug charges. 57-year old Larry Michael Smith,  of Clarinda, was arrested at around 12-a.m. today (Wednesday), for delivery of a controlled substance, believed to be methamphetamine and for possession of drugs believed to be methamphetamine and marijuana.

Smith was being held in the Page County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Investigative reports have been forwarded to Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review and consideration of the filing of formal charges.

The Clarinda Police Department was assisted in the investigation and arrest by the Page County Sheriff’s Department and Page County Sheriff’s Department K-9, Lucas.

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

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