(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Christmas Night, arrested 40-year-old Joshua Dean Cooney, of Red Oak. Cooney was taken into custody at around 8:35-p.m., for Driving While Suspended (A Simple Misdemeanor). He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Two influential conservative groups are urging Iowa lawmakers to cut state AND local taxes. Iowans for Tax Relief president Chris Hagenow says it’s time to force city and county officials to cut or at least freeze property taxes.   “Just this last year cities in aggregate grew their spending by 6.6% and counties by 7.6% and that’s just too much,” Hagenow says. “I understand that there are obligations that they have, but we all know because of the example we have set by the legislature that they can do better and so we think it’s appropriate to put some spending limitations in this year.”

Iowans for Tax Relief is proposing that future yearly increases in city budgets be limited to two percent in the future. “I know that will be met with significant resistance,” Hagenow says, “but it’s time.”

Some state funding was provided to cities and counties to offset cuts in local commercial property taxes that were ordered in a law Governor Terry Branstad signed in 2013. Hagenow says lawmakers should not consider that kind of a tax shift again. Taylor Raygor — state director of Americans for Prosperity — spoke to Governor Kim Reynolds at a recent state budget hearing and praised her signature on legislation that lowers Iowa’s personal income tax rate to three-point-85 percent on January 1st.

“We look forward to working with you and legislative leaders to build on these successes by chipping away at our income tax until that burden is removed completely from the backs of hard working Iowans,” Raygor said. “Second, in order to do the first, we have to continue to prioritize spending discipline. While Iowa’s economy is strong, we know that government spending should not outpace the growth of our household incomes.”

Reynolds responded. “You can take to the bank that your priority one and priority two are continued priorities of mine as well,” Reynolds said. “We’re going to keep chipping away at this…and I’m excited about it.”

Reynolds has not shared details about her tax proposals for the 2025 legislative session, but she has previously said her goal is to completely eliminate the state income tax by the end of her current term as governor — and that would be in early January of 2027.

Waterloo, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reported Wednesday, 21-year-old D’Iona Asia Marie Wilson-Bass, who was convicted of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon in  Black Hawk County, failed to report back to the Waterloo Women’s Center for Change as required, Tuesday.

Wilson-Bass is a black female, 5-feet six-inches tall, and weighs 208-pounds. She was admitted to the work release facility on December 17th, 2024.

Persons with information on Wilson-Bass’s whereabouts should contact their local police.

D’Iona Asia Marie Wilson-Bass

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Montgomery County man was arrested late Wednesday morning on a trio of charges. Red Oak Police reports 39-year-old Rafael Mendoza-Ramirez, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:40-a.m. in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, following an investigation into a reported disturbance. Mendoza-Ramirez was arrested for Public Intoxication and Giving False Identification information to a Law Enforcement Officer.

After determining his real identity, it was learned Mendoza-Ramirez was wanted on an active felony warrant for being a Fugitive from Justice. The warrant was issued by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, in Wisconsin.

Mendoza-Ramirez was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond, pending extradition to Wisconsin.

(Radio Iowa) – A loan officer who works with credit unions throughout the Midwest says some veterans forego the home-buying assistance they earned.

Kris Fish Kuhlmann, a V.A. Loan Specialist, is with the Iowa-based Premier Lending Alliance. “Veterans are eligible to purchase a home with 100% financing,” she says, “so they’re not required to have a downpayment.”

Kuhlmann was at the Algona VFW this past Saturday to meet with veterans. “They receive a benefit from their service and I want them to understand the benefit they have available,” she says, “and ultimately how they can accomplish the dream of home ownership.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 9% of Iowa homes are occupied by veterans. Nationally, about 80% of veterans own their home and about 11% of new mortgages in the U.S. are loans from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

(Radio Iowa) –  A Christmas Eve disruption to American Airlines flights nationwide appears to have had little or no impact on Christmas Day air travel in Iowa. On Christmas morning, both American flights out of the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids were on time. Four out of five American Airlines departures from the Des Moines airport took off as scheduled, although a 5 a.m. Christmas morning flight from Des Moines to Dallas was cancelled.

The websites for Iowa’s two largest airports show all American Airlines flights due to land in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids on Christmas morning were on time, or close to it.

(Radio Iowa) – Triple-A and Gas Buddy report as holiday travelers hit the roads, gas prices are rising. According to GasBuddy, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Iowa has jumped about 11 cents in the past week. Triple-A’s latest report shows regular unleaded was selling for an average price of two-dollars-and-77 cents a gallon on Tuesday.

On Christmas Day, GasBuddy’s website showed the cheapest gas in Iowa was at a station in Ames.

(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque Police say a 16-year-old suspect who ran while officers were attempting to make an arrest on Christmas Eve was shot and injured. According to a news release from Dubuque Police, the teenager was wanted on an adult warrant, ran when officers approached, displayed a knife during a chase and two officers fired their guns.

Police say the suspect’s shoulder and arm were injured and the 16-year-old was taken to a Dubuque hospital for treatment.

(Radio Iowa) – Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says his December survey of bank C-E-Os in rural areas shows what may have been what he calls a “Trump bump” in the Midwest economy after the election has evaporated. The survey’s Rural Mainstreet Index was positive in November — the first and now only positive reading in 2024. “It’s not been good. It’s been tough,” Goss says. “Seventeen straight months of ag equipment sales.” And Goss says John Deere layoffs, for example, have had a trickle down effect to the smaller businesses that supply the parts for tractors and other John Deere products.

“2025, the first portion, is going to be little tougher, but I’m pretty positive about the second portion,” Goss says. “I’m hoping that President Trump negotiates some good trade agreements with China, selling more…Iowa soybeans, Iowa pork to China, so I’m most positive in that regard.” But Goss says if Trump imposes new tariffs on Canada, Mexico AND China, it’s likely those countries would retaliate against American products. And it’s unlikely farmers would get the kind of trade disruption payments they received during the previous Trump Administration.

“The deficit and debt are significantly higher now than they were in 2017 and 2018,” Goss says. “The ability to assist those industries that are negatively affected is much reduced.”

Goss made his comments during an appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – If you had hand-held video games, watches or any other electronics under your tree, those shiny, button-sized batteries were likely in the box, too, and those batteries can be a critical problem if a child swallows one. Janna Day, a nurse and the education and outreach manager at the Iowa Poison Control Center, says the moisture in the throat can trigger the flow of current in the battery, which can lead to serious trouble in the esophagus.

“The esophagus is that tube that goes from your mouth down to your stomach, and if a battery gets stuck there, it can cause some really significant burning,” Day says. “That can happen quite quickly, even within just a couple of hours of that ingestion, there can be burning down in the esophagus.” Curious kids can find those batteries in all sorts of products, from bathroom scales to grandma’s hearing aids. Unfortunately, it likely means a trip to the E-R for X-rays if a battery is swallowed.

“If you know that a child or somebody that you are around has ingested one of those small button batteries, call us right away,” Day says. “It is definitely an emergency situation.” Other potential hazards are lurking. Many Iowans have ice melting products in their garages, for use on the sidewalk and driveway. Day says those tiny granules of ice melt might look appetizing to a child, so keep them out of reach.

“Keep your ice melt stored somewhere, safely away from kids and away from pets,” Day says. “Keep it in its original packaging, just in case there is an ingestion. If you call us, we’re going to ask you a little bit about the product, and so if you have the original container, that is really helpful.”

If your child ate ice melt, or anything else questionable, be on the safe side and call the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center. The experts are available any day, around-the-clock at 1-800-222-1222.