Page County Sheriff’s Deputies responding to a domestic situation east of Blanchard early Thursday morning, arrested a man on an assault charge. 41-year old Michael Leo Pickens, of Blanchard, was taken into custody shortly after 12:30-a.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond in the Page County Jail until making an appearance before a magistrate.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest this (Friday) afternoon, of a Stanton man on a 2nd Degree theft charge. 39-year old Michael Lafollette was taken into custody at around 12:05-p.m., after he allegedly took a 2009 Hyundai belonging to Lucinda Lafollette. The incident occurred following an alleged verbal altercation with the woman.

Michael Lafollette was apprehended in Red Oak and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond. The vehicle was returned to its owner without damage. Red Oak Police and Red Oak Rescue personnel assisted in handling the incident.

Five cars of a Burlington-Northern-Sante Fe Rail train went off the tracks this (Friday) afternoon, in Earling. Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert told KJAN News the cars, which were hauling grain, slipped off the tracks across Highway 37 at around 3:20-p.m., but they apparently did not topple over. Crews had the rail cars back on the tracks and the road re-opened within about 20-to 30-minutes. No injuries were reported.It’s not clear what caused the derailment.

Propane prices continued to fall this week, and were down eight cents compared to last month’s price. Iowa Department of Agriculture energy analyst, Harold Hommes, says the cost for a gallon of propane continues to be below one dollar at 93 cents. “Quite a dramatic difference from a year-and-a-half ago — if you remember January and February of ’14 — we were up to four-and-a-half, five dollars for a lot of product,” Hommes. He says the companies that sell propane have too much on hand.

“There’s actually some pretty significant supply problems, as a nation we are at record levels of propane production right now,” Hommes explained. He says inventory levels in the midwest and across the nation are at record levels. Hommes says Canada has major issues with propane supplies.

“Especially up in Alberta, the Edmonton area, where production is so steep they are pricing propane at pretty much no value. If you have a truck and are willing to get it out of there, it essentially has no value,” Hommes says. He says now is the time for Iowans who heat with propane to fill their tanks. For those who buy propane tanks for grilling, Hommes says those prefilled tank prices are NOT impacted much by the drop in price.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor traveled to Blair, Nebraska today (Friday) for a rally with Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts in an effort to get the E-P-A to change its mind about slashing billions of gallons from the amount of renewable fuels required to be used in the U-S. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds made the trip as the deadline for ending comment on the proposed Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) approaches on Monday.

“I’m am proud to say, that in Iowa, our entire congressional delegation, as well our general assembly, joined Governor Branstad and I in calling on the E-P-A to really reverse course in what was see as a flawed proposal to really gut the R-F-S,”Reynolds says. Reynolds says the move would cost Iowa nineteen-point-three billion dollars and 73-thousand jobs. Reynolds and Governor Ricketts encourage residents of both states to speak out on the issue.

“Now it’s time to share your comments in support of a strong R-F-S before Monday’s deadline,” Reynolds says. She says federal officials need to hear from as many people as possible about the importance of ethanol and other renewables.”Together, we believe we will be heard, and the E-P-A will wake up and realize the many benefits of a robust R-F-S,” Reynolds says.

They encourage you to go on-line and make your comments know on the R-F-S.  Reynolds and Ricketts joined Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson to make their comments at the Novozymes company’s enzyme plant in Blair, Nebraska.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Democratic Central Committee will be holding a school supplies drive to help local Cass County students have new supplies for the 2015-2016 school year. Chair Sherry Toelle reported that the Committee has donated school supplies to each of the three school districts over the past three years.

Toelle says “This is who we are as Democrats—helping those who could use a helping hand, providing school supplies that some students otherwise might not be able to afford. We think it is important that we live our Democratic values.”

The Central Committee welcomes donations of new school supplies, such as backpacks, notebooks, pencils and pens, rulers, scissors, and other needed items. Donations can be dropped off at the Democratic Party’s booth at Atlantic Fest or by calling Toelle at 243-4861. The donated school supplies will be distributed the week of August 17th.

A Georgia man whose son died after using synthetic marijuana was the keynote speaker Thursday at a conference on synthetic drugs in Sergeant Bluff. Lynn Dyer’s 14-year-old son Dakota took his own life three years ago. “He tried it once. He tried it and went through what they call a psychotic break, took his handgun and shot himself in the head,” Dyer says. “He made an extremely bad decision over a very shot amount of time — and it cost him his life.”

Dyer’s wife is a health care professional and he says they had no idea that K-2, Spice and other such synthetic drugs existed, or that their son knew about them. “We’d had all the talks with our sons — the alcohol, the sex talk, the drug talk — we had them all. We didn’t know what synthetic drugs were, she didn’t and she dealt with drugs every day in the hospital. And when we found out what facilitated our son’s death, we became self-educated,” Dyer explains.

The Bremen, Georgia resident established a foundation in his son’s name and travels the country speaking about the dangers of synthetic drugs. He has three goals. “Education of our young people and parents. Two is to facilitate and help law enforcement, first responders and E-M-S with education, awareness and information on where this stuff is coming from. And third, is hopefully, prevent a parent from going through what we went through,” Dyer says.

He says the substances are packaged in pouches designed to appeal to teens. “They market these products strictly to our young people. You see flashy little bags, you see one that has Scooby Doo on it called Scooby Snacks, you see on that has the smiley face on it,” Dyer says. “There’s just countless different kinds and they are all in flashy little bags geared to our young people.”

You can find out more about the dangers of the drug at the Dakota Dyer Foundation on-line at dakotadyerfoundation.org.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 26-year-old Sioux City woman accused of causing her son’s skull fracture has been given probation. The Sioux City Journal reports that Kara Jackson was sentenced on Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court. She was given three years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of five years. Jackson pleaded guilty in June to one count of child endangerment resulting in injury.

Jackson’s 5-month son was admitted to a hospital emergency room on Feb. 26. In court documents, Jackson and the baby’s father, Aaron Tucker, accused each other of dropping the child on several occasions. Prosecutors closed their case against Tucker in March, saying it was unclear whether Tucker was at fault.

An Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) annual report on problem gambling treatment outcomes indicates while treatment is successful for most individuals, more than half of Iowans don’t know it is available. Only 44 percent of Iowans are aware treatment for problem gambling is available.

According to the 2014 Iowa Gambling Treatment Outcomes Monitoring System report, the greatest treatment success was among those clients who received four or more services (such as individual face-to face-counseling) within the first 30 days after admission, those who received recovery support services (care coordination, education, and recovery peer coaching), and those who received treatment via e-therapy (phone, Web, chat, text, video, etc.). The report and analysis, which were compiled by the University of Northern Iowa Center for Social and Behavioral Research, found significant evidence that treatment works. For example, after discharge, the number of days a client reported gambling in the past 30 days dropped from eight days upon admission to treatment to one day at discharge. The vast majority (92 percent) of clients at discharge reported reduced signs of problem gambling. The signs include:

• Thinking a lot about gambling, such as past gambling experiences, future gambling ventures, or ways of getting money for gambling
• Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or with larger bets in order to get the same feeling of excitement
• Repeatedly trying to cut down or stop gambling without success
• Feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling
• Gambling to run away from problems or to get relief from feeling depressed, anxious, or bad about yourself
• After losing money gambling, often returning another day in order to win back losses
• Lying to family members, friends, or others in order to hide gambling from them
• Losing or almost losing a significant relationship, job, or an educational or career opportunity because of gambling
• Relying on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling

The report found older clients (age 51 or older) were more likely to complete treatment than younger clients (18-50 years) and male clients were more likely than females to stay in treatment. Clients who had been trying to control their gambling on their own before admission were more likely to complete treatment than those who said they were ready to change their gambling behavior, but hadn’t actually made any changes prior to treatment.

To learn about treatment options or to speak with someone about problem gambling concerns, visit www.1800BETSOFF.org or call 1-800-BETS OFF.

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

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