A Creston woman was arrested over the weekend, on drug charges. Police say 49-year old Lori Lee Graham was taken into custody at 219 North Pine Street on a Union County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance, 3rd or subsequent offense, and a Controlled Substance Violation. Graham was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on $5,000 bond.

And, a Greenfield woman was arrested Friday afternoon in Creston, on a charge of 5th Degree theft. 30-year old Sherrece Kilgore was later released from the Union County Jail on a promise to appear later, in court.

Creston Police report also, a Creston man reported Friday that his vehicle had been broken into at the old Wal-Mart store parking lot at 612 New York Avenue. The incident occurred sometime between May 10th and May 15th. The vehicle owned by Timothy Giles, sustained a broken window, with items inside the vehicle, including a fish finder, electric camping plug and dome light, having been stolen. The loss was estimated at $260.

(8-a.m. News)

Police in Creston say no injuries were reported following two, separate multi-vehicle accidents that occurred within 45 minutes of each other, Friday. The first crash happened at around 4-p.m., on west Adams Street.

Authorities say vehicles driven by 27-year old Kayla Mensing, of Greenfield, 62-year old Susan Rinkert, and 73-year old Hubert Bradley, both of Creston, were traveling west on west Adams. The stoplight at the end of the block at the intersection with Sumner Street was red. Mensing and Rinkert were stopped for the light in a long line of cars backed up to Jarvis Street. Bradley was traveling west on Adams, and didn’t expect the cars to be backed up so far. His 2006 Chrysler mini-van rear-ended Rinkert’s 2005 Mercury Sable, causing her vehicle to hit the rear of Mensing’s 2015 Chevy Equinox. Damage from the collisions amounted to $1,700. No citations were issued.

The second accident happened at around 4:45-p.m., Friday. Creston Police said a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer driven by 43-year old Valerie Beebe, of Creston, was traveling east on Adams Street and stopped for the traffic light at the intersection with Sumner Avenue. A 2002 Chevy Cavalier driven by 61-year old Linda Buxton, of Creston, was traveling south on Sumner at the same time a 2001 Pontiac SUV driven by 17-year old Austin Nichols, of Prescott, was traveling east on Adams and stopping for the light.

Buxton swerved to avoid an unknown vehicle which was traveling north on Sumner, then turned west onto Adams. When Buxton swerved to get out of the way, her car slid and hit the Beebe and Nichols’ vehicles. All witness to the collision told police they had seen the unknown vehicle cut off Buxton’s car, and verified she tried to avoid the collision, when she hit the other vehicles. Damage from the crash amounted to $4,700. No citations were issued.

The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Police in Red Oak report the arrest early this (Monday) morning of 22-year old Amanda Joy Huebner, of Red Oak. Huebner was taken into custody just before 3-a.m. on the 600 block of east Reed Street, on a charge of Credit Card Fraud, in connection with an earlier incident.

During her arrest, Huebner allegedly resisted arrest, and was subsequently charged with Interference with Official Acts. She was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 cash bond.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a Nebraska man was arrested on burglary and assault charges, following an investigation into an alleged break-in and assault at a residence in Council Bluffs. Bluffs Police Sgt. Ben Roth says 26-year old Artavious Whiters, of Omaha, was charged with Burglary in the 1st Degree and Serious Domestic Abuse Assault, along with an Obstruction of Emergency Communications, charge.

Police responded after the Pott. County Communications Center received an open 9-1-1 call from 34514 4th Avenue, at around 11:45-p.m., Sunday. Officers arriving on the scene located Whiters, who was leaving the residence. An investigation revealed Whiters forced entry into the home and allegedly assaulted the resident, 26-year old Aubrey Smith, of Council Bluffs.

Roth says Whiters and Smith had previously been in a relationship together and had a child together. Smith suffered minor injuries during the assault, but did not require medical attention. Whiters was taken into custody without incident, and booked into the Pott. County Jail.

Authorities in Red Oak report the arrest late Sunday night, of 45-year old Kristen Marie Hughes, of Red Oak. Hughes was taken into custody at around 10:40-p.m. on a charge of serious domestic assault. The woman was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa – When it comes to organic farming, Iowa has one of the largest numbers of certified operations in the nation, but there’s a real danger in the air for those farms and other growers this time of year due to the potential of pesticide drift.
Allowing pesticides to drift is against the law in Iowa, and among those who have been impacted is Andrew Dunham, owner with Grinnell Heritage Farm. He’s had pesticide drift on two of his organic crops, which then require a re-certification process that takes three years.

“In the case of the hay field in 2009, we had to wait until 2012 to be re-certified, so we had non-organic hay,” says Dunham. “The market price isn’t so different there, so that wasn’t as big a loss as the asparagus.” Dunham says his asparagus was hit by pesticide drift in the fall of 2013, and the loss of the organic certification will mean $2 to $5 less per-pound until their crop of 2017.

Also at risk of damages from pesticide drift are some home gardens, along with the state’s fruit and vegetable farms. Paul Ovrum, program planner with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, urges owners of such specialty and organic farms to report any pesticide misuse and sign up for the Sensitive Crops Registry. “This is a registry for producers of sensitive crops, and also bee-keepers,” syas Ovrum. “To list their locations and it’s used by pesticide applicators so that they can minimize the potential for pesticide drift damage.”

Ovrum says the latest count shows more than 2,000 farms and apiaries on the Sensitive Crops Registry statewide.

(Iowa News Service)

The small western Iowa town of Elk Horn is preparing to host an annual celebration of the community’s Danish heritage. One of the organizers of Tivoli Fest is Lisa Riggs. “Tivoli Fest started 35 years ago. We named it after the largest and oldest amusement park in Denmark,” Riggs says. “It’s kind of a carnival, with fun things to do, food to eat and fireworks.” While there are some “kickoff” events on Friday, the official Tivoli Fest is scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday.

Danish Windmill – Elk Horn

Elk Horn was settled by Danish Immigrants and incorporated as a town in 1910. Despite a population of around 650 residents, Elk Horn is still one of the largest Danish rural settlements in the U.S.  “Around 46-percent of us still have Danish blood in us,” Riggs says. The town’s signature structure is a Danish Windmill that was built in 1848. It was dismantled and moved to Elk Horn 40 years ago. Riggs is general manager of the Danish Windmill.

“It was an actual mill that was used in Denmark,” Riggs says. “The farmers would bring in their grain to the mill by horse and carriage. It was used for the livestock grinding, for their bakery and for home use.” The windmill blades quit spinning late last year. Plans for repairs are in the works. “Sadly, for the last eight months, it hasn’t been turning. We’re raising funds right now to get the windmill turning again into the wind,” Riggs says. Elk Horn is also home to the Museum of Danish America.

One of the highlights of Tivoli Fest is the assortment of Danish foods, such as aebleskivers (EB-ul-skee-vurs) and medisterpølse (muh-DEEST-uh-pohls), the Danish version of pancakes and sausage.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak arrested 23-year old Daniel Austin Heinen, of Red Oak, Sunday afternoon. Heinen was charged with Simple Assault, after police responded to 100 east Oak Street at around 4:55-p.m. to investigate a reported, possible assault. Heinen was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 cash bond.

The statewide average gas price has moved up each of the last four weeks. While the increases are often due to increases in the prices of oil, Department of Agriculture fuels analyst, Harold Hommes, says it looks like the recent increase is some profit taking by retailers. “In the past month or so I think the margins at retail had gotten a little tight, and this one is probably being passed along by distributors and retailers, other than about a penny or two increases cost at the wholesale terminal,” according to Hommes.

The average cost of a gallon of gas was two dollars, 37 cents four weeks ago, and it is now up to two dollars, 59 cents. Hommes says the market hasn’t favored retailers lately. “Each distributor has a little bit different goal if you will, or margin that they like to maintain. Sometimes competitive pressures require they dip below those, and I think we’ve been in that situation for much of the last two to three months. I think this is an attempt to restore some of those traditional margins,”Hommes says.

The run up to Memorial Day and the start of the summer driving season traditionally has been a signal in the past for prices to start moving up as demand increases. But Hommes says that hasn’t happened recently. “For the last couple of years actually, it’s been flat, in one case I think it actually fell the week or two prior to Memorial Day,” Hommes says. “But it is true in conjunction with that date when you get into June, schools are out, people start traveling on vacations, more summer travel does occur, so demand does go up.”

Hommes doesn’t see any jump in prices caused by summer travel demand to last very long. “Sometime here really shortly — maybe with this recent price hike — I look for values to really top out much earlier this summer, probably by June,” Hommes says. “And I think they are going to be on a fairly long downhill slid thereafter towards the later part of the year.” Hommes says there haven’t been any big concerns with refineries and productions to push the gas prices up.

“Supplies are phenomenal right now — both on crude and gasoline, diesel inventory, refined products if you will. And so, as long as that situation stays the same, I think we’re running 93 to 95 percent refinery utilization,” Hommes says. Iowa’s average gas prices is eight cents below the national average, and 89 cents below one year ago at this time.

(Radio Iowa)