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Traffic stop Tue. morning In Mills Co. results in arrest of a Page Co. woman

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County K9 Unit arrested a woman from Page County on drug charges, early Tuesday morning. Sheriff’s officials say the traffic stop on a vehicle for an equipment violation, happened on Highway 34 near Levi Road at around 1:55-a.m.  Authorities say during an investigation, methamphetamine, prescription pills and drug paraphernalia were found

The driver, 27-year old Destiny Estalin Louise Graham, of Coin, was arrested on two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, five counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was being held in the Mills County Jail on $7,300 bond.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office also reports: 31-year old Eh Paw, of Omaha, was arrested at around 5:30-a.m. Tuesday, for Interference with Official Acts and Fugitive From Justice. Paw was being held without bond on the Fugitive charge, and $300 bond for the Interference charge;  20-year old Andrew James Lipsett, of Glenwood, was arrested Monday night, for Interference with Official Acts and Disorderly Conduct. Bond was set at $600; 56-year old Kelly Jo Horgdal, of Henderson, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, on a Fugitive from Justice charge, for which there is no bond; and, 50-year old Eric Dwayne Pittman, of Council Bluffs, was arrested late Monday morning at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation. He was also being held without bond.

Boil Advisory issued for Anita residents

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Cass County Emergency Management Agency said late Tuesday evening, that Anita Municipal Utilities has issued a citywide BOIL ADVISORY. Residents should boil water before consumption and let cool, or use bottled water until further notice.

17 states (including IA) sue Trump administration over family separations

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

SEATTLE (AP) — Seventeen states, including Iowa, Washington, New York and California, sued President Donald Trump’s administration today (Tuesday), in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. The states, all of which are led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C., in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It’s the first legal challenge by states over the practice.

Immigration authorities have separated about 2,300 children from their parents in recent weeks, sparking global outrage as images and recordings of weeping children emerged. Many parents are in custody thousands of miles from their children, whom they have not been able to see and have rarely spoken to for a month or more.

After falsely blaming Democrats for the separations and insisting that only Congress could fix the issue, the president last week issued an executive order designed to end the practice under his “zero tolerance” policy, which prosecutes adults who come to the U.S. illegally.

But the states say his order is riddled with caveats and fails to reunite parents and children who have already been torn apart. They accuse the administration of denying the parents and children due process; denying the immigrants, many of whom are fleeing gang violence in Central America, their right to seek asylum; and being arbitrary in applying the policy.

A U.S. judge in San Diego already is considering whether to issue a nationwide injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union that would order the administration to reunite the separated children with their parents. A Seattle-based immigrant rights group sued Monday on behalf of detained asylum-seekers in Washington state who have been separated from their children.

The states that sued are Massachusetts, California, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Iowa 6th-grade teacher accused of sexting former student

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested a southeastern Iowa sixth-grade teacher accused of sending sexually-charged messages and pictures to a 13-year-old former student. The Ottumwa Courier reports that police arrested 35-year-old Zachary Barr, of Ottumwa, on Monday. Barr is a sixth-grade teacher at Evans Middle School, but school district officials said Tuesday he had been place on administrative leave.

Police received a complaint June 8 from a woman who said her daughter had received inappropriate messages via social media from Barr, a former teacher to the girl. Police then contacted Barr pretending to be the girl and say he asked her to send him nude photos. Police say he also sent photos of his genitals.

Barr is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation by a school employee and dissemination and exhibition of obscene materials to a minor. He faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted.

Essex man arrested on Page County warrant

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Sheriff’s Deputies in Page County today (Tuesday), arrested 44-year old Joseph Edward Harris, of rural Essex. Harris was taken into custody on a Page County Warrant for Probation violation.  He was being held in the Page County Jail on charges of Burglary 3rd Degree and Theft 2nd Degree when he was arrested on the latest charge.  Harris’s total bond is currently $15,000.

Railroad reopens track at oil spill derailment site in Iowa

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DOON, Iowa (AP) — BNSF Railway says it’s reopened a track where 32 tank cars derailed, spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil in northwest Iowa. Spokesman Andy Williams says a train ran down the repaired line near Doon around 10 p.m. Monday. An estimated 230,000 gallons of crude oil spilled Saturday into floodwaters of the Little Rock River from 14 of the cars. He says much of the oil spilled is contained to a small triangular area between the track and two nearby roads. Hazardous materials and environmental experts are using skimmers to recover additional oil.

City and water district officials downstream in Iowa and Nebraska have been assured by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that the oil will be contained before reaching the Missouri River at Sioux City, Iowa.

MARGARET E. CLIFFORD, 95, of Guthrie Center (Svcs. 07/02/2018)

Obituaries

June 26th, 2018 by admin

MARGARET E. CLIFFORD, 95, of Guthrie Center died Monday, June 25th at The New Homestead in Guthrie Center. Funeral services for MARGARET E. CLIFFORD will be held Monday, July 2nd at 10:00am at the First United Methodist Church in Guthrie Center. Twigg Funeral Home in Guthrie Center has the arrangements.

Visitation will be held Monday, July 2nd from 9:00am-10:00am at First United Methodist Church in Guthrie Center prior to services.

Burial will be in the Union Cemetery in Guthrie Center.

Online Condolences may be left at www.twiggfuneralhome.com

Harlan Police report (6/26)

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Harlan Police Department reports 18-year old Alexandra Page Butterfield, of Moorhead, was arrested Monday on drug charges, following a traffic stop. She was charged with Prohibited Acts penalties, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance. Last Saturday, 40-year old Erin Lynn Tebockhorst, of East Moline, IL., was arrested in Harlan for Operating a non-registered vehicle, and OWI/1st offense. On Friday, 68-year old Dennis Raymond Smith, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested for OWI/1st offense. That same day, 46-year old Pamela J. Frieze, of Harlan, was cited for Driving while suspended.

On June 21st, 32-year old Terri Lynn Hallas, of Harlan, was cited by Harlan Police for Driving While Suspended and having an insufficient number of headlamps. And, on June 20th, 29-year old Dereck J. Hilsabeck, of Manning, was arrested for OWI/2nd offesne, and open container. The H-PD says also, no injuries were reported after a 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by Branden Ericksen, of Harlan, hydroplaned and went out of control, before entering a ditch and striking a fence. The accident happened June 19th, as Ericksen was traveling north on Highway 59.

Report indicates 450,000 Iowa households lack money for basic necessities

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

A new study released this (Tuesday) morning concludes 37 percent of Iowa households could not afford to pay monthly bills that cover the basic necessities of life in 2016. The report identified 12 percent of Iowans living below the poverty line and another 25 percent of working Iowans living paycheck-to-paycheck. Shane Orr, executive director of United Way of Muscatine, is chairman of the United Ways of Iowa board of directors, the group that commissioned the report. “Sadly, there is no single solution to fix the challenges that so many in Iowa face,” Orr said. “The challenges are complex and interwoven. However, armed with the information from this report, everyone can make more informed decisions.”

Iowans who are identified as “income constrained” live in both urban and rural Iowa. More than half the residents of southern Iowa’s Decatur County are unable to afford basic necessities according to Stephanie Hoopes, the former Rutgers University professor who did the research. “This basic household budget that we measure is the bare minimum of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and the bare minimum cell phone plan because there are the things you need to live and work in the modern economy in Iowa,” Hoopes says.

Those costs increased 26 percent for a single adult and 41 percent for a family of four. “That is much faster than the rate of inflation, which during that period was nine percent,” Hoopes says.  In 2010, about 18 percent of Iowa households with a working adult were living paycheck to paycheck. The updated report indicates that increased to 25 percent by 2016. “We’re actually hearing some really good economic indicators right now: low unemployment, increased productivity, the stock market’s booming,” Hoopes says, “…and yet there’s something else going on.”

Hoopes says working Iowans who are employed, but have few assets and little to no savings are “one emergency away from falling into poverty.”

(Radio Iowa)

Saylorville Lake peak forecast drops despite rain

News

June 26th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest Army Corps of Engineers figures say the reservoir that protects Des Moines from Des Moines River flooding is expected to peak at around 75 percent of capacity next week.
But the Saylorville Lake manager also says those figures could change — and alarmingly so — with heavy upstream rainfall on already saturated ground.

Jeff Rose is the Corps’ operations project manager for Saylorville, and he says Tuesday morning’s lake peak forecast of nearly 881 feet above sea level is down from Monday’s forecast of 883.5 feet, despite heavy local rain.

He says the current inflow is more than double the controlled outflow. The outflow can go only so fast without causing river flooding downstream, so the Corps must balance that against the inflow, using the reservoir to handle the difference.