(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate and House have approved competing property tax relief plans. The Senate approach is focused on eliminating some property tax levies, consolidating others and converting property tax credits for veterans and seniors to more lucrative exemptions. Senate Republicans say it would amount to a roughly 100 million dollars reduction in property taxes. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that drafts tax policy.

“Ultimately I think we’ve probably got the best dog that can hunt here in the Capitol than we’ve had in some time to start to tackle this system,” Dawson says. The House approach would provide 200 million dollars in state money each year to replace local property taxes that go to public schools. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He says lawmakers are listening to Iowans. “Property taxes are easily the most unpopular tax that exists,” Kaufmann says. The House bill would also limit increases in property tax BILLS to three percent.

“We are delivering significant, real, substantial property tax relief to Iowans,” Kaufmann says. Dawson calls the Senate bill phrase one of a long term effort to reform an unchecked property tax system. “Our system is broken. Taxpayers are scared and that is why we are here today,” Dawson says. Both bills passed with nearly unanimous support from Republians and Democrats. Just one Republican in the House and one Democrat in the Senate voted no. Democrats like Senator Pam Jochum say so far it’s been a bipartisan effort to find ways to simplify and streamline property taxes.

“Every one of us cares about this tax system and want to make it work better,” Jochum says. Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville, says injecting certainty into the system is a priority.  “This, I believe, helps everyday Iowans,” Jacoby said, “and Democrats are happy to see that our ideals are being met in this bill.”

Governor Reynolds has said her focus is on eventually eliminating the state INCOME tax and she’s leaving it up to legislators to craft a property tax reduction plan.

(Radio Iowa) – A Spencer man faces drug trafficking charges after police found a large amount of methamphetamine in an apartment in downtown Spencer. According to the Clay County Attorney’s Office several law enforcement agencies, including an Iowa State Patrol tactical unit, participated in the investigation, finding more than 33 pounds of methamphetamine in the apartment. That’s more than half a million dollars worth of meth, according to the county attorney’s office, and several thousand dollars in cash was in the apartment, too.

Oscar Navarro-Zepeda was taken into custody at the scene and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Navarro-Zepeda made his initial court appearance on Wednesday and is being held in the Clay County Jail on 750-thousand dollars bond.

If convicted, he faces up to fifty years behind bars and a one million dollar fine.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – An Audubon County man was sentenced on April 18, 2023, to 60 months in prison following his plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

On September 15, 2022, Audubon County Sheriff’s Department, Atlantic Police Department, Audubon Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Department, and Iowa State Patrol, responded to a call of shots fired. Deputies found Adam Lee Karstens, 41, standing outside the residence by a locked pickup truck. A search of the vehicle revealed a nine-millimeter Taurus handgun with an obliterated serial number underneath the driver’s seat. Karstens was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he had a prior felony conviction. Karstens must serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – April 19, 2023 – Drivers who travel on Interstate 29 and Pottawattamie County Road G-12 near Loveland need to be aware of an upcoming concrete paving project that may slow down their trip beginning on Wednesday, April 26 until Friday, June 2, weather permitting.

During this bridge closure, drivers on southbound I-29 wanting to access eastbound Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) will travel south to the Honey Creek interchange (exit 66), turn north onto northbound I-29, and exit at Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) where they can travel east.

Drivers on northbound I-29 who wish to travel west on Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) will travel north to the Missouri Valley interchange (exit 71), turn onto southbound I-29, and exit at Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) where they can travel west.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – April 19, 2023 – Drivers on U.S. 30, three miles east of Denison, need to be aware of a bridge construction project that may slow down their trip. Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 24 until Oct. 28, weather permitting, construction crews will reduce the roadway to one lane with traffic controlled with traffic signals as they replace the U.S. 30 bridge over Rocky Run Creek near Denison.

During this project, a ten-foot lane-width restriction will be in place. Jensen Construction Co. was awarded the $1.8 million project.

Sidney, Iowa – On April 17, 2023, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a stabbing at 508 Main St. in Sidney, Iowa. Upon arrival, deputies and first responders located two make subjects outside the residence who had been stabbed, one individual later succumbed to his injuries, while the other was life flighted to University of Omaha Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha with life threatening injuries.

On the afternoon of April 18, 2023, a forensic autopsy was conducted by the Iowa Office of the State Medial Examiner on the deceased male. The death has been ruled as a homicide and the manner of death was identified as stab wounds. The deceased male has been identified as 26-year-old Corey Miller of Sidney, Iowa.

The second stabbing victim has been identified as 28-year-old D’Andre Kyle of Sidney, Iowa. Kyle is currently in stable condition at UNMC.

On April 17th, a search warrant was conducted at 508 Main St in Sidney where upon illegal and illicit items were seized. On April 18, 2023, Mark Dupre (age 26) and Katelan Jacobs (age 23) of 508 Main St. Sidney, Iowa, were arrested at a separate location by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office on charges stemming from the search warrant. Both Dupre and Jacobs were charged with possession of a controlled substances with intent to deliver over 5 grams of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dupre was also charges with possession of marijuana (2nd offense) and Jacobs was charged with possession of marijuana (1st offense). Dupre’s bond was set at $100,000.00 cash and Jacobs was set at $300,000.00 cash.

Jacobs

Dupre

This is an on-going criminal investigation, and no further details will be released at this time.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 36-year-old Bradley James Jackson, of Glenwood, was arrested last Friday afternoon at the Mills County Jail. He was taken into custody under the authority of a Montgomery County warrant for 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse. Jackson posted $25,000 bond, and was released.

On April 13th, 37-year-old Jason Kyle Rush, of Elliott, was arrested on a warrant for Domestic Assault. He later posted a $300 bond, and was released.

And, on Wednesday, April 19th, 21-year-old Chad Stanley Padilla, of Red Oak, was arrested by Montgomery County Deputies, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, on $2,500 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A national group is helping a family near Wellman continuing to recover from the damage done by the March 31st tornado, as planting season gets underway. Clint Whetstine’s family’s farms have been in Wellman since the late 1880s. There are multiple farmsteads, and while not every one saw destruction — Whetstine tells K-C-R-G T-V the E-F4 tornado wiped out one. “Did not have a structure left standing here,” Whetstine says, “the machine sheds, the livestock buildings, they’re all gone.”

Dan Erdmann and the non-profit group Farm Rescue is helping the Whetstines with the big task of recovery. “The whole goal is to lighten the burden. He said, “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work.”  While the nonprofit gets many requests, he tells K-C-R-G T-V this particular instance is one that has taken priority. “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work,” he says.

Farm damage near Wellman, IA. (KCRG-TV photo)

Erdman says they call it a hand up, not a hand out. He says they’re providing tangible support just to get them through this crisis and onto the next season, and hopefully keep them farming long-term.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood, today (Wednesday), report the arrest on Sunday (April 16), of Mikayla Nelson, from Glenwood. Nelson was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. She was released after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Nebraska was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, to 168 months (14-years) in prison following his plea of guilty to distribution of a controlled substance. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on January 12, 2021, the Council Bluffs Police and Council Bluffs Fire Departments were dispatched to a motel to provide medical treatment to an unresponsive victim, who ultimately died from a fentanyl overdose. 22-year-old Jason D. Hartzell, of Omaha, distributed fentanyl pressed pills to the victim.

Officers linked Hartzell to the fentanyl overdose death after reviewing phone information, social media information, surveillance footage, and conducting witness interviews. Hartzell must serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The Council Bluffs Police Department, Omaha Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pills, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl.

Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.