A man from Minnesota was transported to a hospital in Council Bluffs, following a single-vehicle accident Friday afternoon in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 40-year old Scott D. Kerling, of Northfield, MN, was traveling east on Interstate 80 near Underwood, at around 2-p.m., when his 2015 Ford F-350 pickup left the road and entered the east ditch.

The pickup ended-up in a ravine before it came to rest. Kerling was transported by Underwood Rescue to Mercy Hospital. The Patrol says a medical condition may have caused the accident. Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted at the scene.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa powerbroker Bruce Rastetter has long used his $5 million pledge to Hawkeye football to build his image as a successful businessman and philanthropist. But years after his 2008 commitment was touted as the largest gift to Iowa athletics, Rastetter has given less than a third of that amount. Another donor who promised $5 million that day has completed his pledge. The football complex they were supporting has been built.

Rastetter is now president of the school’s governing body. His handling of the donation contradicts public statements claiming he’s given $5 million, which he’s used to deflect criticism that his policies hurt the university. And it raises questions about whether the delay was part of the pressure he put on former university president Sally Mason, who resigned last year.

Late Friday morning officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) released a statement with regard to CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth. Cass County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees President Ned Brown commented on what he said was a recent charge against CEO Todd Hudspeth related to a personal banking matter.

Early this (Friday) afternoon, Hudspeth issued a statement regarding the matter. In it he said “In January of this year I received a disbursement from an investment account that was created years ago by my ex-wife and I to save for my son’s college tuition.  The disbursement check was made out to both of us, and was to be deposited into a checking account to pay my son’s college expenses.  It was very close to the tuition due date so I wanted to get the check deposited as soon as possible.  In my haste I made a poor decision and endorsed the check with both my ex-wife’s name and my own to deposit the funds into the checking account.  I then wrote a check and paid my son’s tuition. I simply wasn’t thinking and it was a ill-advised thing to Both my ex-wife and I knew where the money was supposed to go and that it would be used for college expenses for our son, which it was.  I was just trying to get the college funds in my son’s account as quickly as possible and took a foolish shortcut to expedite that process.”

Hudspeth said also ” My attorney has advised me to not provide any additional statements as long as this is an active investigation.”

Police in Council Bluffs cited a man following an investigation into an incident at a bank this (Friday) morning.  At 11:30-a.m., the Communications Center was contacted by an employee of American National Bank, located at 201 Bennett Avenue. The employee stated that a man was at the counter, repeatedly asking for money, but he didn’t have an account with them. The employee stated that the man was acting erratically, but had not displayed any type of weapon.

As Officers were responding to the call, the 911 Center received a holdup alarm from the bank. The responding Officers established a perimeter around the bank and regained contact with the employee inside. The employee stated that the man was still at the front counter asking for money, but still had not displayed any type of weapon. Officers then made entry into the bank lobby and detained the man without incident.
While the man was being detained and searched for weapons, a folding knife with a blade in excess of 3” and a glass pipe used for smoking illegal narcotics was located in his pants’ pocket. The man was identified as 33-year old Andrew Hasbrouck, of Council Bluffs.

After interviewing the bank employees and witnesses, it was learned that Hasbrouck had never demanded any money from them or threatened anyone with a weapon or violence if they didn’t give him money. Detectives interviewed Hasbrouck at the Police Station, and determined that he was not a threat to himself or others.

Hasbrouck was issued a criminal citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and a criminal citation for Carrying Weapons (the folding knife in his pocket). He was released after receiving the citations.

The Red Oak Police Department reports a Clarinda man was arrested today (Friday), for Failing to Comply with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. 54-year old Jack Ray Steinspring was already being held in the Montgomery County Jail on other charges, and will be held on $5,000 bond for Page County.

On Monday, KJAN News told you that Steinspring, who was originally arrested Sunday, had been convicted in Feb. 1996 for Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, for an incident or incidents in Pottawattamie County involving a female under the age of 13. He was also convicted in Dec. 1980 in Nebraska, for 1st Degree Sexual Abuse.

He was wanted for Failure to Comply with the State Sex Offender Registry, a Class-D Felony. Steinspring has had multiple violations of the Registry since he was required to register, in 2007.

A Montgomery County woman faces more theft charges following her arrest today (Friday). 39-year old Janet Lynn Tarbox, of Red Oak, was arrested at her residence, on six Theft charges, including one count of Theft in the 3rd degree, two counts of Theft in the 4th Degree, and three counts of Theft in the 5th Degree. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into alleged incidents of Theft from her employer, who was not identified.

Tarbox was previously arrested on multiple Theft charges related to the same investigation. More charges are expected to be filed as the investigation continues.

Officials with the Cass County Health System (CCHS) today (Friday), released a statement with regard to CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth. Cass County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees President Ned Brown commented on a recent charge against CEO Todd Hudspeth related to a personal banking matter.

CCHS CEO Todd Hudspeth

Brown said “Todd has informed the board about his actions that led to this situation.  We appreciate his ownership of his actions and will continue to monitor the situation as facts become available.  Todd continues to serve as CEO of Cass County Health System.”

Additional details about the charge are not available, and CCHS officials say no further comment will be made about the situation at this time.  Hudspeth, who began his position with the Cass County Health System in January, 2014, replaced CEO Pat Markham, who retired.

The population of monarch butterflies that overwintered in Mexico is said to be more than three times larger than what was seen last year. It’s exceptional news for conservationists in Iowa and elsewhere who are trying to restore the monarch population which has dropped 80-percent in the past 20 years. Sue Blodgett, who chairs the Department of Entomology at Iowa State University, gives some of the credit to Iowans who are planting milkweeds by the thousands.

“I think that’s probably helping,” Blodgett says. “Of course, there’s other factors, too, the lack of any drought where the monarch have to migrate through, there’s several factors that contribute, but certainly, the efforts we are making here in Iowa are part of that picture.” The orange-and-black insects are a key factor in providing pollination services to agriculture that are estimated to be worth three-billion dollars a year. Blodgett says they’re an important insect.

“It’s iconic and it also is a really good indicator of habitat,” Blodgett says, “and not just habitat for the monarch but habitat for other pollinators, birds and other wildlife that we value.” The World Wildlife Fund reports that this winter’s survey found adult butterflies covered about ten acres of forest in Mexico. During the last three winters, overwintering butterflies occupied three or fewer acres. Blodgett says the goal is to see a sustained monarch population of about 15 acres, or 225-million butterflies through domestic and international efforts.

“In the past, there’s been some big storms or frosts or freezes that have gone through Mexico that have devastated the population,” Blodgett says. “Because of that migration, there’s a lot of weather factors involved that can influence that population.” One way Iowans can help in their back yards or on larger pieces of property is by planting milkweed, which monarch caterpillars love.

“Right now, we have nine different species of milkweeds planted at all of our Iowa State University research and demonstration farms around the state,” Blodgett says, “to show people what they look like and to also see how they persist, how they grow and to look at how the larvae develop on those.” The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium was established last year to enhance monarch reproduction and survival in Iowa through collaborative and coordinated efforts of farmers, private citizens and their organizations.

Learn more at: http://monarch.ent.iastate.edu

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly to 3.8 percent in March from 3.7 percent in February. Officials with Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) report the state’s jobless rate was 3.7 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate increased to 5.0 percent in March. The number of unemployed Iowans rose to 65,300 in March from 63,200 in February. The current estimate is 2,400 higher than the year ago level of 62,900. The total number of working Iowans decreased to 1,649,400 in March. That’s 1,600 less than February and 12,100 more than one year ago.

Officials say following a drop last month, Iowa non-farm employment resumed adding jobs in March. The increase of 1,600 was modest, and generally the result of private industry bolstering employment. With this month’s gain, Iowa non-farm employment increased to 1,575,400 jobs total—15,300 jobs more than one year ago.

Construction posted the largest single gain this month, up 3,600. IWD says the gain may partially be the result of firms starting work early this year coupled with the undertaking of new commercial and infrastructure projects. Employment in construction is expected to rise through 2016. Other sectors that added employment this month included trade and transportation, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.

Alternatively, the manufacturing sector lost 3,000 jobs.  Particularly hard hit, was those factories producing durable goods, and transportation equipment manufacturers. Education and health care shed 800 jobs this month. The loss was mostly centered within health care. Iowa’s finance sector lost jobs for the first time in several months in March, however, the 500 jobs lost wasn’t severe and the sector remains markedly up compared to one year ago.

IWD Director Beth Townsend says the good news is “Iowa employers are still hiring.” (For more information, go to www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/labor-market-information-division)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Friday) board approved a permit for display of fireworks in an unincorporated area of Cass County. Supervisor Chuck Rieken said the fireworks will be part of the City of Lewis’ Celebration on June 25^th. Rieken said the pyrotechnics will be fired south of Duane Weirch’s place by a company known as “Flashing Thunder,” which has handled similar events for the City for several years.

The Board also received a report from Cass County Engineer Charles Marker, who said Gus Construction will begin work Monday morning, on a triple concrete box culvert project for Bridge #20, located about two-miles south of Highway 92 on County Road N-28, south of Cumberland. A detour route will be in-place while the work is underway. The route is one-mile north of the project site, one-mile west, then south and east, before connecting back to N-28. Marker says he knows the bridge closure comes at a bad time, with farmers trying to get out into their fields, but it’s out of his hands. He says the contractor is given a certain window to perform the work, and they handle it when their crews are available for a specific project.

And, the Supervisors received a quarterly report from Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee, who said activities are starting to ramp-up for the spring in the County parks and outdoor education area. Micah said Cold Springs State Park near Lewis is open for camping. They’ve also added gravel to the various county park entrances and roads, including the Nodaway Recreation Area, Cold Springs, Turkey Creek and Hitchcock House.

And, as he mentioned to the Board back in January, Lee said they continue to have vandalism issues to the posts that are designed to prevent motor vehicle traffic on the T-Bone Trail. He said also he’s spoken with Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren about the problem, but there is no immediate, viable solution. McLaren suggested installing trail cameras to catch the culprits, but Lee says there’s no place nearby to mount them high enough where they won’t get damaged or stolen.