Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest Tuesday evening, of 52-year old Gary Lee McDougal, of Afton. McDougal was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond or surety.

(7-a.m. News)

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) — A Cincinnati-based company is closing a call center in Sergeant Bluff, eliminating about 180 jobs. The Sioux City Journal reports employees of Convergys were notified Tuesday the call center would close in April. The company’s decision means Sergeant Bluff will lose its largest employer. Spokeswoman Brooke Beiting called it a business decision that is “something that is helping us serve our customers.” The company encouraged employees who have lost their jobs to seek positions where they could work from their homes or at other Convergys sites.

The announcement came seven months after Convergys announced it would add about 250 jobs at its Sergeant Bluff location. Sergeant Bluff Mayor Jon Winkel responded to the closure by saying, “Well, I guess we’ll have to get busy and find somebody else for that building.”

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 4:30-a.m. today (Wednesday), of 32-year old Sarah Beth Ewing, of Elliott. Ewing was taken into custody following a traffic stop at the intersection of Highway 48 and 100th Street. She was charged with Driving While Barred, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $2,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is keeping campaign donations tied to a Des Moines firm that profited from a controversial lobbying blitz funded by Saudi Arabia. Reynolds in November returned a $100 contribution from executive branch appointees Kim and Connie Schmett, saying she disagreed with their side work as foreign agents who collected $100,000 opposing a law allowing victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. But her campaign kept several larger donations linked to the LS2Group, which received $76,500 from the same Saudi-funded work as the Schmetts.

LS2Group executive Chuck Larson Jr., who worked as a foreign agent, hosted a Reynolds fundraiser last summer. He and other LS2 employees gave thousands to Reynolds and LS2Group’s political arm gave $250. Campaign spokesman Pat Garrett says LS2Group is a private business while the Schmetts are state officials. An ethics board fined Connie Schmett $250 last week for disclosure violations.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is confirming the recent and abrupt departure of his chief of staff. The secretary of state’s office tells The Associated Press that Mark Snell’s employment ended Jan. 3. The AP had asked about Snell’s departure three weeks earlier but spokesman Kevin Hall didn’t provide information until Tuesday. Hall says Snell was an at-will employee, which means he could be fired for any reason. He said no documents exist that would explain the reason for Snell’s departure, and Snell didn’t submit a resignation letter.

Snell had a $132,000-annual salary and had served as the top administrator since Pate took office in 2015. Pate, a Republican, is gearing up to run for re-election this year.