(Radio Iowa) – A former Iowan is being released from a Minnesota prison after spending nearly 25 years behind bars. Sixty-three-year-old Thomas Rhodes was accused of the 1998 murder of his wife. The Minnesota Attorney General on Friday vacated Rhodes’ conviction of first- and second-degree murder for a lesser conviction of second-degree manslaughter. Rhodes was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder after Jane Rhodes fell overboard and drowned during a nighttime boat ride on a lake at Spicer, Minnesota in July of 1998.

The new examination found that Jane Rhodes’ death was not inconsistent with an accidental fall. The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit decided the medical evidence used in the Rhodes conviction was flawed. The state says there is sufficient evidence to support Thomas Rhodes’ conviction of second-degree manslaughter. Rhodes is a native of Duncombe and graduated from Webster City high school in 1977.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9-a.m. Tuesday, in their Boardroom at the Adair County Courthouse. On their agenda is approval of the Lee Township Trustee’s resignation and appointment(s) for the position. The Board will discuss the FY 2022 5th Judicial District Annual Report, and a Safety Meeting Lunch.

County Treasurer Brenda Wallace will present to the Board a 28-E Agreement, and her Semi-Annual Report. County Auditor Mandy Berg will present FY 24 Budget requests for the Supervisors, Data Processing, Medical Examiner, Clerk of Court, Social Services and DHS.

Alan Carr will discuss with the Adair County Supervisors the upgrading of Kent Avenue to a Level A road from 300th to 310th Street. Area Service Level A Roads are those with the highest level of service constructed, and maintained in conformance with applicable State Statutes. The type of surfacing varies, based on Federal Functional, State, and Local Classifications; terrain and traffic count.

And, County Engineer Nick Kauffman will request approval for a material bid with regard to the N-33 Orient bridge project, before providing his weekly report on maintenance and activities.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. There were two separate arrests on Friday: 49-year-old David Joy Anderson, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested at Sarpy County (NE) Corrections, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond was set at $20,000; And, 19-year-old Seven Latayia Barrett, of Glenwood, was arrested Friday evening for OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000.

Early Saturday morning, 45-year-old Shannon Don Spangler, of Lincoln, NE., was arrested for Eluding and having no valid driver’s license. His bond at the Mills County Jail was set at $2,300. Early Sunday morning, 60-year-old Clifford John Bonacci, of Omaha, was arrested at I-29 and Highway 34, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Contraband/Weapon in a Correctional Facility. Bond was set at $5,300.

(Radio Iowa) – A Des Moines man is now jailed in the murder of his motel roommate. Police were called to the southside motel Friday on a report of a man bleeding and in apparent cardiac arrest. They found the body of 45-year-old Russell McKeehan Junior in his room, dead of a gunshot. A man police say was the victim’s roommate at the motel for at least a month was later charged in the killing. Reports say overwhelming evidence points to 50-year-old Surfun Boens as having pulled the trigger, including a message on his cell phone saying he “did something super super bad” and needed to “get out of town.” Police say Boens was carrying a recently-fired gun when arrested.

******

A Sioux City man is jailed in the weekend shooting death of a woman on the city’s north side. Police say 23-year-old Austyn Self is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of child endangerment. Police Sergeant Tom Gill says officers were dispatched to a house around 9:40 P-M Saturday during a 9-1-1 call where a woman was pleading for help. “Approximately two minutes into the phone call as police were heading to the scene, our dispatchers heard a gunshot, there was one gunshot,” Gill says. “They heard the female screaming on the line. When officers arrived on scene, they didn’t make entry right away. They called the male party out and he came out. He was cooperative. He came out with his hands up.”

Gill says officers found the 31-year-old woman in the home with a gunshot injury to her abdomen. “She was slowly breathing at this time,” Gill says. “They did have medical on scene. Medical began working on the female in the house. They then transported her to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead.” The woman’s name hasn’t been released. Gill says the suspect and victim were in a relationship. “They do live together. They do have at least one child together,” Gill says. “There was three children in the house, all under five years of age. That’s why the three counts of child endangerment.”

Self is being held in the Woodbury County Jail.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will discuss and act on several matters to come before them during their meeting 9-a.m. Tuesday, in their Courthouse Boardroom. According to the agenda, the Board will:

• Discuss a Township allocation to the Wiota Fire Department
• Act on approving a five-year lease extension with the Cambridge Law Firm for part of a county-owned building near 8th and Poplar Streets.
• Approve a Resolution with regard to Livestock Facility Construction Evaluation and the use of the Master Matrix.
• Approve changes to the employee manual.
• The Board will also act on the following appointments:
  • Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett to the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), for 2023 (w/City Admin. John Lund as Alternate)
  • Chelsea McCunn to the County Zoning Board of Adjustment
  • Brighton Township Clerk (If a candidate is available), and,
  • Victoria Township Trustee (if a candidate is available).

The Cass County Supervisors will also hear a monthly report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber, a Quarterly report from County Conservation Director Micah Lee, and a weekly report from Engineer Trent Wolken.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four recent arrests. At around 3:12-a.m. Sunday, 20-year-old Emily Marie Dohrn, of Creston, was arrested at Birch and Fremont Streets She was taken into custody on multiple warrants, including two out Union County for Forgery, Possession of a Controlled Substance/marijuana -1st offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Interference with Official Acts, and Providing False Identification Information. She was being held without bond in the Clarke County Jail.

Saturday night, 28-year-old Brandon Walls, of Creston, was arrested at Sumner and Spencer on a charge of OWI 1^{st offense.}  Walls was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

There were two arrests on Friday, in Creston: 21-year-old Malachi Shon Elms, of Orient, was arrested at around 8:47-p.m. Elms was charged with Disorderly Conduct, Interference with Official Acts, and Public Intox. Elms was taken to the Union County Jail where he was released on $900 cash or surety bond. And, at around 9:32-p.m., Friday, 37-year-old Ashley Ann Davis, of Creston, was arrested at 119 N Walnut. Davis was charged with Assault. Davis was taken to the Union County Jail where she later bonded.

On Thursday, Creston Police arrested 40-year-old Milea Mickey, of Creston. Mickey was charged with Assault and transported to the Union County Jail. She was released on promise to appear. in court.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak say no injuries were reported following a collision that occurred at around 1:40-p.m. Saturday, on Highway 48 (Broadway St.). Authorities say a2006 Dodge pickup driven by 60-year-old Steven Johnson, of Red Oak, was southbound on Broadway. A 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 16-year-old Maddex McCunn, of Red Oak, was at a stop sign and began to pull out from the stop sign. He failed to see the pickup passing by and struck the pickup broadside. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.

The collision caused the truck to spin into the grass on the west side of the road. McCunn was cited for Failure to Yield from a Stop Sign. Damage from the collision amounted to $10, 500.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council will begin their regular session at 4-p.m. Wednesday (90 minutes earlier than normal) Jan. 18th, due to what City Administrator John Lund says is a “Presentation-heavy meeting themed around economic development.” The meeting takes place in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

The only action item on the action is an Order to reappoint Lloyd Munson to the Board of Adjustment. The meeting includes a Public Hearing on the status of funded activities for the City of Atlantic CDBG CV Project (Community Development Block Grant Corona Virus eligible project[s]).

Presentations are expected from:

• Retail Coach Austin Farmer, with regard to retail recruitment activity.
• Chamber Executive Director Bailey Smith, on 2022 Chamber Accomplishments and 2023 Goal.
• CADCO (Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation) Executive Director Jen McEntaffer will present a similar report to Smith’s.
• and, Jessie Shiels and Alexsis Fleener will discuss the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com Project.

In his report to the Council, Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue will discuss Dec. 13, 2022 through Jan. 11, 2023 Police Department date, that includes:

• 427 Calls for Service
• 60 Traffic stops
• 34 Citations issued.
• 22 Written Warnings issued
• 26 Arrests were conducted
• 40 Charges were filed
• 20 Incident reports were completed, and
• 12 accidents were covered.

Following the regular session, the Atlantic City Council will adjourn and open a Work Session/Budget Workshop, which includes discussion on: Emergency Management Preparedness Planning; FY 2024 Budget Issues and Beyond, and a Budget Schedule for Jan. 19 through Feb. 15, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – An Elma man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a New Hampton man. The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says 26-year-old Sayvonne Jordan is accused of killing Jonathan Esparza on October 20th in Elma. Authorities executed a search warrant at Jordan’s home on November 30th and human remains were found.

The sheriff’s office says Esparza was listed as a missing person and his car was located on November 11th. Jordan is being held in the Howard County Jail on one million dollars bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control show the most recent bivalent COVID-19 booster is very effective in preventing hospitalizations of older Iowans. Some of the state data came from the University of Iowa and it shows that people over 65 who got the bivalent booster were 73 percent less likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who have just received doses of a monovalent vaccine. U-I emergency medicine professor, Nick Mohr, says the elderly aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the bivalent booster. “Being vaccinated is important not only for those people, but for the people who are in their families and their loved ones and friends to protect the people who are most likely to have bad outcomes from COVID 19 infection,” Mohr says.

He says the bivalent booster is also effective against the new highly transmittable XBB.1.5 subvariant. “The vaccine is still especially effective at preventing hospitalization and death and COVID-19. And even with the new variant, it looks like the bivalent vaccine is still an effective tool in the toolbox,” he says.

Information from the C-D-C shows just more than half of Iowa seniors who are 65 and older have received the bivalent booster.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)