(CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa) – A Monona County, Iowa man was sentenced Friday (August 2, 2024), to 16 years in federal prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 35-year-old Allen Jones, of Ute, received the prison term after a March 19, 2024, guilty plea to kidnapping.

Evidence in the case revealed on July 7, 2023, Jones called his employer and stated his car would not start and that he needed a ride to work. Jones supervisor instructed a co-worker to pick up Jones at his residence. When the co-worker pulled into the driveway, Jones lured the co-worker into the garage, pointed a loaded shotgun at him, and said we are “going for a ride.” Jones held his victim at gunpoint, forced him into his (Jones’s) car, and ordered him to drive to a near-by casino. Jones told his victim that he planned “to shoot up the casino” and use the victim as a human shield.

On the way to the casino, Jones instructed the victim to change course, because he wanted to confront a former girlfriend before he committed the mass-shooting. Near Mapleton, Iowa, Jones further directed his victim to stop at a gas station, go into the store, and buy him food and beer. Jones warned his victim not to try to escape. The victim entered the store, selected some items, held them up to the window for Jones to see, but then set the items down and fled out of the back of the store. The victim ran alongside a storage unit, across a field, struggled across the Maple River, crossed another field, and ran onto an airfield where the victim found help.

When law enforcement arrived, they learned Jones had left the gas station on foot. Jones was located and arrested. On his person Monona County Sherriff’s Deputies located methamphetamine and in the truck they located the loaded shotgun. A subsequent search of Jones’ home revealed additional firearms, ammunition, various prescription pills, methamphetamine, and other items of contraband.

Jones has a lengthy criminal history including a 2013 federal conviction for illegally possessing a firearm as a felon and a history of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine use.

Jones was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Jones was sentenced to 192 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Jones is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Department of Public Safety-Iowa State Patrol, Monona County Sherriff’s Office, and the United States Department of Justice-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

The State of Iowa has recently created some new housing assistance options for residents that have been affected by natural disasters. Major damage from floods and tornadoes in the state prompted the need for more immediate assistance. Among the options available are the Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program (DRTHP), State Disaster Recovery New Housing Grant Program, and the Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program.

The DRTHP has a goal to provide temporary sheltering options for eligible disaster survivors as they pursue long term housing solutions. For this program housing options may include recreational vehicles and travel trailers, for up to six  months at no cost for Iowans whose homes were majorly damaged, destroyed, or deemed not habitable in counties un the federal disaster declaration. This includes the SWIPCO region counties of Harrison, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby.

Individuals looking for this assistance will need to start by registering for the FEMA Individual Assistance at disasterassistance.gov. The State Disaster Recovery New Housing Grant Program is meant to provide financial assistance for the development of for sale and rental housing in cities impacted by disasters. Counties in the region include Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby. The grant will provide up to $50,000 per unit with a maximum project award of $1,000,000.

The State Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program will provide financial assistance to eligible homeowners affected by recent natural disasters, ultimately helping them to expedite repairs to their homes. Eligible homes must be located in a county approved for FEMA Individual Assistance following presidential natural disaster dedclarations this spring and summer.

SWIPCO region counties include Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby. This program could potentially award an affected resident $50,000 for repair/rehab of their affected homes. Other nearby counties that are eligible for all programs are Adair, Adams, Ringgold, and Union.

A full list of eligible counties in the state and more information on all the types of housing assistance can be found at https://www.iowa.gov/resources-0/housing-information . Both State program applications are open at iowagrants.gov. Cities, counties, non-profits, and foundations interested in obtaining pre-constructed housing through the Homes for Iowa Program can contact SWIPCO for information or start by visiting https://www.swipco.org/housing-swihtf/homes-for-iowa/

(Radio Iowa) – Volunteers are needed in north-central Iowa this weekend to help clean up a stretch of the Boone River. In years past, they’ve hauled out everything from water heaters to wagon wheels. They’ll be clearing out debris from the waterway on Saturday as a group, according to Brian Stroner, with the city of Webster City, who’s organizing the Boone River Clean-up.

“We’re going to be on the river for about four to five hours,” Stroner says. “We’re going to provide food and drink, some T-shirts. We’re also offering a self-guided clean-up to where people can go at their own pace. We’ll have dumpsters available at the 7-B canoe access, also at Briggs Woods.”

Hamilton County Conservation naturalist John Laird said since the first clean up of the river in 2007, volunteers have collected a range of interesting items. “We’ve found all kinds of things,” Laird says. “We’ve found couches, washing machines, washers, dryers, cars, car parts, old safes.”

Hamilton County Conservation Board photo

They had planned to clean a stretch of the Des Moines River in Fort Dodge this weekend, but the plans were called off due to the high water levels. The Boone is one of Iowa’s most scenic rivers.

Learn more about the weekend cleanup at the Hamilton County Conservation Facebook page. Volunteers are to meet at Briggs Woods Shelter #1 at 7:30 AM on Saturday.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Environmental Protection Agency has ended its oversight of clean-up at the eastern Iowa recycling facility that exploded in late 2022. Asphalt shingles were being recycled at the C-six-zero plant in Marengo. Twenty employees were injured and part of Marengo had to be evacuated when the plant exploded. Six months later, after delays in the timeline for clean-up, state officials asked the federal government to start overseeing the removal of contaminated water and soil from the site.

Marengo fire (file photo)

Officials in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will review the E-P-A’s final report and determine if the company should do more hazardous material clean up. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined C-six-zero nearly one-hundred thousand dollars for 15 safety violations. Three employees and an investor who was touring the plant at the time of the explosion also have sued the company.

The State of Iowa has sued the company, as well, seeking one-and-a-half MILLION dollars to cover the cost of cleaning up contaminated water.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by the staff of Green Leaf Tobacco & Vape on Thursday, August 1st, 2024. The Ambassadors gathered to welcome the new business to the community with a ribbon cutting.

Green Leaf Tobacco & Vape officially opened in the Hy-Vee Plaza in June of 2024. Dee Hill-Borger, store manager, has lived in Exira and farmed for 14 years, and made the switch to specialized retail soon after the store opened. Dee shared with the Ambassadors about the vast amount of learning that came with the position and shared she has enjoyed working with the staff and customers to bring a little bit of sunshine to people’s everyday life.

Green Leaf Tobacco & Vape has over 40 retail stores throughout Iowa and Minnesota that specialize in products to help people. Whether that is hobby products such as vapes, cigars, cigarettes, loose tobacco, or CBD products. The store also carries a large variety of leisure products such as incense, lighters, handbags, water pipes and more. The staff is very knowledgeable about the products and encourages potential customers to visit the store to ask questions to better understand the inventory. The staff expressed gratitude towards the community for making them feel welcomed to the area. Green Leaf Tobacco & Vape are open Monday- Sunday from 9AM-9PM.

Ambassadors (Left to Right): Nina Welter, Kelsey Beschorner, DeeDee Kalny, Lana Westphalen, David Kalny, Krysta Hanson, Gene Reed, Kathie Hockenberry, Dee Hill-Borger, John Bricker, Dolly Bergmann, Shy Canfield, Graydon Schmidt, Kevin Littleton, Jeremy Butler, Anne Quist

Green Leaf Tobacco & Vape is located at 1610 E 7th Street Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa/Wisconsin Radio Network) – A felon who walked away from a Madison, Wisconsin halfway house in 1994 has been captured in Iowa.  Seventy-one-year-old George Hartleroad was convicted of rape in Chippewa County in 1983. Several weeks ago, Hartleroad was busted in West Des Moines, for not having a rear reflector on his bicycle. Police say he first gave a fake name, eventually gave his real name, and cops quickly learned he was on the run.

In body-cam footage, a police officer is heard saying, “We don’t know if Wisconsin wants you yet or not,” and Hartleroad replies, “Yeah, you will want me.” Turns out, the state of Wisconsin -does- want him. Hartleroad is now in the Dane County jail. By the way, in West Des Moines, the locals knew him as Homeless Greg.

West Des Moines Police Dept. photo

(Radio Iowa) – There’s been a dramatic decline in the total number of barns in Iowa over the past century and it’s estimated fewer than 75 in the extremely rare round design remain. Wayne Frost of the Iowa Barn Foundation says most of the round barns in the country were built between 1900 and 1920.  “There was some work in early 1900, some of it at Iowa State and other universities that linked a round barn to maybe being more efficient and less expensive to build,” Frost says.

By 1925, though, Iowa State Extension warned against round barn construction due to the expense of materials and how difficult it was to find carpenters with the skills needed to complete the complicated designs.  “If you look across our landscape, every barn we have is different,” Frost says. “Even every round barn is different. Oftentimes they would have a silo in the center of it.”

2021 photo of a Hardin County Round Barn (Iowa Barn Foundation Facebook post)

Round barns are so rare now that dozens are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There’s a 94-year-old round barn on the Plymouth County Fairgrounds in Le Mars. At this month’s State Fair, the Iowa Barn Foundation is building a small barn inside the Agriculture Building on the fairgrounds to promote their work. The group raises money and awards grants to people who are working to preserve barns on their property.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s another sign of recovery for Greenfield following the May 21st tornado. The Adair County Health System announced it will reopen parts of the hospital in Greenfield on August 12th. The hospital has been closed since the tornado and administrators say substantial repairs have been made and they will start moving out of the Nodaway Valley Elementary School that has been their base of operations since the storm.

The Emergency Room and Medical/Surgical Inpatient Services areas are still being rebuilt and will not be open. The E-M-S garage and house were destroyed by the tornado and they hope to have those rebuild by the summer or fall of 2025.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation (CADCO) today (Friday), issued a statement on social media, with regard to the announcement made Thursday, about the impending closure and elimination of about 60 jobs at an employer in Atlantic.

The statement said “As many of you have heard, Myers Industries will be closing their doors in December of this year. We are very disappointed to hear the news, but it was a corporate decision.[Neither] The County, City nor CADCO was approached regarding any concerns or issues. Once the building is available, CADCO will do everything in our power to market this building for either a business expansion or possibly new business to our community. The work has already begun.

Atlantic will bounce back, like we always do! “

(Radio Iowa) – The bus carrying Sioux City’s minor league baseball team caught fire early this (Friday) morning on its way to a game in a Chicago suburb. J.D. Scholten, a 44-year-old who’s been a replacement pitcher for the Sioux City Explorers since July, said the team was awakened at 3 a.m.

Photo on Facebook by J.D. Scholten (public viewable image)

“It wasn’t like a panic or anything. It was just like, ‘Hey, guys. We’ve got to get off the bus,’” Scholten said. “Then we look up and there’s all this smoke in the back and by the time we got out there was a mass of flame behind the bus and I think the firefighter told some of the guys we were within minutes of the flames coming inside the bus.”

Sioux City Explorers pitcher J.D. Scholten posted a photo of the bus fire on his Facebook page this morning.

Scholten said everyone on the bus got off safely, but some of the players’ gloves were left behind and got torched. The bus was near Earlham, just west of Des Moines, when it caught fire and Scholten said the town’s fire crews were on the scene quickly. “These are volunteer guys. They came out and took care of things very quickly,” Scholten said. “Pretty impressive.”

The Sioux City Explorers won a game in Lincoln, Nebraska last night and were about a third of the way to Geneva, Illinois, when the bus caught fire on Interstate-80. Another bus picked up the team at about 5:30 and they made it to their destination before lunch. The Explorers play the Kane County Cougars at 6:30 tonight.