(Radio Iowa) – A man who was working at an Iowa meatpacking plant will spend four years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to illegally get federal loans during the pandemic that were for business owners.
The U-S Justice Department says Yovny Ciero is a former sergeant in Cuba’s military who’s been living in the U-S for nearly 20 years after illegally crossing the Mexican border. Ciero was working at the meatpacking plant in Algona when the pandemic began, but he is one of over one-hundred Cuban immigrants accused of applying and getting Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020 after claiming to be self-employed, with a six-figure income in 2019.

Court records indicate Ciero was one of six “bundlers” in the scheme that submitted over four-MILLION dollars’ worth of fraudulent loan applications. Ciero got a loan for himself and a person the Justice Department describes as his paramour. Ciero and used the money to buy a pick-up and get a loan for a home in Mason City.

A jury found Ciero guilty of several wire fraud and money laundering charges. Ciero is one of five former Iowa meatpacking plant workers sentenced in this pandemic scheme. Two women and two men pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to less than a year in prison and ordered to pay restitution.

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowans are grumbling over two consecutive weekends of moderate to heavy snowfall, others are loving it and have learned to embrace all that winter in the Midwest has to offer. Matt Miner is president of the Iowa State Snowmobile Association, based in Cresco. Miner says snowmobiling is a wonderful hobby, as long as all riders follow the basic rules. “We want everybody to have a good time, but we want everybody to be safe. We want them to enjoy the sport, enjoy having fun with friends and family,” Miner says. “We always promote to ride safe and don’t do anything you wouldn’t do in your car. We like seeing the partying and stuff that everybody does, but we don’t want to have it continue on into the sleds and riding when you shouldn’t be riding.”

Iowa DNR photo

Miner says the Iowa Department of Natural Resources offers an online course for new snowmobilers between the ages of 12 and 17. “Just go onto the Iowa DNR website, go under the Snowmobile tab and you can look up the classes,” Miner says. “That’s the only thing we offer right now. We are looking to offer here in the next year or so, hopefully be back into in-person training for youth snowmobiles.” Miner says there are nearly 60 separate snowmobiling clubs in Iowa and each offers its own activities and opportunities to ride the trails. “My home club, we’ve got Snow Fest which will be in 55th year this year, the last weekend in January,” Miner says. “There’s the Winter Games over in Okoboji. We do a thing down in Huxley with spina bifida for the kids with spina bifida. We get them out and have them ride in the snowmobile.”

He says the association has helped to maintain an expansive fleet of trail groomers and a trail system comprising 8,800 miles statewide.

(Creston, IA) – Two people were arrested on separate charges over the past few days, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 32-year-old James Dean Michelson, of Creston, was arrested Friday afternoon, following a traffic stop. Michelson was charged with Driving While Barred Habitual Offender and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was transported to the Union County Jail, posted a $2,300 dollar cash or surety bond, and was released.

And, at around 12:10-a.m. Saturday, 19-year-old Caleb Lee Bunner, of Creston, was arrested for Public Intoxication. He was transported o the Union County Jail and held on a $300 dollar cash or surety bond. Bunner later appeared before a judge, pled guilty to the charge, and was released.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen is retiring at the end of the year after working there since 1979, and becoming the school’s first woman president in 2017. Wintersteen says she doesn’t agree with the idea that the cost of a college education now isn’t worth it to students. “We see over and over again just the return on investment for our students in terms of the placement rates and the salaries that they are able to earn once they graduate,” she says. Wintersteen says she worries that students who could help fill jobs where there are shortages aren’t coming to college. “I think it’s important to think about that in terms of the future of the country. We have a lot of really smart kids in Iowa that should come get a degree in biomedical engineering, get a degree in electrical engineering and physics, chemistry, get a degree in material science engineering, precision agriculture, animal science,” Wintersteen says.

Wintersteen say 75 percent of I-S-U students get a get a scholarship from a private donor and they are working to increase that. “Forty-four percent of our students graduate without any debt. And so that’s a great number to remember and the average debt at Iowa State is around 28-thousand, 29-thousand dollars, and we have a very low default rate,” Wintersteen says. She says graduates get good jobs and are able to pay off the loans and it raises a question. “Well, how else could you spend that money? So investing in your future. it’s a pretty good way to do that,” she says.

Wintersteen says they require all students at Iowa State to take educational program on what it means to take out a loan and they have to sign a piece of paper that they’ve done that educational training, understanding they have to pay the loan back. Wintersteen retires January 2nd.

(Radio Iowa) – Small Iowa businesses struggling to compete with giants like Amazon might consider what’s called crowdshipping, where customers — who are not store employees — would be asked to deliver merchandise ordered online in exchange for a reward. University of Iowa business analytics professor Jeff Ohlmann is studying the crowdshipping concept and says it seems unconventional to ask a customer to make a delivery, but it could work in some circumstances. “People are always looking for side hustles, and if you can make a little extra money doing very minimal effort, that’s kind of what this is targeted at, it’s that type of individual,” Ohlmann says. “Of course, there’s other individuals who might have a carload of kids and they’re like, ‘No way, in fact, I need a crowdshipper for myself.'”

Customers who make the delivery might be compensated with a gift card or some other incentive, but Ohlmann says they’d first need to be registered and screened.  “The crowdshipping program would have to be done something like somebody who would enroll and be vetted, much like a customer loyalty program, where that store in some sense knows that person and has vetted them,” Ohlmann says. “It’s not just any random shopper who walks into the store and says, ‘Hey, I’ll deliver a package.'”

A recent U-I study looked at how much crowdshipping would be needed to cut delivery costs enough to make it worthwhile. He says it could lower costs and cut delivery times if even five-percent of in-store shoppers agreed to make deliveries that extend their trip home by up to 30 minutes. The idea might make some people uneasy, but Ohlmann says times are changing, and so are traditions. “Currently, we have Door Dashers and Uber Eats and people delivering food that are essentially non-uniformed individuals and so it’s not that much of a stretch, in that regard,” Ohlmann says. “Depending on the scenario, if you’re going to leave a package on a porch and just notify the person, there doesn’t have to be any interaction if you don’t want there to be.”

Crowdshipping isn’t just for mom-and-pop businesses either. He says corporations like Walmart, Target and Home Depot are all trying out similar pilot projects.

(Guthrie Center, IA) – Authorities in Guthrie County reports one person and a dog died during a shed fire early Saturday morning in rural Guthrie County. Guthrie Center Fire Chief Cory Campbell said in a news release, the Guthrie Center Fire Department and Panora EMS were paged to a secondary structure fire at 2094 Hickory Avenue, at around 5:17-a.m., Saturday.

Upon arrival, crews found a shed fully engulfed in flames. The flames were threatening a nearby residence. The occupants of the home were alerted and safely evacuated. Firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to the residence, and extinguished the blaze. Upon putting out the fire, responders located a deceased victim and canine within the structure. The scene was then turned over to the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office.

The name of the victim was not immediately released.

Aside from those previously mentioned, agencies responding to the incident included: The Coon Rapids and Bayard Fire Departments, and the Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency. In a social media post, Chief Campbell said “The Guthrie Center Fire Department would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the families impacted by this tragic incident.”

(Villisca, IA) – Officials say a malfunctioning water heater was the apparent cause of  fire Sunday afternoon in rural Villisca. Accordng to Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, firefighters from Villisca, Grant, Red Oak and Stanton responded to a reported basement fire at 2374 Union Avenue, or about two-miles north of Villisca, at around 12:40-p.m., Sunday.  Soon after they arrived, crews safely evacuated the lone occupant of the residence.

Firefighters were then quickly able to extinguish the fire in the basement. Chief Bruce says the fire apparently started by a mechanical malfunction with a water heater that ignited combustible materials nearby. Family and friends were assisting the homeowner in finding a temporary means of shelter.

No injuries were reported, and damage to the home was limited. Other agencies assisting during the incident included: Villisca Ambulance; Montgomery County Communications; The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and MidAmerican Energy.

(Radio Iowa) – Two candidates from Odebolt are running in Tuesday’s special election for an open seat in the Iowa House. Republican Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City resigned from the seat in September after President Trump appointed him state director for U-S-D-A Rural Development. Wendy Larson, the Republican candidate, ran against Sexton in a G-O-P Primary last year and lost by just 53 votes.

Trump won the district with nearly 75 percent of the vote and the latest data shows for every Democrat in the district, there are more than three registered Republican voters. “And they want a conservative leader who has their values and their beliefs,” Larson said, “and will represent them the way that they believe and the way that they want.” Larson is a stay-at-home mom with a background in sales.

Rachel Burns, the Democratic candidate, says some Iowans are really struggling and she’s been able to connect with voters. “GOP control of Iowa over the past several years — things are not going well,” Burns said. “Things are not getting better for rural Iowans.” Burns is a speech-language pathologist and volunteer firefighter and E-M-T. The district covers Calhoun, Pocahontas and Sac Counties and part of Webster County, to the west of Fort Dodge.

This is the fifth of six special elections scheduled this year to fill vacancies in the Iowa House and Senate. The final special election will be held December 30th to fill a seat in the Iowa Senate that had been held by Democrat Clair Celsi, who died in October.

(Anita, IA) – The CAM Community School District (CSD) Board of Education will hold their Annual and Organizational  Meeting of the retiring and newly elected School Board, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, beginning at 6:30-p.m. The meeting takes place in the CAM High School Media Center, and begins with a Public Hearing on the District’s Instructional Support Levy (ISL). During their meeting last month, the Board held discussion with regard to the voted PPEL and ISL were held. A special election for renewal will be held in March.

The Annual Meeting of the Retiring CAM School Board will follow. The Consent Agenda includes action on approving: Open Enrollments; Personnel matters, such as resignations and contracts, along with other administrative matters. The Board will hear from Mrs. Brahms, with regard to the STEAM/TAG programs.

Once the Annual Meeting concludes, an Organization Meeting of the new Board will be called to order, and includes the Election/Oath of Office to the (elected) Board President, who will then preside over that portion of the meeting. There will also be an election for the Board Vice-President along with administering of the Oath of Office, and the appointment of the School Board Secretary/Treasurer.

The new Board will vote on establishing the date, time and location of their future meetings, and act on several matters to come before them, including: Snow Removal Bids; a Carpet Bid, and other matters. See the full agenda here: 4.1 December 8, 2025 Public Hearing and Organizational Meeting Agenda