(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has completed a five-day tour of some of the sites in the Middle East where nearly 18-hundred Iowa National Guard soldiers are deployed. Reynolds and Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Stephen Osborn went to Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. Reynolds presented the Purple Heart to an Iowa soldier who was wounded in the ambush in December that killed two Iowa soldiers. She also visited airmen deployed from a unit in Sioux City who provided medical care to Iowans after the attack. Reynolds praised their service last week during a speech to legislators.

Reynolds said “…Iowans taking care of Iowans, all in service of their country. Our State could not be prouder.” The two Iowa soldiers who were critically wounded are receiving outpatient care. The two soldiers who were killed were laid to rest in Iowa in late December.

In a recent speech to state lawmakers, Major General Osborn said the deployed Iowa soldiers are contributing to stability in the Mideast.

Osborn says most of the 18-hundred Iowa National Guard soldiers who are currently deployed in the Middle East are part of a unit based in Boone.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senate candidate Josh Turek of Council Bluffs says Thursday’s 53rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America is a reminder that change can happen quickly. “I think there’s a generational chance for us to be able to actually win back elections and take back the House and take back the Senate,” Turek said. “And I think that gives us hope to actually see real change in being able to codify Roe v Wade.” Turek, who is currently a member of the Iowa House, held a round-table discussion yesterday (Thursday) with a Des Moines-based O-B-G-Y-N, two state legislators and two women who are former Planned Parenthood administrators.

Turek says Iowa’s six week abortion ban is contributing to the state’s health care crisis because it’s made Iowa a challenging and unattractive place for O-B-G-Y-Ns to practice. “I’ll tell you this that the single issue that I have heard the most in knocking doors and representing the reddest district in the state, the only issue actually that I found is unanimously supported is that our health care system is fundamentally broken,” Turek said. Turek says voters are worried about access to health care services – including abortion — as well as prescription drug prices, the closure of rural nursing homes and health care facilities and the skyrocketing premiums for over tens of thousands of Iowans who no longer qualify for Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies.

Turek faces a June Primary against fellow Democrats Zach Wahls of Coralville and Nathan Sage of Knoxville who are also running for the U.S. Senate. President Trump has endorsed Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson’s campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by fellow Republican Joni Ernst.

(Clarinda, IA) – Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers says with the weather forecast for tonight into Saturday morning indicating a probability of accumulating snowfall, the Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the snow ordinance.

The ordinance states “No person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two inches or more of snow or ice. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $30.00 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fees before the vehicle is released.”

The parking ban remains in effect until the snow ceases to fall, and the streets have been plowed from curb to curb.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court is upholding a district court ruling that says Iowa can sue the operators of the TikTok app for allegedly lying about its safety for kids. The state sued TikTok operators under the Iowa Consumer Frauds Act saying they kept a “12-plus” age rating on the app despite the presence of mature and age-inappropriate content. TikTok argued their terms of service agreement is a nationwide contract not directed specifically at Iowa customers.

The Supreme Court ruling says TikTok has entered ongoing contractual relationships with hundreds of thousands of Iowa residents where they actively curate content for users and in exchange they extract valuable data. It says intentionally conducting business within a state comes with the protection of the state’s laws, and the burden of being hauled into court to answer for misconduct related to its operations.

(Radio Iowa) – Case New Holland is laying off more than 200 workers at its plant in Burlington which makes construction equipment. Burlington Mayor Jon Billups says they worked hard to get the company to stay there. “We reached out to the state leaders, and everybody was trying to keep them here,” he says. Billups says the plant has been a point of pride for the Burlington community for generations.

“It stinks, because we’ve had years of investment in their plant, both as a city and as a state, and it’s just heartbreaking for the families that are going to be affected,” Billups says. The employees were given notice earlier this week and Iowa WARN says the layoffs will take effect in April and May. Case New Holland said its reason for the layoffs was a significant drop in loader backhoe demand. “I get they’re not selling as many backhoes as they used to, but they’re selling other equipment we could be manufacturing for them, and they’ve got a perfectly good plant here with a fantastic workforce, and they’re not taking advantage of it,” Billups says.

Local leaders and members of the United Auto Workers had been trying to convince the company to keep the plant open. U-A-W President Shawn Fain called the closure an example of corporate greed.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Davenport man was sentenced January 20, 2026, to three years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon. According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Areion Marshaun Watson, 29, possessed a loaded pistol, which was recovered during a traffic stop. Watson fled on foot from the passenger’s seat during the stop. He was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was convicted of a felony, including a 2020 conviction for felon in possession of a firearm in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Watson will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

(Radio Iowa) – In an update to our previous report on KJAN, the Iowa Republican Party has revealed President Trump will be speaking in a Des Moines suburb next week. The Iowa Republican Party’s Facebook page says Trump will be speaking in Clive on Tuesday afternoon. Trump’s chief of staff has indicated the speech will be focused on the economy and will kick-off weekly events to bolster Republican efforts to retain majority control of congress in the 2026 General Election.

The venue for Trump’s Tuesday appearance was the site of the Iowa Republican Party’s 2024 State Convention and is owned by David Barker, an Iowa City real estate developer who is a former economist for the Federal Reserve who moved back to Iowa in 1994 Barker is now serving in the Trump Administration as the U.S. Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Post-secondary Education.

(Corning, IA) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday) reported a man from Polk County was arrested Thursday night on sex-related charges. 45-year-old Craig Lee Christianson II, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 8:15-p.m. on charges that include: Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (Class B felony); Enticing a Minor and Grooming, both of which are Class-D felonies. Christianson was being held in the Adams County Jail.

KCCI-TV provided additional details, Saturday, noting Christiansen is an Urbandale tattoo artist. The station says according to the criminal complaint, Christianson was informed that the person he believed he was communicating with was 14 years old. He allegedly made arrangements to meet the undercover detective who was posing as a teenager, and was arrested Thursday when he arrived at that location.

Christianson is expected to appear in court Friday, Jan. 30th.

Craig Lee Christianson II (Adams County S/O booking photo)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, today (Friday), announced seven people from western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were sentenced recently to serve time in  federal prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs and Omaha metropolitan area. According to public court documents, between June and September 2024, seven co-defendants conspired together to distribute methamphetamine throughout the Council Bluffs and Omaha metropolitan areas. Defendants were supplied with several pounds of methamphetamine from Mexican-based drug suppliers.

• Aaron Matthew Lewis, 39, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to a 180-month prison term, followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Devon Leigh Miller, 35, of Omaha, was sentenced to a 204-month prison term, followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Spencer Allen Cornell, 32, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to a 224‑month prison term, followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• James Dwight Mills, 38, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to a 264-month prison term, followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Sanel Dizdarevic, 32, of Omaha, was sentenced to a 132-month prison term, followed by a five-year term of supervised release.
• Kiley Lucille Marie Parrish, 24, of Omaha, was sentenced to a 96-month prison term, followed by a seven-year term of supervised release.
• Alyx Megan O’Hare, 37, of Omaha, was sentenced to a 60-month prison term, followed by a four-year term of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The case was investigated by Council Bluffs Police Department, Omaha Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Pottawattamie County Sheriff Department and Drug Enforcement Administration.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.