(Creston, IA) – A man and woman from Creston were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday. According to the Creston Police Department, 39-year-old Joshua Zachary Mohr was arrested at around 8:10-p.m. in the 1300 block of W. Mills Street. Mohr was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense – causing bodily injury. He was transported to the Union County Jail and held without bond pending a court appearance.

And, at around 6-p.m., Tuesday, 30-year-old Taylor Dawn Flemming was arrested at the intersection of Summit and Chestnut Streets, in Creston. Flemming was charged with Disorderly Conduct (for loud raucous noise), Violation of a No Contact Order, and Harassment in the 2nd Degree, for allegedly threatening bodily injury. Flemming was transported to the Union County Jail for processing, then transferred to the Ringgold County Jail and held without bond, pending a court appearance.

(Radio Iowa) – With the busy holiday shopping season just ahead, Iowans are being warned to be on guard for a boost in robocalls and phone scams, which are getting more sophisticated using artificial intelligence. Matt Mizenko, general manager of Nomorobo — an app that blocks spam calls and texts, says there was a big spike in robocalls and scammers in recent weeks, including fraud attempts related to the federal government shutdown. “For Iowa, specifically, you guys were a little higher than average,” Mizenko says. “You guys were at about 18%, but in that 18% increase, we saw an increase in the amount of bad calls or calls that we are blocking for customers in Iowa — about 50%, which is about 20% more than the national average.” One phone scam he says to be especially mindful of right now relates to open enrollment for health insurance, and those could last for the next several weeks.

“Once we get past the holidays and get into the beginning of next year, we start to see the IRS tax scams. The people calling you and telling you owe this or you owe that, or you’re going to be in trouble, or we’re going to come take your house and take your car and all those sorts of things,” Mizenko says. “So you need to be vigilant. You need to be prepared for these things because like every year, they’re coming and they’re going to be looking for you.” For starters, he suggests you be wary of any call that comes in from an “unknown caller,” but even calls that look legit may not be.  “Anybody that calls you asking for information or — one of the new trends is — they already have a little bit of information about you that they have gotten using AI or something to try and increase your confidence that they’re real,” Mizenko says. “Treat all that stuff with skepticism. Obviously, don’t give out information. Don’t be afraid to hang up and call back whoever it is that they say they are.”

He recommends downloading some sort of phone protection product to provide another layer of security, quizzing callers about who they are and why they’re calling. “Bad guys aren’t going to go through that trouble. They’re not going to give you a fake name. They’re not going to press the button,” Mizenko says. “Most of the time, it’s a robot on the other end of the phone anyway, and basically that call will just disappear. And you kind of know, okay, it didn’t pass the screening process. It’s not somebody I need to worry about.” He says his company is also seeing a recent surge in “spoofed” government numbers, which appear local and legitimate, but are neither.

(Radio Iowa) – A majority of the Haitian immigrant workers let go from the J-B-S meatpacking plant in Ottumwa have stayed in the community. More than 200 employees at the plant were impacted by when the Trump administration changed their work authorization status in July. Paulina Ocegueda with the Ottumwa League of United Latin American Citizens says a small percentage were able to find new authorizations and stay at the plant, while others are stayed without the meatpacking jobs.

“They have to move in with each other and stack up each other in housing, because they can no longer afford it. They can’t afford utilities, they cannot pay off their rents. It’s very hard for them to keep up with that, especially if they have children,” she says. Ocegueda says some of the former J-B-S workers left the country. “We work closely with the Haitian community. They said there have been quite a few, I would say, from a range of numbers, 10 to 30 individuals heading back home.”

Ocegueda says J-B-S has filled all the positions held by the workers who were let go.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 10-a.m. Tuesday, of 38-year-old Sarah Kay Reafleng, of Red Oak. She was charged with Driving While Revoked and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was being held without bond.

And, Red Oak Police report the arrest at around 12:30-a.m. today (Wednesday), of 20-year-old Dea Rose Anderson, in the 700 block of Market Street, in Red Oak. Anderson was charged with Domestic Assault with [a] weapon, and Child Endangerment – both are Aggravated Misdemeanors. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – The Johnson County bomb squad safely removed a grenade from an Iowa City home Monday night. Iowa City police responded to a report of suspicious activity after the grenade was found inside the residence. Police say the pin was still in the grenade.

Officers secured the scene while the bomb squad confirmed the grenade was real but had been rendered inert. The squad x-rayed the grenade before taking custody of it.

No other information is known at this time.

(IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Just 3% of corn acres and 1% of soybean acres across the state of Iowa remain unharvested, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop progress and condition report. The according to the report, the corn harvest is just slightly ahead of the five-year average and on target with 2024 harvest figures. Soybean harvest was 100% completed this time last year, but this year’s pace is in line with the five-year average.

The weekly harvest-season reports from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service were paused during the 43-day government shutdown. The report for the Nov. 10 through Nov. 16 period shows the tail end of Iowa’s harvest.

According to the report, soil moisture conditions were slightly dry across the state. On average, 62% of topsoil and 63% of subsoil across the state had adequate moisture. Twenty-seven percent of both top and subsoils averages across the state were short in terms of moisture. Eastern parts of the state had the driest soils, with between 39% and 57% of topsoil and subsoil in the regions listed as short.

According to State Climatologist Justin Glisan, precipitation across Iowa was low for the reporting period, with most stations reporting no precipitation. The normal statewide average for the period is four-tenths of an inch, but Glisan said the statewide average was below a measurable amount.

Temperatures at the beginning of the week were 18 degrees Fahrenheit below the climatological normal, but on Friday, average temperatures across the state were 15 to 30 degrees above normal. The statewide average temperature for the week was about 42 degrees, which is nearly 4 degrees above normal.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the dry weather and warm temperatures allowed farmers to make a “final push” on harvest and move on to other field work. According to the crop report, farmers had 6.4 days suitable for field work during the period. “With dry conditions and drought creeping back in, many will welcome the forecasted moisture that could help recharge our soils as we head toward Thanksgiving,” Naig said in a statement.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – An Iowa nursing home company has faced at least 17 wrongful-death and negligence lawsuits over the past 16 months, a review of court records shows. The lawsuits have been filed against Care Initiatives, a nonprofit corporation based in West Des Moines that operates 43 Iowa nursing homes as well as several assisted living centers and hospice locations. While some of the lawsuits have been settled out of court and dismissed during the past 16 months, others are still being litigated or have been stayed as the disputes are handled through private arbitration. In each of the lawsuits, Care Initiatives has denied any wrongdoing.

The company, which says it does not comment on pending litigation, cares for roughly 2,800 elderly or disabled Iowans who receive care in one of its state-licensed nursing facilities or assisted living centers. The latest lawsuit, brought by the estate of Maris Bergis, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from Care Initiatives and one of its nursing homes, Parkridge Specialty Care of Pleasant Hill, for alleged dependent adult abuse, recklessness, negligence and wrongful death.

The lawsuit alleges Parkridge “negligently cared for Bergis and violated numerous regulations, laws, rights, and industry standards, causing (him) personal injury, illness, harm, and a decline in health.” According to the lawsuit, Bergis was admitted to Parkridge on Sept. 1, 2023, for a 48-hour stay following his hospitalization for pneumonia. Upon admission, he was allegedly alert, awake and oriented, and Parkridge was tasked with providing physician-prescribed breathing treatments and monitoring him for difficulty with breathing and any signs of anxiety, confusion or restlessness.

During the course of Bergis’ stay at Parkridge, the staff at the home allegedly failed to administer the breathing treatments. The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing subsequently cited Parkridge for its care of Bergis finding that it had delayed providing necessary medical care and treatment. While the lawsuit does not indicate when, where or how Bergis died, it claims the “gross negligence, and/or recklessness” of Care Initiatives and Parkridge “were the cause of Bergis’ decline in health, injuries, damages and untimely death.”

State inspection reports indicate Bergis was alive, but was increasingly nonresponsive, late in the afternoon on Sept. 4, 2023, which was three days after his admission to Parkridge. The inspection records indicate Bergis was sent to a hospital by ambulance at his spouse’s insistence, but they provide no information as to the hospital’s diagnosis or treatment outcome.

Read about other wrongful death or negligence lawsuits litigated against Care Initiatives over the past 16 months, HERE.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – A certified nurse anesthetist pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing fentanyl from patients at a Dubuque hospital. 53-year-old Benjamin Albert, of Round Lake, Illinois, pleaded guilty to three counts of acquiring fentanyl through fraud. Authorities say Albert drew extra fentanyl from the hospital pharmacy using patients’ names during each of the five days he worked there from January 13, 2022, to January 27, 2022. He administered fentanyl to 18 patients during that time.

Albert only administered a portion of the fentanyl to patients and kept the rest for personal use, according to court documents. Authorities say multiple patients experienced significant pain during surgery after Albert charted they had received the full dose.

Albert faces up to four years in prison for each count, a $250,000 fine, and one year of supervised release. He also agreed to surrender his Iowa nursing license.

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the Iowa Natural Resource Commission are expressing frustration about the declining level of state spending on wildlife programs, habitat restoration and acquisition of property for hunting and other outdoor activities. The money for those programs comes from the fees for state hunting, fishing and trapping licenses — fees that haven’t been raised since 2019. Uriah (yer-RY-uh) Hansen of Huxley is vice chair of the Natural Resource Commission. “We’ve had the conversations,” Hansen says, “We’ve brought it up and, quite honestly, the cans continue to be kicked down the road.” Hansen says since 2019, inflation has skyrocketed.

“On the flip side, there’s been massive reductions in DNR spending, head count — all these other pieces,” Hansen says. Hanson points to state records which indicate the number of employees in the Department of Natural Resources has dropped at least four-and-a-half percent since 2019. He says the commission had hoped to spearhead a push to raise the fees, but D-N-R staff have told them they need to show evidence of public support — like a survey of outdoor groups — by mid-December. Hansen says given his role on the state commission, he’s been getting plenty of unsolicited input from Iowans.

“The constituents or the users of the public spaces, they’re the ones wanting it, right? This isn’t a broad based tax that’s impacting non-users,” Hansen says. “This is something that those that are going to be directly impacted are the ones that are directly asking for the increase.” Terry Thompson, president of Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club, spoke at the commission’s meeting his month. He says the state desperately needs to increase the Department of Natural Resources budget — and a five percent increase in hunting and fishing license fees would help.

“Really, sportsmen are willing to do that,” Thompson said. “There’s no doubt it. Everybody that I’ve talked to is way in favor of this license fee increase.” Fred Long of Jefferson says the travel budget for state employees is so constricted the National Wildlife Turkey Federation recently paid to send the state turkey biologist to educational seminars out of state. Long, who is president of the Iowa Conservation Alliance, says all 16 groups in the organization back a five percent hike in hunting and fishing fees.

“It’s important to us that we’re all willing to spend more money,” Long said. An Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff member, however, recently cautioned the commission that any public recommendation they make has to be cleared by the governor’s office. “We have to be cognizant of what the administration’s priorities around government fees, taxes, regulatory costs generally are,” she said.

Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission has proposed raising their state’s hunting and fishing fees by an average of 14 percent next year. Missouri officials have raised hunting and fishing license rates this year, with significant increases for people who do not live in Missouri. Last year, South Dakota lawmakers approved fee increases for outdoor recreation, including a 66 percent increase in state park entrance licenses for out of staters.

(A story by the Iowa News Service) – As American Education Week continues, Iowa teachers are working to hold on to the gains they have made in the state. Iowa public school students have historically had some of the highest test scores in the nation. The state quarter even used to be emblazoned with a school house.

Joshua Brown, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said while most kids still score well on tests, Iowa’s public schools are threatened by new laws allowing tax dollars to be used for homeschool and private education tuition. “It’s unfortunate,” Brown asserted. “Especially in Iowa, I think we’ve always really valued education, and I think, generally, when you go into the streets and you talk to just a regular Iowan, they still do.”

In addition to honoring teachers, parents, and educators, American Education Week also marks the accomplishments of those who support them. Nov. 19 is Educational Support Professionals Day, recognizing paraeducators, skilled trade workers and health workers who assist the classroom.

There are more than 38,000 public school teachers in Iowa. (Adobe Stock)

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education are having a direct effect on the country’s most vulnerable students and teachers. “Our students with disabilities, our students who come from low-income families,” Pringle outlined. “In particular, our students living in rural areas where they need the federal government to provide those supports and to provide those people to assist them.”

The administration said it is trying to eliminate waste from the federal budget. Education Support Professionals Day was first marked in 1987, when the National Education Association announced it would recognize the contributions of all school support staff.