The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 47-year-old Mark Douglas Berggren of Red Oak on Wednesday at 3:15pm. Berggren was arrested on two Montgomery County Bench Warrants for Failure to Appear. He was taken into custody and held on $10,000 cash only bond on each warrant.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Clarinda man has been found dead in a County park.  Montgomery County Sheriff’s Officials were joined by members of the Cass and Adams County Sheriff’s Departments and the Iowa State Patrol in conducting a search for a suicidal male subject in the area of Hacklebarney Park north of Villisca.  At 8:21am the male, 25-year-old Nickolas Appel of Clarinda was discovered deceased in the park by a Montgomery County Conservation Officer.

The original call came in to the Page County Sheriff’s Office. Villisca and Red Oak Rescue and Montgomery County EMA all assisted in the search and recovery.

The driver of a vehicle received multiple citations after running into another vehicle in Red Oak on Wednesday. Red Oak Police report they were called to the scene of the accident at Broadway and Cherry Street at 1:22pm. After investigation it was determined that three vehicles were traveling south bound on Broadway Street and approached the Cherry Street intersection. The first vehicle was turning right at the red light. The second vehicle was a 2016 Chevy Traverse driven by 58-year-old Elaine Marie Hollen of Red Oak and she slowed for the turning vehicle and then stopped. The third vehicle was a 2009 Ford F150 Supercrew driven by 50-year-old Kelly Kay Wilcoxon of Red Oak and she thought Hollen was also turning right at the red light. When Hollen stopped at the light Wilcoxon was too close to stop and struck Hollen’s vehicle. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Ford was estimated at $5,000 and damage to the Traverse was estimated at $2,000. Wilcoxon was cited for Following Too Close and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability. Both vehicles were able to be driven from the scene.

A representative with Rex Pharmacy contacted the Atlantic Police Department on Wednesday and informed them of a possible phone scam.  They were contacted by a member of the community that stated they had been contacted by an unknown person and told they had won a vacation trip courtesy of Rex Pharmacy. Rex Pharmacy and the Atlantic Police Department would like the public to know that if they receive a similar call that it is a scam call and not real. As always do not give out any personal or financial information over the phone to unknown callers.

Republican Governor Terry Branstad is calling on Iowa voters to “fire” the state’s Democratic attorney general. “There’s an election coming up in 2018,” Branstad said this morning. “…I think it’s time for a new attorney general.” Branstad’s been criticizing Attorney General Tom Miller for issuing an opinion last week that concluded Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds doesn’t have the authority to name a NEW lieutenant governor when she replaces Branstad as governor.

During an appearance at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale this (Wednesday) morning, someone asked Branstad why HE didn’t just fire Miller. “We can’t fire the attorney general. He’s openly elected. You can!” Branstad shouted as the crowd laughed and applauded. “…Let’s get a new attorney that will represent Iowa and the people of Iowa’s interests and just follow the law.”

Branstad, who has won six terms as Iowa’s governor, also mentioned Miller’s longevity in office as he urged fellow Republicans to defeat Miller’s expected bid for a 10th term in 2018. “He has been the attorney general since 1978, with the exception of four years of Bonnie Campbell,” Branstad said. Campbell is the Democrat who served as Iowa’s attorney general from 1991 to 1995.

Last week, Iowa’s current attorney general said Reynolds would have the title of governor when Branstad resigns to become U.S. ambassador to China, but Miller argues his read of the state constitution indicates Reynolds will have the duties of both governor AND lieutenant governor when Branstad leaves, so she can’t name a NEW lieutenant.

Branstad says that’s “convoluted” reasoning, since the constitution forbids the governor from holding another elected office. Miller told The Cedar Rapids Gazette today (Wednesday) that “despite all the rhetoric” his “thoroughly researched opinion is based on the law and not politics.” Miller says Iowa’s constitution should be amended to give a lieutenant governor the authority to name a replacement when a governor cannot serve his or her full term.

(Radio Iowa)

The first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign will be the keynote speaker at this summer’s “Family Leadership Summit” in Des Moines. This will be the sixth summer in a row that the The Family Leader will host a day-long event for conservative Christians. The group has just announced Kellyanne Conway will be the keynote speaker at its 2017 event.

Conway is the long-time pollster hired last fall to manage the Trump presidential campaign. She’s now a counselor to the president. Bob Vander Plaats — the president and C-E-O of The Family Leader — says Conway’s experiences “at the highest levels of leadership and government” will provide a valuable perspective to Christian conservatives in Iowa.

Conway, along with a San Diego pastor and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst are among the confirmed speakers at the Family Leadership Summit. It will be held Saturday, July 15th in Des Moines. Conway made frequent media appearances in the lead-up to the election and during the first weeks of the Trump administration. She has reemerged this week to publicly defend President Trump’s firing of F-B-I director James Comey.

(Radio Iowa)

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund has donated $500 to the Friends of Lake Anita. Fund spokesperson and Trevor’s mom, Melanie Petty, says the funds will be used for the FLA’s upcoming kids fishing clinic, which will be held the first Saturday in June. Josh Peach with the DNR said participation in the clinic continues to grow each year. Volunteers are on hand to show kids different species of fish found in the lake and answer any questions they might have. It’s a fun free event for the entire family.

Fishing was a favorite outdoor activity of Trevor’s. Melanie Petty said “We are happy to donate in his memory.”

Josh Peach and Melanie Petty

She asks you to please consider supporting the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund by golfing in the annual T-Fred Golf Tournament which will be on August 12th, 2017, at Nishna Hills Golf Club. If you don’t golf, you can still stop by the clubhouse and bid on silent auction items that are set up throughout the day. Other merchandise will also be available to purchase.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A man accused of shooting two sheriff’s deputies, one fatally, in a Pottawattamie County jail escape has been returned to Iowa to face charges. Officials say 24-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty was picked up from an Omaha, Nebraska, jail today (Wednesday) and taken to the Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Council Bluffs for his initial hearing. He was denied bail as he awaits prosecution on murder, attempted murder and other counts. He’ll be held at a jail in Sioux City.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty had just been sentenced to 45 years in an unrelated case May 1 when he grabbed a deputy’s gun, shot him and another deputy, and escaped in a jail transport van. Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty was recaptured after he carjacked a woman’s car and drove to Omaha.

Officials with the Cass County Health System have announced Dr. Mike Woods, MD, will provide services to the Outpatient Clinic at the Cass County Memorial Hospital.  Dr. Woods will be caring for patients at CCMH the second and fourth Mondays of each month. He will provide a full spectrum of gynecologic care, including hormonal therapies and incontinence treatment.  Dr. Woods will also do gynecologic surgeries such as pelvic floor repairs and hysterectomies at CCMH.

Dr. Woods is board certified in obstetrics/gynecology as well as a new subspecialty, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS).  He was among the first in the United States to earn the FPMRS certification, and is currently the only board-certified FPMRS specialist who lives and practices in southwest Iowa.  In addition to his board certifications, he is a Fellow in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG).

Dr Woods

To schedule an appointment, please call Cass County Health System Outpatient Clinic at (712) 243-7590.  No referral is necessary.  Same day appointments are available at this time.

A new state law establishes a new income tax credit for individuals and couples saving for their first home. The new law applies to deposits in savings accounts Iowans use EXCLUSIVELY to set aside money to cover the costs of buying their first home. Individuals may claim a yearly credit of up to two-thousand dollars. Couples saving for their first home could get a yearly four-thousand dollar tax break. Republican Roby Smith of Davenport guided the proposal through the Iowa Senate last month. “This helps Iowans with their pursuit of the American Dream…This is economic development,” Smith said during senate debate.

He said also “It helps home builders. It helps lumber yards, it helps small businesses.” The bill easily cleared the legislature, but there was one “no” vote in the Senate. In the House, 11 Democrats voted against it. Representative Mary Mascher, a Democrat from Iowa City, says the state already forgive more than 400 million in taxes this year because of ALREADY EXISTING tax credits. “Giving tax breaks is a lot more fun that taking them away,” Mascher says, “but until lawmakers get serious about demanding hard evidence that a given tax break creates growth, state budgets will continue to run in the red.”

Representative Charlie McConkey of Council Bluffs was among the majority of Democrats who voted for the bill. “I think we all can remember our first purchase,” McConkey says, “how tough it was to come up with the downpayment on that.”

Governor Branstad approved the bill creating this new tax credit yesterday (Tuesday). Iowans will be able to start claiming the income tax credit for savings deposits made after January 1st of 2018.

(Radio Iowa)