Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a pickup truck stolen from Clarinda on Friday, September 23rd, was located this (Thursday) afternoon in a Sioux Falls, South Dakota residential neighborhood. The truck appeared to be in good condition. The vehicle was towed to a storage facility in Sioux Falls, with arrangements pending for the owner to retrieve it.  The three students that absconded from the Clarinda Academy still remain at large.

The students include a 15-year-old Native American Male, 5’9”, 155 lbs., brown eyes, black hair, from Interior, South Dakota; a 16-year-old Native American Male, 5’7”, 150 lbs., brown eyes, black hair, from Wagner, South Dakota; and a 17-year-old African-American Male, 5’4”, 140 lbs. brown eyes, black hair from, Sacramento, California.

All three juveniles were being held at the Academy on orders from South Dakota and California respectively.  The teens were reported missing late Friday night (Sept. 23rd).  It’s believed that the Clarinda Academy juveniles stole the pickup and  fled.

The Harlan Police Department reports a search warrant executed Tuesday at 1001 Park Street, unit #2, resulted in a California man being arrested on numerous drug charges. 25-year old Manolo Iniguez Arechiga, of San Francisco, CA, faces felony charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance with the intent to deliver, and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. He was also charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Prohibited Acts. Various amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were recovered at the scene.

Arechiga was being held in the Shelby County Jail on the local charges, and on outstanding warrants out of California.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office released information Thursday on several recent arrests.

On Tuesday, September 27th Mills County Deputies arrested 45-year-old Rafael Jean Petitphant of Lauderhill, FL for Possession of Controlled Substance.  He was arrested on Interstate 29 at 12:11am and taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

On Wednesday, September 28th deputies arrested 40-year-old Joseph Duane Uhlmann of Red Oak for Possession of Controlled Substance (marijuana) and Possession of Controlled Substance (Cocaine).  He was arrested on Highway 34 at 7:25pm and taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $6,000 bond.

On Thursday, September 29th Mills County Deputies arrested 40-year-old Jimmy Dale McKee of Dakota City, NE for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Failure to have a Valid Drivers License.  He was arrested on Highway 275 at 7:01am and taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $660 bond.

Also arrested on Thursday was 23-year-old Nicholas Alan Stewart of Pacific Junction on a Warrant for Failure to Appear in regards to Violation of Probation.  He was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office at 10:26am and held on $2,000 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of three individuals on Thursday.  At 9:50am deputies arrested Jamie D. Thomas and Aniessa R. Thomas both of Red Oak on warrants for Violation of Probation.  Both were arrested in the west 100 block of Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak and are being held at the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Also at 10:35am deputies arrested Steven K. Battle of Omaha.  Battle was arrested on a Mills County Warrant for Reckless Driving.  He was arrested in the west 100 block of Coolbaugh Street. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 cash only bond.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of two individuals and the recovery of a large amount of Methamphetamine after a traffic stop near the Highway 25 and Highway 34 intersection at 2:05am Wednesday.  As a result of the investigation during the traffic stop deputies arrested Eulalio Garcia for Possession of a Controlled Substance.  Also arrested was 22-year-old Anastasia Imsland of Lenox for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine and Marijuana), Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute, and Possession of Paraphernalia.  Deputies recovered 16.02 grams of Methamphetamine from the vehicle.  Garcia’s bond was set at $1,000. Imsland’s bond was set at $100,000.

Two Red Oak men were arrested early Thursday morning on Robbery charges. The Red Oak Police Department reports at 2:30am this morning they arrested 42-year-old year old Jeffery Dean Etter of Red Oak and Bryan David Sapp Jr. of Red Oak on valid Red Oak Police Department Warrants for Robbery 2nd degree. Both men were arrested in the 300 block of N 8th Street in Red Oak and taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center.  Both men are being held on $1,000 cash bond.

A state audit has found millions of dollars worth of state grants and loans to businesses that promised to build or expand operations in Iowa have so far yielded a fraction of the jobs that were promised. The audit covered an 11-year period. State officials signed almost a thousand contracts with businesses, awarding nearly 310-MILLION dollars to companies during that time frame.

The businesses promised to create or retain more than 57-thousand jobs in return. The audit found about 80 percent of the promised jobs have not materialized yet. Plus, the audit noted state officials need to do a better job verifying whether businesses are actually creating new jobs. State Auditor Mary Mosiman said “We do recognize that the Iowa Economic Development Authority is continuing to improve its tracking and verification procedures. But it is important that they verify that these jobs — that they are reporting — are actual jobs either being created or retained and are not jobs being shifted within a company, particularly for a large corporation with multiple geographic locations.”

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Economic Development Authority says the audit includes the years of “the great recession” and the administrations of three different governors and six agency directors. The audit released Wednesday is a follow-up to a 2007 audit evaluating state economic incentive programs. Mosiman is recommending that the Iowa Economic Development Authority consult with the legislature to improve the tracking and verification of its grants and loans.

“For purposes of transparency, accountability and to be able to effectively evaluate the program, it is important that they include totals,” Mosiman says, “…and make sure there’s no errors, so that the report matches their database.” For example, the audit raises questions about whether the Iowa Economic Development Authority is getting state grant money back when businesses fail to fulfill job-creation promises.

Fewer than 12-thousand jobs have actually been created or retained by the companies that got state grants and loans from mid-2003 through the middle of 2014. Tina Hoffman of the Iowa Economic Development Authority says “a lot of individual projects have been successes” and others “in the building phase” will account for more jobs. Mosiman says policymakers — not auditors like her — are the ones who’ll decide whether these economic incentive programs are effective.

“I think that’s not something that our office would attempt to gauge whatsoever,” Mosiman says.The spokeswoman for the Iowa Economic Development Authority says her agency is constantly looking for ways to make state incentive programs more effective. And she notes the agency recently has been using state tax credits more often as part of its incentive portfolio.

(Radio Iowa)

Health rankings released by the UnitedHealth Foundation give Iowa an overall rank of 8th when it comes to the health care provided to women, infants and children. The lowest individual ranking put Iowa at 22nd in the country for infant health. The Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare, Ana Fuentevilla,, says the lower ranking for infant care was due in part ot where the kids are born.

“The study looks at how many infants or babies are born at baby friendly facilities,” Fuentevilla says, ” and for Iowa there’s a low percentage being born in baby friendly facilities.” Information from the foundation says a facility is considered baby friendly if it institutes a ten-step program to successfully teach breastfeeding and passes an evaluation. Only around eight percent of the facilities nationwide are designated baby friendly under that definition according to he foundation.

Iowa’s health care for women ranked 7th, and one of the negatives cited is a high prevalence of excessive drinking in women, especially women who are pregnant. “It can lead to poor outcomes for the baby,” Fuentevilla. Doctor Fuentevilla says it’s an issue the state should focus on. “While women’s health overall is ranking very good at number seven, there’s still opportunity to improve that further by addressing the high prevalence of excessive drinking in women in Iowa.

She says Iowa has a lot of positives, including a low number of unintended pregnancies (#4 in the nation), low neonatal mortality rates (#2 in the nation), and a high rate of high school graduation (#1 in the nation). Fuentevilla says Iowa mirrors other states which show some variation in the three categories. She says having women’s health ranked seventh is great, but says the infant health at 22 is not good, while the children’s health ranking is also high at number five.”So the state overall could focus on what things can we do to improve the overall health of our infants.”

Massachusetts was at the top of the overall rankings, while Mississippi ranked at the bottom.

(Radio Iowa)