More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s top news at 7:05-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A man from Creston was arrested Sunday morning on an assault charge. 35-year old Mangus Welch was taken into custody at his residence at around 4-a.m., and charged with Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault. Welch was being held in the Union County Jail while serving his sentence.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Nearly 31,000 cookies packed in nearly 2,100 boxes have already been packed, sent and, in some cases, eaten. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the volunteer group since 2007 has been sending home-baked cookies to U.S. troops overseas.

On Nov. 10 at Emanuel Lutheran Church, more than 60 volunteers helped pack the boxes. Since its founding in 2007, Iowa Cookie Crumbs more than 928,000 cookies have been sent to the troops. Along with cookies, the organization also sends comfort items such as games, blank holiday cards, 2016 calendars, personal hygiene products and an assortment of snacks, drink mixes and candy.

The Iowa Cookie Crumbs is part of the national Treat the Troops organization and is funded by donations.

Three siblings who grew up on a farm in southwest Iowa will be honored early next year for their actions in selling the property. Dale Nimrod says his father died of cancer not long after purchasing the farm, near Stanton in Montgomery County, in 1944. Nimrod’s mother stayed on the 240-acre farm and raised her children — with help from neighbors and the community. In 2005, the Nimrod children decided it was time to sell the property.

Sunny and Dale Nimrod on their farm near Decorah.

“We were looking to give back to that community that helped raise us in the absence of my dad,” Dale said. The Nimrod family hoped to find a young family that would appreciate “the land, the community, and the church.” They settled on Mark and Melanie Peterson, a couple raising five children. “When we sold it to them, two of (the children) thought they may want to go into farming,” Dale said. “Mark was determined, if they wanted to farm, he’d have something they could work on.” The farm was sold to the Peterson family at a below-market-value price.

“(We) were willing to sell it on its economic value, its productivity value, not whatever its market value is – which is not very relevant, I don’t think, to anything,” Dale said. “So, we had (Mark) fill out some forms from Iowa State, like the kind of forms you’d fill out if you’re going to take out a farm loan, so he could see what he’d need to do in order to make the payments and we set the payments accordingly.” The 75-year-old Nimrod taught chemistry for many years at Luther College and lives on a farm near Decorah with his wife Sunny. He and his siblings, Faith and Vance, were recently selected as the 2015 winners of the Practical Farmers’ Farmland Owner Award.

The award will be presented to the Nimrod Family at the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s annual conference on January 22 in Ames. According to the organization, the Farmland Owner Award is given to non-operator landlords “who use their land to advance stewardship and help get the next generation started on the land.”

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak report the arrest Sunday night of a man from Clarinda. 26-year old Jason Lee Myers was taken into custody following a traffic stop at around 9:15-p.m. near the intersection of W. Reed and N. Broadway Streets. Myers was charged with OWI/Drugged and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond at the Montgomery County Jail was set at $1,000.

FARRAGUT, Iowa (AP) – A southwest Iowa school district that was dissolved now has to close its books, settle its liabilities and dispose of property such as desks and buildings. The Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs reports that Lane Plugge, a former Iowa City schools superintendent, is overseeing the process.

Plugge is charged with oversight as part of his role as the chief administrator of the Green Hills Area Education Agency. State law gives him the authority to approve financial and personnel decisions, taking the power away from the local school board.

The Iowa Board of Education voted to close the Farragut School District earlier this month after officials said it was operating with a negative financial balance and sub-minimal education standards.

A WINTER STORM WARNING remains in effect until 6-p.m. today (Monday) for Cass-Adair-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Crawford-Carroll-Pottawattamie-and Mills Counties, and until midnight for Monona-Harrison and Shelby Counties.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, widespread freezing rain this morning is expected to transition to snow by early this afternoon and then back to rain. Total snow accumulations of 1-3″ can be expected, with ice accumulating to two- to three- tenths of an inch. This may lead to hazardous travel conditions, especially this morning. The heavy, wet snow will also be difficult to remove. 2-to 5 inches of snow is possible in counties west/northwest of Cass.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY remains in effect until 6-pm today for Adams-Madison-Union-Taylor and Ringgold Counties, where freezing rain and drizzle is expected, with up to 1/10th of an inch possible.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is making a three-day campaign lap around the state, with stops in 10 cities this weekend and three more today (Monday). “I just want to say thank you all for being here. Thank you for standing up. I’m here asking for your support, asking for your help. We are building a grassroots army.” That was Cruz, speaking at the Windrow restaurant in Creston on Saturday afternoon. Wally Miller of Creston was there to show his support for Cruz.

“He’s the only one that makes sense,” Miller says, adding he has a screening test for candidates. “When I look at someone, would I trust them with my grandkids or my chores? And I would.” Scott McLain of Creston compared Cruz’s positioning in the race to a NASCAR move. “He’s drafting right behind the leader at just the right time and right before the Iowa Caucuses then he will go right by the leader on the last lap,” McLain says. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found Cruz’s support in Iowa has doubled in the past month, to 23 percent — just behind Donald Trump’s 25 percent. Union County Republican chairman Joe Owens sees similar movement.

“A couple of months ago it was real strong for Trump and, believe it or not, Huckabee had some strong following — people from ’08, but Ted’s really making a surge,” Owens says. A month and a half ago Roger Burger of Lenox signed up to be a volunteer for Cruz. “I told them I wanted yard signs right now,” Burger says, “and everything else.” Burger was in the crowd of two dozen who gathered at the Tiger Den restaurant in Lenox to hear Cruz Saturday afternoon. Burger asked Cruz about “ObamaCare” and Cruz revealed his own family’s policy is being cancelled and he has to get new health insurance.

“Now I’m not unique in that situation,” Cruz said, adding the policy cancellation was news to his own campaign manager. “There are millions of Americans who get their policy cancelled…This is a disaster.” Cruz is promising to make the 2016 election a “referendum” on the repeal of “ObamaCare”. Cruz may have spent more time at the Tiger Den than originally scheduled. Someone on the campaign team locked the keys in the S-U-V Cruz was riding in and the Taylor County Sheriff was called to open the vehicle.

(Radio Iowa)