The Trustee in the bankruptcy case of G&R Feed and Grain, Co., Inc., in Portsmouth, has announced a training session will be held 7-p.m. Thursday, May 23rd, on how to bid at the online auction of the company’s physical assets. Trustee Deborah L. Petersen says the session will be at Club 191 in Portsmouth.  Petersen says persons interested in the online bidding process will be able to register for the sale the evening of the session. To register, simple bring identification with your name and address on it, provide an e-mail address, and have a valid Mastercard, Visa or Discover Card.

The online auction is available for bidding now, with items beginning to close in the live board on Tuesday, June 11th, at 10-a.m. You may register at any time, review the catalog of all items available for sale, and view a video explaining the bidding process, at www.delpeterson.com.

Questions about the online bidding process or auction should be referred to Del Peterson and Associates, at 1-800-492-9090. The training is provided by the Bankruptcy Trustee for all persons interested in bidding at the sale of all equipment and property of G&R Feed and Grain. You may also bring a laptop computer, of you wish.

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa woman has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 15-month-old son. The Sioux City Journal reports District Judge Jeffrey Neary said in a ruling Friday that the actions of 25-year-old Ashley Cameron, of Onawa, did not rise to the level of murder. She also was convicted of child endangerment causing the death of a child.

Cameron faced a first-degree murder charge in the death of Markis Dahms. She testified that she held Markis under a running faucet after he had vomited. She later found him face down in the water. Neary says in the 19-page ruling that Cameron was negligent but never intended to cause Markis’ death. Her attorney suggested that the boy may have had a seizure.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game’s history and the world’s second largest lottery prize.  Lottery officials say the prize is growing quickly Friday because so many people have been purchasing the $2 tickets. The jackpot has grown by an estimated $236 million since the last drawing on Wednesday.

The last jackpot was won on March 30, so it’s been growing for about six weeks. The next drawing is Saturday night.  The largest jackpot ever was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in March 2012. The prize was split three ways with winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.   Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 175 million.

A Lenox Police officer enroute to a motorcycle accident early this (Friday) morning, escaped injury after his patrol cruiser was involved a collision with a deer. The Lenox P-D reports Officer Pitt was traveling to the scene of the cycle accident four-miles west of Lenox at around 5:10-a.m, on Taylor County Road J-20,  when his vehicle had a run-in with a deer. 

The Officer was able to continue to the accident scene. Officials say the victim of the accident was transported by air ambulance from the scene. The Taylor County Sheriffs office is conducting the investigation into the motorcycle accident. No other details were released.

A western Iowa woman who had been charged with 1st degree murder in connection with the drowning of her son in a bathtub, has instead been found guilty of lesser charges. According to KCAU-TV in Sioux City, Ashley Cameron, of Onawa, was found guilty by a jury in Monona County District Court, of Involuntary Manslaughter and Child Endangerment. Sentencing is set for June 28th.

Investigators testified during her trial, that Cameron told them 15-month old Markis Dahms had vomited in the bathtub, and that she held his head under a running faucet to clean him. She repeated that process as he vomited four or five more times.  Cameron testified that she’d left him in the tub to get some items and found him face down in the water when she returned. Her attorney suggested that Markis may have had a seizure.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday) released the details about an accident which occurred at around 5:15-p.m., on May 9th. The two-vehicle accident happened on 670^th Street, as a 1994 Chevy pickup driven by 41-year old Jesse Lee Simmons,  of Atlantic, was traveling north on 670^th Street.

Officials say when the pickup crossed the center of the road, it hit a southbound 2012 Chevy Malibu owned and driven by52-year old Carl Eugene Dolch, of Wiota. Dolch was transported by Medivac ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, and later transferred to Creighton Medical Center in Omaha.

Damage from the crash amounted to $17,000. The Sheriff’s Dept. says  Simmons was cited for Driving While Suspended and for Driving on Wrong Side of the Road.

A Cumberland woman was arrested Wednesday on drug charges. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says 43-year old Tammy Darleen Flathers, faces charges of Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Methamphetamine, and OWI 1^st Offense. Flathers was taken to the Cass County Jail and released Thursday, on her own recognizance.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports an eastern Iowa man was arrested this week on a drug charge. 23-year old Malcom Marcus Taylor, of Waterloo, was arrested Wednesday night following a traffic stop on Highway 34. Taylor faces a Possession of Controlled Substance charge. His bond was set at $1,000. 20-year old DeCoby Christopher Kennedy, of Cedar Falls, was arrested during the same traffic stop, on a charge of Driving While Revoked and having no S-R 22 insurance.

And, on Thursday, 57-year old Kevin Dean Wolford, of Tabor, was arrested at around 2:20-a.m., on a charge of OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

The Iowa State Patrol’s District 3 office in Council Bluffs and Post 6 in Spencer are two of seven Posts in Iowa that will be receiving a total of 8 Humvees designed to serve as emergency response vehicles. The tan-colored Humvees will be added to the State Patrol’s fleet through the military’s 1033 Program, which allow a transfer of military equipment to law enforcement agencies, in order to enhance operations. The vehicles are provided at no cost to the agency. 

When a law enforcement agency no longer desires to retain the equipment, the property is returned to the military. Following the acquisition of the Humvees, the Iowa National Guard assisted the Department of Public Safety (DPS) by performing a maintenance inspection of each Humvee, making minimal repairs, and painting the vehicles. General fund dollars were not utilized to support the acquisition.  The police equipment used to designate the Humvees as emergency vehicles was previously designated as surplus equipment due to the requirements of our newer Dodge patrol vehicles.

Following the crippling blizzard of December 19 & 20, 2012, DPS Commissioner Brian London asked DPS staff to develop alternatives for members of the Division of Criminal Investigation, Division of Narcotics Enforcement and State Fire Marshal’s Office non-uniformed officers to support the State Patrol Division during disaster operations.  During the blizzard, the Department’s non-uniformed officers were unable to support State Troopers as they worked toward rescuing stranded motorists across Iowa.  The limitations included the viability and mobility of the non-uniformed officers’ vehicles.

The State Patrol Division will coordinate the readiness of the Humvees and station the vehicles across the state for rapid deployment during blizzards, flooding, tornadoes, and other disaster or critical incident related operations.  During these deployments, more than 80 sworn members across Department stand ready to operate the Humvees to augment the Department’s uniformed response. The State Patrol Division’s, Safety Education Unit will also use the Humvees occasionally to advance traffic and highway safety initiatives.

Currently, one Humvee is ready for deployment.  Throughout the summer additional Humvees will be painted and up-fitted for deployment across the state.  With the exception of Post 1 in Des Moines, the other six Iowa State Patrol Districts (Posts 3,6,8.9, 11 and 12). will receive one Humvee, each. Post 1 will get two of the former military vehicles.

The Humvee is available for viewing and photographs today (Friday, May 17th,) from 1-to 2-pm, at the Oran Pape Public Safety Building, 215 E 7th Street (Des Moines), and on  Saturday, from 8-am until Noon, in cooperation with the annual Police Week Bridge display. 

Motorcycle enthusiasts rode into Harlan last night (Thursday) for the kickoff of the first Roar into Harlan event of the year.

(photo courtesy of our sister station KNOD)

Roar into Harlan will be featured on the square in downtown Harlan on the 3^rd Thursday of the month for the next 4 months. Last night, the Rocking Chair on the east side of the square was the featured business. Mike Wohlhutter, coordinator for the Roar into Harlan, said this month had a patriotic theme.  He said “Pastor Furby and Bob Dean and the Logan Legion Riders did the flag folding ceremony. There aren’t to many people around that know what the flag ceremony is. They did a great job explaining it and then Jack Kenkel was here to talk about the Freedom Rock. Our flag from the ceremony will go to the Freedom Rock site in Earling.”

He says he never would have guessed the Roar into Harlan Events would become such a huge success. “This whole deal exploded to something I didn’t figure on and it has all been good. We have had tremendous support from all organizations and citizens. It has been phenomenal.” Wohlhutter and the committee came up with a new concept this year called a Poker walk, “It will be a little different than last year since no one last year had time to do it. This year, you will have the whole season and take your time.”

Next month, Roar into Harlan will feature the kids. “June will be kid’s night. We will have bounce houses and kid orientated type stuff. We will have motorcycles and a guy with a colored printer to take pictures with kids on the bikes.” The motorcycles down on the square last (Thursday) night were able to get in the flag folding ceremony and a few games before the rains came pouring down. The next Roar into Harlan event will be on Thursday, June 20^th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)