(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two recent arrests.

• 46-year-old Joseph Eric Funke, of Fontanelle, was arrested April 2nd, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Funke was a passenger in a vehicle that was at a convenience store in Adair. As a Deputy approached to speak with Funke, he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Funke admitted to smoking a joint earlier. A Probable cause search of the vehicle turned up a small amount of marijuana joints inside of a cigarette box, and a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue. An additional glass pipe with residue consistent with the smoking of meth, was found in the vehicle’s center console. Funke was cited for Possession and released at the scene with a summons to appear in court.
• 40-year-old Dustin Brian Benge, of Greenfield, was arrested April 6th on an Adair County warrant for Tampering with a witness or juror. Benge was also taken into custody for Violation of Probation. He was being held on a combined $8,000 cash-only bond.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports four-people were injured, with one person suffering serious injuries, during a collision Sunday afternoon northeast of Orient. In an update to our earlier report, Sheriff Jeff Vandewater said a 2016 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 70-year-old Judy Ann Sammons, of Orient, was facing west at the intersection of Henry A. Wallace Road and 300th Street, at a posted stop sign. A semi-truck same out of the south on Henry A. Wallace Road, and turned west onto 300th Street.

Sammons failed to see a 2016 Honda Odyssey van coming from the south and headed northbound, behind the semi. Sammons proceeded to continue traveling west, and in doing so, was struc by the van, driven by 55-year-old Laura Michelle Baker, of West Des Moines. Sammons suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries, and was transported by Adair County Ambulance to the Greater Regional Hospital, in Creston. She complained of neck pain, and has also suffered cuts and bruises.

Laura Baker was transported to the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield, also by an Adair County Ambulance. She complained of head, neck and abdominal pain. Two passengers in the van, 17-year-old Braden Baker and 19-year-old Brielle Baker, both from West Des Moines, also complained of pain and were transported to the hospital. Both vehicles sustained a total of $25,000 and were towed away. Sammons was cited for Failure to Yield.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has chosen an attorney who represented the Trump campaign in a high profile case to be a state gambling regulator. The governor is appointing Alan Ostergren to replace a former state legislator on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission next month. Ostergren is president and C-E-O of The Kirkwood Institute, which is described on its website as a conservative public interest law firm. Ostergren was elected to three terms as Muscatine County Attorney, but resigned in May of 2020 to enter private practice.

Ostergren successfully represented the Trump campaign’s challenge of voter registration forms mailed by county auditors from Linn, Johnson and Woodbury Counties for the 2020 General Election. He also represented Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks campaign during the recount in her 2020 race for the U.S. House. In 2022, Ostergren was the attorney who handled challenges to the nomination petitions Democrat Abby Finkenauer submitted for the U-S Senate Primary.

Ostergren’s nomination to the Racing and Gaming must be confirmed by at least 34 senators. Republicans now hold 34 seats in the 50-member Iowa Senate.

(Menlo, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following what was described as a “slow-speed” collision Sunday afternoon between two Harley Davidson motorcycles, near Menlo. Authorities say a 2014 Harley being operated by 45-year-old Andrea Lee Goins, of DeSoto, and a 2021 Harley operated by 52-year-old Jeffrey Lane Ockerman, of Adel, were traveling west on White Pole Road and coming into Menlo at around 3:20-p.m.

Goins said when she saw Ockerman’s cycle, it appeared that it was going to turn north onto McPherson Street, and that it then looked like Ockerman changed his mind. Goins pulled-up behind the other motorcycle because she thought it was going straight, but then the other Harley proceeded to turn north onto McPherson. The right front side of the cycle struck the left rear side of Goins’ cycle.

Ockerman’s motorcycle then tipped over onto its right side and slid on the road. When a Guthrie County Deputy arrived on the scene, he observed both cycles were off on the shoulder of the road. Both machines had sustained damage amounting to $3,500 altogether.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This week, April 9-15, 2023 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. It’s a time to pay recognition to the men and women who staff not only the Cass County Communications Center, but those who are the First “First Responders”. April is 911 Education Month, in Iowa. When you call 9-1-1, dispatchers guide you through the steps to take to ensure your safety before help arrives. They also provide lifesaving instructions over the phone in instances of cardiac arrest and other critical EMS calls.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon spoke about the dispatchers at the Comm Center.

Combined, the dispatchers have over 100-years of experience. Kennon said there’s always someone on-duty to take calls.

Not everyone is qualified to handle the stress when you’re dealing with multiple calls or events.

Kennon says it can also be rewarding, when the dispatcher is able to assist in saving lives, such as in the case of someone having a heart attack, by providing the caller with instructions on how to conduct CPR, etc. In addition to handling 9-1-1 calls, operators in most counties are capable of receiving 911 Text messages.

He says if there’s a situation where you question if you should call 9-1-1 instead of an Administration or Non-Emergency line, call 9-1-1. They can determine if help should be sent. Just don’t abuse the service.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s lone prairie chicken population appears to be struggling to sustain itself. The Iowa D-N-R and Missouri officials brought in about 500 birds from Nebraska between 2011 and 2015 to bolster a small, existing flock. The chickens were released in the Kellerton Grasslands Conservation Area in Ringgold County and a nearby natural area in Missouri. Iowa D-N-R biologist Chad Paup says there are now fewer than 50 birds in the area. “We cannot really put our finger on it,” Paup says. “Do we still not quite have the habitat they need? Do we not have the size that they need? Do we not have the large enough expanse of grasslands that they really need?”

Kellerton is a roughly four-thousand acre grassland area, and Paup says the birds might need a larger, contiguous area to sustain a bigger flock. Paup says the species’ future in Iowa doesn’t look bright. “There’s not going to be a lot of support, quite frankly, for going out and spending tens of thousands of dollars to transport more chickens back here,” Paup says.

When European settlers first arrived in Iowa, the prairie chicken was everywhere, and unlike almost every other wild creature, its numbers increased during the early years of the settlement movement. After a few decades though, they were overharvested by the millions for meat and nearly wiped out. Paup made his comments on IPR’s Talk of Iowa program.

(reporting by Michael Leland, Iowa Public Radio)

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two recent arrests. Saturday afternoon, 23-year-old Garrett Breann Abel, of Creston, was arrested at her home on an Animal At Large charge. Abel was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 5:47-p.m. Friday, 28-year-old Patrick Riley Iiams, of Creston, was arrested at the intersection of Commerce and Adams. Iiams was charged with Driving while Suspended and OWI 1st Offense.He was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on bond.

Creston Police said also, a man residing at 1501 W. Townline reported late Thursday morning, that someone damaged his clothes and electronic equipment in his dorm room. The loss was estimated at $1,500.

(Harlan, Iowa) – A Special Meeting of the Shelby County Board of Supervisors will take place 9-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Courthouse in Harlan. On their agenda is “Consideration of changing [the] effective date of the 28E Law Enforcement Agreement, to April 15, 2023.”

There will also be information with regard to a Secondary Roads Amendment, and related discussion.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting beginning at 9-a.m., Tuesday (April 11). The meeting is held in the Supervisor’s Board Room in the Cass County Courthouse. Here are the action and/or discussion items on their agenda:

1. Call to order
2. Approve Agenda
3. Approve minutes from the April 4, 2023 meeting
4. Public Comments
5. Declare April as Child Abuse Awareness month as encouraged by the Cass County Child Abuse Prevention Council
6. Proclamation of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week April 9 through 15, 2023
7. Update from Griswold housing development nonprofit organization on infrastructure and stormwater management projects and request for ARPA funds
8. Public Hearing on Proposed Maximum Property Tax Levy
9. Approve Resolution 2023-09 Setting Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Fiscal Year 2024
10. Set date of public hearing on proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget for Tuesday, April 25, 2023
11. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-10 Amending Cass County’s Official Publication to Atlantic News Telegraph and use Anita Tribune and Griswold American as Information Sources for Constituents
12. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-11 to Support the Present Local Option Sales and Service Tax
13. Quarterly Report from Micah Lee, Cass County Conservation
14. Report from County Engineer, Trent Wolken
15. Appointments:
• Southwest Iowa Housing – Norma Hemphill

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will meet in a regular session beginning at 8:30-a.m. Tuesday (April 11), in their Courthouse Meeting Room. Here’s a look at their agenda, under New Business:

a. Approve Engineer Contract
b. Approve Sheriff’s Report of Fees in the amount of $5,161.34 for the month of March
a. Approve Recorder’s Report of Fees in the amount of $21,550.34 for the month of March
b. Approve claims payable for Wednesday, April 12, 2023
c. Approve Amendment to Class F Retail Alcohol License (LF) License # LF0000308 for the Red Oak Country Club
d. Approve Agreement for Assignment of Montgomery County Tax Sale Certificate No. 2021-00279 parcel 641227251014000 to Apple Grove Investments, Inc

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