8-a.m. NEWS (Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 12:40-a.m. today (Wednesday) in Montgomery County, resulted in a pursuit and the arrest of three juveniles, along with another person. The incident began when Deputies tried to stop a vehicle at Highway 34 and E Avenue. The Sheriff’s Office says when the vehicle’s driver refused to yield, the vehicle sped off and attained speeds of up to 105 mph.

Officers with the Red Oak Police Department placed stop sticks at Highway 34 and G Avenue, just outside of Red Oak. The suspect vehicle struck the stop sticks and went down into the ditch. Multiple individuals began to flee on foot. Three juveniles were placed into custody:

• One is being charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree/Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, Felony Eluding, and under a warrant out of Polk County for Theft in the 4th Degree.
• A second juvenile was charged with Interference with Officials Acts, Providing False Identification to Law Enforcement, and under the authority of a warrant from Polk County for Assault causing bodily injury, and Eluding.
• The third juvenile was charged with Interference with Official Acts. They were also listed as a missing juvenile.

Authorities say Gray Donmor, of Des Moines, had a Dallas County warrant for Conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, and was placed under arrest. The three juveniles were sent to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs. Gray Donmor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail while awaiting extradition to Dallas County. Officials say the Mills County Sheriff’s Office assisted during the incident, as well.

Des Moines, Iowa –  Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau say a Cedar Rapids man, 57-year-old Joseph Drahozal, was charged with one count of Forgery (Class D Felony), two counts of Fraudulent Sales Practice under $10,000 (Class D Felony), and one count of Theft in the third degree (Aggravated Misdemeanor) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

The charges against Drahozal stem from an investigation that began in August of 2022.  According to the criminal complaints filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, while Drahozal was working as an insurance producer, he intentionally took possession of funds intended for the accounts of his insurance clients and put those funds into his personal account for his own use.  He also forged his information onto checks belonging to clients to steal funds.

Joseph Drahozal (Linn County Sheriff’s Office photo)

Drahozal was placed under arrest and taken to the Linn County Jail on November 28, 2022. He was released after posting a $10,000 bond. No additional information will be provided at this time. Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Army Corps of Engineers is agreeing to consider changes to levees along the Missouri River in an effort to avoid a repeat of recent major floods. State officials in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska worked together to suggest changes to reduce the risks following the 2019 flood. Colonel Travis Rayfield, commander of the Corps’ Kansas City District, says federal law restricts what they can do when rebuilding levees that were broken by floodwaters.

“When you do a study, that will allow us to, in our verbiage, we do a study, which is really an informal plan, will give us a chance to relook how we’ve aligned levees and structural solutions,” Rayfield says. “So what does that mean? It gives us our first chance to maybe move levees or other physical structures to let the water go through in a better manner.” Two southwestern Iowa towns, Hamburg and Pacific Junction, were heavily damaged in the 2019 flood, with Hamburg alone losing more than 70 homes. Rayfield says the new agreement comes in two parts, and the first will study the river’s flow from South Dakota all the way to St. Louis.

“We’re looking systematically at the lower 730 miles of the Missouri River,” he says. “That’s to see how much water is moving through, where it comes from and how it goes. That’s the system plan.” Rayfield says the Corps will also work to find spots where the water is not moving adequately downstream, like in Holt County in northwest Missouri. Rayfield says floods start and end locally, but this new arrangement is about coming up with solutions all the way up to the federal level.

“We need solutions for how we want that water to move through in a flood that the local government can support, the state government can support and the federal government can support,” Rayfield says. “Really, that’s what this partnership is about, is understanding what will work in this specific footprint informed by the new data and science we got from the most recent floods.” The Corps of Engineers will factor major floods in 1993, 2011 and 2019 into the study. Under current federal law, the Corps is only allowed to rebuild levees.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Market Manager Brigham Hoegh reports the upcoming Christmas Market 2022 (Thurs., Dec. 22) has a fantastic vendor lineup, and offers both in-person shopping as well as pre-ordering. Christmas Market 2022 will be held from 3-until 7-p.m. Dec. 22nd, at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, and, thanks to the hosts, the Christmas Market will offer activities for kids. Plus, you can grab pizza from food truck Zipp’s Pizzaria!

This holiday farmers market is held just days before Christmas. You’ll find lots of local produce and meats, farm-fresh eggs, delicious baked goods, seasonal candles, bath and body products, jewelry, art, decorations, and gifts.

Christmas Market 2022 offers both in-person shopping and pre-ordering. Pre-ordering will be available through www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com from Dec. 10-20. Some vendors, such as Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, will only be offering pre-ordered products.

Christmas Market accepts SNAP/EBT/Food Stamps and Double Up Food Bucks.

Christmas Market: Delicious. Cozy. Fresh. Local.

(Radio Iowa) – A group of national Democrats may soon recommend that another state vote first as Democrats select their presidential nominee in 2024. Former Iowa Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan is the only Iowan on the panel that starts meeting Thursday to recommend a schedule of state primaries and caucuses for 2024.  “There’s been a real move away from Caucuses by the Democratic National Committee. They view them as inherently undemocratic…and they complain that Iowa is just not as diverse as our Democratic Party writ large,” Brennan says, “so those things combined put us in a bit of a pickle.”

The Iowa Democratic Party’s CAUCUSES have been the first presidential voting event since 1972. The first PRIMARY has been held in New Hampshire. Ray Buckley, chairman of New Hampshire’s Democratic Party, has taken a shot at another strike against Iowa — the days long delay in results from the 2020 Caucuses.  “We have held presidential primaries for over 100 years and not once have we had any reporting issues,” Buckley says.

Party leaders have said voting should begin in states that reflect the diversity of the Democratic Party and be key toss up states for winning the presidency. Judith Whitmer, chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party, says Nevada fits those goals. “As a diverse, accessible and union strong battleground state, Nevada represents the bright future of the Democratic Party,” she said. Minnesota is another state applying to take over Iowa’s lead-off spot. Ken Martin, chairman of Democratic-Farmer-Laborer Party, dismisses the idea his state’s weather in January would be too harsh for campaigning.

“March 1st, which is when our primary is now, there’s still a lot of snow on the ground and it’s still cold,” he says. “It’s not much different if you move it up a month or two.” Michigan Democrats say the Democratic sweep in this year’s elections in Michigan shows their state should kick-off the presidential campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – Thousand of homes and businesses are without power today (Tuesday) as the winter storm moves across the state. Council Bluffs and Des Moines are the hardest hit by the outages. Out on the roadways, Sergeant Alex Dinkla, of the Iowa State Patrol says driving conditions have been getting worse. “Much of the roads over western, northern, and northwestern Iowa, we’re starting to see those road conditions deteriorate very rapidly,” Dinkla says. He says conditions change as the temperature drops.

“The roads that you’re going to think are clear and wet, are actually turning to ice very quickly. So, we can’t stress enough to slow down have patience — and just allow a little extra time for your commute home or to the office, whichever it may be this afternoon,” he says. Dinkla says the changing conditions can fool drivers.

Sgt. Alex Dinkla

“Many people may think that they can drive what the posted speed limits are for whatever roadway they may be on, when they do not see the active white snow piling up in front of them. But they are very serious road conditions as it traverses from the dry pavement into wet — and then what we call the black ice,” according to Dinkla. He says the black ice can suddenly put you in a spin.

“That is very dangerous as you’re probably not going to be able to stop in time to avoid a collision or going down in the ditch,” he says. Dinka says much of what they’ve been seeing already is a lot of vehicles that are just sliding right off into the median or down into the ditch.

(Radio Iowa) – An E-R doctor at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is appealing to all gun owners in the state to lock up their weapons, especially if there are ever children in the house. Pediatric emergency medicine physician Dr. Chuck Jennissen says he’s repeatedly witnessed the tragedies that happen when people leave loaded guns in the home within reach.

“You see parents who are crying and upset with the death of their child and as bad as that is, losing a child, it’s really the family that goes on with having to live with that loss, which is a real terrible thing,” Jennissen says. “So it’s really important to try to prevent these things from happening to begin with.” Jennissen, who’s a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the U-I, says there are more guns in the U-S than any other country, and he says that’s directly related to the number of children’s deaths from firearms.

“If you look at unintentional and suicide death rates on kids five to 14 years of age, we’re about 12 times that of any other industrial country,” Jennissen says. “For kids that are zero to four years of age, our firearm-related deaths are 33 times that of most other industrialized countries.” The nation is seeing increasing rates of child and teen suicides, he says, mostly through firearms. For 10- to 19-year-olds, suicide is the number-two cause of death, only behind motor vehicle crashes. One of the biggest risk factors is access to a firearm and Jennissen recalls one case that involved an 11-year-old boy who was brought into the E-R.

“No one knew of him having any problems with mental health or suffering suicidal ideation, and he apparently must have had a bad day at school or something,” Jennissen says. “He came home, was able to get access to the handgun that was kept in the home and shot himself and died.” A survey was taken of F-F-A members at the Iowa State Leadership Conference in 2019. Of those surveyed, 58-percent said they had a handgun in their home, and 84-percent had a rifle or shotgun. They were also asked about how the guns are stored.

“A lot of the homes, the rifles were stored unlocked, over half of them were stored unlocked, 51%, and 29% of the FFAers said that the rifles, shotguns in their home were stored loaded,” Jennissen says, “and 17%, almost a fifth of them, said that they had firearms that were stored, both unlocked and loaded at least some of the time.” Studies find access to a firearm triples one’s risk of death by suicide if it’s someone who has suicidal ideations, which is why he says it’s crucial to make certain they don’t have access.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities in the Fort Dodge area are searching for the body of a newborn. According to the Fort Dodge Police Department, the Webster County Telecommunications Center received information indicating a female had given birth to a child at her home, the newborn died and the baby’s body was moved to another location.

Police say they’ve followed many leads, utilized electronic records, spoken to multiple witnesses and have searched many locations of interest. The Webster County Crimestoppers is offering a $1000 reward for information that would lead directly to the discovery of the newborn’s body

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency reports strong winds and freezing drizzle are causing power lines to gallop which in turn is creating the sporadic power outages across the area. Use caution when driving today and be mindful of power outages and/or downed power lines if you encounter them.

As of 2:45-p.m., the Nishnabotna Valley Rural Electric Cooperative reported 5 customers were without power in Pottawattamie County; 14 were without power in Shelby County. Raccon Valley Electric Co-Op in Carroll County has 131 customers in the dark.

MidAmerican Energy said 2,149 of its customers were without power in southwest Iowa:

The Glenwood Police Department reports numerous accidents took place from Nov. 22nd through the 27th. Injury accidents occurred on the 22nd and 24th, the rest were property damage incidents. On the 22nd, 19-year-old Hailey Raymer, of Council Bluffs, was driving a 2019 Honda westbound on Highway 44 at around 9-p.m., when her vehicle left the road to the north, and struck a”briffon rail end point,” causing the vehicle to roll over. It struck a lane width sign and damaged multiple poles of the briffon rail before coming to rest on its top. Raymer was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital by Emerson Rescue.

The other (injury) accident took place on 287th Street at around 8:25-a.m. on Nov. 24th. Authorities say 58-year-old Jeffrey Fink, of Silver City, was driving a 2006 Chevy, when he failed to traverse the corner at 287th and 286th Street. The car went into the ditch and struck a power pole belonging to MidAmerican Energy, and “Snapped it in-half like a tooth pick,” according to the report. The vehicle came to rest at the bottom of an embankment in a creek. Fink was not seriously hurt. He was transported to Bergan Mercy Hospital by Silver City Rescue, to be checked out. Authorities said Fink, who has a medical condition and “should not have been operating a motor vehicle,” was cited for failure to maintain control and driving while suspended.