(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report two people were arrested on separate OWI charges this (Friday) morning. At midnight, 51-year-old Pedro Quintanilla-Flores, of Lenox, was arrested at 509 W. Taylor St. He was charged with Operating While Under the Influence (OWI) – 1^st Offense, and Driving While License Suspended. Quintanilla-Flores was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,300 bond.

And, at around 2:15-a.m., Creston Police arrested 30-year-old Abel Estuardo Vargas Blanco, of Richmond, Virginia, at Elm and Freemont Streets, in Creston. He was charged with OWI/1st offense. Blanco was taken to Union County Jail and released after posted at $1,000 bond.

(Oskaloosa, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Thursday, said a man suspected of shooting a man in Oskaloosa, Tuesday night, was arrested Thursday, in Missouri.  22-year-old Gavin Jones was taken into custody in connection with an incident whereby another man was shot in the leg. Jones faces a charge of Willful Injury causing serious injury.

Gavin Jones (latest booking photo)

Original story follows…

“On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 10:16 p.m., officers with the Oskaloosa Police Department were dispatched to 709 D Avenue West on the report of a shooting. Responding officers found an adult male with a gunshot wound. Officers and EMS rendered aid at the scene. The man was transported to a Des Moines area hospital, where he remains.

As a result of the overnight investigation, officers with the Oskaloosa Police Department and agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are seeking help from the public to locate 22-year-old Gavin Jones. Authorities say “This incident appears to be isolated, and there is no known ongoing threat to the public.”

Gavin Jones (photo issued in the 1st press release by the DPS)

(Radio Iowa) – This week’s NASA announcement naming the four astronauts who will crew the Artemis Two mission to the Moon is being called “historic” by a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Iowa. Professor Allison Jaynes says she was thrilled to see astronaut Christina Koch assigned to the lunar mission, the first in more than 50 years. “Having her to be one of the first people to revisit the Moon is very substantial because we are living in a society where we’re still talking about and arguing about these issues of equality,” Jaynes says, “and so having her be selected, and Victor Glover as well, is an incredible decision.”

Glover will be the first black astronaut to orbit the Moon. All previous Moon missions were crewed entirely by white men. Artemis Two will fly around the Moon late next year or early in 2025, while later missions aim to -land- on the Moon’s surface, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 1972. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the Shuttle Challenger in 1983, and women have played an increasingly important role in the program over the decades. Still, Jaynes says there are glass ceilings in space, too.

Artemis 2 crew

“You might say cowboys are the ones we think of when we think of astronauts,” Jaynes says. “Women still aren’t the image of an astronaut. When you say ‘astronaut’ to a bunch of schoolchildren, they will assume a man, they will assume a male astronaut. So this spaceflight, it’s really going to change the way that students and children and everyone around the world views astronauts.”

Iowa native Peggy Whitson, who retired from the astronaut corps in 2018, is among the most accomplished space travelers. Whitson, who was born in Mount Ayr and raised on a farm near Beaconsfield, spent 665 days in space — a record for any American astronaut. She was the International Space Station’s first science officer and its first woman commander. In addition to the space endurance record, Whiston logged more EVAs — or spacewalks — than any other woman.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the University of Iowa cut a virtual ribbon during an online ceremony Thursday afternoon, to open what’s known as a digital twin replica campus. The so-called “metaversity” will be used for online learning as well as campus labs for residential students. Steve Grubbs is the founder of Victory-X-R, a Davenport-based tech company that creates 3-D immersive educational environments.

Victory built an online replica of the Pentacrest and the Tippie College of Business where remote students can go to class, just as if they were actually on campus. Thursday’s launch of the Metaversity of Iowa only makes a couple of courses available, for starters, but students who attend those courses will be able to attend from anywhere.

Other Big Ten schools are using virtual reality for this type of distance learning, but Grubbs says the U-I is the first to launch a full digital twin campus. He says 40-percent of today’s students already take classes remotely.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A will become responsible for the Iowa Wesleyan campus in Mount Pleasant when the university closes May 31st and U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says it’s too early to tell what’s next. “Our folks will work with the community to see what the options could be,” Vilsack says. “I mean there’s a variety of opportunities to think about. I’ve asked the team to be very creative about this.” Last week, the university’s board of directors voted to close the school at the end of the current semester.

“Right now the community’s hurting. There are people whose lives are turned upside down and in that circumstance and situation you’ve got to be able to say to them: ‘We feel for you and we’re going to try our level best to create something good out of this that will help the community,” Vilsack says. Iowa Wesleyan has had significant operating losses for years and nearly closed in 2018. The university owes 21 million on a U-S-D-A loan and another five million dollars on a bank loan that was guaranteed by the U-S-D-A.

“One of the reasons we invested and have invested in other colleges across the country is that they’re an economic driver. They’re a job creator…A lot of opportunity can be generated by a college in a regional area,” Vilsack says. “Wesleyan, I think they did an evaluation. They had a $50-70 million dollar impact on the community every single year, so that’s real and obviously the community is going to have to be dealing with the potential of how do we replace that.” Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, was mayor of Mount Pleasant in the late 80s and early 90s. Vilsack says he’d like U-S-D-A staff to avoid dividing the 60 acre campus into parcels and selling off individual buildings.

“I’d like them to start working with the college to see whether or not there are other universities or colleges that might be interested. Are there other folks that might be interested in a campus of some kind? Are there agencies of the federal government, for example, that might be thinking about training facilities and could this be an opportunity,” Vilsack says. “People need to think creatively at this point to try to keep it as a whole, if possible, and keep it as the economic driver that it has been.”

Vilsack’s wife Christie is a Mount Pleasant native and Tom Vilsack told reporters yesterday (Thursday) that she recently resigned from Iowa Wesleyan’s board of trustees and Vilsack says that means he may now speak and be involved in decisions about the campus property. Five years ago, the Vilsacks hosted a three day event on Mount Pleasant radio station K-I-L-J that raised more than a million dollars for Iowa Wesleyan.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State University is getting a more than half a million dollar grant from the U-S-D-A to support research focused on planting two crops in the same field, like soybeans and winter wheat. It’s called relay intercropping and researchers are assessing how it impacts soil health and water quality in the area. U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says large commercial operations are doing well financially and the goal is to find ways to help small and mid-sized farms stay afloat.

“Let’s figure out a way in which as you embrace sustainable practices that you benefit from those sustainable practices with increased productivity, with increased value,” Vilsack said. The I-S-U project will incorporate winter wheat or rye in corn and soybean fields on three university research farms and six other independent farms.

“An exciting opportunity for farmers to see the benefit of potentially harvesting three crops in two years,” Vilsack says, “as opposed to just two crops.” The Iowa Soybean and Iowa Corn Growers Associations will get nearly 900-thousand dollars from the U-S-D-A to conduct trials of how conservation practices and crop genetics impact yields.

“It’s tough to ask farmers to do this because oftentimes is requires an expenditure, an investment up front and it’s important for farmers to be able to see the benefit of that investment before we ask them to essentially spend their own resources,” Vilsack says, “so the OnFarm program really provides additional resources to make it a little bit easier for farmers to really embrace innovation in conservation.”

Vilsack made his comments Thursday afternoon during a news conference in Ames.

(Radio Iowa)- The April 18th federal tax filing deadline is rapidly approaching and the I-R-S plans to open its Des Moines office Saturday to take questions. I-R-S spokesman, Christopher Miller, says no appointment is necessary. “Opening the I-R-S Taxpayer Assistance Center on Saturday we hope gives people who work during the week and can’t get away the chance to have their issues resolved with someone face to face without an appointment,” Miller says. He says they usually get a variety of questions during these types of events.

“We expect to help people this Saturday who maybe have a balance due and they want to make a tax payment. Perhaps they want a copy of their transcript,” he says. “They may have refund questions or need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Or maybe they’ve received a notice or a letter from the I-R-S.” He says It is important for people to know there’s one thing they can’t do.

“We do not prepare tax returns at the Taxpayer Assistance Center. Not only this Saturday but at any time,” he says. Your can get information on free tax filing on the I-R-S website. Miller says be sure to have everything you need before coming in. “Almost everyone needing help from the I-R-S this Saturday should bring a copy of their most recent tax return. Any letters or notices from the I-R-S they received — two forms of I-D if they’re trying to verify their identity. And if possible social security cards for you or any dependents if necessary,” Miller says.

The assistance center is open from 9 a-m to 4 p-m Saturday at 210 Walnut Street in Des Moines.

Des Moines, IA – A Central Iowa man made his initial appearance today (Thursday)  in federal court for numerous tax charges. 40-year-old Bakou Kees Vonty (also known as Bob Vonty), is charged in a 39-count indictment returned on March 21, 2023. As alleged in the indictment, from at least 2015 through 2021, Vonty prepared Individual Income Tax Returns for numerous customers who paid him to prepare and file their tax returns.

Vonty acted as a “ghost preparer,” meaning that Vonty did not sign his customers’ tax returns when he prepared and filed them. Vonty prepared the customers’ tax returns but did not explain the contents of the returns to the customers, review the returns with the customers, or provide copies of the returns to the customers before Vonty electronically filed the returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Instead, Vonty would typically inform the customer of the amount of their anticipated refund.

It is alleged that Vonty often included on his customers’ federal tax returns, schedules, and forms, items that Vonty knew to be false, such as false claims for business-expense deductions and education expenses. The effect of Vonty including false items on the tax documents was to increase the refunds his clients received.

In addition, it is alleged that Vonty also filed several of his own federal income tax returns knowing that they contained false information. Vonty is charged with thirty-six counts of Preparing and Presenting a False Tax Return and three counts of Making and Subscribing a False Tax Return. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation is investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Kerndt is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – Next year, Iowans will vote on a proposed amendment that will align the Iowa Constitution with an election-related change made nationally more than five decades ago.

In 1971, the 26th Amendment the U.S. Constitution was ratified, changing the legal voting age in America from 21 to 18. The proposed amendment to Iowa’s Constitution would specify that U.S. citizens who are at least 18 and residents of the state may vote in Iowa elections.

“It also says 17 year olds who will be 18 by the General Election to register to vote and vote in the Primary, so this is how we already run our elections,” Representative Cindy Golding, a Republican from Palo, said during House debate this week. “It puts in our constitution what is already in our code.”

This proposed amendments to the state constitution got final approval from the House and Senate this spring. It means Iowa voters will see the language for proposed amendment on their 2024 election ballots.