(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report three recent arrests. At around 2:28-a.m., Sunday, Creston Police arrested James Michelson, of Creston, following a traffic stop. Michelson was charged with Driving While Suspended, and he was arrested on an Adair County Warrant for Violation of Probation on the original charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd. Michelsen was transported to the Union County Jail where he was being held pending transport to the Adair County Jail.

Friday night, Brandon Whitfield, of Creston, was arrested on Adams St. by the Calvary Cemetery. He was charged with Eluding While Exceeding Speed Limit by 25 MPH or More. Whitfield was transported to the Union County Jail and later released after posting a $2,000 bond.

And, Friday evening, Holly Donehoo, of Mt. Ayr, was arrested on Cherry St. in Creston, and charged with a Union County Warrant. The warrant was a Probation Violation on the original charge of Possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine. Donehoo was transported to the Adams County Jail and later released after posting a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says the climate, tax and health bill she voted for in the House will be transformative. The three Iowa Republicans in the House voted no. Anxe, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the bill lowers the costs of prescription drugs for seniors and invests in clean energy. Zach Nunn, the Republican who’s challenging Axne, says the bill is the wrong move in the middle of a recession.

“The so-called Infation Reduction Act added almost another trillion dollars in government spending at a time where they’re telling Iowans: ‘You should spend less. You should tighten your belt,'” Nunn said, “‘We’re going to go ahead and print off more money and spend more of your tax dollars on projects.”

Nunn made his comments at the Iowa State Fair on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. Axne did not speak during House debate of the plan, but Iowa’s three Republican members of the House did. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion called the bill a tax and spending spree. “It’s the worst policy at the worst possible time,” Hinson said.

Liz Mathis is the Democrat from Hiawatha who is running against Hinson. Mathis says the bill reduces the federal deficit and increases U.S. energy independence by supporting Iowa’s biofuel industry. Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says letting limiting prescription drug prices for Americans on Medicare will limit innovation.  “It means less cures for rare diseases or debilitating diseases,” Miller-Meeks says.

Christina Bohannan of Iowa City is the Democrat running against Miller-Meeks in the General Election and she’ll speak at the State Fair on Wednesday. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says the bill that passed the House late Friday is full of liberal priorities. “This radical bill will also supercharge the Democrats’ Green New Deal agenda without making our country energy independent again,” Feensta said in remarks on the House floor.

Ryan Melton of Nevada is the Democrat who is running against Feenstra. He will speak at the State Fair this (Monday) afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – Diedre DeJear, the Democratic candidate for governor, says some of the state’s surplus should be directed to improve the state’s mental health care system and other priorities. “$1.5 billion dollars of your taxpayer money is sitting in an account that this current governor is calling a trust fund…That’s Iowa’s ‘Rainy Day’ fund and it’s raining in our state on mental health care, on education, on health care, on child care,” DeJear says. “We have to have leadership who’s going to put your resources to work.”

DeJear made her comments during a speech at The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. DeJear told the crowd she recently spoke with a man who was trying to get mental health services for his son, but the only in-patient treatment available in Iowa was a six hour drive away and the first available appointment with a psychiatrist was in two months.

“We see suicides are up across this state and we don’t like it,” DeJear says. “…Our cops are telling me: ‘Deidre, we’re coming quasi mental health care practitioners. That’s not what we signed up for.’ In our rural communities our county jails are becoming holding facilities for people with mental health challenges. We can do better than that, can we not, Iowa?”

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill in 2019 that created the framework for a children’s mental health care system. DeJear says under her opponent’s leadership, Iowa has made little progress.  “We have less than 30 child psychiatrists for a population of more than half a million students in this state. Is that right? Can we do better?” DeJear asked the crowd listening to her speech at the State Fair.

Iowa Republican Party spokesman Kollin Crompton says DeJear is a radical Democrat who has spent her time tweeting, while Governor Reynolds has been meeting with thousands of Iowans every day at the Iowa State Fair.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican candidate for Iowa Attorney General says if she’s elected in November, she’ll go to court to challenge the overreach of the federal government. “We hear from a lot of people who are concerned about what’s going on with the Biden Administration,” Bird says. “They’re worried about their freedoms, they’re worried about how do you fight back?”

Brenna Bird is currently the Guthrie County Attorney. As Iowa’s attorney general, Bird says she’d assign a squad of staffers to work on lawsuits challenging federal regulations that restrict Iowa farm operations or impose unwarranted public health restrictions.  “I have news for Joe Biden when I’m attorney general: I’ll see you in court,” Bird says.

Bird made her comments at the State Fair on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. Bird is challenging Democrat Tom Miller’s bid for a 10th term as Iowa’s Attorney General. Miller says his opponent primarily sees the office as a means to sue the Biden Administration, while he views his role as serving the people of Iowa.

(Winterset, Iowa) – A stand-off at a church in Winterset, Sunday morning (today), ended with a suspect in an Omaha area murder investigation surrendering without further incident. According to KCCI, Police in West Des Moines say officers located the vehicle of a man wanted for a homicide investigation. At around 7:45-a.m., Officers chased the vehicle to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Winterset. They say the man jumped out of the car and barricaded himself in the church. Traffic around the church was shut-down while the incident was underway.

No church parishioners were inside the building at that time. Police say the man was in the church by himself. It wasn’t immediately clear which homicide investigation the man is allegedly involved with.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is sponsoring a “Breakfast with the Birds” Program! The program will be held at Sunnyside Park, Camblin’s Addition Shelter in Atlantic, IA on August 20th 2022 at 9 am. Free will donations accepted! Kay Neuman, rehabilitator and Educator at S.O.A.R., Saving Our Avian Resources, will show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and will hopefully have one that is fully recovered and ready to release back into the wild!!

Kay Neuman, SOAR Executive Director

Please help the CCCB support raptors and education! The Board hopes you will join Conservation staff for this popular event.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa Energy Center (IEC) has announced $1,051,872 in grants to four projects. Additionally, the board approved an Energy Infrastructure Revolving Loan for $193,000 to Accu-Steel in Audubon. The company plans to integrate thin solar panels into a fabric prototype building for research and demonstration purposes. They currently manufacture fabric covered buildings for customers like beef cattle producers. This loan program provides low-interest loans for energy infrastructure projects.The IEC Grant Program is funded by Iowa ratepayers, customers who pay for an electric or natural gas utility service through a local electric and/or gas utility. These funds enable eligible applicants to pursue projects that align with one of the key focus areas of the Iowa Energy Plan.

“Iowa is fortunate to have diverse energy resources, innovative companies and academic institutions, and a collaborative spirit,” said Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and the Iowa Finance Authority. “Today, the Iowa Energy Center supported projects that are diverse, innovative and with public-private collaborations which will benefit our state’s energy economy going forward.”

The IEC Grant Program received 51 pre-applications, totaling more than $14 million in funding requests. Eleven of these applicants proceeded to complete the full application with requests totaling over $3 million. Applications were reviewed and scored by a committee of the IEC board members based on alignment with the Iowa Energy Plan, the ratepayer benefit provided, project goals, programmatic capabilities of the applicant and collaboration efforts with other eligible applicants, among other criteria.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will make stops in Des Moines and in Cumming, next Friday, August 19th. His visits coincide with opportunities to support conservative candidates and organizations ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

In Des Moines, Pence will serve as the special guest at a lunch in support of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley. Later, Pence will join Senator Grassley, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, and other Iowa GOP leaders and elected officials at the Iowa State Fair.

In Cumming, Iowa, Pence will appear at a Central Iowa House Party in support of the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition.

On Saturday, August 20, 2022, Pence will join Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives Pat Grassley and State Representative Sandy Salmon to give remarks at the Bremer County’s Annual Summer Grill and Chill Fundraiser in Waverly.

Previously, Pence visited Independence, Cedar Rapids, and Carroll, Iowa, to support Congressman Randy Feenstra, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, respectively. Pence also served as the keynote speaker at the Story County Lincoln Highway Dinner, sponsored by the Republican Party of Story County. Pence also spoke at The Family Leadership Summit in July 2021 and at the University of Iowa in November 2021.

(Creston, Iowa) – A 14-year-old female from Creston escaped injury during a single-vehicle accident Friday evening. Creston Police report the teen was driving a 2014 Dodge Durango and pulling into a parking space in front of a Casey’s store on Highway 25 North, in Creston, when she stepped on the gas instead of the brake. The accident happened at around 7:38-p.m.

The SUV struck two concrete barriers outside of the Casey’s building, and sustained heavy front end damage. The barriers and concrete around them were cracked. The damages amounted to $8,700 altogether. No citations were issued.