The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, today (Friday), issued a report on arrests dating back to July, 2022. Beginning with the most recent incident:

• Victoria Griffen, age 26 of Shelby, Iowa, was cited into court on a Driving While Barred on December 6, 2022. She was released on her own recognizance.
• William Brubaker, age 26 of Audubon, was arrested on December 5, 2022 for Violation of Sex Offender Registry- 2nd or Subsequent and Child Endangerment charges. He posted bond and was released on December 7th. Brubaker was arrested again on December 8, 2022 for a Violation of Sex Offender Registry-2nd or Subsequent. He posted bond and was released on December 10th.
• Timothy Asmus, age 22 of Audubon, was arrested on November 30, 2022, on an outstanding Driving While Barred warrant and a new charge for Driving While Barred. He posted bond and was released the next day.
• Mindy McKern, age 44 of Council Bluffs, was arrested on October 16, 2022 on an outstanding Burglary 3rd warrant. She posted bond and was released the following day.
• Alexis Free, age 27 of Fort Collins, Colorado, was arrested on October 9, 2022 by the Audubon Police Department on unrelated charges. She was charged by the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office for Introducing Intoxicants or Drugs into Institution. She appeared before the magistrate and was held on her charges.
• Cody Klocke, age 19 of Carroll, was arrested on October 8, 2022 for Operating while Under the Influence-1st and Possession or Carrying Dangerous Weapon while Under the Influence. He was released on his own recognizance later the same day.
• Tamara Humphrey, age 49 of Atlantic, was arrested on a Driving While Barred charge on October 6, 2022. She was released on her own recognizance later that day.
• Laura White, age 36 of Kimballton, was cited into court on September 26, 2022 for an assault charge. She was released on her own recognizance.
• Jacquelyn Delano, age 61 of Audubon, was arrested on September 23, 2022 on Controlled Substance Violation- methamphetamine, Controlled Substance Violation- marijuana and two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was held by the magistrate on the charges.
• Mark Smith, age 44 of Exira, was cited into court for two counts Sex Abuse 3rd and two counts Sex Abuse 2nd on September 22, 2022. He posted bond and was released on September 27, 2022.
• Jason Schiltz, age 34 of Denison, was arrested on September 20, 2022 for Driving While Barred and Theft 2nd. He was released on his own recognizance the following day.
• Adam Karstens, age 41 of Brayton, was arrested on September 15, 2022, for Dominion/Control of Firearm/Offensive Weapon by Felon, Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, Domestic Abuse Assault-Display or Use of Weapon 1st, Possession of Controlled Substance- Methamphetamine- 1st, Possession of Controlled Substance- Marijuana 1st and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was held on the charges until he posted bond on September 21st.
• Jerrold White, age 67 of Exira, was arrested on September 14, 2022, for Operating While Intoxicated- 1st. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.
• Timothy Asmus, age 22 of Audubon, was arrested on September 13, 2022, for Driving While Barred. He was released on his own recognizance later that morning.
• Michelle Penn, age 52 of Audubon, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault-1st and Child Endangerment on August 20, 2022. She was released on her own recognizance on August 22nd.
• Kevin Anderson, age 42 of Hamlin, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault-1st on August 15, 2022. He was released the following morning on his own recognizance.
• Cole Jacob Benton, age 32 of Hamlin, was arrested on two counts of Burglary 3rd, Theft 2nd, Theft 4th, Possession of Controlled Substance- Marijuana 3rd or subsequent and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia on August 10, 2022. He posted bond on August 12th and was released.
• Steven Deist, age 48 of Audubon, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault-1st on August 6, 2022. He posted bond and was released later that day.
• Rodney Nichols, age 56 of Gray, was arrested for Trafficking in Stolen Weapons-1st on August 3, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance the following day.
• Gerald Young Jr. was arrested again on August 3, 2022 for Dominion/Control of a Firearm/Offensive weapon by Felon charge. He was released on his own recognizance the following day.
• Gerald Young Jr., age 52 of Gray, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated-3rd and Driving While Suspended on August 1, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.
• Michael Vanbaale, age 59 of Des Moines, was arrested for Driving while Suspended on July 24, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance later the same day.
• Colton Haskins, age 18 of Terril, Iowa, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated -1st, Possession of Controlled Substance- Marijuana 1st and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia on July 23, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance the following day.
• Colton Haskins, age 18 of Terril, Iowa, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated -1st, Possession of Controlled Substance- Marijuana 1st and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia on July 23, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance the following day.
• Willie George, age 18 of Lansing, Kansas, was arrested for Possession of Marijuana 1st and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia on July 23, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance the following morning.
• Johnnie Baugher, age 33 of Audubon, was arrested on a Domestic Abuse Assault charge on July 23, 2022. He was released on his own recognizance the following morning.
• Kevin Knutsen, age 58 of Audubon, was cited into court on July 21, 2022 on two counts of Burglary 3rd. He was released on his own recognizance.
• Zachariah Colton, age 19 of Atlantic, was arrested on July 4, 2022 for Operating While Intoxicated-1st. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.

Note: Criminal Charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

(Radio Iowa) – Roland Story wrestler Kade Blume will not participate in any more extracurricular activities this school year in the wake of the 17 year old’s charge of assaulting another student during a hazing incident. The Roland story School District and the Blume family reached an agreement that the two time defending state champion would not participate in extracurricular activities for the remainder of the year, following his charge of felony assault that stems back from New Year’s Day.

The announcement came down following the news that Blume would not wrestle at Saturday’s Jim Kinyon Invitational in Story City after Knoxville is wrestling team had pulled out of the event and they will now wrestle in Iowa City.

Blume has reached an agreement with prosecutors to enter a plea to the original charge and the case will be completed in juvenile court.

Washington, D.C. — A Des Moines (Iowa) man seen at the front of a group of rioters inside the I-S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced today (Friday) to five-years in prison, with three-years of supervised release. Doug Jensen is also required to pay $2,000 in restitution. Jensen told the court he can’t change the past, except he wants to put politics aside and to simply go back to being a family man.

Judge Thomas Kelly, who handed down the sentence, said the man’s actions were not heroic or patriotic, but at the same time, he was “not a monster.” Prosecutors had suggested 64 months in prison, while Jensen’s defense attorney proposed 27 months in jail.

Jensen was found guilty of all counts against him by a Washington, D.C., jury in September.

November 18, 2022 (DES MOINES, IA) – Today, the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board approved two awards for companies in Clinton and Dubuque, which will assist in the creation of 33 jobs and result in more than $143 million in new capital investment for the state.

Pet food producer to expand Clinton facility 
Nestle Purina PetCare Company is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A. and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Purina manufactures pet care products, including pet food, snacks and cat litter products. In Clinton, Purina produces various dry pet food and snacks. This project includes the construction of a 90,000-square-foot building to support an expansion at the facility. The project represents a $110 million capital investment and is expected to create 15 jobs incented at a qualifying wage of $19.57 per hour. The board awarded the company tax benefits through the High Quality Jobs (HQJ) program.

Trucking company plans new corporate headquarters in Dubuque
McCoy Group, LLC is a private family-owned company started in 1958. The McCoy Group has a diverse set of businesses ranging from 26 Freightliner heavy/medium truck dealerships, 16 John Deere Construction and Forestry dealerships and a Bulk Transportation division that operates at 40 locations across the U.S. and Mexico. The company plans to construct a new 78,000-square-foot corporate headquarters on its 11.5-acre campus in Dubuque. The board awarded the company tax benefits through the HQJ program. The more than $33 million direct capital investment is expected to create 18 jobs, of which 12 are incented at a qualifying wage of $26.56.

(Radio Iowa) The Iowa District Office of the U-S Small Business Administration is wrapping up its fiscal year with COVID-19 still casting a long shadow. Jayne Armstrong, district director of the S-B-A in Iowa, says the current year is closing out a ways behind the previous year, which saw unprecedented borrower and lender incentives to aid in the pandemic recovery. Many of those incentives have long since expired, making Fiscal ’22 more lackluster. “SBA in Iowa, we did 466 loans last year for over $243-million,” Armstrong says. “We were down a little bit from the year before, just by ten loans.”

The full amount loaned in the state, however, is down more than 20-million dollars from the previous year. Armstrong says Iowa’s hospitality industry, in particular, is continuing to face challenges with workforce shortages and supply chain troubles. “Businesses are still struggling,” Armstrong says. “We’re not through everything yet, but I think we’re on track with the number of loans that we’re seeing and the access to capital and we’re also hitting a lot of new markets.”

Of the year’s 466 loans made in Iowa, she says 252 of them — more than half — were to new business start-ups or to finance changes in ownership. Armstrong was upbeat about S-B-A successes in Iowa during the fiscal year, noting sizable increases in the percentage of loans being made to both minorities and veterans. “We remain committed as ever before to helping our small businesses get through the recovery period and getting them back on track,” Armstrong says. “It’s a process. It’s not happening overnight.”

Other successes include the Iowa district winning two national awards, one for diversity, inclusion and equity, while the other award is going to Dave Lentell, the Des Moines office’s lead lender relations specialist and public information officer. Lentell, of Waukee, is being named the S-B-A’s national M-V-P for 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says a provision in a bill the senate passed last (Thursday) night authorizes the U.S. military to train Ukrainian soldiers how to remove the explosives Russia’s military has dumped in the Black Sea. “Reclaiming the Black Sea would be a major step forward for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Ernst says, “allowing them to resume trade from their most important port.”

The Port of Odessa is on the Black Sea, a body of water that is now invested with hundreds of mines. The operation to remove those mines is included in this year’s 858 BILLION dollar defense spending bill. President Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which will provide an additional 800 MILLION dollars to Ukraine’s war effort. “Training and armed the Ukrainian military keeps U.S. service members safe, supports a U.S. partner, degrades one of our most vicious foes, “Ernst says, “and preserves American safety and prosperity.”

The bill will also get rid of the requirement that American soldiers get COVID-19 vaccinations. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says eight thousand soldiers who refused to get a COVID shot have been discharged from the regulars military. The mandate for National Guard and Reserve units was to take effect at the end of the year. “With record low recruitment across all service branches, shrinking the number of service members puts our national security at risk,” Ernst says. “This was the right move for our military readiness.”

This year’s National Defense Authorization Act includes a four-point-six percent increase in the basic pay for service members — the largest military pay hike in 20 years.

(Radio Iowa) – The Keokuk County Emergency Management director has been arrested on a felony theft charge. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. says 66-year-old Larry Smith was arrested following a state audit that determined Smith traded the Emergency Management Agency’s 2006 diesel truck for 800 dollars to a fleet dealership in September. He then paid 800 to the dealership to buy the truck for himself. The vehicle was estimated to be worth 66-hundred to more than 14-thousand dollars.

The audit said with the trade-in amount for the vehicle less than its value, the Keokuk County agency incurred additional costs. Smith resigned in October. The D-C-I says the investigation is ongoing– but no further details are being released at this time.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 12:45-a.m. today (Friday), in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a woman from southeast Iowa. Red Oak Police report 35-year-old Heather Lynn Porter, of Ottumwa, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on bond amounting to $491.25.

(Radio Iowa) – A group that successfully pushed for spending limits in state government three decades ago is urging Governor Reynolds to propose new limits on local governments. Chris Hagenow is president of Iowans for Tax Relief.  “We think it would be a good idea to implement a two-year property tax freeze in Iowa,” Hagenow says, “so that we can press pause and take a look at what some of what the various ideas might be to reform the system.”

Property taxes are the bulk of most city and county budgets. Hagenow’s group suggests that state lawmakers place both spending and borrowing limits on local governments — and resist having state government provide more money for the things local governments pay for today. “Real tax reform is placing limitations on government itself,” Hagenow says. Hagenow says it will be a multi-year discussion to come up with permanent changes to the state’s complicated property tax system.

“We don’t believe that this gets solved in one year. It’s taken many years to get to this point,” Hagenow says, “but property taxes in Iowa are the 10th highest in the nation and, as assessments are going up, Iowans are going to be faced with increasing property tax bills.” Hagenow made his comments yesterday (Thursday) during an online forum hosted by the governor. Another speaker told Reynolds his group fields the most complaints about property taxes.

“You’re right on property tax. It’s probably that most hated tax out there,” Reynolds said. “We’re working on individual and corporate (income taxes). That’s next up.” During a speech in Florida last month, Reynolds said she hopes to eliminate Iowa income taxes by the end of 2026.