Jack Hatch, Democratic Gubernatorial candidate from Des Moines, will be at The Family Table in Atlantic on Saturday, July 13th, at 4:30 PM for a Meet & Greet with Iowa voters.

Currently an Iowa State Senator, Jack is the Chair of the Senate Health & Human Services Budget Subcommittee. He also serves on the Economic Growth, Human Resources, State Government, Labor & Business Relations, and Appropriations Committees. During his legislative career, Hatch has been an advocate for health care reform, children and family services, small business development and social and economic justice issues.

He has also been actively engaged in recent years in the mental health redesign and, this year, in expanding health care access to lower-income Iowans.

Saturday’s event is open to the public.

A Pottawattamie County man was sentenced today (Thursdsay) to a little more than 10-years in prison on  a drug charge. 50-year old Douglas John Howard was sentenced by Chief Judge James E. Gritzner to 121 months imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Judge Gritzner also ordered Howard to serve a four year term of supervised release following incarceration. Howard pled guilty on February 8, 2013, to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

The conviction resulted from a joint law enforcement investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in the Council Bluffs, Iowa, which began with a traffic stop in June of 2012 where Howard was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, digital scales, plastic baggies and drug distribution notes. The investigation identified Howard as a person responsible for regularly distributing methamphetamine in Council Bluffs, along with rural areas in Pottawattamie and Mills Counties in Iowa.

The investigation was conducted by the Carter Lake Police Department, South West Iowa Narcotics Task Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A Fremont County man was sentenced today (Thursday) to a little more than 3 1/2-years in prison on a firearm charge. 41-year old David Shane Anderson, of Hamburg, was sentenced in United States District Court in Council Bluffs, on a charge of felon in possession of a firearm, according to United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt.

Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner sentenced Anderson to 46 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. Anderson was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund, and to forfeit the .410 shotgun and ammunition seized from him by law enforcement officers. Anderson remained in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service pending return to Ringgold County, Iowa, where Anderson is facing a State of Iowa methamphetamine charge.

Anderson was sentenced upon his plea of guilty entered on April 4, 2013, to felon in possession of a firearm, having possessed a .410 shotgun on March 20, 2012, near Hamburg, Iowa. A Fremont County Sheriff Deputy, answering a call for “shots fired”, seized the shotgun from Anderson as he was found carrying it out of a field. Anderson was in the company of some minor children. Prior to possessing the shotgun, Anderson had, among other convictions, been convicted of separate felony charges of burglary in Iowa and in Missouri.

The case against him was investigated by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two vehicle accident in the 100 block of 3rd Avenue in Villisca this (Thursday) morning. A 2004 Pontiac Grand Am owned by 50-year old Mark Herzberg and driven by 17-year old Olivia Herzberg, both of rural Villisca was northbound on 3rd Avenue. Herzberg became distracted while texting on her cell phone and ran into the rear of a 2001 Chevy Pickup that was legally parked on 3rd Ave. Damage to the Herzberg vehicle was estimated at $4,500. Damage to the 2001 Chevy Pickup owned by 41-year old Montie Sprague, of Randolph was estimated at $4,500. Olivia Herzberg was issued a citation for use of electronic communication device.

The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Villisca Fire Department.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Pottawattamie County man was sentenced today (Thursday) to a little more than four-years in prison on a weapons charge. 24-year Jordan James Collier, of Council Bluffs was sentenced in U-S District Court on a charge of illegal possession of a machine gun. Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner sentenced Collier to 51 months in prison, to be followed by 1 year of supervised release. Collier was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund, and to forfeit the machine gun and two other firearms he had possessed.

In addition, Chief Judge Gritzner ordered Collier to pay $1,200 in restitution to the person from whom Collier had stolen the firearms. Collier remained in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service pending either designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his federal sentence, or surrender to Pottawattamie County or Kossuth County authorities regarding State of Iowa charges pending against Collier in those counties.

Collier was sentenced upon his plea of guilty entered on February 8, 2013, to illegal possession of a machine gun. Collier was arrested subsequent to an investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department regarding two rifles which Collier pawned at a local pawn shop. The firearms were determined to have been stolen from a residence in Kossuth County, Iowa. Collier had also attempted to pawn the machine gun. The machine gun was a functional Swiss-K Vietnam War era automatic rifle.

The sentence imposed upon Collier also took into account that the three firearms were stolen. This case was investigated by the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department, with assistance from the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.