(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development launched a new Business Engagement Division Monday. I-W-D director, Beth Townsend, says they’re hoping it will make it easier for employers to access state resources. “The idea is that we want to provide a one stop shop for Iowa’s employers to help meet all of their workforce needs,” she says. Townsend says the workforce system can be a little complex, and it is scattered over several different areas.

“We’ve never had anything like this in Iowa….workforce programs are scattered across a number of different agencies, and we’re trying to bring some of those to the workforce, and then the others will just help you navigate the system. But we’ve never had a business engagement team in the agency that was focused entirely upon helping businesses,” she says. She says they have had business marketing specialists in the past who have met with employers and worked with them. Townsend says they hope this is a more strategic and more concentrated effort as they head out across the state to meet with business owners.

“To introduce ourselves, if we don’t already know you, to remind you of the resources we have available to help with employers’ workforce needs, to help them navigate the workforce system in Iowa, because it can be a little complex,” according to Townsend. She says the new division will be led by administrator Tim Goodwin and deputy administrator Kathy Anderson. Both have previous business experience and come from outside the agency.

“If you’re not in the system and you’re looking at it from the outside, sometimes you have a better view of things that we could be doing to improve services,” Townsend says. “And they certainly brought that to the table.” Townsend says they will listen and adapt as they visit more businesses. “We plan to every, you know, two or three weeks in this period of time, where we’re going out meeting with employers getting back together and, and digesting the feedback that we’re getting,” she says. Townsend says they have a new customer service number for employers to call. That number is 1-833-469-2967.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports a woman from Red Oak was arrested this (Tuesday) morning, following a traffic stop at Highways 34/48, in Red Oak. 25-year-old Destiny Jill Anderson was taken into custody for Driving Under Suspension. Anderson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on bond amounting to $491.25.

(updated) (Clarinda, Iowa) – A hazing incident in the Clarinda School District did not result in criminal charges. KETV says the Clarinda Police Department confirmed the incident occurred Aug. 26 after a physical-education class, when two Clarinda High School students forced another student to do push-ups in a shower before urinating on him.

No staff members witnessed the incident. The student reported it to school leaders on Aug. 29 after allegedly being bullied again at lunch. The school district sent an email to parents saying consequences have been handed out for the violation of bullying and harassment. The district said that they will hand any more statements over to police.

The names of the students were not released. Authorities said any parents who feel a crime has been committed, should their file complaint with the Clarinda Police Department.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Monday night, released his weekly report on arrests. The Sheriff says 31-year-old Hailey Elizabeth Hart, of Diagonal, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. Saturday, for OWI/1st offense, after a Deputy in a marked patrol vehicle parked in the Orient-Macksburg School parking lot, saw an SUV fail to stop at the intersection of Division and School Streets. A subsequent traffic stop on the vehicle determined Hart’s Breath Alcohol Content measured more than .08-percent. A follow-up test for Blood Alcohol Contact (BAC) at the Sheriff’s Office determined her level of intoxication was .153-percent, or nearly twice the legal limit. Hart was cited and later released.

At around 10:44-a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8th, 28-year-old Tray D. Anderson, of Exira, was arrested in Greenfield, on an Adair County warrant for Violation of Probation. His cash or surety (c/s) bond was set at $2,000.

And, there were two separate arrests Sept. 6th, in Adair County. 54-year-old James Mut Nyang, of Omaha, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol near mile marker 89 on Interstate 80, at around 4-p.m. on the 6th. His arrest came after a Trooper saw someone kneeling down next to the rear, driver’s side door, and reaching inside. When he pulled up behind the car to check on the status of the driver, the Trooper saw two small children standing on the back seat and an adult male searching under the driver’s seat for something.

As he made contact with the driver, the Trooper saw an open bottle of liquor in the center console cup holder, and the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver – subsequently identified as Nyang. His preliminary breath test exceeded .08%. Nyang was transported to the Adair County Jail and a second test registered .209% BAC. Nyang was booked into the jail on charges that include two-counts of Child Endangerment and OWI/2nd offense. His cash or surety bond was set at $2,000.

And, at around 4:13-a.m. on Sept. 6th, 55-year-old Gregory Alan Meierotto, of Keokuk, was arrested by Police in Stuart, for Driving While Barred. His arrest followed a complaint about an SUV that was “all over the road,” westbound on I-80 from mile marker 110. A Stuart Police Officer responded and caught up with the suspect vehicle. He questioned Meierotto, who said he was very tired and falling asleep at the wheel. He also said he did not have a driver’s license, because it had been suspended. He was barred on May 24, 2022.  The man later posted a $2,000 c/s bond.

(Guthrie County, Iowa) – A rollover accident Thursday afternoon in Guthrie County, was discovered after Guthrie County Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett – who was off-duty – overheard what he thought was a traffic collision. Bennett traveled to the area where he believed the crash to have occurred, and found a 2004 Chevy Impala in its top in the south ditch, off Wagon Road. The accident happened at around 4:50-p.m.

Chief Deputy Bennett saw the driver of the car, 65-year-old Joan L. Anderson, of Menlo, still inside the car. Bennett was able to extricate Anderson from the vehicle. She was checked out by Panora EMS crews, and determined to suffered no significant injuries.

An investigation revealed Anderson was traveling eastbound on Wagon Road, when her car exited the road to the right, entered the south ditch, and flipped onto its top. The car sustained $10,000 damage and was a total loss. No citations were issued.

(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) cut the ribbon on their new Criminal Justice Training Center on their Ankeny campus Friday. Center Coordinator Craig Matzke says it allows them to set up realistic crime scenes to help train students. He says the center can also be used to train professionals in the field as well. Matzke says once students collect evidence, they go through it and try to solve the crime that is staged at the center.

“It’s a new facility so that it gives them a blank slate to operate off of and train to the discipline, which they need the most training with,” he says. Matzke says they can create all kinds of scenarios in a controlled environment for students. He says it’s better to train ahead of time rather than try to learn out on the streets at a potential crime scene.

He says they learn the proper way of handling and collecting and documenting evidence and creating a chain of custody. They can go back and perform tests on the evidence within a certain scope of available equipment, and then learn how to best present that evidence for successful prosecution. Matzke says the faculty all have been out in the field at one time.

“All of our instructional staff have real world experience in law enforcement agencies. And in addition to that, we also have a great working relationship with area law enforcement agencies, E-M-S, and those other entities that we call upon to give us a guiding hand and setting up scenarios, giving us ideas on what we should focus on,” he says.
All that experience helps give the students a real test.

“They can replicate those scenes and put them in the environment that they would actually be in. So it adds a real sense of realism,” Matzke says. Matzke says it’s another way to prepare the students to enter the real world of investigation and law enforcement.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Sunday night, 37-year-old Santos Alejandro Rodriguez-Herrera, of Nebraska City, NE., was arrested for Public Intoxication ($300 bond). And, 23-year-old Blaine Michael Clark, of Omaha, was arrested at around 2:25-a.m. Sunday on Highway 34, for Driving While Barred and on a warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). (Bond $2,000)

Friday evening, 37-year-old Jacob Ryan Jones, of Glenwood, was arrested in the area of Deacon Road and Highway 34, for Driving Under Suspension (Bond $300). And, Friday morning, 43-year-old Tonya Marie Glathar, of Glenwood, was arrested at 310th and Highway 34, for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. (Bond $1,300).

(Mills County, Iowa) – A woman on a motorcycle was seriously injured when her cycle collided with a deer, in Mills County. The accident happened at around 11:17-p.m. Friday, at 31184, Highway 34. Authorities say 60-year-old Pamela Hoselton, of Council Bluffs, was being attended to by witnesses, when a Deputy arrived on the scene. She was transported by LifeNet to the hospital.

(Radio Iowa) – Two veterans who call themselves Team Long Road are making their way across Iowa as part of a cross-country journey from Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon. They’re calling attention to American soldiers who remain missing in action. Justin “J-D” LeHew says he and Coleman “Rocky” Kinzer started their journey on June 6th, and last week passed through cities including Dyersville, Manchester and Independence, headed west.

Both are retired U-S Marines and they say taking this long backpack journey has been an amazing experience.

The two are following the historic U-S Highway 20 for the entire stretch – not only in Iowa, but across the country. They hope to be back home by Christmas. Learn more about the trek at TeamLongRoad.com.

(DES MOINES, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today (Monday) the distribution plan for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) food assistance benefits for eligible Iowa children under the age of six. The federal Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act allows states to issue emergency food assistance benefits to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households with children under the age of six who were impacted by pandemic-related school changes and closures in their area.

P-EBT for children under age six is limited to those children who received SNAP benefits between September 2021 and May 2022. The P-EBT benefits for children under six will be loaded on the household’s existing SNAP card between now and September 20. The monthly amount for each eligible child is $22.01 for September 2021 through December 2021, and $21.15 for the months of January 2022 through May 2022. P-EBT benefits will only be distributed for those months that the child received SNAP. 

“Food costs in Iowa hit historic highs in 2022, making it hard for low-income parents to meet the nutritional needs of their children. These additional benefits will make it easier for parents to put healthy and nutritious food on their table,” said Janee Harvey, HHS Division Administrator of Adult, Child, and Family Services.

Parents are encouraged to visit HHS’ comprehensive FAQ document available on the HHS website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/food-assistance/related-programs/P-EBT for more information about P-EBT.