(Radio Iowa) – The snow is finally gone and what’s now being found along many Iowa roadways isn’t pretty. Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons says he’s hearing frequent complaints from residents about garbage dumping in ditches.

“If we are able to figure out who it is, you will be charged,” Sheriff Timmons says. “We’ve also had complaints of people dumping tires out in the ditches. If we’re able to identify who’s doing that, you will be charged criminally, be put in jail, plus a fine and plus landfill fees.” That can be an expensive, embarrassing predicament when there’s a clear, better option to illegal dumping.

“There’s been a big increase in that,” Timmons says. “Go to the landfill. A pickup load, I believe it’s right around $10. You can get rid of a whole pickup load of stuff at the landfill and keep Hamilton County looking good.”

To report illegal dumping in Iowa, call 800-NOLITTR. The Keep Iowa Beautiful hotline offers options to report littering and information on how to adopt a roadway, park, river, lake or other public area.

(Radio Iowa) – There will be a change in command at Sioux City’s 185th Air National Guard Refueling Wing. Colonel Mark Muckey, the wing’s commander, has been selected to be the next leader of the Iowa Air National Guard.  “I’ll just tell you it’s a truly unbelievable opportunity and I guess most importantly it is a result of the outstanding performance of the Airmen of the 185th,” he says. “It has truly been my privilege to lead this team over the last three years.”

Colonel Muckey will take over as Adjutant General of the Iowa Air National Guard and will be reassigned to the Guard’s headquarters in Johnston. Colonel Sonya Morrison, an Osceola native, will be his successor in Sioux City as the 185th Refueling Wing’s commander. A change of command ceremony is tentatively scheduled in August.

(Radio Iowa) – The only Democrat in this year’s race for governor has adopted a tool former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin used in his campaigns. Harkin, for example, kicked off his 1992 presidential run in New Hampshire with a “work day” at a factory. This February, Deidre DeJear launched what she calls “Workday Wednesdays.”

“If I’m really going to meet Iowans where they are, I’ve got to connect with them in the communities and spaces in which they reside,” DeJear says. This past week, DeJear served lunch, helped with P-E and read to students in a Storm Lake elementary school.

“We’re hearing challenges related to resources in our education system,” DeJear says. “I mean, they want to keep class size small in this class, so the students can have a meaningful experience.” Last week, DeJear worked on a greenhouse on a farm near Carlisle. In early March, she stocked shelves at a bookstore in Ames. DeJear says wherever she goes, she hears similar stories.

“We want parents to get back to work,” DeJear says. “They’re having to make decisions right now and it’s challenging to find access to child care.” DeJear will be in a different setting tomorrow (Saturday) night. She’s among the candidates scheduled to speak at an Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser in Des Moines.

“We started back in August. That’s when we launched and we had small crowds of people that were joining, but now people are really getting into it and really excited about what can happen in November,” DeJear says. “I mean, I had my first overflow crowd in Audubon County, an incredible experience.” The three Democrats who’re running for the U-S Senate are also scheduled to speak Saturday night at the party fundraiser.

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, says U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer’s criticism of a district court judge who ruled against her bid to stay on the June Primary ballot was inappropriate. Finkenauer is one of three Democrats competing to run against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in November. “That judge did his job,” Sand says. “He worked all weekend to get that ruling issued on a Sunday night in order to give whoever was going to be the losing party a chance to appeal.”

Finkenauer called the judge a Republican who made a partisan decision that made a mockery of our democracy. A few days later, the Iowa Supreme Court overruled the decision that had invalidated three signatures on Finkenauer’s nominating petitions and Finkenauer’s name WILL be on the June Primary ballot. Sand, who is an attorney, says the district court judge Finkenauer criticized is well-respected.

“I’m really proud of Iowa’s court system,” Sand says. “We have one of the country’s crown jewels in a non-partisan judicial nominating system…that sorts out the people who want to go in there and be political, and so what we end up with is a body of judges who do a good job of applying the facts to the law.” Sand discussed the matter during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs Friday night on Iowa P-B-S.

Sand indicated he called Finkenauer to say he found her criticism of Judge Scott Beattie to be inappropriate. “I told her what I thought and, to her credit, she said: ‘Thank you for this. We’re going to step back some of this and tone some of this down,'” Sand says. “Politics is tough. I think sometimes having people that you have a decent relationship who you can call and give a perspective to can be useful and, to her credit, when we had that conversation, she decided that she didn’t want to do that anymore.”

A spokesman for Finkenauer’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment on Sand’s statements.

(Radio Iowa) – It took extra effort to trigger the emergency sirens that warned residents in three northern Iowa towns when a storm system rolled through that produced a tornado that hit nearby Kanawha, earlier this month. Testing in March revealed the sirens in Britt, Crystal Lake and Garner couldn’t be started remotely — and replacement parts hadn’t arrived. Garner Fire Chief Jim Thiele says it meant in the midst of gusty winds and incoming hail and rain and lightning, fire fighters had to get to the boxes on three poles in Garner to turn on the sirens.

“We just assigned fire fighters to do that, groups of two,” he says, “because it took a step ladder to get to them.” The warning sirens — and the ferocity of the storm — prompted about 20 people to take shelter in the Garner City Hall. John Swenson, the chief of the fire department in Britt, faced the same issue with storm sirens that had to be manually triggered.

“We had two different groups of people that went two different ways and opened up the compartments and pushed the buttons,” Swenson says. Swenson’s team didn’t use a ladder, though. The fire chief backed his truck up to the siren pole — so it could be used as the platform to get to the trigger box.

The new remote starters for the sirens in Britt, Garner and Crystal Lake arrived after the storm and have been installed for the next time there’s reason to sound the alarm that a storm is approaching. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that hit Kanawha on April 12th was on the ground for a mile.

(Sidney, Iowa) – The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is reporting the possible scam that may affect Great Western Bank accounts. On April 28, 2022, the sheriff’s office received a call that someone was using a fake Great Western Bank Account Notice, that has a “Click Here” link that leads you to a screen to gather your information.

If you receive any messages call your local branch directly if you have any concerns that your account has been compromised.

(Creston, Iowa) – A single-vehicle, rollover accident occurred in Union County, Wednesday morning. The Sheriff’s Office reports 20-year-old Jazmine Kimberly Louise Stoe, of Creston, was driving a 2007 Ford Escape SUV eastbound on 140th Street at around 9:10-a.m. She admitted to authorities that she was driving too fast. The SUV went out of control as it was rounding a curve, and struck a guardrail for the bridge that crosses the Green Valley Lake Spillway.

The SUV rolled over and dropped 20-feet into the bottom of the spillway. Stoe complained of ankle pain and was transported by private vehicle to the hospital in Creston. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $10,000, and the Union County Secondary Roads Dept. Guardrail sustained $2,000 damage. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Creston Fire Dept., Union County Emergency Management, Iowa DNR, and two wrecker services.

(Creston, Iowa) – The driver of a 2009 Dodge RAM pickup was transported to the hospital in Creston, following a single-vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year-old Leviticus Charles Exline, of Afton, was traveling on REA Road at around 1:30-p.m. Tuesday, when he pickup he was driving failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The vehicle went straight off the road and airborne, before crashing into an embankment. The pickup traveling about 225-feet before coming to rest in a field.

Exline suffered from an injury to his nose. He was not wearing a seat belt. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $7,000.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 1-a.m. today (Thursday), of 69-year-old Timothy Lee Pomerenke, from Randolph (IA). He was arrested at 195th/Hanna Ave. for OWI/3rd offense. Pomerenke was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $5,000 bond. And, on Tuesday, at around 2:20-p.m., 26-year-old Jayme Ilene Rowe (No address) was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree, and charges that include: Burglary in the 3rd Degree; Burglary in the 1st Degree, and Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. Bond was set at $12,000.

Sheriff’s officials said also, 21-year-old Tylar Brammer, of Malvern, was injured during a collision that occurred at around 8:25-p.m. Wednesday, on the I-29 on-ramp northbound to Highway 34. Brammer was transported by Pacific Junction Rescue to Jenny Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs. She was injured when her 2018 Jeep struck a 2006 Mercury, driven by 67-year-old Rhonda Boen, of Phoenix, AZ.

The collision happened as the Mercury was traveling northbound on the off-ramp from I-29 at the 35 mile marker at the intersection f I-29 and Highway 34. Brammer was traveling eastbound in the left lane of Highway 34, when Boen pulled out in front of her. Boen told authorities she was attempting to cross the highway to turn left to go to the gas station, and didn’t see the oncoming Jeep. She said she heard a horn honking just before her vehicle was hit.

Brammer said when Boen pulled out in front of her, she tried to avoid the collision and honked her horn.

Two men from Council Bluffs were arrested on separate warrants, Wednesday. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year-old Lucas Aaron Sales turned-himself in to the Sheriff’s Office. He was wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Sales was transported to the Pott. County Jail, and posted a $5,000 cash bail. And, 28-year-old Damion James Sadler was arrested on a Pottawattamie as well as Page County warrants. Sadler was being held without bond in the Pott. County Jail.