PERRY, Iowa [KCCI — The Jan. 4 school shooting is likely something Perry schools and the community will never forget, but through that grief, the district is choosing to honor a beloved staff member who died that day. Monday night, the Perry School Board voted to rename the court in the high school gymnasium in honor of Dan Marburger, the high school principal who lost his life in the tragedy.

Dan Marburger (Perry Community School District photo)

The Perry School Board voted to approve the resolution to name the gym court at its meeting Monday night.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican who’s challenging Congressman Randy Feenstra in next month’s G-O-P Primary says Feenstra is not conservative enough to represent the fourth district. Kevin Virgil cites Feenstra’s support for the six budget bills that passed the House in March.

“He refused to stand with the conservative Republicans in congress and force the federal government to shut down as a way to force the corrupt Biden Administration to close the border,” Virgil said. Virgil grew up on an O’Brien County farm and served in the Army. He joined the C-I-A after 9/11 and, after leaving the agency, Virgil founded a software firm that has won multi-million dollar contracts with the U-S Defense Department. In December, Virgil moved from New York to his family’s century farm near Sutherland.

“I’ve always come back to Iowa frequently with my kids just because we enjoy the farm and we’ve maintained close contact with our family and friends and neighbors,” Virgil said. “…One of the reasons I decided to run for congress is because the…biggest threat our country faces isn’t necessarily from abroad, but it’s a federal government that is completely out of control.”

Virgil made his comments at the Iowa G-O-P State Convention. Virgil supports “drastic measures” to reduce the federal government’s budget, power and authority. Virgil says Feenstra failed to support limits on a program federal intelligence agencies say is used to disrupt terrorist activities and cyber attacks.

“Last month he voted against an amendment that would have required the federal government to get a warrant to spy on you and your families,” Virgil said. “That’s a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

Feenstra, who is seeking a third term in the U-S House, says he supported the national security legislation because due to Biden’s failed foreign policy our enemies no longer fear us and our allies no longer trust us. The June Primary is three weeks from today (Tuesday).

(Radio Iowa) – A man from the northeast Iowa town of Winthrop is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting his father. Thirty-two-year-old Ashton Wayne Root is accused of shooting his father on April 27th. He was arrested on Friday, 13 days after the shooting.

According to the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, Michael Root arrived at a local hospital’s emergency room with gunshot wounds to his abdomen and arm. Investigators say the father and son had been arguing for at least two days before the shooting, which happened at a home in Winthrop.

(Radio Iowa) – The groups Public Justice and the A-C-L-U of Iowa are suing Black Hawk County and the Sheriff on behalf of a Waterloo woman and others who have been forced to sign agreements requiring them to pay fees before being released from jail. A-C-L-U Attorney, Rita Bettis Austen says her client didn’t know a judge could rule on her ability to pay the fees.

“These agreements called Confessions of Judgment, result in people waving important legal protections that they would have and it allows the sheriff to garnish their wages without any right to a day in court,” she says. Bettis Austen says judges in many cases will waive the fees based on a person’s ability to pay. She says Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson is spending the fees to fund a shooting range for the enjoyment of department employees and families, including rentals of ice cream and cotton candy machines, and laser tag.

Public Justice Attorney Charles Moore says about two-thirds of counties charge fees to inmates. “In Iowa, the ability to charge these pay to state fees is discretionary. Some counties choose to charge these fees and others do not because they see how unfair it is,” Moore says. The sheriff in Black Hawk County has decided to go ahead and charge these fees at amongst the highest rates in the state 70 dollars per day.” He says the Sheriff sets the level of fees and controls everything without any check on that authority.

“In this case the sheriff pockets 300-thousand dollars a year without any court ever having reviewed the petitions,” he says. Moore says some of the money collected should not pay for things that aren’t related to jail costs. “I think that the statute is clear that it’s meant to reimburse for actual expenses that are at the jail and that’s not what’s being done here,” Moore says. Both attorneys say they are not trying to get the fees system overturned, they simply want the processed to be used fairly.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who enjoy the thrill of finding great deals at yard sales need to be wary of the potential dangers when purchasing items second-hand. Consumer protection expert Michelle Reinen says you should take special care with toys that might be unsafe, in addition to things like old cribs and used car seats.

Reinen says, “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls products annually that could cause injury and death.” You can look up your potential purchase in an online database at Safer Products-dot-gov to see if a recall has been issued. For Iowans who might be planning to hold a garage sale, there’s always a risk of scammers trying to trick you. Reinen says there have been recent reports of people passing counterfeit bills at rummage sales.

“If you’re selling a $2 item and you’re handed a $100 bill, maybe that’s something you need to analyze a little more closely and see if you can get the $2 out of them, rather than being at risk with that $100 bill in your hand,” she says. If you think you’re being scammed, Reinen says to call local law enforcement and file a report.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report seven recent arrests:

On Monday (May 13th), at around 8-a.m., Mills County Deputies arrested 41-year-old Jennifer Lynne Kugland, of Council Bluffs, on a warrant for Harassment int eh 1st degree. Kugland taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail, held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

There were two arrests Sunday, in Mills County: 50-year-old Jeffery Scott Leytham, of Pacific Junction, was arrested for  Possession of Controlled Substance and Driving Under Suspension (Bond $1,300); and, 48-year-old Jason Vaughn Young, of Silver City, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear (Bond: $2,000).

Early Saturday morning, Mills County Deputies arrested Jose Manuel Maldonado-Santamaria, of Bellevue, NE, for OWI/1st Offense, and Interference with Official Acts (Bond: $1,000).

Last Friday, 52-year-old Scott Michael Hardman, of Malvern, was arrested for DUS (Bond $300); and 36-year-old Joshua Michael Brizendine, Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pott. County Jail on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation (Bond $10,000).

And, finally, on May 9th: 23-year-old Alberto Lopez Velazquez (No known address), was arrested for Harassment 3rd, Operating Without Certificate of Title, No Valid Drivers License, Provide Proof Financial Liability and Operate Without Registration/Plate (Bond $300).

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna reports the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors may be attending an Informational meeting to learn more about the proposed CO2 pipelines. They meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 14th, from 7-until 8-p.m., at the Stanton Viking Center.

Ozuna says “There is a possibility that there will be a quorum. No official county business will be acted upon during that time.”

(Radio Iowa) – The resolution of a disagreement between Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate means five million dollars in state gambling taxes will be used to complete renovations of the Lucas State Office Building. The building, which opened in 1952, is east of the Iowa Capitol. Republican Representative Jacob Bossman of Sioux City says the original plan House Republicans developed for spending gambling taxes did not include funding for the Lucas Building upgrades, while Senate Republicans suggested spending 10 million dollars on the building.

“We originally weren’t funding that project,” Bossman says, “but are acknowledging this money is necessary to complete the DHHS merger and allow everybody to be housed under one roof.”

In 2022, lawmakers approved the governor’s plan to merge the Departments of Human Services and Public Health — but the agencies were housed in two different state office buildings. The Department of Health and Human Services is the largest agency in state government, with over five-thousand employees. The Lucas building has six floors of office space and is named for Iowa’s first territorial governor, Robert Lucas.