(Radio Iowa) – A Hollywood actress with Iowa ties is back in the Hawkeye State this weekend to make a guest appearance at the annual sci-fi, fantasy and gaming convention called Starbase DemiCon. Marjean Holden is best known for her TV roles on “Babylon 5” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” as well as movies in the “Mortal Kombat” and “Jurassic Park” sagas. Holden grew up in Minneapolis and her mother’s family is from the Hampton area in north-central Iowa. “We would come down to grandma and grandpa’s farm all the time,” Holden says. “The big thing was, I get to go to grandma and grandpa’s for like a month in the summer, by myself, without my siblings. It was so much fun. The first thing you learn how to drive is a tractor and a truck, so it’s like yeah, I ten and I’m driving a tractor!”

While she may not make it to the family’s Franklin County farm on this trip, the 58-year-old Holden says she’ll be taking her 17-year-old daughter with her to Pella for the big Tulip Festival. “She’s like, ‘Well, okay, I guess,’ but for me, I’m really excited because I have been to the Netherlands, and I have gone to the Keukenhof there,” she says, “and it was absolutely one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever been to in the world.” While she says her mother’s side of the family was all farmers, Holden says her father’s side was mostly entertainers, especially musicians, and acting came naturally for her, starting at age nine. She now has more than 50 TV shows and films on her resume, and wears many hats in L.A., including actress, stuntwoman, martial artist, author and director.

Marjean Holden. (photo supplied)

“I teach personal development as well, so I lead seminars and workshops and transformational trainings,” Holden says, “and I work part time at a gun range, and I do a lot of different things, so it just kind of depends on the day.”

The six-foot-tall Holden says her number-one job now is being a mom, and she will often bring her teen daughter along on the ComiCon convention circuit. At DemiCon in Des Moines, Holden will be taking part in several panel discussions, Q-and-A sessions and signing autographs. She says people will recognize her for different roles at different types of conventions.

“This particular one, because it’s based around space, most questions I will probably get will be around ‘Crusade,’ which was the ‘Babylon 5’ spin-off where I played Dr. Sara Chambers,” she says, laughing. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you played the doctor,’ and it’s like, ‘Yes, I just played doctor on television. I’m just smart on TV.’”

Holden says her next project is directing a film that focuses on a group of veteran police officers who are thrown into being an undercover ’80s rock band in order to ferret out a drug ring kingpin.

DemiCon runs through Sunday at the Holiday Inn in Urbandale.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Des Moines Police Department posted on social media this (Friday) morning, that in a span of about “5 short hours,” overnight, their officers recovered two firearms from dangerous offenders, and made arrests in cases that directly impact the safety of families in our community.

The Department said “Shortly after 9pm (Thursday), 3rd Watch officers responded to a shooting incident in the 3300 block of S.W. 7th. The 32-yr-old victim remains hospitalized after being shot several times. Within moments of the incident, officers located the suspect, John Streeter, near the scene and took him into custody without incident.

Streeter

Streeter was found to be in possession of a handgun when he was arrested.” He faces charges that include Attempted Murder, Willful Injury, and Intimidation with a dangerous weapon.

Authorities said also, “A few hours later, just after 2am (Friday), an officer attempted a traffic stop for a registration violation near E. 12th & Boyd. The driver of the vehicle being stopped, Dylan Pettyjohn, sped away, beginning a short pursuit that ended two blocks away when he crashed into a stop sign and disabled his vehicle. As he ran on foot, he attempted to throw a handgun onto a building roof. Pettyjohn resisted being arrested, and attempted to disarm the officer of his firearm. He was successfully taken into custody. He was determined to be a felon, prohibited from possessing a firearm, and in possession of marijuana, fentanyl pills, and a large quantity of meth.”

Pettyjohn faces charges that include: Felon in Possession of a Firearm; Possession of Marijuana, Fentanyl pills, and Methamphetamine; Eluding; and Attempt to Disarm a Police Officer.

Pettyjohn

(Radio Iowa) – Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids is naming Kristie Fisher as its new president, the sixth president in the school’s history. Fisher has served as president of Iowa Valley Community College in Marshalltown since 2019. Fisher says there are multiple challenges facing Iowa’s community colleges.

“Regardless which community college is the fact we have so many students who suffered a learning loss because of the pandemic,” Fisher says, “and just all the immense workforce needs, and trying to figure out the best way to meet those needs both of employers and the students who are coming through our doors.”

Kristie Fisher (Kirkwood Community College photo)

Fisher, who graduated from Kirkwood herself, will replace Lori Sundberg, who is retiring in the fall. Sundberg was named Kirkwood’s first woman president in the fall of 2018.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Thursday, of a man from Nebraska. 33-year-old Dontavious Easley, of La Vista, NE, was arrested for Driving while revoked. He posted a $1,000 bond, and was released.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Department reports 44-year-old Joseph Earl Smith, of Red Oak, was arrested Wednesday afternoon, following a traffic stop. Smith was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving Under Suspension. Bond was set at $600.

And, at around 8:50-a.m. Thursday, 39-year-old Andrew James Arrick, of Glenwood, was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. Bond was set at $300.

(Manchester, Iowa) – A semi tractor-trailer driver from eastern Iowa was injured in an accident Thursday afternoon, in Delaware County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2015 Freightliner semi driven by 60-year-old Michael Nelson, of Dundee, was traveling south on 130th Avenue, when Nelson attempted to pick-up a GPS unit that had fallen. When the semi drifted onto the right shoulder, Nelson over-corrected, resulting in a loss of control.

The semi entered the east ditch and rolled over. The accident happened at around 2-p.m., Thursday. Nelson -who was wearing a seat belt – was transported by Unity Point Air to the University Of Iowa Hospital. The vehicle was registered to Jensen Transport, Inc., out of Independence.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies, Manchester Fire, RMC Ambulance and Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement personnel.