The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a 17-year old male was arrested on a charge of Serious Assault last week, after he allegedly assaulted 36-year old Kevin Long, of College Springs. The unnamed teen allegedly hit Long on the head with a fireplace poker causing injury, but Long refused medical treatment. The incident allegedly took place at around 5:30-p.m, on March 23rd, in College Springs. The teen was transported to the Southwest Iowa Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs for holding.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 31-year old Jessica Miles, of Anita, was arrested Friday on a charge of 5th Degree Theft/Shoplifting. Miles was cited for the alleged offense and released, with orders to appear in court at a later date.

A central Iowa woman who was in a serious car accident as an infant was crowned over the weekend as the state’s new spokeswoman for people with disabilities. Jayde (JADE) Henry is Ms. Wheelchair Iowa for 2012. Henry is a 30-year-old from Des Moines and she explains her goals for the year ahead as the new titleholder.
Henry says, “My platform is to bridge the gaps between disabled and non-disableds in a matter of interacting by educating kids in school about us and to eliminate any teasing.” The pageant was held in Iowa City on Saturday and focuses on the person’s accomplishments since the onset of their disability. In Henry’s case, she lost the use of her legs at a very young age, but has learned to adapt and overcome obstacles.

“Six months old, I was in a car accident down in Leon,” Henry says. “When I was five years old, I started using a wheelchair, wheeling myself around. Now, I drive a truck that has suicide doors and hand controls in it and I get around pretty much anywhere.” As the assistant manager of an Indianola graphics company, Henry helps customers with orders on items from vinyl signs to embroidery, in addition to doing inventory and some accounting. As the new Ms. Wheelchair Iowa, she hopes to reach out to other women, men and children who are in similar situations as herself.

Henry says, “I hope to encourage other disabled Iowans to speak out and address their issues they have in their towns so we can get those resolved and we can all work together.” Any spare time over the next year will be spent talking before civic groups, schools, churches and making appearances at parades and other events. Henry will represent Iowa at the Ms. Wheelchair America competition in August in Rhode Island.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa may see one of its biggest years ever for state highway construction driven by lower bids from contractors and higher-than-expected state and federal funding.  During an average season about $460 million is spent on Iowa highways. This year’s spending could equal the record of $600 million set in 2009, when federal economic stimulus money flooded into the state. Key projects will include widening Interstate 35 to six lanes in West Des Moines, reconstructing the Interstate 80/U.S. Highway 65 interchange at Altoona, and finishing a new Ankeny interchange on I-35.

Work also will continue to widen U.S. Highway 20 to four lanes in western Iowa. Interstate projects also are planned in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities.

Six men were indicted late last week on charges they conspired to distribute over 100-kilograms of marijuana in western Iowa between May 2009 and March 29^th, 2012. Dennis Eugene Smith, Nicholas Dean Barnes, Christopher Lee Brandt, Gene Allen Smith, Justin Ray Smith, and David L. Lopez, Jr. were indicted March 29^th.

United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt says on Friday, March 30th, all six men appeared in Council Bluffs federal court for their initial appearance and arraignment. Their trial is set to take place June 4^th. Conspiracy to distribute marijuana as charged is punishable by a minimum of five years to a maximum of 40 years in prison; a fine of up to $5,000,000, at least four years of suspended release, $100 special assessment and forfeiture of property. 

The men’s indictment was the result of a more than two-year investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Omaha, Nebraska, Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.