(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two recent arrests.

• 46-year-old Joseph Eric Funke, of Fontanelle, was arrested April 2nd, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Funke was a passenger in a vehicle that was at a convenience store in Adair. As a Deputy approached to speak with Funke, he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Funke admitted to smoking a joint earlier. A Probable cause search of the vehicle turned up a small amount of marijuana joints inside of a cigarette box, and a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue. An additional glass pipe with residue consistent with the smoking of meth, was found in the vehicle’s center console. Funke was cited for Possession and released at the scene with a summons to appear in court.
• 40-year-old Dustin Brian Benge, of Greenfield, was arrested April 6th on an Adair County warrant for Tampering with a witness or juror. Benge was also taken into custody for Violation of Probation. He was being held on a combined $8,000 cash-only bond.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports four-people were injured, with one person suffering serious injuries, during a collision Sunday afternoon northeast of Orient. In an update to our earlier report, Sheriff Jeff Vandewater said a 2016 Dodge RAM pickup driven by 70-year-old Judy Ann Sammons, of Orient, was facing west at the intersection of Henry A. Wallace Road and 300th Street, at a posted stop sign. A semi-truck same out of the south on Henry A. Wallace Road, and turned west onto 300th Street.

Sammons failed to see a 2016 Honda Odyssey van coming from the south and headed northbound, behind the semi. Sammons proceeded to continue traveling west, and in doing so, was struc by the van, driven by 55-year-old Laura Michelle Baker, of West Des Moines. Sammons suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries, and was transported by Adair County Ambulance to the Greater Regional Hospital, in Creston. She complained of neck pain, and has also suffered cuts and bruises.

Laura Baker was transported to the Adair County Memorial Hospital in Greenfield, also by an Adair County Ambulance. She complained of head, neck and abdominal pain. Two passengers in the van, 17-year-old Braden Baker and 19-year-old Brielle Baker, both from West Des Moines, also complained of pain and were transported to the hospital. Both vehicles sustained a total of $25,000 and were towed away. Sammons was cited for Failure to Yield.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has chosen an attorney who represented the Trump campaign in a high profile case to be a state gambling regulator. The governor is appointing Alan Ostergren to replace a former state legislator on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission next month. Ostergren is president and C-E-O of The Kirkwood Institute, which is described on its website as a conservative public interest law firm. Ostergren was elected to three terms as Muscatine County Attorney, but resigned in May of 2020 to enter private practice.

Ostergren successfully represented the Trump campaign’s challenge of voter registration forms mailed by county auditors from Linn, Johnson and Woodbury Counties for the 2020 General Election. He also represented Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks campaign during the recount in her 2020 race for the U.S. House. In 2022, Ostergren was the attorney who handled challenges to the nomination petitions Democrat Abby Finkenauer submitted for the U-S Senate Primary.

Ostergren’s nomination to the Racing and Gaming must be confirmed by at least 34 senators. Republicans now hold 34 seats in the 50-member Iowa Senate.

(Menlo, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following what was described as a “slow-speed” collision Sunday afternoon between two Harley Davidson motorcycles, near Menlo. Authorities say a 2014 Harley being operated by 45-year-old Andrea Lee Goins, of DeSoto, and a 2021 Harley operated by 52-year-old Jeffrey Lane Ockerman, of Adel, were traveling west on White Pole Road and coming into Menlo at around 3:20-p.m.

Goins said when she saw Ockerman’s cycle, it appeared that it was going to turn north onto McPherson Street, and that it then looked like Ockerman changed his mind. Goins pulled-up behind the other motorcycle because she thought it was going straight, but then the other Harley proceeded to turn north onto McPherson. The right front side of the cycle struck the left rear side of Goins’ cycle.

Ockerman’s motorcycle then tipped over onto its right side and slid on the road. When a Guthrie County Deputy arrived on the scene, he observed both cycles were off on the shoulder of the road. Both machines had sustained damage amounting to $3,500 altogether.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This week, April 9-15, 2023 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. It’s a time to pay recognition to the men and women who staff not only the Cass County Communications Center, but those who are the First “First Responders”. April is 911 Education Month, in Iowa. When you call 9-1-1, dispatchers guide you through the steps to take to ensure your safety before help arrives. They also provide lifesaving instructions over the phone in instances of cardiac arrest and other critical EMS calls.

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon spoke about the dispatchers at the Comm Center.

Combined, the dispatchers have over 100-years of experience. Kennon said there’s always someone on-duty to take calls.

Not everyone is qualified to handle the stress when you’re dealing with multiple calls or events.

Kennon says it can also be rewarding, when the dispatcher is able to assist in saving lives, such as in the case of someone having a heart attack, by providing the caller with instructions on how to conduct CPR, etc. In addition to handling 9-1-1 calls, operators in most counties are capable of receiving 911 Text messages.

He says if there’s a situation where you question if you should call 9-1-1 instead of an Administration or Non-Emergency line, call 9-1-1. They can determine if help should be sent. Just don’t abuse the service.