Police in Shenandoah report a Kentucky man was arrested Tuesday night on drug charges, following a traffic stop. Officials say 52-year old Charles Davis faces a Felony charge for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and a misdemeanor Possesion of Drug Paraphernalia charge. The charges were the result of a traffic stop by two Shenandoah Police  officers, who found Davis was allegedly in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Davis was being held in the Page County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Shenandoah Police report also, two people were arrested recently following a large fight which occured Saturday at the Elks Club on Highway 59, in Shenandoah. Officials say Shenandoah residents, 22-year old Karisma Garcia, and 18-year old David Delafuente were charged with Disorderly Conduct. The pair were cited into court. Shenandoah Police were assisted in handling the event by deputies with the Page and Fremont County Sheriff’s Offices,  Essex Police, and the Iowa State Patrol.

Authorities in Shenandoah are also investigating a car that was reported stolen Sunday from a Shenandoah, and recovered the next day in the City limits.

A high speed chase involving an erratic driver Tuesday night in northwest Jefferson, lead to two-vehicle crash that killed one-person and injured another. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of the vehicle being pursued, 18-year old Jonathan Dalton Bindel, of Jefferson, died in the crash. A passenger in the vehicle, 20-year old Miranda Sue Parris, also of Jefferson, was injured, and transported by Jefferson Rescue, to the Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson. Both of the accident victims were wearing their seat belts.

Officials say Bindel’s 2006 Ford Taurus was being pursued by a State Trooper on westbound Highway 30 at around 11:30-p.m.  The Patrol says Bindel was driving erratically and at a high rate of speed. A Ford F-250 pickup driven by on-duty Jefferson Police Officer Heath Aaron Enns,  was traveling north on North Grimmell Road, and had turned east onto Highway 30 to assist with the pursuit, when Bindel drove into the eastbound lane of Highway 30.

The Patrol says Enns tried to avoid a head-on collision by driving onto the shoulder, but his pickup was hit by car, causing the pickup to spin around and enter the south ditch, before it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels. After the impact, the Taurus came to rest in the south ditch. Officials say Enns was not injured in the crash.

Santa’s sleigh may be lighter this holiday season. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says consumers in Iowa and nationwide are continuing to show signs of hesitation about buying, so merchants are beginning to make plans for another slow December.

“Retailers are very guarded on what’s going to happen,” Goss says. “As a result, they’ve been very cautious in terms of expanding their inventories. They’ve pared them back fairly significantly.” Iowa and the Midwest are in better shape than many other states and regions, Goss says, and growth in holiday sales here ought to be higher than elsewhere, too.

“In my judgment, we’re going to see growth from last year of about three to four-percent,” Goss says. “At the national level, it’s going to be about half that, one to two-percent.” With consumer confidence tanking, he says that projection is a far cry from where it would ordinarily be during a healthier economy. “While it’s not as good as we’d like to see, a normal expansion would be in the six to seven-percent range but still, it’s much better than what we saw last year,” Goss says.

(by Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)