The Creston Police Department reports the arrest early Thursday afternoon, of 31-year-old Devon Taylor Keller. The Creston man was taken into custody at the Union County Courthouse on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation, related to a No Contact/Protective Order. Keller was being held without bond at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, pending an appearance before the Judge.

The latest area/State News from Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – The owner of an iconic downtown grocery store in southwest Iowa says he -will- rebuild after fire gutted Mulholland’s Grocery in Malvern just over a month ago. Firefighters from more than two dozen communities battled the blaze December 10th. Though an investigation into the fire’s cause is still underway, Tom Mulholland says the store will return, though it may take a year. “The insurance investigators and state fire marshal are waiting for some more information,” said Mulholland. “It’s extremely frustrating for myself and then the neighbors who have to wait through this.”

Mulholland says reconstruction won’t be able to get underway until the investigation is complete.”We can’t set any type of a timeframe,” he said. “Of course, with construction issues being the way they are thanks to COVID, I’m sure that’s going to delay things also, but that’s why we wanted to try to hit the ground running and get some ideas running, and talk to people to get ideas into the works.” Mulholland says he’s not ready to retire and reopening the store is what’s best for the community. “Malvern needs some sort of grocery store here,” Mulholland says. “People have really realized how much it depended upon over the past few weeks, and I’ve heard so many comments. It’s going to secure the future of our community, and allow for the continued growth that Malvern has seen over the past many years.”

Mulholland adds he’s amazed by the support coming from within and far beyond the community. “I worked in Omaha for over 20 years before I bought the store,” he said. “I heard from so many customers there. I’ve heard from people from all over the country that have been customers, or came from Malvern, you know, just have some ties to my business or my community in some way. We’ve received donations from all over.”

Malvern Bank and the Malvern Area Betterment Association still have an official donation account for those affected by the fire. Donations can be dropped off at Malvern Bank, with reference to the Go Fund Malvern account, or through the Go_Fund_Malvern account on Venmo.

Police in Red Oak report a woman was arrested at around 4:15-p.m. Thursday, for Interference with Official Acts. 50-year-old Sally Mae Petersen was taken into custody at the intersection of Oak and Broadway Streets. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is proposing a way to trigger CORPORATE income tax cuts. The governor did not mention cutting taxes for corporations during her Condition of the State address earlier this week, but her plan is included in a budget report submitted to lawmakers. If Iowa corporations pay more than 700 million dollars in state income taxes this year, Reynolds proposes lowering the top corporate income tax rate next year.

Democrats like House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst says it’s a break for only the most profitable corporations. “That would not help small businesses across the state,” Konfrst says, “but would, once again, be giving tax breaks to her biggest donors and big corporations in the state instead of focusing on middle income Iowans who need tax cuts the most.”

In December, a key Senate Republican working on tax policy said before lawmakers would lower the corporate income tax rate, corporations would have to sign off on reduced or eliminated tax CREDITS that — in some cases — erase a corporation’s entire state tax bill. And House Speaker Pat Grassley has said House Republicans are focused on personal income tax cuts this year.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the Supreme Court’s ruling that blocks federal Covid vaccine requirements in large businesses is a major victory for Iowans and their personal freedoms. During an interview with Radio Iowa BEFORE the ruling was announced, Reynolds called the vaccine mandate arbitrary. “We’re going to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated. I’m not in favor of a mandate,” Reynolds says. “…It doesn’t stop people from getting it, especially the new variant or transmitting it. You know, that’s been demonstrated.”

Reynolds says it was ridiculous for the Biden Administration to try to make businesses be the enforcer to get workers vaccinated or tested once a week. President Biden says if you’re UN-vaccinated, you are 17 times more likely to get hospitalized if you get Covid — and it’s now up to individual employers to make their workplaces safe as possible during the pandemic. It’s unclear what’s next in the Iowa legislature where a group of House Republicans had been crafting a bill to ban vaccine mandates in Iowa businesses.

Reynolds says policymakers have to be really careful not to penalize businesses that are requiring all employees to be vaccinated. “It’s a balance,” Reynolds says. “These are individual, private companies and so we have to make sure that we’re not overstepping in the same manner that we’re criticizing, you know, the federal government for doing — for overstepping.” The Supreme Court has allowed a separate federal vaccination requirement for health care workers to remain in force. Reynolds calls that a disappointment.

The Iowa Hospital Association’s president and C-E-O says vaccines are an important tool to combat Covid-19, but the vaccine mandate has the potential to create additional staffing issues in health care settings.

(Menlo, Iowa) – A motorcycle accident late Thursday night in Adair County has claimed the life of a man from Fontanelle. The Iowa State Patrol reports 59-year-old Jay Zimmerline died in the crash that occurred at around 11:27-p.m. on I-80 westbound, near mile marker 87 (near Menlo).

The 2011 Harley Davidson motorcycle went out of control and entered the median before hitting the cable barrier. Jay Zimmerline was thrown from the machine and died from his injuries at the scene. His body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, for autopsy.

Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies and Menlo Fire/Rescue assisted at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Board of Regents has voted to remove the A-C-T and S-A-T requirements for admission to the state’s public universities. The requirements were temporarily waived in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and Regents Chief Academic Officer Rachel Boon says it gives the three state schools more options.

“Having an alternative pathway that will really just give the admissions offices great flexibility in making admission decisions in the absence of an A-C-T of S-A-T score,” she says. The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa use what’s called the Regent Admission Index (RAI) for classifying students. Boon says that won’t really change.

“It uses the same factors that it has for several years now — which is mainly the high school G-P-A, the number of core college prep courses taken, and an A-C-T score. That is going to continue to be the primary pathway for automatic admission for Iowa residents to all three of our institutions. Boon says they’ve been studying the use of the college entrance exams for some time. “And our findings continue to indicate that the tests do have some value in predicting first-year G-P-A, but ultimately have sort of a limited relationship to the likelihood of graduation,” Boon says.

She says high school grades remain a big factor in admissions. “High school G-P-A actually showed a stronger relationship to graduating in four years — which is, of course, the outcome that is most desirable,” according to Boon. “I want to be clear — this does not mean the A-C-T has no value. We continue to believe that the A-C-T does have value. But it does mean that in the absence of an A-C-T score, admissions offices can still use the G-P-A and other academic information to still make really well-informed admissions decisions.”

The change still needs to be approved by the Iowa Administrative Rules Review Committee.

DES MOINES – Secretary of State Paul Pate today (Thursday) announced the creation of a statewide alliance with Iowa’s business community to end human trafficking in the state. Several of the state’s largest trade organizations have already joined the Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT) coalition.

Membership in IBAT is open to any business or nonprofit organization that operates in the State of Iowa and shares a commitment to taking steps to promote awareness of human trafficking and the Iowa Safe at Home program. Safe at Home is an address confidentiality program for survivors of human trafficking and other violent crimes. Both IBAT and Safe at Home are administered by Secretary Pate’s office.

“My office is the business portal for the State of Iowa, and we’ll be inviting every business in the state to join this effort,” Secretary Pate said. “We are going to build a statewide, grassroots coalition that will unite with one common mission: to make Iowa a trafficking-free state.”

The announcement by Secretary Pate was made during a ceremony on Thursday at the State Capitol with Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery. “We are grateful to have been invited to collaborate with the Secretary of State in the design and creation of the IBAT program,” said George Belitsos, chair of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery. “Secretary Pate is to be commended for launching IBAT and giving all of Iowa’s businesses the opportunity to join the fight to end modern slavery and human trafficking in our state.”

Businesses that join IBAT are asked to complete two tasks each year: “Learn Something” and “Do Something”. Businesses will commit to “Learn Something” by educating employees, customers, and industry partners on the signs and impact of human trafficking in Iowa. Businesses can “Do Something” by empowering more people to take action to prevent human trafficking in Iowa.

“Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery, and it must end,” Secretary Pate said. “It affects thousands of people across the U.S., and it happens right here in Iowa. Whether it’s a large corporation or a mom and pop store on Main Street with one employee, every business can join, and every business can make a difference.”

Businesses can learn more about IBAT and apply for membership at IBAT.Iowa.gov. Members receive a window decal of the IBAT logo to place in their business. The logo is available for your use at this link.