(Red Oak, Iowa) A Montgomery County man suffered minor injuries during a collision that was the result of distracted driving, Sunday morning, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak Police Department, 35-year-old Cory Phelan Porter, of Red Oak, was driving a 2006 Dodge Dakota pickup truck westbound in the 500 block of E. Washington Avenue at around 9:30-a.m., Sunday, when he lost the lens out of his glasses. When Porter reached down to pick it up, his pickup veered across the center line of the road and into the opposite lane.

When he looked up, he tried to stop, but was unable to do so in-time before his pickup struck the front of a legally parked 2013 Ford pickup. The impact pushed the parked pickup into a legally parked 2013 Chevy Equinox SUV. Porter suffered an abrasion on his head and knees, but refused rescue. He was cited for Driving in an improper lane/wrong direction.

Damage from the accident amounted to $12,100, according to the police report.

An accident late Sunday evening, caused $18,000 damage, but no one was injured. Red Oak Police report a 2015 Jeep Wrangler owned by Charles & Roxanna Fink, and driven by 22-year-old Savannah Jo Fink, of Red Oak, was traveling west on Highway 34 in a 50 mph construction zone. A 2017 Dodge Charger owned by Mid-Plains Truck and Auto, and driven by 55-year-old James T. Vukonich, of Fremont, NE, was traveling east on Highway 34 in the same construction zone. As the Jeep was approaching the intersection of 8th Street and Highway 34, a 2021 Ford Escape SUV owned by Thomas & Lois Pratt, and driven by 79-year-old Thomas Keith Pratt, of Red Oak, was stopped at the stop sign facing south on 8th Street. Pratt failed to yield the right-of-way before his vehicle pulled out in front of the Jeep and was struck by the SUV.

The impact caused the Escape to crash into the barrels of sand in the construction lane, which caused additional damage to the Ford. The Jeep was bumped-off of the Ford and struck the Dodge Charger that was in the oncoming lane, sideswiping the left side of the car. The Jeep was left undrivable, and stuck in the middle of the westbound lane. The other two vehicles were driven away by their respective drivers.

There were no citations issued.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The 2024 Montgomery County Fair is underway now (Monday, July 15) through Saturday (July 20), in Red Oak. Preparations for the Fair began last Friday, with a Pre-Fair Supper, and 4-H/FFA Clover Kid Pool Party. View the full schedule HERE.

Monday’s (Today’s) scheduled activities: 4-H/FFA Horse Show; Wardrobe judging; 4-H Table Setting display & judging; Educational presentations, and Extemporaneous Speaking & Working Exhibits

Tuesday will feature entry and judging of 4-H Ag and Natural Resources; The official Fair Welcome will be held Tuesday night, followed by a Religious Rally, and Montgomery County Youth Council Gaga Ball Tournament.

Photo from the Montgomery County (IA) Fair Facebook page

Among the other activities this week, is: the Montgomery County Farm Bureau Breakfast for exhibitors and families, Thursday morning; Amusement inflatables starting Thursday at Noon and each day thereafter, until 10-p.m.; An ATV race Thursday evening; Senior Citizens Day Bingo on Friday, from 1-until 4-p.m.; Mechanical Bull Riding Friday evening at 7, and the Free Bull Ride event at 8-p.m., Friday, followed by a free concert from Tyler Folkerts; Free ice cream and pie Saturday afternoon, following the Baked Apple Pie Contest; A livestock auction Saturday afternoon, a band concert from 7-to 10-p.m., and a Demolition Derby, beginning at 7-p.m., Saturday.

Since 1956, the Montgomery County Fair has been a celebration of family values and ethical standards. Located in Red Oak, it is the home to countless attractions and events in Southwest Iowa.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say six people were arrested Friday through Sunday. Three of the arrests occurred Sunday:

38-year-old Jessica Lynn Palmer, of Creston, was arrested for Assault (General). Palmer was taken to the Union County Jail where she was later released on $300 cash or surety bond; 58-year-old Scott Bradley Spurrier, of Orient, was arrested for OWI 1^st Offense. Spurrier was taken to the Union County Jail where he was later released on $1000 cash or surety bond.; And, 23-year-old Juan Carlos Villegas, Jr., of Texas, was arrested at the Quality Inn, in Creston. Villegas was charged with Public Intoxication 1^st Offense. Villegas was taken to the Union County Jail where he was later released on $300 cash or surety bond.

Early Saturday morning, 33-year-old Irene Pantoja, of Creston, was arrested for OWI 1^st Offense. Pantoja was taken to the Union County Jail where she was later released on $1000 cash or surety bond.

Friday afternoon, 71-year-old Sandra Jean Bruce, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bruce was cited and released on Promise to Appear. And, Friday night, 41-year-old Nicki Renee Jones, of Creston, was arrested for Driving while Barred. Jones was cited and released on Promise to Appear.

(Creston, Iowa) – An SUV and  a pickup truck collided Sunday afternoon in Creston, but no injuries were reported. According to Creston Police, the collision occurred at around 1:05-p.m. at the intersection of Birch and Carpenter Streets. A 2024 Toyota Sequoia SUV driven by 42-year-old Jacqueline Welchans, of Creston, was struck by a 2013 Dodge pickup driven by 24-year-old Kierstin Swank, of Lenox.

Authorities said Welchans was traveling south on Birch Street in Creston. Swank was stopped on westbound Carpenter Street, at the stop sign. She told police she looked but did not see the SUV before pulling-out into the intersection. Welchans tried to stop and avoid the collision, but was unable to do so.

Both vehicles sustained significant damage, but were able to be driven from the scene. Swank was issued a citation for Failure to have insurance. She was also issued a written warning for Failure to yield the right-of-way. Damage from the collision amounted to $3,500 altogether, according to the police report.

(Iowa News Service) – An Iowa nonprofit group helps ag-related businesses grow to serve more farmers and get more cover crops planted in the state. Cover crops like rye and wheat are typically planted to protect the soil in winter months – and in and between row crops like corn and soybeans to control weeds in the growing season.

Practical Farmers of Iowa is making up to $10,000 available to farmers who want to commercialize their cover crop practice through the Cover Crop Business Accelerator Program. PFI’s Senior Field Crops Viability Manager Lydia English said while cover crops are good for weed control and soil health, most farmers who use them have another goal.

“Ninety percent of the time, it’s to combat erosion, either wind or water,” said English. “So, I think seeing that soil loss is really real – and that’s a lot of value that we’re washing down the drain, literally, that we don’t need to, with a practice like cover crops.” English said PFI wants to plant 12 million of Iowa’s 30 million acres of farmland with cover crops and thinks the accelerator program will encourage farmers to help reach that goal.

Iowa corn and soybean Farmer Dan Bahe owns a business that plants cover crops for its clients on about 7,000 acres.
He and his brother were already experienced farmers who have used cover crops for more than a decade, but Bahe said they used PFI’s accelerator program to scale up their operation – especially by taking advantage of a personalized business coaching program. “Helping us put a business plan together,” said Bahe. “Ideas on creating a legal entity, marketing, branding. Because we were already established, but we really didn’t have a game plan. We were just taking orders, going out and seeding cover crops.”

The 2022 Census of Agriculture reported nearly 1.3 million acres of cover crops in Iowa. That’s a 32% increase since 2017.
PFI’s accelerator program is in its fifth year.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says U-S-D-A scientists have collected data from Iowa and are working to understand how bird flu has moved to infect dairy cows as well as other animals. “I ordered in an epidemiological strike team from USDA, appreciate they sent that team,” Naig says. “…(They) went farm-by-farm…really trying to understand how high path moves through a herd or possible ways it’s moving off the farm or onto the farm.”

No other state is doing testing of dairy operations within a 12 mile radius of any poultry flock that has to be euthanized after avian influenza is confirmed in the birds — and Naig says wildlife in those zones are being screened for bird flu as well. “I think what we’re going to get when we get to the end of this maybe in weeks or even months is that we’re going to actually have specific strategies farmers can use to protect their operations,” Naig says, “but if you’re not testing, you can’t do that kind of work.”

It’s been a couple of weeks since bird flu has been confirmed in cattle or poultry in an Iowa operation. Since March, six farm workers in Texas, Michigan and Colorado have tested positive for bird flu. Employees at Iowa facilities where the virus has been confirmed among birds or cattle have been tested, but Naig says there have been no human cases of bird flu in Iowa.

“By the way, there’s no evidence of human-to-human spread, which is very good news for all of us,” Naig said, “and why is important that we manage these things as animal health issues, try to deal with them on the farm so they don’t become human health or food safety issues.”

Naig made his comments this weekend during an appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Davenport says congress will have valid questions about how the Secret Service performed at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.  “Having been in the military, there is always an after-action report,” Miller-Meeks says. “You want to know, you know, how was a shooter on the building? How did that occur? Why and how were they close to the perimeter?”

Miller-Meeks says she has additional perspective because her oldest brother was a Secret Service agent who guarded and traveled with Presidents Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush before ending his career working at the Reagan Ranch in California. Miller-Meeks says she’s heard directly from Iowans — and from people from both political parties — who have expressed shock and horror after Saturday’s tragic events. “It is not acceptable. It is not how we solve differences or how we promote and advocate for issues that we think are important,” Miller-Meeks says. “We do that at the ballot box and elections.”

Miller-Meeks will be in Milwaukee at some point this week to meet with Iowa delegates at the Republican National Convention.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says over 30-thousand students have been approved for state funding to cover private school expenses for the next school year. Reynolds made the announcement at an event hosted by The Family Leader, an evangelical Christian group. “Just another indication that parents want options,” she said, to applause.

In early 2023 Reynolds signed a law creating state-funded Education Savings Accounts. Last school year nearly 19-thousand students qualified for the program based on limited family income. This year, students from households with an annual income that’s 400 percent of the poverty level are eligible. The state will spend about 78-hundred dollars on each private school student who qualifies. Reynolds says the program injects competition in the state’s K-through-12 education system.

“As lieutenant governor with Governor Branstad we did a comprehensive education reform package and I can remember standing at a town hall saying: ‘You know, I think we should embrace competition. It makes us all stronger,'” Reynolds said. “…I was booed and heckled and nearly chased out of the room by just saying that simple statement.”

Reynolds describes the pandemic as a game changer in the push to dramatically increase state funding for private schools. “It really gave parents a front row seat to see what was happening in their classrooms,” Reynolds said, “and just the lack of the teachers union for really getting those kids back in the classroom.”

Beyond state funding for private school expenses, Reynolds says she’s trying to lift Iowa’s education system as a whole. She points to the raises she approved for beginning and veteran teachers in public schools and a new reading initiative. “Iowa used to lead the country when it came to education and I think a lot of people still believe that. We are not now, but we will be,” Reynolds says. “…Hang in there with me. We are on our way.”

Democrats say education is a major issue in legislative races this year. The Democratic leaders in the Iowa House and Senate say spending hundreds of millions of state tax dollars on private schools and the changes Reynolds pushed for in Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are unpopular with voters.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on 18 arrests that occurred between July 2nd and the 14th. In order from the most recent to the earliest arrests:

• July 14: 20-year-old Riley Eileen Hunter, of Shenandoah, was arrested on an active warrant for Failure to Appear (in court); and, 23-year-old Blas Rendon Luevanos, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Harassment, and Violation of a No Contact Order.
• July 12: 39-year-old Nichole Marie Nicholas, and 37-year-old Amy Jo Liles, both of Shenandoah, were booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
• July 11: 46-year-old Michelle Marie Carnes, and 35-year-old Tyler Buck Carnes, both of Shenandoah, were arrested for Harassment.
• July 9: 55-year-old Thomas Harold Nielsen, of Ida Grove, was arrested in Page County for OWI.
• July 8: 33-year-old Bradley Aeron Haley, of Clarinda, was arrested for Sex Offender Registry Violations.
• July 7: 62-year-old Judy Ann Berry, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Theft and Interference with Official Acts; 37-year-old Amanda Maria Carlson, of New Market, was arrested at the Page County Sheriff’s Office on an active warrant out of Taylor County. She was later transferred to the custody of Taylor County Deputies.
• On July  5th, four people from Shenandoah were booked into the Page County Jail to serve time. They included: 39-year-old Nichole Marie Nicholas; 38-year-old Karl James Shade, III; 37-year-old Amy Jo Liles, and 47-year-old Jamie Jay Shannon. 
• There were three arrests July 3rd in Page County: 41-year-old Michael Joe Baxter, of Des Moines, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Mischief, Assault on a Peace Officer, and Obstruction of Emergency Communication; 40-year-old Joshua Wayne Baer, of College Springs, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault, Assault, and Child Endangerment; and, 35-year-old Kelli Jo Wiederholt, of Braddyville, was arrested for Criminal Mischief.
• And, on July 2nd, Page County Deputies arrested 32-year-old Jessie Marie Patterson, of Clarinda, for OWI, Driving While Barred, and Assault on a Peace Officer.

Sheriff’s Office Disclaimer: “A charge of merely and accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

The Page County Sheriff’s Office also reports 14 people who received citations between July 4th and July 13th. Ten of those persons were cited for Minor in Possession of Alcohol, four were cited for Speeding.

UPDATED – (Radio Iowa) – The chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa says there’s no place for political violence in America. Iowa G-O-P chair Jeff Kaufmann spoke with Radio Iowa a few hours after former President Trump was shot in the ear and a person in the crowd at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania was killed.

Kaufmann says he doesn’t know if plans for next week’s Republican National Convention will change, but he hopes not.

Kaufmann was in Mount Pleasant, giving a speech to Henry County Republicans Saturday afternoon and someone stopped Kaufmann as he walked to his car to break the news.

As Kaufmann drove home Saturday afternoon, Kaufmann says he thought of another presidential candidate whose family has lived through two assassinations. “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. needs to have Secret Service protection before the stroke of midnight,” Kaufmann said. Kaufmann has been to innumerable political rallies — and gone through the metal detectors along with the rest of the crowd — and he says it’s hard to comprehend today’s events.

Iowa political leaders immediately began issuing statements on social media Saturday afternoon, calling for Iowans to pray for Trump, thanking the Secret Service for its response — and condemning the violence. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Rita Hart said gun violence is never acceptable and violence of any sort should never be perpetrated against people who are trying to participate in our democratic process.

The FBI early on Sunday (today) identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. His motive for the shooting is not yet clear.

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Governor Kim Reynolds issued the following statement regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this evening: “This assassination attempt on a former president, current nominee for president, and leader of the Republican Party marks a dark day in American history. Kevin and I are grateful that President Trump is safe and is doing well. We will continue to pray for him and his family, as well as those who were shot and the family of the individual who was killed.

“As President Trump showed when he walked off the stage, we will not cower to such terror. I will be in Milwaukee this week and will proudly stand with him and our party. America will get through this, together, and President Trump will lead us into the next four years.”

A statement from IDP Chair Rita Hart: “The news about Former President Donald Trump is extremely troubling. Gun violence is never acceptable and violence of any sort should never be perpetuated against people who are trying to participate in our democratic process. My thoughts are with the people who attended today’s rally and were forced to witness today’s events. I am thankful for the Secret Service and all of the brave men and women who fight to keep our nation safe every day.”

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s post on X: Thank u secret service agents for ur selflessness& bravery

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s post on X: In the midst of chaos, Trump showed strength. Continuing to pray for him and our country. God bless America!

First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Davenport) on X: Tragic learning there’s one fatality and 2 injured in addition to Trump in Butler, PA. I pray for them & their families. I’m grateful for the Secret Service, LEO’s and first responders; thank you. Importantly, I absolutely condemn political violence. It is never acceptable! Solve differences at the ballot box.

Christina Bohannan of Iowa City, the Democratic nominee in Iowa’s first congressional district, on X: Praying for the safety of former President Trump and everyone who was at the rally. Violence has no place in our political system.

Second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Marion) on X: Pray for President Trump.

Third district Congressman Zach Nunn (R-Bondurant) on X: Join Kelly and me in praying for President Trump, his family, and all attendees.

Lanon Baccam of Des Moines, the Democratic Party’s nominee in Iowa’s third congressional district, on X: Political violence is unacceptable. We cannot tolerate despicable acts like this. We must find a way to come back together as a country. I pray for President Trump and everyone affected at the rally today.

Fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) issued a written statement: “I join the American people in praying for President Trump and those in attendance at his rally. This violence is unacceptable and disgusting. I wish the President a speedy recovery.”

Ryan Melton of Nevada, the Democratic Party’s nominee in the fourth congressional district, on X: My thoughts and prayers are with Former President Trump, and I wish him the best in his recovery. I commend the Secret Service for their quick response, and wish the best for all rally attendees. There’s no place for any kind of violence in our political process.

DES MOINES, IA – On Saturday, State Auditor Rob Sand released the following statement in response to the political violence that erupted at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania:

“Please join our family and all Iowans in praying for former president Donald Trump and anyone else impacted by this senseless act of violence. Political violence of any kind is unacceptable, and has no place in a democracy. Thankful for the quick action by secret service and law enforcement, who put their lives on the line each and every day in service of our country.”