Des Moines – Iowa Democratic Candidate for Governor Deidre DeJear will meet with Audubon County residents April 20th at 5:30 at the Barn Burner Restaurant in Brayton, Iowa. The event is a part of her campaign’s 99 County Tour and will offer local residents an opportunity to hear directly from DeJear about why she is running to represent Iowans.

It will also be an opportunity for DeJear to hear directly from Audubon County residents, about the issues and policies that matter most in rural Iowa.

CRESTON, Iowa – April 11, 2022 – The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office reports, repairs to the Iowa 83 bridge over the East Nishnabotna River 1.1 miles west of the junction with U.S. 6 in Atlantic requires closing Iowa 83 between Iowa 173 and U.S. 6 from 8 a.m. Monday, April 18 until 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, weather permitting.

DES MOINES – Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Spring 2022 Iowa Youth Straw Poll takes place Tuesday. Thousands of students across Iowa will cast ballots for their preferred candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Iowa Governor. More than 170 schools have registered to participate so far. The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is open to any K-12 school in the state, as well as civic organizations and youth groups. Candidates were asked to provide a short video with a personalized message for Iowa students. The videos are available on the Elections 101 website and on Secretary Pate’s YouTube page.

Students, teachers, and organizations can register for the Iowa Youth Straw Poll by clicking here. The full list of schools that have registered so far is available here.

The Youth Straw Poll is part of the Elections 101 curriculum developed by Secretary Pate for use in Iowa schools. Live results will be published at this link starting Tuesday morning and updated throughout the day. You can also view past results at that link. A news release with results will be distributed late Tuesday afternoon, with a likely follow-up on Wednesday with updated numbers. Teachers and schools are encouraged to post photos of their Youth Straw Poll events on social media, using the #BeAVoter hashtag.

Every congressional and gubernatorial candidate who qualified for Iowa’s 2022 primary or general election ballots is included in the Youth Straw Poll.

*The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is about involving students in a hands-on civics activity and getting them interested in voting, not particularly about the candidates themselves. Over the weekend, a Polk County District Court Judge found that U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer did not have enough valid signatures to appear on the June 2022 primary election ballot. The decision may be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. Youth Straw Poll ballots have already been provided to teachers with Mrs. Finkenauer’s name appearing on them. Students may vote for her if they wish, and all those results will be included in the tally.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs say two people suffered life-threatening injuries during a rollover accident that occurred at around 10:11-a.m. today (Monday), in the 4100 block of Veteran’s Memorial Highway (Vets Hwy). A preliminary investigation revealed that a 2005 Chevy Suburban was eastbound on Vets Hwy, when it veered off the road to the right. The SUV struck a light pole and rolled multiple times down an embankment before coming to rest.

Two adult occupants of the vehicle were ejected when it rolled. They were transported to an area trauma center for treatment of their injuries. No names were immediately released. The incident remains under investigation by the Council Bluffs P-D Traffic Unit. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call 712-328-4948.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa has been selected to be a partner in a 360 million dollar national consortium to work on improving flood predictions. The U-I’s Larry Weber will lead the effort in Iowa and says they will build on what they have done here to combat flooding. “The Iowa flood information system that we’ve created for the state of Iowa, has been recognized by people across the country as the best in class and information for flooding. And we’ll be expanding that I will flood information system to the Upper Mississippi River Basin and the Mississippi River basin, and then eventually the entire nation,” Weber says.

Weber leads the university’s Hydroscience and Engineering program and says they have deployed sensors across the state while also developing new sensor technology to help in the monitoring of the onset of flooding. This technology will not get broader use. “Sharing that technology with other partners that then could deploy similar technology in their own states,” he says. He says they will also work on other areas of flooding. “A second area that will have a lot of work is going to be in creating new technologies for fast and reliable floodplain mapping. So providing those recurrence level maps for the 100-year flood, and that 500-year flood and floods in between,” Weber says.

Weber says water quality is something that’s included in the project along with the flood monitoring and floodplain maps. “The Weather Service is quite interested in working with their federal partners, to begin to create a real-time water quality forecast model for rivers and streams in the nation,” according to Weber. “And given the strength of our work here in Iowa and that area, we think that will contribute to that strongly as well.” Weber says there are different types of flooding across the country that they will be dealing with. “In our steeper mountainous streams, we get more flash flooding. So we may get rainfall that produces a flood, you know, that that that comes up in a matter of minutes or hours. That’s really quite different. Along a coastline, we get compound flooding, where we have storm surge from the ocean or from the Gulf, that provides a bottleneck to the rivers that are flowing to the ocean to the Gulf,” he says.

That bottleneck can lead to flooding. The five-year program will be headquartered at the University of Alabama. It is funded for five years by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Iowa will receive 21 million dollars for its portion of the work.

(Glenwood, Iowa) — The Mills County Attorney’s Office reports that on April 6, 2022, 35-year-old Christopher Nicholas Smith, of Malvern, agreed to plead to guilty, to felony charges that include Burglary in the Third Degree, (a Class D Felony); Theft in the First Degree, (a Class C Felony); and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, (a Class D Felony). On April 11, 2022, Smith  was sentenced to a total of twenty (20) years in prison. He will also be ordered to pay restitution to all the victims of his crimes.

The Mills County Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Mills County Sheriff’s Office for its hard work and dedication in solving these thefts along with identifying the victims. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office is still in possession of a number of items recovered from the investigation.

If you believe that you are a victim of one of these thefts, please contact the Lieutenant Pittman or Sergeant Mather with the Mills County Sheriff’s Office at (712) 527-4871 to schedule a time to identify your property still in their possession.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 12:30-a.m. today (Monday), of 47-year-old Frank Hartford Kretzschmar, of the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. A Deputy on patrol observed Kretzschmar at the Casey’s store at 19900 Virginia Hills Road (Council Bluffs), who he knew had been banned for life from the location. Kretzschmar was later arrested for Trespass – Refuse to Vacate/1st offense. He was being held without bond, in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Sheriff’s officials said also, two prisoners being held in the Douglas County, Nebraska Jail, were transferred to the custody of Pott. County deputies, late last week. 44-year-old Enrique Torres, of Omaha, was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree (Larceny ranging from $750-$1,500). His bond was set at $2,000. And, 30-year-old Daniel Joseph Schmit was transported to Pott. County to address a Probation Violation warrant.

Atlantic, IA – SHIFT ATL, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, will be hosting their first Atlantic Merch Pop-Up Shop on Saturday, April 23, from 11am – 1:30pm at The Telegraph building, located at 14 E. 4th Street. The City Council, last Wednesday, approved the temporary closure of part of E. 4th between Walnut and Chestnut, for the event. The pop-up shop is open to the public and will also include complimentary beer sampling from Full Fledged Brewing Company from Council Bluffs and Kinship Brewing Company from Des Moines. Lunch and snacks will be available for purchase from a Des Moines-based food truck, Off the Griddle.

SHIFT ATL will be unveiling a line of Atlantic-branded merchandise available for purchase, such as t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, crew neck sweatshirts, coffee mugs, pint glasses, baseball caps, keychains, tea towels, postcards and more! These are one-of-a-kind items that will be first-come, first-served and likely won’t be reprinted.

Throughout the event, Kinship Brewing Company and Full-Fledged Brewing Company will be onsite handing out beer samples for those that are interested. This is free, compliments of SHIFT ATL. Off the Griddle food truck will be parked in front of The Telegraph with a full menu available for purchase for lunch. There will be limited tables and chairs for those that wish to eat their lunch at The Telegraph.

SHIFT ATL is also hosting their quarterly SHIFT Network meeting for current members, and those that would like to sign up that evening, on Tuesday, April 19 from 5:00 – 6:30pm. A formal presentation will be given at 5:30 with an organization update and look into the future. SHIFT Network members will then get the first peek at the Atlantic merch and be able to purchase that evening ahead of the pop-up event.

SHIFT Network membership starts at $100 per year and is a group of community-minded people interested in the economic development of Atlantic. If you’re unable to attend but would like to join SHIFT Network or get the updates, please email shiftatlantic@gmail.com or visit shiftatl.com/join. For more information about SHIFT ATL, the Atlantic Merch Pop-Up or SHIFT Network, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/shiftatl, their website at shiftatl.org or by email at shiftatlantic@gmail.com.

(Radio Iowa) – A judge has ruled Democratic U.S. Senator candidate Abby Finkenauer cannot appear on the June Primary ballot, a decision likely to be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. Finkenauer is a former Iowa congresswoman and one of three Democrats competing for a chance to face Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in the General Election. Two Republicans challenged Finkenauer’s nominating petitions for the Democratic Primary, arguing three nominating signatures were invalid, because one had the wrong date, one had no date at all and one had a zip code listed on the signature line.

Abby Finkenauer

The district court judge issued his ruling late Sunday night, saying those signatures were invalid. That changes the narrow tally of signatures Finkenauer’s campaign collected. Candidates for the U.S. Senate are required to gather at least 100 signatures in at least 19 counties. Without the three signatures, Finkenauer does not have enough signatures in two counties and falls short of the requirement.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say four people were arrested Friday. At around 5:30-p.m., 19-year-old Elizabeth Rose Rolland, of California, was arrested at the Creston Walmart, on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). Rolland was cited at the scene, and released. Later that evening, 41-year-old George Hancock, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center (in Creston), for having Animals at large on public lands. He was also cited and released.

Two people were arrested on drug charges in Creston. At around 11:15-p.m., 19-year-old Kacy Lynn Nevitt, of Perry, and 18-year-old Shalaya Ann Marie Armstead, of Independence, were arrested at McKinley Park, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Both were later released on $1,000 bond, each.

And, at around 2:20-a.m. Saturday, Creston Police arrested 28-year-old Andrew Thomas Palmer, of Adair, for OWI/2nd offense. He was later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

Creston Police said also, a resident who lives in the 900 block of W. Mills Street, reported to Police that sometime between April 5th and 10th, someone entered his residence and took multiple items. The loss was estimated at $2,700. The missing items include:

• Ignition parts for a 1988 302 Engine
• Grayco x9 paint sprayer
• 55″ Sony smart TV
• a hand-held paint sprayer
• car audio equipment
• and miscellaneous tools.