(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two men were arrested on separate warrants, recently. Late Sunday morning, 37-year-old Robert Eugene Kibbe III, of Creston, was arrested at his residence on two Union County Warrants. One was for Violation of Probation on an original charge Harassment/1st Degree  – No Bond. The second was for Violation of Probation an original charge Domestic Abuse Assault Display or Use of Weapon/1st Offense  – No Bond. Kibbe is being held in the Union County Jail.

And, 40-year-old Jacob Jeffrey Fry (No known address) was arrested at a residence in the 300 block of N. Jarvis Street, in Creston. He was arrested Friday morning on a Department of Corrections Felony Warrant for Possession of Products Intended for Manufacturing Any Controlled Substance. Fry was taken to the Union County Jail and held on a $5,000 cash-only bond.

A Creston man reported to Police, Wednesday afternoon, that on Jan. 14th, between 5:30- and 6-p.m., he lost his Camo Winchester SX4 shotgun, while hunting at the Gator Farm. The loss was estimated at $1,000.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Do you help take care of an adult with chronic conditions? If so, you are not alone. Over 43.5 million family caregivers in America provide a vast array of emotional, financial, nursing, social, homemaking and other services on a daily or an intermittent basis. Powerful Tools for Caregivers is an online educational series designed to provide tools you need to take care of yourself.  If you take good care of yourself, you will be better prepared to take good care of your loved one. As a participant you will learn how to: reduce stress, improve self-confidence, better communicate your feelings, balance your life, increase ability to make tough decisions and locate helpful resources.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is brought to you by Connections Area Agency on Aging in cooperation with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach starting Thursday, January 26, 2023 from 6:30-8:00 PM (https://connectionsaaa.tiny.us/PTevening) OR Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (Register: https://connectionsaaa.tiny.us/PTafternoon).  Classes consist of six, 90-minute sessions held once a week.  Class size is limited, and registration is required.

The Caregiver Helpbook and handouts will be mailed. There is no cost for the program but participants will receive an opportunity to donate.  Two experienced leaders conduct each class. Interactive lessons, discussions and brainstorming help you take the “tools” you choose and put them into action for your life. For more information, contact Jan Schnack, Family Caregiver Community Engagement Specialist at Connections Area Agency on Aging at 800-432-9209, Ext. 8116 or JSchnack@connectionsaaa.org

Connections Area Agency on Aging Family Caregiver Program supports people who care for their parents, spouses, or others aged 60+ by providing information, resources, and support.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa –  If you’re one of the thousands of tourists who flock to Iowa’s Great Lakes region each summer, a new construction project will help make getting around the area between Arnold’s Park and Okoboji a lot easier. The project led by the Iowa Department of Transportation is planned to be completed in 2024 and will improve pavement, intersections, and sidewalks. Details of the project are now available on a new Iowa DOT website. The DOT says they will do their “best not to interrupt your summer plans in the area by completing the road work during “off-peak” tourist season (before Memorial Day and after Labor Day). The work is scheduled to be completed in four phases over two years.

The website includes more information on the schedule and details of the project including how the project will affect your travel. Improvements you can expect to see in the area when the project is done include:

• New pavement on U.S. 71 from Okoboji Grove Road in Arnolds Park through Okoboji View Avenue in Okoboji
• Extension of the three-lane section of U.S. 71 to the south of Lake Street.
• Improved mobility in the area by updating the sidewalks to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
• New barrier rail that separates vehicles from pedestrians on the causeway
• Aesthetic enhancements on the causeway barrier rail and updated pavement in the space between the road and the barrier rail
• New traffic signals at Lake Street and Linden Street in Arnolds Park

For questions, contact Dakin Schultz at Dakin.schultz@iowadot.us or 712-274-5837

(Radio Iowa) – This could be a pivotal week for Governor Kim Reynolds’ top legislative priority. Speaker Pat Grassley says the goal is for the House to take some level of action on the governor’s new bill to give state money over the next two years to low income parents sending kids to private school. In year three, all private school parents could apply for the state payment. Governor Reynolds told Radio Iowa state money spent on education should benefit all students.

“We made that decision a long time ago when it came to education. We just said we’re going to fund education for students, people that have the means and people that don’t. We fund Social Security the same way. It’s not based on whether you have money or you don’t,” Reynolds says, “so I feel like this is the status quo.” Some House Republicans have publicly said they will not vote for the plan. It would require “no” votes from at least 14 of the 64 Republicans in the House, though, to prevent its passage.

The governor’s bill is eligible for debate in the Iowa Senate this week as well. None of the Democrats in the Senate or the House will vote for the plan. Senator Claire Celsi of Des Moines says the core mission of the the legislature is to fund public, not private schools. “It’s an embarrassing overreach,” Celsi says. “It’s an embarrassing waste of taxpayer dollars for a very small portion of our population.” Senate President Amy Sinclair of Allerton says Republicans in the Senate have been supporting this move for years.

“I don’t think I’ve been shy in six years of introducing possibility after possibility on parents rights and choice in education,” Sinclair says. “For six years I’ve been singing this same song.” Governor Reynolds issued an open letter to Iowans late Friday, calling her plan a worthy investment in the future. The top Democrat in the Senate says the governor’s plan diverts state funding for public education to wealthy Iowans who don’t need the subsidy to pay private school tuition.