(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Tuesday afternoon, arrested 52-year-old Kristen Marie Hughes, of Red Oak. Hughes was taken into custody on a valid Mills County warrant for Contempt of District Court, by act or omission. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, while awaiting extradition to Mills County.

(Radio Iowa) – A G-O-P candidate for a seat in the Iowa legislature will seek another recount of her race. Last week, ALL of the ballots in Scott County were fed into a machine for a recount, but the machine kept jamming, so the ballots were recounted by hand on Thursday. A final machine count was done Friday. The result flipped the outcome of the Iowa House District 81 race to Democrat Craig Cooper of Davenport — by a six vote margin. Republican Luana Stoltenberg watched last week’s recount in the Scott County Auditor’s office.

“According to their own office, the amount of ballots that came in were 23,397 ballots and so the number they’re saying today they’re going to reconcile to is 23,362 ballots,” Stoltenberg says. “That does not reconcile to me.” On Election Night, Stoltenberg was shown to be leading by 29 votes, but there were discrepancies in absentee ballot tabulations. The Secretary of State ordered an administrative recount of all ballots and all races in Scott County.

Stoltenberg has until next Monday to file the paperwork to request another recount.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican who’ll be the new member of Iowa’s congressional delegation next year is hoping to be appointed to the House Ag Committee — the panel that will write the 2023 Farm Bill. Congressman-elect Zach Nunn, who’s from Bondurant, is also aiming for a seat on the House Committee on Financial Services. The panel oversees the nation’s housing, banking, real estate and insurance sectors.

“This year, more than ever, we need to have some real responsibility in helping tame the economy,” Nunn says. Sometime in 2023, congress will have to vote to raise the debt ceiling so the federal government can pay its bills. Nunn expects the Republican-led House to seek spending concessions from Democrats before agreeing to increase the debt limit.

“I think this is going to be a big stick that the House is going to hold over both the Senate and the administration,” Nunn says, “so we need to get to a point where we feel comfortable that our budget is not only sustainable, but it’s returning real economic growth back to our states and the private sector.” Nunn is back in Iowa after a week in Washington, D.C. for new member orientation sessions. Starting in January, all six members of Iowa’s D-C delegation will be Republicans.

“This is the first time we’ve all been Republican in the Senate and the House since the Eisenhower Administration,” Nunn says. But Nunn says with a Republican-led House and Democrats in control in the U.S. Senate, there’s a chance to pass pragmatic bills that both parties can support.  “You know, the 80% of things we all agree on can be things that we can move forward with directly,” Nunn says. Nunn says he intentionally sought-out newly-elected Democrats this past week and he posted a photo of a bipartisan group on social media.

“It’s an amazing freshman class. Both the Republicans and Democrats put forward some really stellar candidates who ended up winning,” Nunn says. “…I made a point to reach out to some of my Democratic colleagues in similar districts, particularly farm states like Illinois across the river here, to have breakfast with and say: ‘This might be the best opportunity to forge a friendship, before we get into what happens in Washington, people go to their sides of the court and they never get a chance to talk to each other.'”

Nunn, a former Air Force intelligence officer, recently reconnected with people at U.S. Cyber Command.  “I was privileged to work as professional staff under the Obama-Biden Administration on the National Security Council,” Nunn says. “I’ve reached out to those colleagues as well at the staff level.”

Nunn finished about 21-hundred votes ahead of Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne in Iowa’s third district race. The third district stretches from Clarinda to Ottumwa and up to Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – A central Iowa woman is the new Ms. Wheelchair Iowa. Kelly Richmond of Altoona was crowned at the competition last weekend. The 42-year-old mother of four was born with spina bifida, a condition which impacts the spine, and she’s been using the wheelchair for mobility for about five years. Richmond says she likes to be approached and have people ask about the wheelchair and why she’s in it, and she’s hoping to lead by example with her new role.

“There’s so many kids and even adults that don’t have that opportunity or they’re too embarrassed or they’re not as secure in it as I am,” Richmond says. “It’s nice to be able to show them you can do this. You can be a family person, you can go to school, you can go to college, you can travel, you can experience everything you want. It just requires a little bit more adaptability.” As Iowa’s new titleholder, Richmond will be traversing the state, speaking to civic groups, schools and government leaders about the abilities of people who have disabilities. She says she already likes to get out and meet people and see the sights.

“We go out and explore as often as we can as I just love gravel travel, so anywhere I can go,” Richmond says. “My fiance takes me all over Iowa to the less-seen places and I just get to experience openness which I never really did back home.” A native of southern California, she left the West Coast several years ago and fell in love with Iowa — saying California is too crowded, too expensive and too much asphalt. Her children range in age from five to 20 years, and the 20-year-old is in the U-S Army, preparing to deploy. Richmond says she’d like to make the Veterans Home in Marshalltown and Iowa’s V-A hospitals among her first stops as Ms. Wheelchair Iowa.

“Veterans, especially some of the ones that are coming back with injuries and ending up in wheelchairs after having all of that freedom and mobility,” Richmond says, “going in and being able to show them that, I know this is a big setback for you, but you can still do everything you want to do as long as you have that mindset.” Richmond works full-time as a maintenance coordinator in the corporate offices of Casey’s General Stores in Ankeny. She’ll represent Iowa at the Ms. Wheelchair America event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which begins in late August of 2023.