A tractor trailer unknown injury accident has resulted in a blockage of eastbound Interstate 80, east of the exit to Highway 148. Anita and Wiota Fire & Rescue were called to the scene at mile marker 73 at around 12:15-p.m. At 12:27 PM, Google reported a 10 min delay Eastbound. Additional information is not available.

(12-p.m. News/Glenwood) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a dozen arrests took place from June 30th through July 6th. On Tuesday (7/6):

• Dylan Seth Harris, of Malvern, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond was set at $2,000.
• 40-year-old Melissa Sue Gammell, a homeless person, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $25,000.
• 41-year-old Robert Lee Bopp, of Shenandoah, was arrested on a Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $20,000.

On July 5th, 46-year-old Jennifer Lynette Brokman, a homeless person, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $1,300. There were four arrests in Mills County on July 4th:

• 29-year-old Danny Santacruz, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense and having a weapon as contraband in a Correctional Institution. Bond was set at $5,000.
• Rick Allan Smith, 35, of Malvern, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Bond $1,000.
• 46-year-old Heidi Ann Dockery, a homeless person, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $1,300.
• and Chad Michael Gerren, 39, of Omaha, was arrested for being a Felon in possession of a Firearm, Possession of Burglary tools, Poss. of a Controlled Substance, and Poss. of paraphernalia. His bond was set at $5,000.

On July 3rd, 37-year-old Mallorie Marie Blum, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Bond set at $1,000. And, there were two arrests June 30th in Mills County: 22-year-old Gurardo Garcia Gutierrez, of Kansas City, MO, was arrested at the Nodaway County, MO. Jail, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond $15,000; 36-year-old Nicholas James Nelson, of Omaha, was arrested for Attempted Burglary, with bond set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) Amazon is building a 640-thousand square foot warehouse in Davenport. Davenport Mayor Mike Matson says a thousand people will be employed full-time at the facility when it opens. “Amazon will become one of the Quad City region’s top employers,” he says. The warehouse will be what the company calls a “fulfillment center.” It’s the first site in Amazon’s delivery sequence, where products are sorted and stored before being boxed for shipping.  “Amazon’s facility will be located in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center out by I-80,” Matson says. “If you’ve been out there, you might be seeing or already seeing some dirt being moved.”

K-W-Q-C T-V broadcast today’s (Wednesday’s) announcement online. Paul Rumler, president and C-E-O of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, says this is a big win for the region. “Amazon will invest $250 million…That’s a huge influx of money into our community,” he says. “On an annual basis, this will have at minimum an economic impact of $148 million.” Rumler says that’s the yearly impact of Amazon salaries for a thousand workers, plus Amazon’s spending in the area to support the center. The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce fielded Amazon’s first inquiry about building in Davenport in November of 2020, as the company sought information about the labor market.  “Obviously workforce is the top issue on just about every employer’s mind,” Rumler says.

Rumler estimates there are 30-thousand recent college graduates within a 60 mile radius of the Quad Cities. “We’re talking about anybody with a college associates degree or certificate all the way up through a bachelor’s degree, so we have a wide group that we can attract here within our labor shed,” Rumler says. “Our labor shed market expands all the way up to Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Galesburg and we draw people from outside the region who want to come work in the Quad Cities area.”

The Des Moines Register is reporting Amazon is also building a warehouse in Council Bluffs where packages boxed at a center like the one in Davenport are then sorted based on where they’re to be delivered.

Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh says the Foodbank for the Heartland mobile pantry will be back in Cass County again, twice this summer: in Anita on July 14th, and in Atlantic on August 11th. A mobile pantry a traveling food pantry that delivers food directly to families in need, for a one-day distribution. It is available free-of-charge. Visitors are asked to stay in vehicles with their trunk open. No documentation is needed.

The July 14th event takes place from 5:30-until 7-p.m. (or as supplies last), at the Anita Food Pantry (208 Chestnut Street). Questions may be directed to the Food Bank for the Heartland at 402-315-2555.  The August 11th event is from 4-until 6-p.m., at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic (805 W. 10th St.). Traffic in the area will be directed by volunteers.

At both sites, you can expect to receive pre-packaged boxes containing one shelf stable box and 3-to-5 varied pre-bagged produce items. The contents are subject to change, however.

If you have any questions or delivery requests in connection with the Atlantic mobile pantry, call Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh at 712-249-5870 (Or e-mail bhoegh@iststate.edu )

(Shenandoah) – A man and woman from Arizona were arrested this (Wednesday) morning on drug charges, in Shenandoah. According to Shenandoah Police, officers responded at around 3:30-a.m. to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the Casey’s parking lot.

During their investigation, Officers found 36-year-old Jennifer Lee Chapman and 35-year-old Shane Clay Plumb, both of Kingman, Arizona, asleep in the vehicle. Further investigation resulted in their arrest for carrying weapons without a permit, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both suspects were being held in the Page County Jail on $3,300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa family is publicly thanking a delivery driver who alerted them to a fire last month. Matt Dorr of rural Ashton says the U-P-S driver was dropping off a package and saw smoke rising from a shed. “Normally our UPS guy doesn’t ring the doorbell. He knows we have a small child. Well, this UPS man wouldn’t stop ringing the doorbell until we came to the door,” Dorr says. “At first we were frustrated, but when we got to the door, he’s like: ‘Is that building supposed to be doing that?’ And we were like: ‘What are you talking about?’ and we ran around to the side of our house. It was totally in the back and we wouldn’t have seen it from the house until the whole building was engulfed.”

Dorr says he ran to get a water tank and his wife started dragging the garden hose toward the shed to fight the fire when U-P-S driver Daniel Groen grabbed it.  “He runs into the building himself and starts putting the fire out for us,” Dorr says. “I came back and started to…pull equipment out because it…had tractors and combines and all sorts of stuff in there.”

Groen was covering the delivery route for another driver and it was the first time he’d been on the property. The Dorrs are renters and someone else owns the shed. Dorr says the fire was started by someone burning a brush pile in the backyard of the property when the wind picked up and blew the fire up the side of the shed.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley vows to work with his colleagues to address restoring the year-round sale of the 15-percent ethanol fuel blend, even though in his words, “fighting big oil is not an easy job.” On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the rule enacted by the E-P-A that allowed E-15 to be sold between June and September, a move that was encouraged by then-President Trump. “The previous administration made the right call to allow E-15 to be sold year-round,” Grassley says, “and to allow consumers to make their own decisions about what kind of fuel they want to choose at the pump.”

The decision to allow E-15 to be sold year-round put that blend on a par with the popular 10-percent ethanol blend which has been available for sale all year for decades. “Banning this higher blend of ethanol for part of the year never made sense in the first place,” Grassley says, “but it was still the rule and the Trump administration corrected that silly rule that you couldn’t sell it during the summer.” Grassley says he’ll push for a legislative solution to the issue to give some certainty to farmers and producers as he says the court ruling is a “big hit” to ethanol. “We all know that ethanol is good for the economy, good for national security and good for the environment,” Grassley says. “This is what’s puzzling to me because I constantly hear from my colleagues, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, that they’re concerned about the environment.”

Governor Kim Reynolds issued the following statement after the court’s ruling: “Iowa proudly leads the country in the production of renewable fuels, and today’s ruling is a gut punch to not only our renewable fuel industry but our fuel retailers as well. I worked closely with the Trump Administration to secure year-round sales of E-15, and I disagree with today’s court decision. We will continue to stand up for renewable fuels and fuel retailers, and pursue every avenue to ensure they can continue to offer lower cost, cleaner burning E-15 to Iowans.”

The Adair County Board of Supervisors are not happy with the new elevator that was installed in the courthouse, in Greenfield. The original elevator was installed in the 1980’s but received an addition/upgrade that was opened in late September, 2019, to make it more handicapped accessible. Board Chair Steve Shelley brought up the issue of the elevator during Wednesday morning’s meeting of the Board. He asked Auditor Mandy Berg what she knew about the problem with the elevator. Berg said there’s something wrong with the door, and it’s the latest in a string of problems they’ve had since it was installed.

Supervisor John Twombly asked if there was a maintenance contract. Berg responded “yes we do.”

Schindler Elevators and Escalators, with a location in West Des Moines, is responsible for repairs and maintenance.

The head of Maintenance at the Adair County Courthouse, Rich Wallace, told KJAN News the elevator was inspected by the State in March, and passed, but he was twice stuck in the lift. The problem, he says, appears to be with a motor on the door. The second time the lift was stuck with him inside. When he managed to get the doors open, the lift was six-inches below ground level. Schindler has a motor on order, but like with most things these days, the machine is made in China, and it’s unclear when the part will arrive. Wallace said one of the magistrate judges was frustrated he’s had to take the stairs most times court is scheduled. The elevator being out of service means it’s no longer handicapped accessible.

Board Chair Steve Shelley suggested the County Attorney should examine the contract with Schindler and make a determination on what their liability is, and express the County’s frustration with the apparent lack of attention to resolving the matter. In other business, the Adair County Board of Supervisors approved the reappointment of Lee Ashmore to the Veterans Affairs Commission. The Board approved a Child Abuse Prevention Grant Draw Down amounting to $2,018, and a budgeted increase in salary for Treasurer Clerk Cindy Lundy from 65% to 67% of Treasurer Brenda Wallace’ salary, upon recommendation by Wallace.

(Update) Police in Council Bluffs confirm one of their detectives was arrested by a separate agency while on duty, Tuesday. According to Capt. Todd Weddum, Detective Craig Schuetze, was arrested, on July 6th, 2021, by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office related to an assault allegation. Schuetze has been placed on Administrative Leave pending the outcome of the criminal case. Capt. Weddum said also, “As this is a personnel matter, no further information will be released by CBPD.”

Detective Craig Schuetze (Photo courtesy Pott. Co. S/O)

Pott. County Chief Deputy Jeffrey Thuelen said Wednesday, “On Tuesday July 6th, 2021, the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office was asked to assist the Council Bluffs Police with a domestic assault investigation in the City of Council Bluffs. The accused in the assault is a City of Council Bluffs Police employee. Upon the Sheriff’s Office Investigation, and in consultation with the Pottawattamie County Attorney, Craig Schuetze, was arrested for domestic abuse assault and strangulation with bodily injury. Schuetze was booked for the charges in the Pottawattamie County jail. He was later released by the Court.

Information as to the charges and prosecution of this case will be provided by the Pottawattamie County Attorney. As the investigation is continuing no additional information will be released by the Sheriff’s Office.”

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown is still battling COVID-19 and staffing shortages.  The state’s largest long-term health facility is one of two facilities in the state listed on the outbreak list per the state’s COVID-19 website. Acting Commandant Penny Cutler-Bermudez, responding to a report in the Iowa-based Bleeding Heartland blog, says that while two residents who recently died while in the IVH COVID unit, their deaths were related to other significant health concerns and were not COVID-related. Cutler-Bermudez says the facility has had seven residents with the virus during the outbreak, but five of the seven have returned to their home unit.

Cutler-Bermudez, who is also IVH’s Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, says while staffing is a challenge, the facility continues to be rated five stars. The other long-term care facility listed classified as being in an outbreak as of Wednesday morning is Marian Home in Webster County.