(Sidney, Iowa) – Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope says more than a dozen people were arrested on various charges, between Sept. 27th and Oct. 24th. Most recently…

On Oct. 24th, 39-year-old Patrick Raven, of Nebraska City, NE., was arrested for Domestic Abuse (Strangulation), and Going Armed with Intent. Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted in his arrest. Raven was being held without bond, pending an initial court appearance.

On Oct. 19th, 43-year-old Dewight Binau, of Red Oak, was arrested on nine counts of Violation of a No Contact Order. Red Oak Police assisted in the matter.

On the 16th, Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 39-year-old Rex Peterson, of Dunbar, NE., for Possession of Meth. He was later released on a $1,000 bond. That same day, 39-year-old Megan Austin, of Thurman, was arrested for Domestic Abuse. She was Released on her Own Recognizance (ROR).

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports 50-year-old Glen Gallagher, of Omaha, was arrested Oct. 12th, for Poss. of Meth, Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia, and Poss. of Marijuana. He was released on a $6,000 bond.  On Oct. 9th, 22-year-old Michael Perez Gutierrez, of Omaha, was arrested in Fremont County for OWI/1st offense (later released on a $1,000 bond).

There were three arrests on Oct. 8th: 39-year-old Aaron Childs, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Poss. of Meth & drug paraphernalia (released on $1k bond); 29-year-old Dakotah Barnett, of Sidney, was arrested for OWI/1st offense (Released on $1k bond); & 39-year-old Pedro Andrade, of Muscatine, was arrested for Attempted Murder and Willful Injury. He was later released on $1k bond.

On Oct. 6th, 42-year-old Randy Burton, of Glenwood, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear (ROR). On Oct. 4th, 25-year-old Gavin Driskell, of Hamburg, was arrested for OWI/1st offense (released on $1k bond). Sept 28th, Fremont County Deputies arrested 29-year-old Elijah Faust, of Thurman, for Probation Violation (ROR); On the 27th, 32-year-old Ashley McClarnon, of Clarinda, was arrested for Harassment in the 2nd Degree ($1k bond). The Page County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

And, on Sept. 27th, 30-year-old Mary Sorenson, of Ruthven, was arrested in Fremont County for Harassment in the 3rd Degree ($1k bond).

(Radio Iowa) – A massive fire Sunday afternoon along Highway 34 near Red Oak, illustrates how quickly a grass fire can escalate in current conditions. Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman says fire fighters arrived on the scene shortly after a small fire in a ditch was reported late Sunday afternoon. “Within a matter of two to three minutes the fire grew to the point where it was running north and there was no way to stop it,” Hamman says.

“At that point, we made the decision to start evacuating homes and call for additional mutual aid resources to the scene.” Hamman says a couple of farmers were already on the scene with discs, trying to cut fire breaks, when the first fire engines arrived. “The fire grew rapidly and very intensively,” Hamman says. Nearly 12 dozen fire fighters and more then five dozen vehicles from 18 area fire departments ultimately responded. “A very massive response, especially for our area, unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Hamman says.

“Obviously, early on, we didn’t know if we were going to get it stopped.” Hamman credits the dozen or so farmers who joined in the fire fight. “I can’t stress enough how beneficial it is to have the farmers out there with us with tractors and discs, happy to help, happy to put their machinery at risk for us and for their neighbors,” Hamman says, “because, honestly, it was the tractors and discs that saved the western part of the county.” The fire consumed 750 acres.

Hamman says it was an intense scene with extreme winds whipping up smoke and dust — and spreading the fire. “Unfortunately we did have two fire fighters who sustained very minor burns as a result of their active fire fighting efforts, but thankfully no other injuries.” There was a grass fire in the same area two weeks ago and investigators believe strong winds on Sunday may have rekindled it.

(Radio Iowa) – Information gathered by the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy shows an increase in alcohol-related deaths from 440 in 2011 to 827 in 2021. The director of the office. Dale Woolery, says the pandemic could be part of the reason for the increase. “I think some of that happened regardless of the pandemic, but the pandemic it seems, may have exacerbated, not just excessive alcohol use, but the use of other addictive or intoxicating substances,” Woolery says.

He says alcohol wasn’t the only issue during the pandemic. “For the two-year period, I think from 2019 to 2021, we saw increases pretty much across the board in alcohol-related deaths, opioid overdose deaths, stimulant overdose deaths, to include then all drug overdose deaths,” he says. “So I don’t know, you know, some of that again, and it’s hard to know how much of that might have been pandemic related.” Woolery says there is one thing that stands out about the deaths linked to alcohol.

“We see that a lot of those skew older as far as the age of the individuals. When we look at the drug overdose deaths, those are spread fairly evenly throughout different age groups,” Woolery says. He says alcohol deaths are often part of a larger medical history. “Some of the alcohol deaths — and maybe many of them — involve chronic health conditions where alcohol contributes to or causes things, like liver disease, or heart disease, and other diseases that may take years to develop or manifest themselves to the point of causing death,” he says.

He says the drug overdose deaths are usually much quicker — and more recently they can happen pretty quickly without long-term drug use. Woolery says those who study this as a matter of cultural differences have historically found Iowa and other Midwestern states have had a track record of higher than average drinking with binge and excessive drinking included. “We trend in Iowa above the national average on things like binge drinking and nicotine use. By contrast, Iowa trends lower than the national average, and among the lowest states, actually, in terms of illicit drug use rates, and drug overdose death rates. So that gives us some context, that’s helpful, I guess,” Woolery says.

Woolery says we might be relatively low for drug overdose deaths — but we have trended up over the last two years — so those numbers are not going in the direction we want. There were 258 opioid-related deaths in Iowa in 2021. The ODCP gathers the information to create its report to the governor each year and it is used to set its drug control policies.

(Denison, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports eight people – six teenagers (4 17-year-old’s from Storm Lake, a 16-year-old from Defiance), an eight-year old and an adult – were injured during a collision that happened a little after 2-a.m. Sunday, in Crawford County. The crash happened on westbound US Highway 30, west of Lincoln Way.

Authorities say a 2015 Honda Pilot driven by a 17-year-old was eastbound in the westbound lanes, at the same time a 2012 GMC Acadia driven by 50-year-old Cari Segebart, from Defiance, was traveling westbound. The vehicles collided head-on and slightly left before coming to rest on the road.

Four of the teens were in the Honda, the two 16-year-olds were in the GMC, along with the driver and an eight-year old. None of the crash victims were wearing a seat belt. The accident victims were transported to the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison.

The accident remains under investigation.