(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque Police say a former Clarke University student has been arrested after making a threat that prompted the closure of Clarke’s Dubuque campus earlier today (Monday). Just before 8 a.m., Clarke University announced the campus was closed due to an active social media threat. Police have arrested 23-year-old Rashaud Colbert in a southwestern suburb of Chicago. He’s been charged with a threat of terrorism, a felony.

The Clarke University campus reopened shortly before noon. Clarke is a private Catholic college with an enrollment of about 12-hundred students and more than 320 professors and staff.

(Radio Iowa) – Federal officials say a southwest Iowa manufacturer has agreed to pay a half a million dollar settlement after a whistleblower claimed the company failed to properly test parts it made for military contractors. W-D-C Acquisitions in Creston, known by its trade name Wellman Dynamics, makes aluminum and magnesium metal castings. A news release from the U.S. Justice Department says Wellman Dynamics parts have been used in the military’s Apache, Osprey and Black Hawk helicopters.

The federal government alleged that between 2014 and 2021, the company did not conduct required strength and quality tests of its parts and falsely certified that tests had been performed. Wellman employee Bradley Keller is the whistleblower who sued the company on behalf of the United States. He’ll be paid 90-thousand dollars. The Justice Department says the claims resolved by the settlement remain allegations and there has been no determination of liability.

Wellman Dynamics has been in business for a century and has about 350 employees at its facility in Creston. A Michigan-based private equity fund known as T-R-M Equity bought Wellman on July 29th. In a news release, Wellman’s new owner indicated very significant investments have been made recently to modernize the facility in Creston.

(By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jerry Jimenez, Navy Office of Community Outreach)

GREAT LAKES, Ill. – Sailors are some of the most highly-trained people on the planet, according to Navy officials, and this training requires highly-dedicated instructors. At Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), this obligation falls upon hard-charging Navy professionals who train and mentor the Navy’s future warfighters.

Petty Officer 1st Class Madeline Binter, a native of Atlantic, Iowa, plays an important role as an instructor at NETC, providing the fleet with sailors who possess the basic technical knowledge and skills necessary for naval service. “I enjoy being able to play a role in the development of sailors,” said Binter. “It gives me a chance to really prepare them and help paint a picture of what is to come next after Great Lakes. It also gives me the chance to mentor more sailors that will spread all over the fleet.”

Petty Officer 1st Class Madeline Binter (Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Joy,
Navy Office of Community Outreach)

Instructors are experts in the subject matter they teach, and they provide cutting-edge technical training that transforms civilians into mission-ready sailors. Binter, a 2012 Exira-EHK High School graduate, joined the Navy seven years ago.

(Read the complete Navy Press release, HERE)

(Red Oak, Iowa) – An investigation into the theft of a bicycle from the Red Oak Fareway parking lot on August 5th, resulted in an arrest the following day. Red Oak Police report 20-year-old Michael Lee Noel, of Red Oak, was arrested after officers reviewed video footage of the bike being stolen. Noel was taken into custody after police stopped him in the 1300 block of N. 1st Street, in Red Oak.

In additional to being charged with Theft in the 5th Degree, Noel was cited for possession of tobacco under the legal age, when he was found to have two packs of cigarettes in his possession. Bond was set at $300. Police say the bike was returned to its owner.

Police said also, no injuries were reported following a collision Sunday afternoon at N. Boundary and E. Hammond Streets. Vehicles driven by 77-year-old Jane Roberta Waltz and 53-year-old Brenda Leigh Vrba, both of Red Oak, collided when Waltz’ 2016 Chevy Equinox crossed over the middle of the street and into the lane of Vrba’s 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The SUV struck the car on the front.

The accident, which caused $4,000 damage altogether, remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The City of Williamsburg renamed the State Street Bridge in a ceremony Sunday to honor John Werner — the only native of the community to die while serving in the Vietnam War. Werner graduated from Williamsburg High School in 1968 and served in Vietnam with the Army’s 1st Air Cavalry Division as an Aircraft Engine Repairman. He died on August 23rd after being wounded the previous day in an artillery rocket mortar attack, he was 20 years old. Dwane Gragg of Williamsburg American Legion Post told K-C-R-G- T-V the naming of the bridge honors Werner and all who serve.

“The whole reason we started this process was just to raise awareness for our young men and women that go off to any branch of the service and also their families, the families that cry when they leave,” Gragg says. He says service takes a toll on families as well as veterans. “And whether they come back or not, it’s always the distances and separation on families are tough,” he says.

Members of the American Legion as well as Werner’s niece and the mayor of Williamsburg spoke at the ceremony, which included a rifle salute.

The Williamsburg city council approved a resolution to rename the bridge on March 14th of this year.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports no one was injured when two vehicles collided Friday afternoon, on the city’s southwest side. Authorities say a 2018 Mazda SUV driven by 63-year-old Michelle Irene Link-Grey, of Winterset, was traveling north of Bureau Street at around 1:50-p.m., when her vehicle struck a 2007 Chevy SUV driven by 38-year-old Kerri Jo Howard, of Creston, as she was traveling east on Lake Avenue. Bureau and Lake is an uncontrolled intersection.

The Mazda SUV struck Howard’s Trailblazer on the passenger side door, causing a total of $8,500 damage. No citations were issued.