(Radio Iowa) – A former Casey’s employee in southeast Iowa is accused of stealing lottery tickets while working and claiming the prizes. Police say 29-year-old Jesse Burtlow worked at a Casey’s in Ottumwa. During multiple shifts in May, video surveillance observed Burtlow taking multiple lottery tickets without purchasing them. Burtlow was also seen redeeming the prizes for the tickets. Authorities estimate Burtlow stole approximately 60 tickets in total.

Burtlow was arrested on Wednesday and charged with ongoing criminal conduct, three counts of forgery, fourth-degree theft, and two counts of fifth-degree theft. Burtlow was transported to the Wapello County Jail and is currently free after posting bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A Mason City man is jailed on a kidnapping charge.  The Mason City Police Department says on Thursday just before 1 PM, officers and fire medics responded to a report that a person had been assaulted and held against their will for several days by a man known to them. The victim was taken by ambulance to the hospital. A search warrant was served at a residence in the 400 block of 1st Southwest in connection with the investigation.

23-year-old Moises Erreguin-Labra was initially arrested on a charge of serious assault, but as the investigation developed, police additionally charged him with first-degree kidnapping, a Class A felony punishable by life in prison. Erreguin-Labra is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – The State Board of Education has approved plans by the University of Northern Iowa to offer an online accelerated elementary education and special education teacher program. U-N-I’s Director of Education Preparation, Benjamin Forsyth says courses in this program will be offered in eight-week, eight-credit terms. “The way we had to do this to be able to accelerate was to bundle courses that typically aren’t taught simultaneously,” he says. You will need an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science Degree and must be employed as a paraeducator or teachers’ aide within a K through sixth-grade school setting to get into the program. Forsyth says surveys on the interest in such a program show it is high.

“Just one example, on Facebook, if you and I say hey we’re doing something, you got about three shares, we’re up to almost 200 shares on this,” Forsyth says. Iowa and other states have been struggling with teacher shortages, and it’s hoped this will help. “We’re expecting a lot of people to apply, but then a portion of those not to actually meet requirements. And because chapter 79 is the way it is we really can’t take anyone that doesn’t have an A-A or A-S. We really can’t take a paraeducator that’s teaching preschool because they’ve got to have these field experiences,” he says. Forsyth says they will slowly get the program rolling.

“We want to take as many as we can but we’re not expecting to go that large on this first round,” Forsyth says, “we know that we don’t have the resources to go beyond about 30 or 60. We know that we’re going to have to work out some bugs on the first round but we want to see this happen.” Those who complete the accelerated program will have a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education with teaching endorsements for a K-6 elementary teacher and K-8 instructional strategist.

The State Board of Education approved the plan at their meeting on Thursday.

(Red Oak , Iowa) – A traffic stop Thursday night in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man wanted for Forgery. Red Oak Police say 30-year-old Aaron Garfield Nelson, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on a Red Oak Police warrant for four felony counts of Forgery. Nelson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $20,000 cash-only bond.