(Radio Iowa) – Opening arguments began Tuesday afternoon, in the murder trial of Michael Lang of Grundy Center in the shooting death of Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith last April. During opening arguments streamed by K-C-R-G T-V, prosecutor Douglas Hammerand described how Smith and other officers entered Lang’s garage to arrest him. He says that’s when Lang turned on Smith with a shotgun.

“By the time Sergeant Smith saw him, he yelled ‘gun, gun’ and then you hear bang, bang,” Hammerand says. He says Lang fired again before Smith could be pulled to safety. “Then as he’s laying on the ground, we hear another bang. The defendant shot him again with the slug through his leg — it went through his back calf,” he says. He says another officer pulled Smith away but he died. Hammerand told the jury they will lay out why this is first-degree murder.

“The evidence will show the defendant acted with malice aforethought. The evidence will show the defendant acted willfully deliberately, and premeditatedly and with the specific intent to kill Sergeant Smith,” Hammerand says. Lang’s defense plans to use the state’s Stand Your Ground law and will argue Lang shot Smith in self-defense.

The trial was moved to Webster City due to pre-trial publicity.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials plan to set up a booth at the Iowa State Fair to recruit people to work in Iowa’s prison system. Iowa Department of Corrections director Beth Skinner recently hired a recruitment and retention officer for the prison system. “We’re trying to be creative. We’re trying to get out there. We’re still doing job fairs,” Skinner says. “We’re doing internship programs with colleges, so we’re still keeping our foot on the gas, but it has still been a major challenge.” Skinner says she’s currently focused on recruiting efforts at the high school and college level.

“It’s a career. You’re a public servant, you know, you’re giving back to your communities,” Skinner says. “It’s public safety.” The agency had just over 300 vacancies at the end of April and 71 percent of them were for correctional officers. The department’s website shows the starting salary for a full-time correctional officer is at least 43-thousand dollars a year.

Last week, Skinner told the Iowa Board of Corrections the agency was making progress system-wide in hiring nurses and the Newton prison, for example, had no job openings for nurses last Friday.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports several arrests since the beginning of the month:

On May 1st: Chance Lucas, age 32 of Harlan, was arrested for Driving while Revoked and an active Harrison County, IA warrant. Lucas was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 2nd: Lee Miles, age 45 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance, (Methamphetamine), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Miles was arrested during a traffic stop in Tabor. Fremont County was assisted by the Mills County K9 Unit.

On the 4th: Malik Kyle, age 21 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kyle was arrested during a traffic stop

On May 6th: Carson Cusick, age 43 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Theft 1st Degree. Cusick was arrested in connection to the theft of a fountain valued in excess of $75,000 from a residence in rural Sidney.

On the 9th: Brandon Bogard, age 21 of Sidney, IA, was arrested for Public Intoxication. Bogard was arrested in connection to a call for service of an unconscious male in a gas station parking lot in Sidney;  Eric Hamilton, age 49 of Council Bluffs, IA, was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. Hamilton was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 10th: Robert Watts, age 43 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Child Endangerment and Domestic Abuse. Watts was arrested during a call for service in Tabor; and, Kevin Wolford, age 66 of Tabor, IA, was arrested on an active warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana). During the course of the arrest he was found again in Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia.

Wolford

Watts

Miles

Kyle

Hamilton

Cusick

Bogard

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Guthrie County man was sentenced in Council Bluffs federal court, Tuesday, for making a False Statement to the State of Iowa. 53-year-old Kendall Dean Kipp, of Yale, was sentenced to three years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a $9,500 fine and perform 180 hours of community service over a three-year period. According to court documents, Kendall pleaded guilty to the charge on December 16, 2021.

Kipp submitted falsified documents to the State of Iowa concerning the quality of water produced for the residents of the City of Yale. This violated the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and, in turn, the False Statement statute. “As a certified drinking water operator, the defendant was entrusted not only with ensuring compliance with our environmental laws, but with the health and safety of the community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Cate Holston of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in Lenexa, KS. “His actions betrayed that trust, and today’s sentencing demonstrates that EPA will pursue and hold accountable those who intentionally violate the law.”

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Criminal Division of the Environmental Protection Agency and The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

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