Firefighters and other emergency personnel were dispatched at around 4:52-a.m. today (Wednesday), to a residential fire at 106 Cedar Street. Dispatch reports said the home was unoccupied, because the utilities had been shut-off. Police, however, said a neighbor pulled a man from the structure. The home was said to be fully engulfed on the east side. The incident remains under investigation. No other information was immediately available.

Photos by Ric Hanson/KJAN News

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a woman from Villisca was arrested Tuesday, on an assault charge.  40-year-old Kyla Rae Smith was taken into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. She was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – All three Republicans competing for the chance to run against Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne in the fall oppose abortion under any circumstance — but all three say it should be the states that regulate abortion, not the U.S. congress. Candidate Nicole Hasso of Johnston is an insurance executive. Hasso says there’s nothing more important than life itself.

“They put those Planned Parenthood places in the black communities to control the population,” she says. “Where’s the outrage in that? So I will be 100% standing for life, from conception to the grave.” Candidate Zach Nunn is a state senator from Bondurant. Nunn says if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, Democrats will try to pass a federal law on abortion rights.

“They’re going so far as to say just today that they would tear down the filibuster so they could push through a congressional act,” Nunn says. “They’re going so far as to say they would pack the courts to ensure their liberal view of abortion on demand is something that they can have,” Nunn says. Candidate Gary Leffler of West Des Moines is a construction consultant. Leffler, who also opposes abortion in all circumstances, says it is absolutely critical that states decide abortion policy.

“We’re tired of Washington, D.C. and its dominance of what happens in Iowa,” Leffler says. “Let’s put Iowans back in control of this issue.” The candidates made their comments during a debate hosted by W-H-O T-V. Leffler said Governor Reynolds should return federal pandemic relief that hasn’t been spent. “We can’t sit there and say: ‘Hey, we want all this dollars from Washington, D.C. and continue this rapid spending.’ Can’t do it,” Leffler says. “Send a congressman to D.C. who’ll say: ‘No!'”

Governor Reynolds returned about 95 million dollars in federal pandemic aid to reopen Iowa schools, which Reynolds said were already open, and Hasso says that was the right decision. “If we’re not going to use that money and we’re just going to sit on it, it needs to go back,” Hasso said. Nunn disagreed with returning pandemic aid. “God knows where that money would have ended up if Iowa would have sent it back, but it wouldn’t have been helping our state,” Nunn says. “It would have ended up somewhere n a blue state.”

Nunn says the federal pandemic support helped pave the way for state tax cuts, which he supported. The group said those who invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6th should be prosecuted, but Hasso questioned whether January 6th defendants are being treated the same as those arrested in protests after George Floyd’s murder. “People burned down buildings, held communities hostage and took the livelihood of small businesses,” Hasso says, “and those people, they were arrested, but it was called ‘catch and release.'”

Leffler attended President Trump’s rally in Washington, D.C. on January 6th, but says he did not enter the Capitol. “There was a certain element that went there and they had an ulterior motive. That’s absolutely true,” Leffler said, “but for the million people plus that were there…to support American values, the support ‘We, the People, they were there for the right reasons.” Nunn says January 6th was a tragic day, but it was fueled Americans who feel frustrated by the election process.

“We in Iowa do it very well,” Nunn said. “…But Cindy Axne, the opponent in this race, has tried to pass HR1 which would nationalize all elections and bottle it up in a Washington, D.C. run form of election monitoring, implementation and verification.” All three candidates criticized Axne for failing to report stock trades, as required by House rules.

Sheriff’s officials in Shelby County report the following arrests took place between April 17th and the 29th….

4-17-22: Anthony Joseph Miller, age 43, Kimballton, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on Washington St., In Elk Horn, IA.  Miller was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI 3rd offense, Driving while Barred, Improper Rear Lamps, and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability.

4-23-22: Nathanial Thomas Jacobsen, age 32, Harlan, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on RD M47. Jacobsen was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI 1st offense, Reckless Driving, Open Container, Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability, and Speed; And, Cory Robert Kyle, age 34, Harlan, IA was arrested and charged following a traffic stop on Hwy 59, Harlan, IA. Kyle was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while Barred, Driving while License Under Suspension, and Windshield and Window Requirements.

4-27-22: Jennifer Stephanie Gomez Gonzalez, age 19, Denison, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 191. Gomez Gonzalez was transported to the Shelby County Jail and Charged with Prohibited Acts Penalties, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Speeding, Possession of Alcohol by person under the legal age, and Failure to provide Proof of Financial Liability.

4-28-22: Thomas Mathias Wageman, age 70, Harlan, IA was arrested after a call for service in the 1100 Block of Highway 59.  Wageman was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Trespassing 1st Offense; And, Amanda Louise Lavender, age 32, Kiron, IA, was arrested following a traffic stop at 12th St and Cyclone Ave.  Lavender was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Prohibited Acts Penalties, Eluding Injury, OWI Drugs or Participating in a Felony, Driving while License Denied or Revoked, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Failure to use Safety Glass, Speeding, Fail to Obey stop sign and Yield Right of Way, Failure to Maintain Control, and Reckless Driving.

4-29-22: Jazmine Marie Petra Martinez, age 25, Harlan, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 59 and Highway 37.  Martinez was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Speeding; And, Jamie Lee Brooks, age 40, Boone, IA was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 59 and 1600th St. Brooks was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while Barred, and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability.

(Radio Iowa) – A state law that goes into effect July 1st sets new parameters for what government agencies and officials may charge for access to public records. Senator Waylon Brown of Osage says the bill sets a reasonable standard of what the custodians of public records are to charge for copies. “The custodian shall make every reasonable effort to provide a record at no cost, other than copying, if the record takes less than 30 minutes to produce,” Brown says. “It permits a person to contest the reasonableness of the expenses and, lastly, it limits the costs for legal services only for redaction or review of legally protected confidential information.”

Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City says it’s a consumer protection law. “Obviously we want to make sure people have access to copies. It allows anyone to visually look at public records at any time without any cost at all,” Mascher says.  And Mascher says for people who believe they’d been overcharged for copies of public records, the law sets up an appeal process. Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids says the law strikes a balance between state and local governments and the requesters of public records, but it’s also an important check on some corporations that go on data mining expeditions through public records.

“They submit these really fradulent requests which can be very expensive to the taxpayer, ” Jones says, “so while government should be responsible to the people, we also cannot afford for the taxpayer to just be used a data center at taxpayer expense.” The Iowa Braodcasters Association and the Iowa Newspaper Association registered in favor of the proposal. The bill passed the Senate unanimously in February and cleared the House on a 93-to-zero vote in March. The governor approved it this week.

(Radio Iowa) – How would a decision from the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade impact Iowa law on abortion? In 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that Iowa women have a fundamental right to an abortion under the STATE constitution. It means THAT ruling would have to be overturned before any IOWA law could be enacted to restrict access to abortion. That’s exactly what Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to do in 2022. Reynolds has appointed a majority of the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court. The Iowa court is due to soon rule whether a law can take effect that would ban abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of a pregnancy.

Critics say that’s effectively a ban on all abortions, as few women know or have confirmed by week six that they’re pregnant. In a tweet late this (Tuesday) morning, Governor Reynolds said the mission remains as clear as it has ever been — to defend the most important freedom there is: the right to life. The Republican Party of Iowa released a written statement, saying the party is committed to defending the unborn. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Ross Wilburn says the majority of Iowans believe abortion should be legal and Iowans will have a chance this fall to elect candidates who will write the protection of Roe into law at the state and federal level.