(Radio Iowa) – Eighteen Iowa law enforcement agencies have donated more than 700 bulletproof vests and nearly 150 helmets for shipment to Ukraine. A crowd in an Iowa National Guard warehouse watched as the last few crates of protective gear were loaded in a truck. “This has been an incredible team effort from the start and I’m proud to say that help is on the way for Ukraine from Iowa.”

Governor Kim Reynolds says authorities from Cherkasy — Iowa’s sister-state in Ukraine — put bullet-resisting helmets and body armor vests on their list of desperately needed supplies. Several Ukrainians, some waving or wearing their home country’s flag, joined the governor today (Wednesday). Taras Slyvka left Ukraine seven years ago after Russia’s capture of a southeast region of Ukraine. “The war didn’t actually start a month ago and this war didn’t even start eight years ago,” Slyvka says. “This war of Russia against Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation is continuing already for 400 years.”

Slyvka is a design engineer for John Deere’s Dubuque Works and helped make some of the arrangements for the shipment of protective gear from Iowa along with contributions from Nebraska. The shirt Slyvka wore today had a Ukrainian emblem on the front, with a motto he says translates into one English word: freedom. “I would like to say and direct my message to all of Iowans and all of U.S. citizens: We need to unite,” he said. “We need to help. Only together, we are the power. Only together we can stop that Russian evil.”

The governor says today’s (Wednesday) event is the kick-off of state efforts to aid Ukraine. “That a free people can be threatened at the whim of an evil tyrant should be unthinkable today,” Reynolds said, “But Putin now faces a force that he didn’t expect: the spirit of the Ukrainian people and their unwavering commitment to democracy and freedom.” Law enforcement officials like Pottawattamie County Sheriff Andrew Brown say once a protective vest or helmet reaches the manufacturer’s recommended end date for use, the gear is retired and put in storage. “It generally would cost us thousands of dollars to have our equipment destroyed properly,” he says. “The reason we pay for disposal is because we just simply don’t want to just throw it away…it could wind up in the wrong hands on our streets.”

Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Steve Bayens says this shipment of ballistic vests and protective helmets can still save lives. “Once we learned the plight and the needs of the Ukrainian people, it was immediately apparent we could put our decommissioned equipment to good use,” Bayens says. The governor says state officials are hoping to coordinate volunteer efforts to send meal kits to Ukraine and Reynolds has notified federal officials Iowa would accept refugees from Ukraine.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The firm of Gronewold, Bell, Khynn & Company P.C. CPA’s, have released an audit report on the City of Atlantic, Iowa. The report can be found in the link below. A copy of the audit report is also available in the office of the Auditor of State, and City Administrator’s office.

AtlanticAudit

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Regional and local representatives of Dollar General were in Atlantic Wednesday afternoon, to make a donation for disaster relief to the Atlantic Middle School Library. Stopping at the High School for a $10,000 check presentation, was Dollar General Southwest Iowa District Manager Howie Erickson, Regional Director Paul Vilinski, and Store Manager Robyn Sullivan, and Assistant Manager Kim Ruiz.

Erickson explained the funds are made possible through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s Beyond Words grant program, and will be used to help replace books that were lost during a fire and water damage at the Middle School last Summer.

(Pictured from left to right, front row:) Howie Erickson; Deb Burton; Robyn Sullivan; Kim Ruiz. (Back row:) Paul Vilinski, Steve Barber.

The Foundation, Erickson said, was established in 1993, in honor of company co-founder J.L. Turner, who only had a third-grade education.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber said the funds will help to replace the countless number of books lost in the summer disaster. K-12 Teacher/Librarian, K-12 Reading Specialist Deb Burton said it’s been a long time since she’s been able to take an inventory.

Deb Burton said she was happy the company’s streamlined process made it easy to apply for the funds. Superintendent Steve Barber thanked Dollar General officials for their generous contribution.

CLINTON, Iowa – In an update to our earlier reports, officials with the State Medical Examiner’s Office have identified a person found following a fire in Clinton, as 41-year-old Dustin Christopher Doran, who is formerly of Newton. His manner of death on Monday, was ruled as a homicide. A few hours after posting the victim’s ID, a suspect in the case was arrested. 30-year-old Trevor Allan Jeorge Ward, of Norwalk, was charged with Murder In The First Degree and Arson In The First Degree.

State court records show he has 14 previous convictions on simple and aggravated misdemeanor charges. Clinton County records show Ward was arrested Saturday — the same day as the murder — and charged with public intoxication and assault causing bodily injury, with notation of mental illness on the jail’s record.

Trevor Ward – Arson/murder suspect

On Saturday, March 26, 2022, the Clinton Fire Department and the Clinton Police Department responded to a 911 call reference a structure fire inside of 78 31st Ave North.  Upon arrival, their attention was drawn to Apartment N and the Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire.  A deceased individual (Doran) was found inside the apartment and the Clinton Police Department, Clinton Fire Department, Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Clinton Medical Examiner, Clinton County Attorney’s Office, Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner launched a criminal investigation.

The investigation is ongoing and the Clinton Police Department does not believe there is any cause for concern by the public of being in any danger.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has passed a bill that requires school districts to post a list of books in the school library and provide parents with an outline of how to seek removal of a book. Under the bill, teachers would have to post the titles of books and other materials they plan to use in class. Representative Phil Thompson, a Republican from Boone, says the bill creates a transparency standard that many schools already follow. “Parents deserve to know what their children are being taught,” Thompson says.

Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, says many schools will have to buy new software to meet this requirement. “This bill is targeting teachers, to the detriment of our children,” Steckman says. “I think the teachers will be spending all their time trying to enter this information and then reenter what they didn’t do or what they changed and be worried about being attacked for what they’re doing.” Representative Sue Cahill, a Democrat who’s a teacher in Marshalltown, says it will lead to more generic lesson plans. “This bill hurts students. It hurts teachers,” Cahill says. “It demoralizes a group of trusted professionals and it feels like a ‘gotcha’ to all teachers and administrators in our state.”

Republican Representative Garret Gobble teaches U.S. history to eighth graders in Ankeny. Gobble says this requirement is manageable. “I welcome a change like this that will encourage parents to engage,” Gobble says. “Transparency will strengthen trust…and rightfully turn down the temperature and rhetoric surrounding education discussions. I believe this will begin a great new period for parents and teachers to work together for the benefit of our students.”

Two Democrats in the House joined 58 Republicans in supporting the bill. One Republicans and 35 Democrats voted against it. A similar bill is on the Iowa Senate’s schedule for potential debate today (Wednesday). That bill also includes the governor’s plan to provide state money to the parents of 10-thousand kids enrolling in private schools.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department reports four recent arrests. This (Wednesday) morning, 19-year-old Jaydan Halbert-Christian Fleming, of Harlan, was arrested for domestic abuse assault and simple assault. Last Sunday (March 27), Police in Harlan arrested 59-year-old William Joseph Daeges, of Harlan, on a domestic abuse assault charge.

Saturday, officers arrested 38-year-old Erika Lara-Salazar, of Council Bluffs, following a traffic stop. Lara-Salazar was charged with driving while suspended. And, on March 22nd, 42-year-old Lisa Marie Briggs, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Briggs was transported to the Shelby County Jail.