The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop at around 1:10-a.m. today (Thursday) in Council Bluffs, resulted in the arrest of a 17-year old male and 24-year old Blake Michael Zweck. Both were charged with Theft in the 1st degree – motor vehicle related. The vehicle in question, a 2007 BMW 328i valued at $10,000, was reported stolen from Whetstone Enterprises.  One person was cited Wednesday afternoon, following a disturbance in Avoca.  Authorities say 61-year old Joseph Flory Rzonca was cited for Harassment in the 2nd Degree, by threatening bodily injury. The incident was with regard to a disagreement between Rzonca and a 30-year old female tenant he rents to.

Wednesday morning, 27-year old Charles Frederick Pennington, Jr., was arrested on a warrant for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, after he turned himself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office. And, 18-year old Mackenzie Lynn Koesters turned herself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday afternoon. She was wanted on a warrant for OWI/1st offense.

(Radio Iowa) — The 15-hundred delegates to the Iowa G-O-P’s 2020 state convention will NOT convene in person next month due to concerns about the coronavirus. Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says delegates will be mailed paper ballots to make the decisions they’d normally make at a convention site. “The business of approving the platform, the business of electing a National Committeeman and Committeewoman and the business of choosing our last slate of National Convention Delegates will all be done by mail-in ballot,” he says.

The Republican Party conducted its recent district conventions with mail-in ballots and Kaufmann says delegate participation was higher than normal, with at least an 80 percent return rate. In one district, nearly 87 percent of delegates returned their mail in ballots. “In terms of these conventions being the voice of the grassroots of the party faithful, we certainly achieved that,” Kaufmann says. “In fact, if you just look at the statistic of people weighing in, we probably had a higher percentage or at the very least an equal percentage of what we would have had, had we been together.”

Kaufmann says it’s simply not feasible to plan to have people from around the state gather in Des Moines on June 13th and then go back home in the midst of a pandemic. “We had individuals coming from all 99 counties, including the hot spot counties,” Kaufmann says, “and so the decisions that are made is about the location, but also the location of where all the individuals are coming from.” The NATIONAL convention for Republicans is currently scheduled for August, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kaufmann — who is also a member of the Republican NATIONAL Committee — says he just doesn’t know if that event will be held as originally planned.  “The health and safety of the people participating as well as the people running the convention are going to be paramount and I don’t think any of us can predict what the climate is going to be like,” Kaufmann says.

He says there’s just something about a crowd of party faithful listening to their presidential nominee speak and that would be lost if the NATIONAL convention isn’t held in some form.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators from multiple states are looking into whether a long-haul trucker from Iowa who’s implicated in at lest three women’s slayings in the 1990s could be responsible for other unsolved homicides. Officers arrested 58-year old Clark Perry Baldwin in Waterloo, Wednesday, after new DNA evidence allegedly tied him to three women whose bodies

Clark Perry Baldwin (IA DPS photo)

were dumped in Wyoming and Tennessee in the early 1990s.

Court documents allege that he also raped and choked a woman in Texas in 1991. A spokesman says detectives with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are “looking at any connections” that Baldwin may have to cold cases from that era. He says other agencies are scrutinizing Baldwin given that he traveled the country.

Atlantic, IA – ​SHIFT ATL, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, will be hosting a one-day fundraise-a-thon on Friday, May 15, 2020, from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Options to donate and participate will include physical drop-off at 14 e 4th street, practicing appropriate social distancing, and/or various digital opportunities.  With the generous support from an involved community member, all funds raised during this one-day fundraise-a-thon will be matched dollar for dollar up to $25,000.

Members from SHIFT ATL will be present at their first commercial renovation project at 14 E. 4th street in Atlantic, from 11-a.m. until 7-p.m., for the one-day fundraise-a-thon. They will have the building open to the public to tour, see the projected floor plans and 3D renderings for both the lower and upper level and hear about recent progress. If you wish to tour the space, SHIFT ATL asks that you please practice appropriate social distancing. Only six people will be allowed in the building at a time to ensure the safety of everyone. If you wish to participate in the fundraiser, you can donate in the form of cash, check or Venmo.

Hungry Spartan Pizza, a wood-fire pizza food truck out of Exira, Iowa, will be on site from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. serving lunch. They accept cash, card or Venmo payment the day of. Pizza options will include: ● DAY OF: walk-up pizza by the slice, $3/slice or 2 slices/$5 ● PRE-ORDER: full pizzas to pick up the day of ○ single-topping small $10, large $12 ○ carnivore (all meat) small $14, large $16 ○ supreme small $14, large $16 ○ daily special: The Big Guy (pepperoni, sausage, cream cheese, honey drizzle) small $12, large $14 ○ additional toppings are $1/each To pre-order, either message Hungry Spartan Pizza on Facebook or call/text at 712.304.3387 and mention SHIFT ATL. All pre-orders must be made by Thursday evening, May 14.

Also, SHIFT ATL will be partnering with Atlas Atlantic Cinema for a popcorn fundraiser. Swing by the theater anytime from 2-p.m. to 7-p.m. to grab your afternoon or evening snacks.  In addition, SHIFT ATL will be running a digital fundraiser that day for those who are not able to stop by in person. Options to participate are to visit their website at shiftatl.org, click the “Donate” button and show your support or purchase a SHIFT ATL t-shirt as part of their “buy one, give one” campaign. Using the code “BOGO” you can buy one shirt, and then get another one free to give to someone. You can find the current shirts for sale on their website under “SHIFT Swag”.

Funds raised at this event will be put towards the matching funds required for the Community Catalyst Grant SHIFT ATL applied for in April 2020. This grant, and the matching funds, will cover the cost of the majority of the renovations that will be done inside the group’s first economic development project, the previous Downtowner building the group bought in 2019.

For more information about SHIFT ATL or the fundraiser, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/shiftatl, their website at shiftatl.org or by email at shiftatlantic@gmail.com.

Thanks to the Mills County Emergency Management Agency for providing this quick snapshot of the changes coming Friday, May 8th, as a result of the Governor’s proclamation on May 6th (this applies to all counties except those otherwise noted):

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Thursday press conference. We plan on providing live audio of the presser at approximately 11:00 a.m. on KJAN as well.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week as the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the state’s economy. The Des Moines Register reports that the new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday showed 24,693 new claims. The new report comes as the state begins to allow the reopening of businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Gov. Kim Reynolds first imposed business restrictions on March 17. Since then, 285,422 jobless claims have been filed.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Tyson Foods plans to reopen its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef plant after closing the facility following a surge of coronavirus cases among workers. Tyson closed the plant Friday and initially planned to reopen in four days but pushed that back to Thursday after awaiting coronavirus test results. The plant employs 4,300 people and is among the largest employers for neighboring Sioux City, Iowa.

The Dakota City plant is one of numerous meat processing facilities that have closed due to coronavirus outbreaks. A Tyson pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and a Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, both reopened this week.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston report 46-year old Sandra J. Kohler, of Fontanelle, was arrested at around 10:25-p.m., Wednesday, on charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kohler was released from the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Promise to Appear in court.  And, 45-year old Luke A. Johnson, of Creston, was arrested at his home Wednesday evening. Johnson was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was also released from the LEC on a Promise to Appear.