A man from Red Oak was arrested Monday night for Violation of a No Contact Order. 31-year-old Dylan Thomas Griffeth was taken into custody in the 700 block of N. 1st Street in Red Oak, at around 7:53-p.m.  His bond was set at $300.

(Cumberland, Iowa) – Rescue crews and law enforcement were dispatched at around 4:50-a.m., to a single-vehicle accident near Cumberland, this (Tuesday) morning. According to dispatch information, a vehicle struck a deer, causing the airbags to deploy in the vehicle, which was on the traveled portion of the road in the opposite lane of travel.

Cumberland-Massena Rescue, Wiota Rescue, Cass EMS were responding to the scene near 680th and Lansing. A Cass County Deputy reported a 32-year-old female in the vehicle was reportedly having some chest pain, but no other injuries were immediately noted. Rescue crews were deployed to check out both occupants. Additional information is not currently available.

Gowrie, Iowa/KCCI — A former teacher in Webster County has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee. According to KCCI, 29-year-old Brandon Louis is the former choir director at Southeast Valley High School in Gowrie.

His arrest comes after a yearlong investigation involving search warrants and dozens of current and former students interviewed.  Louis resigned last fall amid allegations he sent inappropriate messages to students. Sexual exploitation by a school employee is a Class D felony.

Brian Johnson, the superintendent of Southeast Valley Schools, told the TV station the district has cooperated since the beginning of the investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – A district court judge has ruled an Iowa law that blocks Medicaid coverage of gender confirmation surgery is unconstitutional. The A-C-L-U of Iowa filed a lawsuit after Aiden Vasquez and Mika Covington were denied state-paid Medicaid coverage for surgeries their doctors said were medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria. Judge William P. Kelly’s ruling says those denials violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act and Iowa’s Constitution.

The legal director for the A-C-L-U of Iowa says it’s a historic win for transgender Iowans. A spokesman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the governor’s office disagrees with the ruling and is exploring all options, including appealing the district court’s ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.

(Radio Iowa) – U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer is calling on congress and the Biden Administration to close a corporate tax loophole AND temporarily suspend the federal gas tax. “Immediately action that could be felt across Iowa and across the country for the families who need it most,” she says. According to Triple-A, the average price in Iowa for unleaded gasoline is three-dollars-and-14 cents a gallon. Finkenauer, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, says the 18-point-four cents per gallon tax should be suspended while oil companies are investigated over allegations of price gouging.

“As folks are struggling right now with gas prices as they are and as they continue to rise even though we’ve seen the price of oil go down, I just want to make sure that we have leaders in D.C. who are holding those companies accountable if they are doing something wrong, but again aren’t just yelling about the problem but are also trying to find solutions for families who need it right now.” In 2008, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain both proposed a gas tax holiday, while Barack Obama called the proposal a short-term quick fix that did nothing to address underlying problems in the market. Finkenauer says she’s not calling for getting rid of the federal tax forever, but a temporary suspension.

“We need an immediate fix,” Finkenauer says, “and we need something that can be felt during the holidays and that’s why this is so important here.” To make up for the reducton in the federal gas taxes that pay for transportation projects, Finkenauer says congress should immediately close tax loopholes for American corporations that outsource jobs to other countries. Finkenauer is one of four Democrats running for their party’s 2022 U.S. Senate nomination and the chance to challenge Republican Senator Chuck Grassley’s bid for an eighth term.