CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in northwest Iowa is worth $1 million. Iowa Lottery officials say the ticket sold in Correctionville, Iowa, matched five of the six winning numbers in Saturday’s drawing. The ticket was sold at a Brew convenience store.

The store will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa lottery for selling the winning ticket. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot in Saturday’s drawing. So the prize will grow to $90 million for Wednesday’s drawing.

A series of meetings and a media blitz should have Guthrie County residents ready to make an informed vote Tuesday on an $8.5-million referendum to pay for a jail expansion and parking lot improvement project in Guthrie Center, that authorities have been promoting. Sheriff’s officials have said the current jail, constructed 56-years ago, was originally only supposed to house 10 inmates and five employees, but it is currently 100% full, due to segregation rules (including gender, juvenile, medical/mental health issues, misdemeanor/felony, etc.). And, while the jail might only five inmates, it is considered full due to the segregation rules. Overflow inmates are transferred to another county at a daily rate.

Authorities say the cost of housing inmates at other out-of-county facilities from December 2018 to November 2019 amounting to over $47,180, and does not include transportation/labor costs of approximately $29,000 per year. They said also, the jail is cramped. It was built to house several departments within the Sheriff’s Office (dispatch, civil, patrol, administration) and Guthrie County inmates charged with criminal offenses outlined in the Iowa Code.

Sheriff Marty Arganbright says due to an increase in crime, drug use, and mental health issues, there is a mix of 35 full and part-time employees, reserve officers, and chaplains. Because there’s also an increase in inmates, some are forced to sleep on the floor and live in less than humane conditions. Officials say the 911 Center/Dispatch area is not secure, and there is poor inmate flow that presents increased risk to public, staff, and inmates.

The solution, according to officials is a 14,800 square foot addition will serve as the Guthrie County Law Enforcement Center (LEC). The facility is designed to include five classification units and four intake holding cells and includes a jail with 28 beds (with second bunk – 32 beds), jail services, jail administration, Sheriff’s administration, patrol, and investigations. Other support spaces include interview rooms, evidence, records, storage, and a sally port. From a safety perspective the new facility design and surveillance technologies officials say, will enhance safety by providing more effective supervision, less potential incidental contact between inmates, staff and the public, and reduced inmate transfers.

To tour the current facility and see models of the new Guthrie County Jail Center visit the Guthrie County Vote website.

(Radio Iowa) — The number of homes sold in Iowa during the month of January, bounded more than ten-percent compared to January of 2019, according to a report from the Iowa Association of Realtors. Association president Scott Wendl, a realtor in Clive, credits the warmer weather for the healthy jump. “If you remember last year, January was really cold and not many people like to look at homes when it’s negative-20-degrees out,” Wendl says. “This year, it just seems to be a more mild winter, not as much snow. People are more energized to get out and start looking with the rates being so competitive.”

The report says home sales prices across Iowa remained steady compared to January of 2019.”The average price has gone up statewide 1.3% which averages out to about $3,000,” Wendl says. “The average sale price in the Iowa market is $160,000 which makes it very affordable when comparing it to other states.” More than 21-hundred homes sold statewide in January, compared to about 19-hundred a year ago. Wendl says homes sold relatively fast compared to last year, too, as January saw an average of 70 days on market compared to 74 days in January of 2019. “Anything with less than six months inventory, basically homes available, it’s kind of a balanced market,” Wendl says. “The buyers are definitely out there. The inventory is starting to pick up a little bit so there’s more homes to choose from.”

He’s expecting home sales to continue rising with the temperatures as warmer weather approaches. “It always picks up right after Spring Break,” Wendl says. “The floodgates open and everybody wants to buy or put their home on the market after the long winter.” Compared to last January, the report says new listings were up 4.4-percent and pending sales were up 7.5-percent, which Wendl says bodes well for February. Those numbers will be out later this month (In March).

Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County, Saturday evening, arrested an Adams County man following an investigation into a single-vehicle accident. Authorities say 34-year old Jeffrey Knapp, of Nodaway, was taken into custody at around 6-p.m., for OWI/1st offense. Knapp was not injured in the accident, which took place in the 1900 block of 200th Street, in Red Oak. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond. The incident remains under investigation.

Red Oak Police arrested a man late Saturday night on a Public Intoxication charge. 32-year old Brandon Michael Houghtaling, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:26-p.m. in the 1600 block of Broadway. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond. Red Oak Police said Houghtaling had also been arrested Friday night on the same charge in a different area of town. He was also held on a $300 bond for that offense, before being released and apprehended again Saturday night.

Emergency personnel from the West Des Moines Fire Dept. along with Police and other EMS crews were called to the scene of an accident involving three motorcycles, Saturday afternoon. Three people were injured. According to KCCI in Des Moines, the accident happened in the 1200 block of the Veterans Parkway, at around 4:10-p.m., Saturday.

Two of the crash victims suffered serious injuries, while injuries to a third person were considered to be life-threatening. The crash remained under investigation. No names were immediately released.

Police in Red Oak report a woman was arrested Saturday evening on misdemeanor drug charges. 34-year old Ashley Anne Farmer, of Shenandoah, was arrested for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Authorities say officers were called at around 7:45-p.m. to the Oak Creek Apartments at 1660 East Summit Street, for a report of the odor of marijuana in the hallway. During their investigation, Farmer was found to allegedly be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia

She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:20 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Democratic Party State Central Committee has certified the results of the 2020 presidential caucuses, nearly a month after a faulty mobile app and other problems delayed counting and prompted calls for Iowa to lose its first-in-the-nation status. Iowa awards 41 national delegates in its caucuses. Following Saturday’s certification of the Feb. 3 caucuses, Buttigieg had 14 delegates and Sanders had 12. Elizabeth Warren won eight, Joe Biden won six and Amy Klobuchar won one. The Associated Press opted not to call a winner, given remaining concerns about whether the results as reported by the party were fully accurate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has for weeks looked to the black voters of South Carolina to hand a win to his flagging campaign. On Saturday, they delivered. Biden won 60% of the votes cast by non-white voters, dominating a crowded Democratic field among a group that made up more than half of the electorate. He also performed strongly with older voter and self-described moderates and conservatives. That’s according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of more than 1,400 voters in South Carolina’s Democratic primary.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A spike in influenza and other respiratory illnesses in eastern Iowa have led hospitals in Dubuque and Dyersville to limit patient visitation. The Telegraph Herald reports that children under 14 — including siblings of babies in the birth center — are being asked not to visit the hospitals. Those with respiratory or flu symptoms, such as coughing, fever, aches and nausea, are also asked not to visit. Dr. Honorio Caceres is chairman of the bi-hospital infection control committee. He directed that the restrictions be put in place at MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center and UnityPoint Health-Finley Hospital in Dubuque and at MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (Telegraph Herald) — A spike in influenza and other respiratory illnesses in eastern Iowa have led hospitals in Dubuque and Dyersville to limit patient visitation. The Telegraph Herald reports that children under 14 — including siblings of babies in the birth center — are being asked not to visit the hospitals. Those with respiratory or flu symptoms, such as coughing, fever, aches and nausea, are also asked not to visit.

Dr. Honorio Caceres is chairman of the bi-hospital infection control committee. He directed that the restrictions be put in place at MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center and UnityPoint Health-Finley Hospital in Dubuque and at MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center.

In an update a story we brought you on Feb. 18th, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Saturday (today), reports a man accused of pushing a co-worker off the top of a grain bin in southwest Iowa, who was found in Mexico and returned to the United States, is now being held in the Fremont County Jail, after being extradited from Texas.

Pedro Andrade

37-year old Pedro Andrade, of Muscatine, faces charges that include Attempted Murder, a Class B Felony, Willful Injury a Class C Felony, and Flight to Avoid Prosecution, a Class D Felony. He was being held without bond in the Fremont County Jail, pending an appearance before a Magistrate.

Last month, officials with the U.S. Marshals Service said Andrade was taken into custody with the assistance of Mexican authorities, outside Merida, Yucatan, Mexico (about 3 hours west of Cancun), and extradited to Houston, Texas.

Background:

On Oct. 10th, 2019 the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a call at around 12:43-p.m., about a male construction worker who had fallen approximately 60 feet, or 5 1/2 stories, from the catwalk above an industrial grain bin in the 300 block of Washington Street, in Hamburg, and was unconscious. The man was transported to Grape Community Hospital and then transferred to Nebraska Medicine for treatment of life threatening injuries.

Four days later, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office received a report that the man had awoken from a coma and said he was pushed from the platform by a co-worker, Pedro Andrade. Deputies allege that Andrade, had unhooked the victim’s safety lines and pushed him from the catwalk, onto a gravel parking lot after discovering an affair between the victim and Andrade’s wife.

Andrade was contacted and agreed to meet with deputies, however, the sheriff’s office received information that Andrade and his wife fled the country prior to the interview. Deputies received an arrest warrant for Andrade and the information was sent to the US Marshall’s Service for assistance.