IOWA CITY– The Iowa Department of Corrections reports State Prison inmate, 61-year old James Lee Blair was pronounced dead Friday evening at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Officials say his death was likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions. Blair He had been transported there recently from the Iowa State Penitentiary due to his declining health.  He was serving a Life sentence for Murder-1st Degree in Polk County.  His sentence began on November 24, 1982.

A 23-year-old U.S. Marine with ties to Red Oak was among 13 service members killed in a terrorist attack Thursday in Kabul, Afghanistan. According a statement from the family released to KETV in Omaha, Corporal Daegen William-Tyeler Page was killed when a suicide bomber detonated a device near the city’s airport in the wake of mass evacuations from the country.

The statement said Page was raised in Red Oak and attended high school at Millard South in the Omaha metro. Corporal Page joined the Marines in 2019. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

His family says after finishing his enlistment, Daegan planned to come home and go to a local trade school, possibly to become a lineman.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports one person submitted their nomination papers Friday. Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns says Anita Councilman Mark Harris filed to run for a Vacancy position on the Anita City Council. The Council vacancy position became available following the death of Mayor Tom Harris. Councilman John Knutson served as Mayor Pro-Tem, and was appointed in March to serve until the November elections.

As of Friday, the following candidates have filed to run for City offices in Cass County:

Mayor of Atlantic:

Current Councilpersons Pat McCurdy, Grace Garrett and Kathy Somers.

Atlantic City Council, 5th Ward:

Dick Casady (Incumbent)

Mayor of Anita (to fill a vacancy):

John Knutson.

Anita City Council (To fill a Vacancy)

Mark Harris

City of Atlantic Parks and Recreation Board:

Shirley Jensen.

Nomination papers may be filed with the Cass County Auditors Office until 5-p.m., Sept. 16th.

(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque native Kenneth Quinn, a former U-S ambassador in Asia, says he’s been very troubled by some aspects of the U-S withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The good thing we got…most of the interpreters out,” Quinn says, “but to me it doesn’t look like we did as good a job as we should have with the civilians…who put their lives at risk, worked on behalf of our country and are just as deserving and many, perhaps even most of them, are women.”

Quinn is a former U-S ambassador to Cambodia. While he’s never been to Afghanistan, Quinn is in contact with a group still trying to leave from Kabul’s airport. “I think we could have been better prepared. I knew where every American citizen was in Cambodia when I was ambassador. We had a network so we could contact them every day,” Quinn says. Keeping more troops in Afghanistan and getting more people out sooner would have helped, according to Quinn, but he says Afghanistan’s government fell quicker than many had predicted.

Quinn made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs at 7:30 tonight (Friday) on Iowa P-B-S.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A 12-state human trafficking operation coordinated by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol led to 102 arrests and identified 47 victims. Operation United Front involved simultaneous state-level human trafficking operations throughout the day on Thursday and into early Friday morning. The operation, comprised of state and federal law enforcement agencies, is believed to be the first multi-state operation of its kind.

Iowa law enforcement agencies participating in the operation included the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Ankeny Police Department, Clive Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, Des Moines Police Department, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Urbandale Police Department, Walcott Police Department, West Des Moines Police Department, and the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force conducted 10 operations to combat human trafficking throughout Iowa. The officers executed 10 search warrants, identified five businesses involved in sex trafficking, made 11 arrests and seized a large quantity of United States currency. The United States Attorney’s Office, Polk County Attorney’s Office, and the Scott County Attorney’s Office assisted with warrants and future prosecution.

“Human trafficking uniquely affects Iowa given our proximity to major metropolitan areas like Kansas City and Chicago and the intersection of two major interstate systems,” said Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens. “As a result, we know human trafficking is happening in Iowa and that it occurs in a variety of settings. We thank our law enforcement partners and state and federal prosecutors for the unified commitment to stamp out human trafficking in our cities and counties throughout Iowa. We will continue to provide training and resources designed to identify and effectively respond to human trafficking in whatever form it may take.  Together we can prevent this from happening in our state, because even one victim is one too many,” Bayens added.

How Operation United Front Worked

Using both buyer-centric and victim-centric “sting” human trafficking operations, Iowa and participating states were able to rescue and provide medical and other needed services to victims and sex workers, and arrested perpetrators across the country in connection with human trafficking. Other states conducted “minor recovery” operations that were designed to rescue those most vulnerable and easily manipulated by human traffickers.

In addition to the Iowa Department of Public Safety and Iowa law enforcement agency partners, the following agencies conducted separate state-level operations including: Illinois State Police, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Missouri Attorney General’s Office, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Nebraska State Patrol, North Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Oklahoma City Police Department, Tulsa Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Texas Attorney General’s Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation.