(Radio Iowa) – A northwest Iowa teenager found unconscious Monday night at a hog site in northern Kossuth County has died. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel were dispatched to a hog-site building about five miles southwest of Swea City just after 9 p.m. Monday after a person was found unconscious. Upon arrival, a female was found unresponsive and was transported to Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona. The female had reportedly been assisting in the cleaning and power washing of the facility and was found lying on the floor by another person who was also working in the area.

The female, identified as 17-year-old Victoria Marie Parra Lerdo of Rockwell City, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny will be conducting an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

(Radio Iowa) – For a second time this year, the Iowa House has voted to require insurance companies to provide equal reimbursement rates for in-person AND virtual mental health services. The insurance industry opposes the move and it stalled in the Senate. House members voted to attached their proposal to a bill that calls for a study of how to better track how many inpatient psychiatric beds are available in Iowa hospitals.

Representative Eddie Andrews of Johnston says the study be done by year’s end, so legislators can implement any proposed changes in 2022. “We need to do something about mental health,” Andrews says. “As a matter of fact, two years ago I had zero desire to run for office or any knowledge, but what moved me is the changes that we can make to our mental health system.”

The House decision to merge the two issues into one package will force senators to either agree to both proposals, abandon both, or form a 10-member conference committee to hammer out a compromise.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Two men and a woman from western Iowa were sentenced to federal prison on drug charges Monday, in Council Bluffs U-S District Court. Court records show 31-year-old Jessica Joy Martinez, of Carroll, will serve 10-years in prison. 40-year-old Shaun Lee Walker, of Council Bluffs will serve 11 1/4 years in prison, and 28-year-old Jonathan Samuel Dings, of, of Glidden, was sentenced to 13.3-years (60 months) in prison. Each was convicted on Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine charges.

Each defendant was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow their prison terms and pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund. There is no parole in the federal system.

On January 10, 2020, Carroll County law enforcement served a search warrant on Dings’ residence in Glidden. While conducting the search, law enforcement learned Martinez and Walker planned to supply Dings – that day – with approximately a pound of methamphetamine they obtained from Omaha, Nebraska. Dings was to sell the methamphetamine in Carroll and Audubon Counties. Law enforcement attempted to intercept the load car containing the methamphetamine that was driven by Walker with Martinez as a passenger, in Audubon, which resulted in a pursuit
occurring before Walker and Martinez were arrested.

The investigation was conducted by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, Audubon Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, approved two new hires, a promotion, and an appointment to the Board of Health. They approved employment contracts for:

• LaJean Fajen-Webb, Jailer (Starting wage $19.64/hour)
• Christian Kinzie as an Engineering Technician ($24.70/hour)
• and the promotion of Dennis Vogl to Senior Engineering Technician. ($28.50/hour)   – Both positions are in effect as of May 10, 2021.
• The Board approved the appointment of Dr. Elaine Berry as a member to the Cass County Board of Health (term ending 12/31/2023).

County Conservation Director Micah Lee presented 3rd quarter FY21 report of activity at county recreational sites (including maintenance at Cold Springs, West Nodaway Area, T-Bone Trail, Hitchcock House, Indian Creek, Troublesome Creek and Outdoor Classroom) and naturalist’s environmental education activities: 58 programs to 664 persons.

Veteran Affairs Executive Director Mitch Holmes gave report of 3rd quarter FY21 activity.  During the quarter 141 veterans were assisted: Federal VA benefits and/or local general assistance.

The Audubon School District’s Board of Education, Monday, set Friday, May 21st 2021 as the last day of school for the current school year. Superintendent Eric Trager said on that day, students will be dismissed at 2:15-p.m.

In other business, the Audubon School Board approved a contract with the Iowa Local Government Risk Pool.

The pool allows the district to pay its natural gas service purchases through their management fund. It’s the third year the district has participated in the program. The District also approved a renewal of a contract with SU Insurance, that allows the district to turn-in break-down insurance when computers need repairs, kitchen equipment breaks down, etc. The Board also added a service agreement with Studio Melee, the district’s facilities renovation project architect.

The Audubon School Board approved a “Quit Claim” Deed for Christiansen Trust, which is of an historical note of sorts.

The Board chose to deed the property back to the land owner who’s been farming it for many years. And, the Board was notified the District would receive a little more than 1.2-million dollars in COVID Relief Funds they will try and figure out how best to use them.

In other news, the Audubon School Board approved 2.5% raises for those employees who are not represented by a collective bargaining unit, and they renewed Superintendent Eric Trager’s contract for another three-years. They also approved the hiring of: A P.E/At risk teacher; A Special Education Teacher and a new Custodian. Trager said they’re working hard on the hiring process, but the supply of interested and qualified applicants is drying up.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Judge has handed down a sentence of 11-years in Federal Prison for a Kansas City, MO., man, convicted of distributing methamphetamine, carrying a firearm in relation to drug trafficking and knowingly in possession of a firearm as a felon. Judge John Jarvey issued the sentence for 26-year-old D’Ante Decarl Dirks, Monday, in Council Bluffs U-S District Court. In addition to the 11-year sentences, for which there is no parole, Dirks was ordered to serve four years of supervised release to follow his prison term, and pay $300 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

On July 7, 2020, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a car driven by Dirks. As the Trooper attempted to issue a citation, Dirks sped off. In an effort to elude law enforcement,
Dirks drove in excess of 100 mph, drove into oncoming traffic, and passed on the shoulder of the highway until he was forced into a ditch in rural Mills County. Dirks ran from the scene and threw a loaded handgun into a nearby cornfield. A search of the car Dirks was driving located marijuana, synthetic marijuana, powder cocaine and cocaine base (crack cocaine). Further investigation revealed Dirks intended to sell the drugs found in the car. Dirks pleaded guilty on December 4, 2020, to the gun and drug charges.

This investigation was conducted by the Iowa State Patrol, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.