The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place, Tuesday. 34-year old Tashina Martwick, of Redding, was arrested in Creston on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on Child Support matters. Martwick was later released on a $250 bond. And, 54-year old Craig Hauser, of Creston, was arrested Tuesday for Public Intoxication/3rd or subsequent offense. His bond was set at $2,000.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found inside a Cedar Rapids home. Station KCRG reports that police first thought the man had killed himself, but officers no longer think that’s what happened and have launched what they call a “death investigation.” The man’s been identified as 44-year-old Randy Campbell. His body was found Friday night.

No arrests have been reported. What caused his death and other details haven’t been released.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — An Iowa airplane maintenance company is planning to open a facility in Salina, bringing 50 new jobs this year and up to 450 employees within three years. Officials with 1 Vision Aviation, a Sioux City, Iowa-based company, said the company does maintenance and repairs on commercial, corporate, private planes and performs other general aviation maintenance work.

The Salina Journal reports the Salina Airport Authority board on June 20 approved financing for $2.6 million in repairs and improvements to an airport hangar to house 1 Vision Aviation.
Another company, LifeSave Transport of Wichita, has rented a hangar at the airport to provide emergency medical transportation services to Salina and north-central Kansas. LifeSave will base 16 pilots, paramedics and flight nurses in Salina, and operations may begin as early as July 15.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A state audit says a Henry County employee who faked having an intern collected nearly $219,000 in improper payments. The Des Moines Register reports that the audit report says 43-year-old Jodi Sutter was fired in February 2018 as Henry County’s environmental specialist after she was unable to produce documentation for expenses and admitted lying about having an intern for whom she sought reimbursements. Sutter has sued the county for wrongful termination and unpaid wages.

Sutter said Tuesday in a statement released by her attorney that she’d “discovered substantial gaps in the (audit) report, which call into question its findings.” The audit report says the county’s board of health didn’t review Sutter’s claims for reimbursement and wages, erroneously believing that county supervisors were handling the oversight.

A traffic stop late Tuesday night in Red Oak resulted in the arrest of the driver. At around 11:36-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 33-year old Sara Sue Batten, of Red Oak, for Driving While Barred. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $2,000 bond.

A Shelby County man died in a crash Tuesday afternoon, east of Harlan. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports 71-year old Dale Hemminger, of Harlan, died, after the 1994 International semi he was driving, left the road for reasons unknown and rolled into the south ditch, leaving him trapped in the vehicle. The accident happened on Nishna Avenue, at around 4-p.m.

Hemminger was extricated from the vehicle by mechanical means. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was assisted on scene by the Harlan Police Department, Harlan Fire Department, Medivac Ambulance, Kirkman Fire Department, Westphalia Fire Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, who responded to a possible agricultural-related chemical spill from the truck.

For the second time in about two-months, voters in the Riverside School District failed, Tuesday, to pass a 10-year Physical Plant and Equipment Levy and a PPEL surtax. According to unofficial results from the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office, the measure, which required a 50 plus 1 simple majority to pass, received 438 NO votes and 405 Yes votes, or 52% to 48%. 843 of the 2,783 registered voters cast their ballots, for a voter turnout of 30%. The majority of the No votes came from Oakland, where 229 voters said they were opposed to the measure, and 216 said yes. (See the breakdown below)

The Public Measure had essentially asked if the District would be permitted to impose the levy for 10-years, at a tax rate not to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 taxable valuation, beginning with the levy of property taxes for collection in the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2021, and a not to exceed 2% income surtax effective December 31st, 2020. The first proposal presented to District patrons was defeated April 2nd , with 56.4% opposed and 43.6% in favor.

School officials say if it had been approved, the PPEL would generate an estimated $3.7 million over the 10-year period for capital improvement projects, such as the aging HVAC system at the Elementary and Intermediate schools. Revenue raised from the surtax would have been used to pay down the property tax levy to an estimated $1.29 per $1,000 of valuation.

Unofficial results:

Absentee: Yes 95, No 51

Carson: Yes 103, No 80

Macedonia: 42 Yes, 78 No

Oakland: 216 Yes, 229 No.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a 17-year old male was arrested at around 1:40-a.m., Tuesday, following an incident in the 90 block of Main Street, in Elliott. The unidentified teen was taken into custody for (Simple) Domestic Assault, and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs.

Officials with the Animal Rescue League in Des Moines reports the ARL Mobile Response Team deployed today (Tuesday) to Audubon County, to help remove 13 dogs from a residential property in Exira. When the ARL team arrived, they found the dogs outside in a muddy, chain-link dog run, covered in a tarp that was sagging with water collected from the overnight rain.

Animal Rescue League newsletter photos

The ARL said in a social media post, “We could tell instantly that many of these dogs had not been well-socialized, but what we heard next broke our hearts: some of these dogs, all adults, had never even had names. They were extremely shy and many appeared to have never walked on a leash before, so we worked slowly and carefully with each one to load them into the ARL Rescue Van for their drive back to a fresh start.”