Atlantic, IA —Cass County Public Health has immediate openings this Thursday, April 8^th for Covid-19 vaccine appointments. These appointments are for adults 18 and older.

Anyone in the area that would like to be vaccinated is encouraged to sign up immediately. To sign up, complete the form at casshealth.org/covidvaccine or call (712) 243-3250 and press 7.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests:

• On April 2nd, 54-year-old Matthew Eric Browning, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Adair for Driving Under Suspension and Violation of a No Contact Order. Browning pled guilty to the offenses and completed his court-ordered sentence before being released April 4th.
• On April 1st, 53-year old Dharmendra Champakbhai Patel, of Perry, was arrested at around 5:52-p.m. by an Iowa State Patrol Trooper following a single-vehicle accident on I-80 westbound in Adair County, near mile marker 88. An investigation led to Patel being charged with OWI/1st offense. He was released later that night on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.
• And, at around 11-p.m. on March 29th, 30-year-old Dakota Shane Gaulden, of Orient, was arrested on drug charges following the execution of a search warrant at an apartment in Orient. The probable cause warrant was issued because there was an odor of marijuana coming from the residence.  Gaulden was cited for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 2nd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was issued a summons to appear in court, and released.

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a man who was injured by an Iowa State Patrol Trooper during a traffic stop. Court documents says the State will pay Bryce Yakish $225,000 in the case he filed against the State and former Iowa State Patrol Trooper Robert Smith. An incident whereby Smith knocked Yakish over and put his knee on his neck during a 2017 traffic stop was caught on dash cam video of the arrest.

The lawsuit alleged that Smith assaulted and falsely arrested Yakish, then lied about what happened. The case prompted scrutiny into other allegations of misconduct against Smith.

A man who was driving a UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle) that crashed and killed his female passenger in northwest Iowa, has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide by reckless driving, and vehicular homicide by driving while intoxicated. The incident happened in July, 2020.

According to reports, 48-year-old Christopher Bosma, of Lake Park, entered the written plea Friday in connection with the death of 34-year-old Kelsie Strum, of Lake Park. Investigators say Bosma was participating in a UTV poker ride that involved bar hopping in several towns on the day of the crash and that he told investigators he had consumed eight or nine drinks before the crash.

A 73-year-old woman died during a crash early Monday morning in east central Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports Hazel Ann Griffiths was driving a 2015 Lincoln MKC westbound on Tama County Road E-66, and failed to stop at a posted intersection with Highway 30. Her SUV entered eastbound traffic of Highway 30 and collided with the front of a 2006 Acura TL. The accident happened at around 6:50-a.m.

Griffith died at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle, 21-year old Molly Elizabeth Watt, of Melbourne, was injured and transported by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. Both women were wearing their seat belts.

(Radio Iowa) – A 33-year-old man was stabbed to death in a Residence Inn in Cedar Rapids at around midnight, Sunday. A suspect — 39-year-old Victoriano Dias-Barrera — was arrested on first degree murder and other charges. A second man, 29-year-old Anthony Diaz, was arrested on a Texas warrant charging him with murder in a separate case in that state.

According to a news release from Cedar Rapids police, the victim and Dias-Barrera knew one another and had been arguing before the stabbing, which occurred in a room at the Residence Inn. Arriving officers and paramedics found a 33-year-old man who had been stabbed in his upper torso. The man, whose name was not immediately released, died at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – The Camanche School Board recently voted five-to-one to retire the school’s “Indians” mascot at the end of this school year. Meg Schebler, the district’s activities director, says for several decades Native American tribes and associations have been asking institutions to change this kind of imagery. “It really just came to a point where more and more asks were happening and it couldn’t be avoided as far as the conversation taking place,” she says. “…I think the Camanche School Board and School District did a fantastic job of really doing their research and determining the right move.”

The goal is to have a new mascot in place when school starts in the fall. A committee made up of current students, teachers, coaches and staff, community members and alumni met for the first time last week to start the process. “A fantastic, diverse set of people who are going to represent the community of Camanche, I think, exceptionally well,” she says, “to kind of whittle down from the list of names that have been recommended and we’re going to go from there.”

This Wednesday is the final day for submitting ideas to the committee. About 90 different nicknames had been submitted by the end of last week. Blue and white will remain the school colors. According to the website for the city of Camanche, the town was founded by a man from New York who named the city in honor of the Comanche Native American tribe, but he misspelled the tribe’s name.

A search warrant executed early Sunday morning at residences in the 900 block of Green Street, in Glenwood, resulted in the arrest on drug charges, of two women. The Glenwood Police Department says officers, Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies, and the Iowa State Patrol took part in the raid. Authorities say 62-year-old Karen Saunders, and 45-year-old Mandy Croson, both of Glenwood, were arrested at around 4:30-a.m., on charges that include:

• Possession with the Intent to Deliver/Methamphetamine (A Class B Felony for Saunders and a Class C Felony for Croson)
• Possession of Meth
• Possession of Marijuana
• and Possession of drug paraphernalia.

Saunders was additionally charged with Failure to have a Drug Tax Stamp. Her bond was set at $32,000. Bond for Croson was set at $12,000.