(Radio Iowa) — A 48-year-old Sioux City man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on five different drug charges. A jury convicted Shelton Oliver — who also went by the name “Sinbad” — of distributing heroin. Prosecutors say Oliver gave heroin to an informant on four different occasions — and he did it near several “drug-free” zones, including a Sioux City elementary school and four different Sioux City parks.

Authorities linked Oliver to two different heroin overdoses as well. One man died in October of 2017. Evidence showed Oliver was selling heroin out of his car to an informant last year — while a person in Oliver’s passenger seat was overdosing. That person was revived by medical personnel.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported multiple discharges from sewage treatment plants and livestock facilities in recent days as systems got overwhelmed by large amounts of rain. The D-N-R’s Scott Wilson says livestock facilities have struggled to handle the manure all spring. “Because of the wet weather, just bad farm conditions, ground conditions, and so right now with the extra rains they are full. Some have been overflowing,” Wilson says. “For some that’s a permit-allowable thing — for others it’s not.”  He says the D-N-R tries to help producers address the issue before it becomes a problem. “Yeah, we do like to talk to facilities about options for transferring manure, holding manure, putting it out on fields that are potentially full — but it buys us some time to let manure flow across fields,” Wilson says.

Wilson says there is not set rule or plan that can be used for every situation. “It really is very specific to each facility,” he says, “which is one of the reasons why we always like to asked people to call us when they are anticipating a problem, or they discover that they’ve already got a problem.” The D-N-R had more than 70 reports of city sewage treatment plants discharging after having trouble handling the large volumes of water. “Sometimes those discharges that are being reported are coming from the wastewater treatment plants themselves. Where the treatment plant is getting influent that exceeds what they can handle,” according to Wilson. “It also is sometimes in what we call the collection system.” Problems in the collection system include pipes that get plugged or overwhelmed with water. He says some systems still have sump pumps connected to them from houses and that additional water can overwhelm a plant.

Wilson says they issue a warning to let the public know there might be sewage in the waterways. “It’s the kind of thing for at least for the days which it is occurring anda few after — you’d want to be wary. There is potential for pathogens to be in the water. And also because of a flooding situation there’s other safety hazards in the water too, floating debris, force of the water moving,” Wilson says. He says the risk is a different for the animal manure that’s released from storage. But, he says there have been no reports of dead fish or other aquatic life. Wilson says the immense volume of water helps dilute the risk. “When you have flooding situations, you do end up with a lot of dilution. That’s not an excuse to allow pollution — but it does frankly help out in this situation,” he explains. “Where you don’t see the impact that you might see otherwise if the wastewater was going directly into a stream that was at low flow or normal flow.”

Wilson says livestock facilities that are discharging or expecting to discharge should contact their local D-N-R field office After hours, facilities can call the D-N-R emergency spill line at 515-725-8694. The D-N-R website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport say the city is building a bigger flood barrier in the wake of a breach in April that sent floodwaters rushing into downtown streets. Davenport City Administrator Corri Spiegel tells the Quad-City Times that the city will build larger flood walls when there is a high probability the river cresting above 21 feet. Days after the last temporary barrier broke on April 30, the river hit a historic crest of 22.7 feet.

Davenport’s downtown sits on the banks of the Mississippi River, with no permanent floodwall. Instead, the city has an expanse of riverfront green space and temporary barriers, called HESCO barriers, consisting of large, sand-filled containers. Spiegel says Davenport public works crews began assembling the larger flood wall last week. The design uses two lines of HESCO barriers on the ground with another two stacked on top.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say a 4-year-old boy is recovering from a gunshot wound after picking up a gun he found inside his parents’ vehicle. Television station KCCI reports that the shooting happened Wednesday afternoon on the southeast end of the city. Sgt. Paul Parizek says the child was unattended in the vehicle when he found the handgun and began playing with it. The gun fired, hitting the child in the shoulder.

Police say the boy is in stable condition and is expected to recover. Investigators say the gun belongs to the child’s parents. Police have not said whether charges will be filed.

(Radio Iowa) — President Trump and former Vice President Biden plan to be campaigning in Iowa on the same day next month.  Iowa Republican Party officials confirm Trump is to speak at a PRIVATE fundraiser for the state party on June 11th. The event will be held in West Des Moines.

Politico reports Biden is planning to be in Iowa on the same day, and will be here June 12th as well. Biden’s trip will come a couple of days AFTER the Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids featuring 17 other candidates seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Police in Glenwood report two recent arrests. Taken into custody this (Thursday) morning, was 35-year old Travis Long, of Council Bluffs. Long was arrested for a Controlled Substance Violation, and on a Pottawattamie County warrant. Total cash/surety bond was set at $27,000. And, on Wednesday, 25-year old Cyril Ngala, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested in Glenwood on a Mills County warrant for Wanton neglect of a health care resident. His cash/surety bond was set at $2,000.

And, Glenwood Police said no injuries were reported following an accident whereby a car struck a building Wed. afternoon at 428 1st Street. Authorities say 91-year old Frances Louise Rainey, of Glenwood, was attempting to park her 2007 Lincoln MKZ in a parking stall, when she accidentally pushed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake. The car jumped a curb and struck a realty business. The building, owned by Mike Hopp, sustained an estimated $1,500 damage. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,500.

(Radio Iowa) — Clear Lake police have arrested seven men and two women on charges related to solicitation of prostitution. Police Captain Mike Colby says investigators and officers conducted a sting operation in Clear Lake on Wednesday focusing on human trafficking and prostitution. The seven males were all charged with soliciting prostitution:
61-year-old Steven Menke of Bancroft
55-year-old Brian Cole of Nashua
47-year-old Chad Sovanski of Milan, Illinois
65-year-old Phillip Bishop of Mason City
48-year-old Brian Bruton of Charles City
48-year-old Scott Biernbaum, who lists dual residences of Clear Lake and Lincoln, Nebraska
42-year-old Jeramie Hagen of Crystal Lake, who was also charged with delivery of a controlled substance

The two women, 25-year-old Mallory Wiese of Mason City and 22-year-old Ashley Kelly of Midland, Alabama, were charged with prostitution. All nine were booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Wiese and Kelly remain in jail this (Thursday) morning on $2000 bond. Colby says the goal of the operation was to identify people who were involved in this type of criminal conduct, and they wanted to take a stance against human trafficking and to show that there will be zero tolerance for such activities in the area.

A Sheriff’s Deputy in Pottawattamie County who was dispatched at around 12:30-a.m. today (Thursday) to a residence in rural Council Bluffs, arrested a man on two charges. 35-year old Mathew Allen Kochen, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order, Domestic Abuse Assault with a weapon, 1st offense, Criminal Trespass and Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order – Contempt of Court. Kochen was being held in the Pott. County Jail.

And, 25-year old Henry Thomas Beadle, of Council Bluffs, turned himself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office late Wednesday morning. Beadle was wanted on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order – Contempt of Court. He was transported to the Pott. County Jail and turned over to Corrections Staff.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — The former director of the Congressional Budget Office says changes in federal immigration policy should aim to ease the U.S. labor shortage. During remarks in Iowa yesterday (Wednesday), Douglas Holtz-Eakin said without new immigrants, the U.S. population will decline.

“The native born population doesn’t have enough babies to keep us even the current size,” he says. “If we literally shut the borders, the United States would shrink. It would get older, smaller, be less vital, the economy would less powerful and our capacity to influence world affairs would be more limited.”

Holtz-Eakin, who also served as an economic advisor to President George Bush, is now president of a Washington, D.C.-based group called the American Action Forum. He and his group are touting a plan similar to the merit-based immigration changes President Trump proposed earlier this month. It calls for using a “point system” to determine who may enter the U.S.

“This should change the debate about immigration from what divides us to the thing we all have in common,” Holtz-Eakin says. “We all want to have a more vibrant economy. We all benefit from having a more vibrant economy. Let’s build a new immigrant system that supports a vibrant economy.”

Jacqueline is the American Action Fund’s immigration policy director. Varas says her group’s proposal would help ensure immigrants would be productive workers. “We crafted it in a way that would capture both the high-skilled individuals with lots of education and English language ability,” she says, “and then also the individuals that are in trades, with lower skills as defined by education, but consistent work experience.”

Varas says the current immigration system is primarily “an avenue to bring families together” and should, instead, be geared to primarily benefit the overall economy.