The Harlan Police Department reports six arrests took place over the past week. On Monday, 33-year-old Tamara Leigh Dryer, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant, and for Violation of a No Contact Order. 37-year old Troy Dakota Weelborg, of Council Bluffs, was arrested that same day, for Violation of a No Contact Order. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop.

Last Friday, 36-year-old Aubree Jasmine Cline, of Council Bluffs, and 28-year old Nancy Nalleli Salinas, of Denison, were arrested on active Shelby County warrants.

On March 3rd, 41-year-old Lisa Marie Briggs, of Harlan, was arrested on an active warrant. She was also charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, 57-year-old George Otis Brittain, of Harlan, was arrested the same day, following a traffic stop. Brittain was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving While Suspended.

There were also two, property-damage-only accidents, in Harlan. Those incidents took place March 8th and 9th.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Jurors have acquitted an Iowa journalist who was pepper-sprayed and arrested by police while covering a protest in a case that critics have derided as an attack on press freedom and an abuse of prosecutorial discretion. A jury found Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri not guilty on misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse and interference with official acts.

It also acquitted her former boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, of the same charges, which carried the threat of fines and even jail time. The verdict came after a three-day trial in Des Moines.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — As Iowa ramps up vaccinations to include everyone between age 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions, the state has turned to the honor system with no validation required when someone claims to qualify for a shot due to a health issue. The state is allowing adults Iowans to get vaccinated if they have any one of several conditions including cancer, lung disease and heart disease that create a higher risk for severe illness if they get a coronavirus infection.

Obesity and smoking also qualify. Iowa health officials say the system is relying largely on Iowans being honest about their health when arranging for a vaccine. Gov. Kim Reynolds says the process is working well.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor has urged jurors to convict an Iowa journalist of misdemeanor crimes stemming from her reporting from the scene of a violent protest, saying she was near an unlawful assembly and resisted an officer who arrested her. Prosecutor Bradley Kinkade urged jurors during his closing argument Wednesday not to consider that Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was a journalist who was covering the protest for racial justice outside a mall last May. He says her profession was not a defense against charges of failure to disperse and interference with official acts.

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri testifies during her trial after being arrested while reporting on a protest last summer, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at the Drake University Legal Clinic, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP)

The jury is deliberating whether Sahouri and her former boyfriend Spenser Robnett are guilty of the two misdemeanor charges.

(Radio Iowa) [updated] – The one-year anniversary of the first cases of COVID-19 being reported in the state was this past Monday and Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa is about to hit another, more positive milestone. It’s projected the one-millionth Iowan will be vaccinated against the virus sometime in the next few days.

Getting scheduled for an appointment is still a challenge, so the governor says Iowans 65 and older can now call 2-1-1 to talk with a “vaccine navigator” to get scheduled for a shot.

Reynolds says almost 94-percent of Iowans who are 65 and older have gotten at least their first dose of a vaccine. Next week, nearly 95-thousand first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are headed to Iowa. State officials say Iowa could get four-thousand doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well.

Census data indicates there are about two-point-one MILLION adults in the state. More than 18-thousand Iowans have received the new, single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Reynolds says they are among the 160-thousand Iowans who work in food processing, ag production and manufacturing companies or who live in communal settings that are on the state’s initial list for the Johnson and Johnson shots.

In the past week, 51 Iowa companies have hosted mass vaccination clinics for employees. A coffin filled with flowers and wrapped with an Iowa flag was carried into the state capitol on Tuesday as part of a memorial service for the more-than 55-hundred Iowans who’ve died from COVID-19 in the past year.

FORT DODGE – The Iowa Department of Corrections, Wednesday, said a correctional officer was assaulted at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, Tuesday night. The officer was working his post on a living unit when an inmate unexpectedly struck the officer with a closed-fist strike to his head. The officer began using defensive techniques to control the inmate, and additional security staff arrived quickly to assist in restraining the inmate.

The officer was treated and released for minor injuries at the local hospital. The inmate was seen by facility medical staff and found to have not suffered any major injuries. The incident remains under investigation.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a single-vehicle, injury accident took place this (Wednesday) morning, about four-miles north of Clarinda, in the 1400 block of Redwood Avenue. Authorities say 58-year old Machelle Dawn Graham, of Clarinda, was driving a 1999 Ford Ranger southbound on Redwood, when the pickup went out of control. The vehicle swerved several times on the road before it began to rollover. The pickup came to rest on the passenger side in the west ditch. As the vehicle rolled, Graham was ejected and was found by a passing motorist about 20-feet south of where the vehicle came to rest.

The woman was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center for treatment of unknown injuries. Damage to the Graham vehicle was estimated at $3,000. It was considered a total loss. Charges are pending from this accident. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Clarinda Police Department, the Clarinda Fire Department, Page County Emergency Management, and the Clarinda Ambulance service.

And, last Friday, March 5th, Page County Deputies responded at around 5:30-p.m. to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Highways  2 & 59. And investigation determined:
45-year old Barry Joe Rhea, of Ponca City, OK, was driving a 2012 GMC Sierra pickup northbound on HWY 59 just south of the intersection with HWY 2.  Sheriff Lyle Palmer says 23-year old Richard Lee Hartman, of Braddyville, was driving a 2012 Ford Fusion southbound on HWY 59 north of the intersection with HWY 2. When Hartman attempted to turn east in front of Rhea’s pickup, the vehicle struck Hartman’s car as it was turning east. Hartman’s Ford then struck the westbound stop sign at the intersection before coming to rest in the southeast shoulder of the intersection. Rhea’s pickup came to rest in the northeast shoulder of the intersection.

Neither driver was hurt. Hartman was cited for Failure to yield upon left turn. Damage from the collision amounted to $11,000 altogether. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Shenandoah Police at the scene.