(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Today (Wednesday), 61-year-old Jeffery Richard Pape, of Emerson, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear on an original, Violation of Probation, charge. His bond was set at $2,000.

Tuesday night, 36-year-old Daniel Ruiz-Montoya, of Omaha, was arrested on I-29 at mile marker 40 in Mills County, for Assault on a Law Officer/others (without injury), and Public Intoxication. His bond was set at $1,000.

Saturday evening, 21-year-old Chadrick Justin Taylor, of Windsor, MO., was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Bond set at $1,000.

And, last Thursday, 49-year-old Daniel Michael Wiley, of Glenwood, was arrested in Mills County for OWI/1st offense. His bond was also set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Fewer Iowans are donating money to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Fund on their tax returns to help wildlife conservation efforts. Last year, about 58-hundred people checked the box for the so-called Chickadee Check-off, which is only about four-tenths of one percent of Iowa’s taxpayers. Stephanie Shepherd, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Diversity Program, says that check-off is the program’s only source of funding.  “The Chickadee Check-off, the number of donors continues to decline for some reason, probably because the way people have done taxes has changed a lot over the years,” Shepherd says. “The Chickadee Check-off was placed on the tax form in 1982, so certainly things have changed a lot.”

She says the check-off funds are vital to the agency’s work to help preserve some of Iowa’s most vulnerable species.  “We’re the folks that are 100% focused on all those wildlife that you can’t hunt, fish or trap, so, non-game wildlife,” Shepherd says. “That includes songbirds, bald eagles, bumblebees, frogs and toads, dragonflies, all the things, the thousands of species that you can’t hunt, fish or trap.” A few recent projects that have been supported by the check-off include investigating the nesting success of bald eagles, and determining the status of the endangered Poweshiek skipperling butterfly.  “The Chickadee Check-off, when it was created, actually created our program,” Shepherd says. “It allows us to do conservation work for all those species, everything from outreach to research to habitat management projects.”

The number of donors to the check-off has dropped by 50-percent in the past 20 years. Last year, it bought in almost 147-thousand dollars, a decline of about eight-thousand dollars from the year before. Iowans can donate as little as a dollar on their state tax form. “The tax form has changed this year. It seems like the legislature made some changes to how the tax form is set up or the Department of Revenue, so it’s in a little bit different spot,” Shepherd says. “Just make sure, if you work with a tax preparer, to remind them that you’d like to donate, and also keep an eye out if you use one of the electronic programs.”

Shepherd notes, 100-percent of donations to the check-off go directly to the program — there are no administrative fees. Also, you don’t have to donate via the tax form. You can donate directly on the D-N-R’s website: https://programs.iowadnr.gov/donations

(Buena Vista County, Iowa) – A crash Tuesday night in northwest Iowa has claimed the life of a man from Storm Lake. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of a 2013 Mack semi tractor-trailer, 63-year-old Humberto Aladro-Valdes, of Storm Lake, died in a collision that involved two other semi’s. According to the report, the accident happened at around 7:40-p.m. at the intersection of Highways 71 and 7, on the southeast side of Storm Lake.

Authorities say the semi driven by Valdes was traveling west on Iowa Highway 7, at the same time a 2023 Freightliner semi driven by 56-year-old Cedric Lamont Patterson, of Roxie, MS, was traveling north on Highway 71. A semi driven by 37-year-old Deante Martece Seandal Watson, of Des Moines (IA), was southbound on Highway 71. Valdes’ semi failed to stop at the intersection, and struck the semi driven by Patterson, which continued northbound. Valdes was ejected from the cab of his truck, and died at the scene.

The trailer of Patterson’s semi sideswiped the trailer of Watson’s semi. No other injuries were reported. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Storm Lake Fire and Police Departments.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – City officials in Glenwood have announced the City Council of the City of Glenwood, has a vacancy of the At-Large Council seat. The council seat expires December 31, 2025, and is vacant as of January 10, 2024, pursuant to the Code of Iowa. The Council has elected to fill the vacancy by appointment, but the electors of the City have the right to file a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by a special election. Petition must be filed within fourteen (14) days of the notice or the appointment, whichever is later. The appointment will be in effect until the next pending election, as defined in the Code of Iowa.

The Council will make the appointment to fill the vacancy at the regularly scheduled council meeting on February 13, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at Glenwood City Hall. The appointment will become effective immediately and will expire December 31, 2025. Eligible electors of the City of Glenwood, Iowa, wanting to be considered for appointment should submit a request in writing or by email to the city clerk’s office by 12:00 p.m. February 2, 2024. Requests can be mailed, or hand delivered to City Hall, 5 N. Vine St, Glenwood, IA or submitted via email to cityclerk@cityofglenwood.org. Interviews with prospective appointees will be conducted the week of Feb. 5-9,2024.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Officials with the Page County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday, that a man from Clarinda was found guilty Monday in Page County District Court, of the crime of Lascivious Acts with a Child, a class C felony. 41-year-old Jesse J. Stimson was originally charged on September 13, 2023, with one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, a class B felony, one count of Lascivious Acts with a Child, a class C felony, and one Count of Indecent Contact with a Child, an aggravated misdemeanor. On January 22, 2024, Stimson entered into a negotiated plea of guilty to Lascivious Acts with a Child. As part of that plea, the State dismissed the Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree charge and the Indecent Acts with a Child charge.

Jesse J. Stimson

As part of his sentence, Stimson was ordered to serve a sentence of up to 10 years of incarceration, which was suspended, he was placed on two years of formal probation, he will be required to reside at the Residential Treatment Center until maximum benefits are achieved, and he was ordered to complete the Sex Offender Treatment Program. Stimson will also be required to register as a sex offender and placed on a special sentence which will include a 10-year parole, pursuant to Iowa Code.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will hold two Special Meetings. Both take place in the Council’s Chambers at the Atlantic City Hall. The first meeting, at 4:30-p.m., today (Jan. 24), is with regard to Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Planning.

The second meeting, at 5:30-p.m. Thursday (Jan. 25), is a Closed Session pertaining to a personnel matter, whereby the individual has requested a closed session with regard to their professional competency, hiring, performance or discharge, that is being considered.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say two people were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday. At around 3:50-p.m., Deputies took 55-year-old Gregory Allen Riley, of Red Oak, into custody for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding an airway and/or blood flow. Riley was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, at around 9:20-p.m., Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 48-year-old Scott Allen Henneman, of Villisca, on a Page County warrant for Failure to Appear or pay Child Support. Henneman was turned over to Page County Corrections and held on bond.

(Washington, D.C.) – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has announced an Iowa World War II fighter pilot’s remains have been accounted for. U.S. Army Air Forces Major Theodore Willhite, 26, of Muscatine, who died during WWII, was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023.

In March of 1944, Willhite was assigned to the 724th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations. On Mar 11, Willhite was piloting a B-24 “Liberator,” when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German position near Toulon, France. Eyewitnesses on another B-24 reported seeing Willhite’s aircraft spinning out of control at approximately 3000 feet before breaking apart and crashing into the sea. All 11 crewmembers aboard the aircraft were lost in the incident and not identified following the war.

USAF Maj. Theodore Willhite (DPAA photos)

Beginning in 1945, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. Following the war, the AGRC disinterred and identified seven sets of remains recovered from the Lagoubran Cemetery, at Toulon, France. At the time they were unable to identify Willhite and other crewmembers, and they were interred in the Rhône American Cemetery.

In 2019, DPAA investigators and American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed the remains of X-84 Luynes, X-85 Luynes, X-86 Luynes, and X-92 Luynes and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis and identification. To identify Willhite’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Willhite’s name is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at Rhône American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Draguignan, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Willhite will be buried at a place and time to be determined by the family.