SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska resident accused of stabbing to death a woman in northwest Iowa has had her trial set for the fall. The trial of Melissa Camargo-Flores, of Dakota City, Nebraska, had been scheduled to begin Feb. 19, but a judge last month granted her attorneys’ request for a delay. The Sioux City Journal reports that on Friday, the judge set the new trial date for Oct. 22.

Camargo-Flores has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the April. 8 killing of 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores in Sioux City. Court documents say Camargo-Flores admitted stabbing Alvarez-Flores. Camargo-Flores told investigators she’d been involved in a relationship with the victim’s boyfriend.

Authorities say the two women were not related.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Red Oak Police Department reports two arrests on Friday night.

At 5:41pm Officers arrested 32-year-old Cody Allen Tunnell of Red Oak in the 200 block of East Grimes Street in Red Oak. He was charged with Simple Assault, a simple misdemeanor. Tunnell was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

At 11:25pm Red Oak Police arrested 48-year-old Charles Edward Heim of Colorado Springs, CO at 106 East Valley Street in Red Oak. Heim was charged with Domestic Assault 1st Offense. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Utilities Board has extended the annual winter ban on shutting off utilities for those customers enrolled in the energy assistance program from Monday to May 13th due to the flooding in some counties. I-U-B spokesperson, Don Tormey, says the Low Income Home Energy Assistance, or LIHEAP program gives some help in dealing with the bigger bills during the cold winter months. “It is a benefit to them but it only pays for a portion of their service,” Tormey explained.

He says those enrolled should be paying what they can on their bill. “The Iowa Utilities board always encourages those customers and all customers to keep paying toward their energy bill even during the winter months — because even though the program guarantees no disconnection it’s not a free ride,” Tormey says. He says the utility companies are willing to work with you and won’t automatically cut off your service when the moratorium ends. But Tormey says you have to reach out to them.

“Those customers who are protected from utility disconnections — if they are protected under the LIHEAP program for energy assistance — they would need to contact both their local utility company to talk about payment arrangements and contact their local community action agency to seek financial assistance,” Tormey says.

Tormey says they utilities can begin disconnecting service when the moratorium ends if the customer has not made arrangements to pay outstanding balances on their utility bill.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Several Democratic presidential candidates will make their case to Iowa farmers today (Saturday) — part of a broader effort to win over rural voters who have drifted to Republicans in recent years. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are among the White House hopefuls who will attend the Heartland Forum in Storm Lake. They’re likely to tout proposals they released this week aimed at helping rural communities.

The attention on agricultural communities and issues is the result of a recognition that Democrats need to do more to win over rural voters, especially in places like Iowa. The state has long been a presidential battleground that swung between Democrats and Republicans. But Iowa has trended more solidly Republican over the past two election cycles, a troubling warning sign for Democrats seeking to oust President Donald Trump.

In the early days of the 2020 Democratic primary, many candidates are focusing on building that connection. Warren rolled out an extensive agriculture policy this week that would help family farmers by breaking up big agriculture monopolies. Klobuchar announced a $1 trillion infrastructure policy that she spoke about while surveying flooding damage in Iowa this weekend. And former Rep. John Delaney rolled out his own policy aimed at revitalizing rural America, which includes a focus on farming and rural infrastructure.

Several contenders, including former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, have campaigned in parts of rural Iowa that haven’t seen much Democratic activity in years. Former Rep. John Delaney is the only Democratic candidate so far to visit all 99 of Iowa’s counties.
A key part of what Democrats need to do to win back rural America, according to Iowa state Rep. Mary Gaskill — is to simply show up.

Gaskill is the only Democratic lawmaker in her area, and represents a red county that went for Trump by more than 20 points in 2016 — but one that Barack Obama won by nearly 12 points in 2012. Now, at least two candidates — Sens. Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand — have campaigned there, a development Gaskill welcomes. O’Rourke won’t attend today’s forum. But his first Iowa swing as a presidential candidate included stops in small towns that swung from Democrats to Republicans in 2016.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently visited the same swath of eastern Iowa, pitching herself to voters as a candidate who could defeat Trump because she’s won in red areas of New York. She, too, didn’t shy away from embracing progressive policies like gun control, universal health care and the Green New Deal, and she touted her work on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military, everywhere she went.

Neither Gillibrand nor O’Rourke won everyone over. Tom Courtney, the Des Moines County Democratic Party chairman, hosted an event for both candidates and said he wasn’t impressed by their message. The rural forum will offer candidates the opportunity to discuss policies that will have a more direct impact on rural voters and farmers — and explain how some of their more sweeping proposals, like the Green New Deal, would help at the local level.

(FORT MADISON) – Two staff members were assaulted by an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary on Friday, March 29, 2019 at approximately 4:30 p.m.  Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Corrections say while a staff psychologist was meeting with an inmate in her office located in one of the housing units, the inmate began to physically assault her. A nearby correctional officer heard the assault taking place, and quickly responded to the assault.

The inmate resisted the attempts by the officer to restrain him, and struck the officer several times in the struggle. The officer was able to deploy oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray) to gain control of the inmate until additional officers arrived to restrain the inmate.

The staff and the inmate that were involved in the assault were assessed by institution medical professionals and found to have not suffered any major injuries. The incident remains under investigation.

A traffic stop in Fremont County Friday night, resulted in the arrest on drug charges of three people from the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports deputies with his K9 Unit were conducting a narcotics investigation in Sidney at around 11:30-p.m. Friday, when they stopped a 2016 Volkswagen near the intersection of 120th Street and Highway 275.

Deputies arrested 42-year old Bud Minshall of Omaha, along with 34-year old Crystal Hammers and 23-year old Devin Danker, both of Council Bluffs. All three were arrested for Delivery of Over 5 Grams of Methamphetamine, a Class B Felony.  Danker was also found to be in possession of a loaded handgun.  Additional charges are pending.

The suspects were being held at the Fremont County Jail, pending initial appearance with a Magistrate. The Mills County K9 Unit and Tabor Police Department assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office with the call.

Danker

Hammers

Minshall

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, Friday evening, released a report on arrests taking place over the past week. On Friday (March 29), Hanna Boccella, of Des Moines, was arrested at the Polk County Jail on a Guthrie County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Offense. Boccella was transported to the Guthrie County Jail. Boccella appeared before the Guthrie County Magistrate and was ordered to be held on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

March 26th – Travis Smith, of Bagley, was arrested on Guthrie County warrants for Operating While Intoxicated 2nd Offense and (2) counts of Child Endangerment. Smith appeared before the Guthrie County Magistrate and was held on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. Smith posted bond and was released from custody; Douglas Mcley, of Bouton, was arrested for Probation Violation. The original charges were Possession of Marijuana 2nd Offense. Mcley appeared before the Guthrie County Magistrate and was held on a $3,000 cash only bond.

March 24th – Paul Palmer Jr., of Des Moines, was arrested for Probation Violation. The original charges were Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury. Palmer Jr. was held on bond by the Guthrie County Magistrate. Palmer Jr. posted bond and was released from custody.

March 22nd – Brian Krakau, of Guthrie Center, was arrested for Public Intoxication 1st Offense in Guthrie Center.  Krakau was booked into the Guthrie County Jail and later posted $300.00 cash bond.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of leaving the scene after his girlfriend leaped to her death from his car in southeast Iowa has been sentenced to five years in prison. The Des Moines Register reports that 29-year-old Damian Hamann was sentenced Friday. He was found guilty in December of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Hamann told investigators that 20-year-old Sadie Alvarado, of Muscatine, jumped from his car on Aug. 5 in rural Lee County as they were arguing. He says he drove home to Morning Sun, but went back later to look for her. Her body already had been found by a passer-by.

An autopsy report shows she suffered blunt force injuries after her leap and had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit to drive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of the three insurance companies providing services for the Iowa Medicaid program is quitting. The Iowa Department of Human Services says UnitedHealthcare informed the state Friday it would leave the in the next several months.

DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven says Medicaid recipients will be asked to choose one of the other two companies, Amerigroup of Iowa or Centene Corp. subsidiary Iowa Total Care for coverage.

Gov. Kim Reynolds says she ended negotiations with UnitedHealthcare on Friday when the company dictated contract terms she believed unreasonable. Former Gov. Terry Branstad hired private companies to manage the Medicaid program previously run by the state in 2016 and it has been the target of criticism since for cuts in services, reported slow payment of bills and doubts about its promised savings to taxpayers.