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3 women arrested in Creston, Saturday

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The Creston Police Department reports three arrests took place this past Saturday. 41-year old Crystal Dawn Huddleson, of Creston, was arrested at her home, Saturday, on a Taylor County warrant for Failure to Appear in court, on an original charge of Probation Violation. Her cash-only bond was set at $5,000. 22-year old Kristina Marie Patterson, of Creston, was Saturday afternoon, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance. Her cash or surety bond was set at $1,000.

And, 29-year old Natasha Ann Campbell, of Creston, was arrested Saturday afternoon at the Wal-Mart store in Creston. She was charged with Theft in the 5th Degree, with bond set at $300.

(Podcast) KJAN Morning News & Funeral report, 3/4/2019

News, Podcasts

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Des Moines police say officers shot armed suspect

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(UPDATED 11:59-a.m.) DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say a suspect in a carjacking shot at officers who fired back and fatally wounded him. Police say the carjacking victim called 911 around 3:50 a.m. Monday to report that he’d been shot in a leg when two people stole his sport utility vehicle. Police say the SUV was occupied by two men and a woman when it was spotted around 10 minutes later. It went up a dead-end street and parked in driveway. The three got out and walked away, and the woman and one of the men were soon detained.

Police say three officers then found the last suspect hiding near a garage. Police say the officers told him to show his hands, and he responded by firing several shots at them. They returned his fire and killed him. He’s been identified as 36-year-old Luke Swann, of Des Moines. The three officers were identified as Brian Buck, Brian Minnehan and Ryan Steinkamp.

Quad Cities filmmakers plan premiere of new movie about ‘beginning of end’ of slavery

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A filmmaking couple from the Quad Cities is planning for the Davenport debut of their newest movie later this month. Kelly Rundle says he and his wife, Tammy, of Fourth Wall Films, are ready to premiere “Sons & Daughters of Thunder,” on what will be the 185th anniversary of what’s known as the Lane Seminary Debates, a turning point in American history. “In 1834 at a seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first public debates about the abolition of slavery took place,” Rundle says. “That’s significant in and of itself but it’s also significant because one of the witnesses of that event was someone who later became quite famous, a woman named Harriet Beecher Stowe.”

Years later, Stowes’ novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is said to have been described by President Abraham Lincoln as the book that started the Civil War. The Rundles’ film is based on a play written by Curtis Heeter and Earlene Hawley of Waverly, Iowa. The film features actors from Los Angeles, Chicago and the Quad Cities. Most of the filming was done in and around the Quad Cities in historic homes, churches and other buildings. Some scenes were also shot in Cincinnati in the Harriet Beecher Stowe House — the last remaining structure on what was the Lane Seminary grounds. “We’re known more for the historical documentary films that we do but this tempted us,” Rundle says. “Although it is a narrative film, it’s a fictional telling of a true story, we felt safe in doing it because it was history.”

The film is scheduled to premiere at the National Geographic Giant Screen Theater at the Putnam Museum in Davenport on March 16th. “Like our other films, we’ll have another number of ways to see the film later,” Rundle says. “There will be other showings. We hope for broadcast. We always release our films on DVD.”

Another screening of the film is planned for March 23rd at the Garfield Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the true story took place.

Authorities say man set Independence fire that injured 2

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A suspect has been arrested in an eastern Iowa fire that injured two people. Firetrucks were sent to the home in Independence around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The names of the two injured and other details about the fire haven’t been released. Authorities say Shane Heins, of Oelwein, was taken into custody Sunday and charged with arson.

SUV slams into ISP vehicle Saturday – no injuries

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

An out-of-control SUV struck an Iowa State Patrol vehicle Saturday afternoon in Pottawattamie County, but no injuries were reported. The Patrol says 18-year old Kelsey Martin, of Minden, was driving a 2008 Ford Explorer eastbound on Interstate 480 at around 2:30-p.m., when she tried to merge into the other lane in order to make room for a ISP cruiser parked on the shoulder of the road with its emergency lights on.

From the ISP Facebook page, Post #3

As she merged, her SUV went out of control and hit the side of the bridge at mile marker 1, before sliding into the rear passenger side of the 2013 Dodge Charger patrol vehicle. The Trooper was conducting traffic control for a previous accident, when his car was struck.

Iowa’s airports hope to land $16.5 million in state taxpayer support

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — Managers of the state’s airports are dealing with increased passenger traffic, more cargo and bigger planes — and they’re seeking a significant increase in state taxpayer support over the next decade. Marty Lenss, director of the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids says  “We’re doing what we can with the funds we have, but we’ve got a long way to go.”Lenss says a recent survey of businesses showed air service was one of the three key factors for business expansion and location decisions. “You don’t have to look very far to see that play out,” Lenss says. “Caterpillar pulled out of Peoria, Illinois. It cited as air service connectivity as part of the reason why they pulled their headquarters out after 100 years of being in that community.”

The eight Iowa airports with commercial passenger service – including Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Sioux City and Waterloo -are asking for 13-and-a-half MILLION dollars in state support in each of the next 10 years. Lenss says the money’s needed because Iowa’s airports need to be updated. In Cedar Rapids, they had record passenger traffic and a 22 percent increase in cargo traffic just last year. “Because of the growth in both segments, we’re having what I’d call some elbow room issues on the apron because the airplanes have gotten bigger, so we we need more wingtip clearance,” Lenss says, “so we’re working to separate the air cargo to a new location on the airfield.”

Some of that work has started in Cedar Rapids. The state’s largest airport in Des Moines is facing the same issues. A.J. Graff — director of operations at the Des Moines Airport Authority — says passengers are seeing it. “Our hold rooms were designed to accommodate DC9 aircraft back in the ’60s when those were built. The aircraft we have at those gates now are significantly larger,” Graff says. “Especially in the early morning, that peak period, it’s standing-room-only for passengers as they wait to get on their aircraft.”  Graff says the Des Moines Airport has to be creative to accommodate flights at the times the airlines want to fly them. “Aircraft that come in the evening, they sit at the airport overnight and then they leave first thing in the morning to fee those hubs, that’s really where we’re feeling the strain,” Graff says. “…I’m not saying we’re there, but we’re getting close to maximizing the facility.”  Chris Wood, general manager of the Waterloo airport, says his airport needs new hangar space for clients flying in on modern aircraft with wider wings and taller tails.  “Corporate clients that we have frequenting Waterloo such as John Deere, Target — because they have a significant warehouse and distribution center in Cedar Falls and others,” he says. “Menards is another one.”

The Iowa Public Airports Association is also asking legislators to set aside three million dollars in each of the next 10 years for the 110 GENERAL aviation airports around the state. The total request for all Iowa airports is 16-and-a-half million for next year alone. In the current year, Iowa’s 118 airports are splitting two-point-two MILLION dollars in state funding.

Manilla woman injured during Harrison County crash, Sunday afternoon

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

A woman was injured during a single-vehicle, rollover accident Sunday afternoon, in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 20-year old Carlee Ewoldt, of Manilla, was traveling northbound on Highway 191 at around 2:05-p.m., when her 2014 Chevy Malibu lost traction on the road.

The vehicle crossed the center line and went off the road to the left before it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels. Ewoldt was transported by LifeNet to the UNMC in Omaha, for treatment of serious, but what are believed to be non-life threatening, injuries.

Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, March 4, 2019

News

March 4th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

CARTER LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Some 150 years after suffering the loss of tribal lands and near-extinction at the hands of the U.S. government, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is celebrating a triumph with the opening of a casino intended to secure a stream of revenue for the long-struggling tribe. The only thing standing in its way? An effort by governments in Iowa and Nebraska to strip it of the newly-opened casino.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — The former farmhand charged with first-degree murder in the abduction and stabbing death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa wants to have his trial moved to a more diverse county. The Des Moines Register reports that 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s lawyers filed a motion Friday asking that the trial be moved out of Poweshiek County, so there can be more minority representation in the jury pool.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police say they’ve arrested a man suspected of setting a Cedar Rapids apartment fire that injured him and four others, including a firefighter. Station KCRG reports that 24-year-old Dallas Tullis, of Cedar Rapids was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree arson, assault on a police officer, assault causing injury and interference with official acts.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a newborn boy has been surrendered to state custody under Iowa’s safe haven law. The Iowa Department of Human Services says it is the 33rd time the safe haven provision has been used since it went into effect in 2001. The department says the baby was born Feb. 2 at an Iowa hospital and released to the custody of DHS officials. Iowa lawmakers changed state law following a 2001 case in which a mother killed her home-delivered newborn in eastern Iowa.

Ponca Tribe fighting 2 states and a city to keep new casino

News

March 3rd, 2019 by Ric Hanson

CARTER LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Some 150 years after suffering the loss of its homeland at the hands of the U.S. government, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is again fighting efforts by other governments to take something it has built — a new casino on the banks of the Missouri River.

The $10 million Prairie Flower Casino opened in November with 200 slot-style machines, some 10 years after the tribe began its effort to open the casino. The neighboring city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is home to three other casinos. That city and the states of Iowa and Nebraska are suing to have it shut down.

Central to those efforts is the casino’s location. It’s in Carter Lake, the only Iowa city on the western side of the Missouri River that is essentially in the heart of Omaha, Nebraska, where casinos are prohibited.