LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A state investigator has testified that a mother on trial for murder after her infant was found dead in a maggot-infested diaper, questioned her maternal care during an interview. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Chris Callaway testified Friday that 21-year-old Cheyanne Harris told him she had changed 4-month-old Sterling Koehn, given him a bottle and put him in a baby swing the day before he was found dead Aug. 30, 2017.

The Courier says Callaway also testified that Harris told him, “I should have checked on him more.”
An autopsy showed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and an E. coli infection caused by being left in a maggot-infested diaper for up to two weeks. First responders found him lifeless in a sweltering bedroom in a baby swing.

Callaway’s testimony came in the third day of Harris’ first-degree murder trial. The infant’s father, Zachary Koehn, already has been sentenced to life in prison in the case.

Midwest Partnership Economic Development Corporation (EDC) recently recognized Dennis Flanery, of Guthrie Center, with the Guy Powell Award for his contributions to the community and organizations he supports. The award was presented at the organization’s annual dinner meeting on January 24th, in Panora.

The Guy Powell Award was established in honor of the late Guy Powell of Greenfield, who served as president of the Midwest Partnership EDC board of directors and was an active volunteer in several other community organizations.  It is intended to recognize excellence in leadership and passion for economic development in the Midwest Partnership EDC region, taking into account vision, leadership, courage, and impact.

Dennis Flanery was nominated for his leadership as President of the Guthrie Center Area Economic Development Corporation, as well as for his vision for the Guthrie Activity Center.  The organization said “Dennis is very active in pursuing potential leads, as well as discussing business retention opportunities with Guthrie Center’s existing businesses.  His work has provided a nearly-full downtown business area.  He has also aided in the retention of a couple of businesses who had opportunities to leave the area.”

It was also noted that, “A couple of years ago, Dennis had the vision of restoring the exterior Guthrie Activity Center to look similar to that of 50+ years ago, providing a consistent downtown façade, as well as remodeling the interior of the building to maximize space for social utilization in an effort to draw consumers and businesses to Guthrie Center.  He stepped forward to lead the project and established a team with a similar shared vision and passion for this goal.  The capital campaign Dennis and his team spear-headed is proving to be very successful and nearing its full goal. ”

Other highlights from MP-EDC’s annual dinner included recognizing outgoing board members Brett Irlmeier of Audubon, John Rutledge of Panora, and Warren Varley of Stuart for their dedication and service to the organization over the years.  Irlmeier served on the Midwest Partnership Board for 8 years, Rutledge 10 years, and Varley served for 12 years.  Scott Tonderum of Greenfield was elected President of the organization for 2019.  Sarah Gomez, Executive Director, provided a recap of the year, and those in attendance had the opportunity to hear from the evening’s guest speaker, Hernan Etcheto, CEO and Owner of Nutriom, in Panora.

Midwest Partnership EDC is the non-profit, collaborative economic development organization formed to strengthen the economic vitality of the communities of Adair, Audubon, Greene, and Guthrie counties in west central Iowa.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, today (Friday), posted a report on activity that took place over the past week. Authorities said on Feb. 1st (Today): Mark Doyle, of De Soto, turned himself into the sheriff’s office to serve a portion of a six-day mittimus for Operating While Intoxicated 2nd Offense; Bryan Bartley, of Guthrie Center, turned himself into the sheriff’s office to serve a four-day mittimus for Operating While Intoxicated 1st Offense; and, Barbara Svoboda, of Ogden, was transferred to a residential correctional facility in Mason City, IA following her service of a 60-day sentence in the Guthrie County Jail.

January 31st – Richard Kaster, of Adel, was arrested at the Dallas County Jail on Guthrie County arrest warrants for failure to appear on charges of Driving While Barred and Possession of a Controlled Substance – Marijuana 1st Offense.  Kaster was held on a $200 cash bond after his appearance before the magistrate.

January 30th – Shane Sheehy, of Perry, was stopped for a traffic violation in Bayard. Sheehy was subsequently arrested for Driving While Revoked. He posted cash bond prior to an appearance before the magistrate.

January 28th – Patrick Beardsley, of Guthrie Center, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of a No-Contact Order. He was released following an appearance before the magistrate.

January 27th – Andrew Rosenbeck, of Guthrie Center, was arrested on a warrant for probation violation. He was still in custody at the Guthrie County Jail, as of Friday.

January 26th – Elaine Norgart, of Perry, turned herself in the sheriff’s office to serve a two-day mittimus on an original charge of Operating While Intoxicated;  Chad Hein, of Yale, was arrested in Guthrie Center for multiple violations for which he had arrest warrants: Hein had an active arrest warrant out of Marshall County for failure to appear on a No-Contact Order Violation….he had a two-day mittimus to serve at the Guthrie County Jail….he also had failure to appear warrants out of Guthrie County for probation violation and multiple traffic violations. After serving the two-day mittimus, Hein posted $2,000 cash bond to be released. The Iowa State Patrol assisted the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office in the arrest.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports that at around 5:45-p.m. Thursday, Deputies responded to a call about an assault at 3144 130^th Street in rural Page County.  That’s approximately 4 miles south of Villisca.

J. Dale

C. Blank

Their investigation determined 19-year old Joslyn Renea Dale, of Clarinda, went to the residence to confront 20-year old Chelsey Lane Blank, over some posts on Facebook.  Dale and Blank began fighting.  Blank later damaged the windshield of the vehicle Dale drove, that belongs to Stacy Marriott, of Clarinda.

Dale was arrested for Simple Assault and Child endangerment.  She was transported to the Page County Jail and held on $2,000 bond. Blank was arrested for Criminal Mischief. Her bond was set at $1,000. The case is still under investigation, with additional charges are possible.

New statewide voter registration totals are available. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said today (Friday) the 2,034,275 active registered voters is one of the highest marks in Iowa history. The information shows there are more “No Party” affiliation voters (175,066) in District 3 (which includes Cass County) then there are Democrats (174,467) and Republicans (173, 409). Other party affiliations amounted to 5,279.The total number of registered voters in District 3 is 528,221.

(click on the map to enlarge)

In District 4, which has 494,109 registered voters: 192,086 are Republican; 121,341 Democrats, 177,343 are not affiliated with a party, and 3,339 say they have “other” party ties.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says an insurance company does not have to pay the city of West Liberty for damage to property caused by a squirrel that climbed onto an electrical transformer and created an electrical arc. The court says in a decision released Friday that the policy held by the city from EMC insurance excluded damage caused by electrical arcs that were not related to lightning. The city filed a lawsuit in January 2016 after EMC refused to pay the more than $213,000 in damage.

The city claimed the squirrel caused the damage but a district court judge and the Iowa Court of Appeals concluded the damage was caused by the electrical arc generated when the squirrel touched a 7,000-volt clamp and a grounded metal frame. The lower courts concluded the arc policy exclusion applied and the Supreme Court justices agreed.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa-based researchers have concluded there’s little scientific evidence that sound from wind turbines poses a public health risk. Instead, the authors say reported symptoms of hearing loss or poor sleep are more likely related to people’s attitudes about wind development. The findings by the Iowa Policy Project and the Iowa Environmental Council are based on an overview of peer-reviewed studies. Co-author David Osterberg says reports of symptoms are associated with annoyance at developers rather than the actual sound of the turbines.

“Maybe you ought to think about how you treat people so they feel like they have more control over the whole process,” Osterberg says. “That would probably do more than trying to address the sound because we don’t think it’s the sound.” Wind turbines produce sound pressure, but Osterberg and his research associations concluded it’s not at a level that affects humans.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Vanessa Strazdas – Newly appointed Cass County Attorney.

(Updated 9:50-a.m.) The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Friday), announced the appointment of Vanessa Strazdas, an attorney with the Strazdas Law Firm in Omaha, to fill a vacancy position for the Cass County Attorney’s Office. Strazdas has accepted the job to succeed Michael Hooper, who was appointed Jan. 11th as 4th District Judge, by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.

Board Chair Steve Baier thanked Mr. Hooper for his work in seeking applicants for the position and for his service to the County.

Supervisor John Hartkopf said of Strazdas, she wasn’t only the unanimous choice of the board

(He said she was highly recommended by law enforcement and judges.)

He said also, the County is spending a lot of money on law enforcement, and it’s not because they’re out there issuing tickets.

(He said it is because of the “Underground war on methamphetamine,” and the Board feels they are supporting law enforcement in making their decision to hire Strazdas.)

Strazdas brought her family with her to the appointment hearing and swearing-in, and promised to uphold the law and serve the citizens of Cass County.

Strazdas grew up in Omaha, NE, where she attended Central High School.  She is a National Merit Scholar and has a degree in Computer Science from the University of NE at Omaha.  She graduated with honors from Creighton Law School, where she concentrated her studies in Litigation and Criminal Law.  Strazdas is a member of the Iowa Bar. Iowa Code says a special election may be requested within 14 days of official notice from the time an appointment is made. The petition must have no less than 582 signatures. In addition to Strazdas, three candidates were interviewed for the County’s top position. They included Robert Engler (With the Cambridge Law Firm, in Atlantic); Anne Rohling, a lawyer from Council Bluffs who owns her own law firm and Marti Sleister, an experienced trial attorney in criminal and juvenile law, with the Sleister Law firm in Fremont, NE.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors also approved the appointment of Administrative Assistants to the Cass County Attorney. Bev Groves and Eva Jensen will continue with the roles they served as Hooper’s Assistants under the new County Attorney.  The Board tabled a decision to fill a vacancy term of a Cass Township Trustee (an appointed position), because they are no current applicants for the job.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque woman tied to two drug overdose deaths has been imprisoned. Federal court records say 25-year-old Brianna Martin was sentenced last week to 27 months. She’d pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to distribution of heroin. She must serve three years of supervised release after she leaves prison and pay $12,500 in restitution.

The records say Martin helped one person who died buy heroin and sold prescribed methadone to other people, including one who died from an overdose.