(Radio Iowa) — Iowa retailers may see profits rise six-to-seven percent in the holiday shopping season ahead compared to last year, but consumers may have several elements working against them. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says we’re facing higher interest rates and higher prices for some imported goods due to the trade wars. Goss warns Iowa consumers not to overdo it. “Don’t take on too much debt to support your holiday buying,” Goss says. “I think caution is advisable. There are some indicators that are less positive, for example, the stock market is moving sideways since the beginning of the year.”

A good way to limit spending is to use cash, not plastic, for all of your purchases, big and small, so you can keep a tighter reign on expenditures.  “If you go out and splurge on holiday presents for yourself and family and others, and you put it on debt, and that debt has flexibile interest rates, you could get really hurt with interest rates rising,” Goss says, “particularly if the economy softens a bit, as I think it will.”

Goss predicts online holiday purchases will rise up to 15 percent from last year and he notes many retailers are offering free shipping to compete. Goss says some Millennials are shifting away from buying clothes and gadgets and are spending money on experiences, like trips. While these types of purchases don’t factor into retail spending, Goss says they will provide a similar boost to spending on holiday travel.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports Michael Weeden, of Clarinda, was arrested at around 3:35-a.m. Thursday. Weeden was taken into custody on an Adams County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). At around 1:10-a.m. Tuesday, Adams County Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Michelle Dixon, of Corning. Upon further investigation, Dixon was placed under arrest for Operating While Intoxicated 1st Offense.

(Radio Iowa) — The federal government is considering moving at least two divisions of the U-S-D-A out of Washington D-C and Iowa is pushing to be the new headquarters, but some oppose the move. Jonathan Hladik, policy director for the Center for Rural Affairs, says the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture should stay put in the nation’s capital. “Over the past few years, this office has taken a hit,” Hladik says. “We’ve seen across the board within federal government employees, a lot of people retiring, a lot of people leaving. So, there are a lot of very good career employees who are employed by these agencies now and if the agency moves to a different city or moves across the country, we’re going to lose a lot of that top talent.”

U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says moving the agencies would save the federal government money, but Hladik disagrees. He says cross-country moves will bring a loss of experience and it’ll show up in what’s being produced. “The lower quality of research and lower quality work has cascading effects because this is the research that universities rely on, that associations rely on, that other organizations rely on to do their job,” Hladik says. “I think they take a hit here as well.”

One of the major concerns is not just the geographic move, but Hladik says it’s in shifting the power structure. “We’re moving authority. We’re changing who is going to be in charge of these organizations and the very tenor of this organization,” Hladik says. “This move would fundamentally make it more of a political position.”  An investigation of the proposed move by the USDA’s inspector general could trigger further efforts by Congress to block or restrict the decision. The Center for Rural Affairs is based in Lyons, Nebraska.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — The DowDuPont cellulosic ethanol plant in central Iowa has been bought by a German biofuels company’s U.S. subsidiary. Verbio North America Corp. and DowDuPont announced Thursday that the purchase includes the 30 million-gallon plant in Nevada and a portion of its corn stover inventory. The price was not released. The cellulosic ethanol plant, which opened in 2015, is considered the next generation in renewable fuel production. It uses corncobs, husks and stalks to produce the biofuel. DowDuPont closed the plant last fall, announcing that it was for sale. DowDuPont said the operation no longer fit its strategic plan.

Verbio intends to install equipment for making natural gas made from corn stover and other cellulosic crop residue. Verbio North America Corp. is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a subsidiary of Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG, which is based in Leipzig, Germany.

Police in Red Oak have arrested a woman on a Criminal Mischief charge. 40-year old Cynthia Darlene Nagunst, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 8:30-p.m. in the 800 block of Senate Avenue. Nagunst was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree, the bond for which was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) — The owner of The Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville died on Wednesday after a battle with a rare form of liver cancer. Denise Stillman purchased the famous ball diamond and iconic farm from the Lansing family in 2011 and founded Go the Distance Baseball.

Denise Stillman

The company’s operations manager, Roman Weinberg, says Stillman was a motivating leader who will be deeply missed. “She was a one-of-a-kind spirit and definitely an intelligent, accomplished businesswoman,” Weinberg said. “She was one of those people who could motivate to do just about anything and lift you up, no matter what mood you were in.”

Go the Distance Baseball will continue to move forward, according to Weinberg, just without Stillman’s “visionary” leadership. “The Field of Dreams Movie Site will remain open and operate as normal,” Weinberg said.

The company is also planning to add a youth baseball/softball tournament complex to the property called All-Star Ballpark Heaven. “We are looking at honoring her memory, getting these ballparks built, and fulfilling her dream,” Weinberg said.

The Field of Dreams Movie Site is scheduled to host a 30th Anniversary Celebration on Father’s Day Weekend next summer.

A man from Arkansas was injured during a single-vehicle accident Thursday night, in Fremont County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2010 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 55-year old Christopher Majka, of Bellevue, NE., was traveling in the left lane northbound on Interstate 29 at around mile marker eight, when the vehicle went out of control. The accident happened at around 7:20-p.m.

The pickup crossed into the right lane and into the east ditch, where it struck a pedestrian, 65-year old Thomas A. Ronsick, of Searcy, Arkansas. Ronsick was standing next to the road following a previous accident, when he was struck. He was transported by LifeNet helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has been accused of unfairly targeting a gay Democratic state senator when he was a federal prosecutor in Iowa. Whitaker pursued an attempted extortion case against Matt McCoy in 2007, alleging the lawmaker tried to shake down a businessman for payments. But the case fell apart at trial, and McCoy was quickly acquitted. McCoy says the case destroyed his finances and stalled his political career.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say they have arrested a suspected driver of a cement truck who ran from the scene after plowing into a van and then a house, seriously injuring one person. The Des Moines Register reports that the crash happened Thursday morning when the cement truck ran two stop lights and hit the van. Two people in the house were unharmed; the driver of the van was hospitalized.

ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors in Iowa say 23-year-old Austin Marek, of Anamosa, was sentenced Thursday to 136 months in prison after pleading guilty in June to one count of possession of child pornography.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The governors of Iowa and Nebraska have ordered flags lowered to half-staff at state buildings to honor the victims of the nightclub massacre in Thousand Oaks, California. Orders from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts were issued Thursday in conjunction with President Donald Trump’s order to lower all U.S. flags to half-staff through sunset Saturday.

Atlantic Police Lt. Devin Hogue was presented with the Humane Society of the United States’ Humane Law Enforcement Award, Thursday morning, for “His leadership in combating illegal animal abuse.” The award was presented to him at the Police Department, by Preston Moore, Iowa State Director, State Affairs, for the Humane Society, based in Cedar Rapids. The award was with regard to a horrific case of animal abuse that resulted in the death of a dog, in Nov. 2017. The suspect, Jason Michael Anderton, of Atlantic, who was 29 at the time, was arrested in January, 2018.

Humane Society of IA Director Preston Moore presented Lt. Devin Hogue with an Humane Law Enforcement Award. (photo courtesy Lt. Hogue)

Hogue says he worked with other officers in conducting the investigation. He said “We hit some road bumps along the way,” the result of which left doubt in his mind about whether the investigation would be able to move forward. “Out of the blue, [I] received a phone call from the Humane Society, offering up any assistance that they could.” As a result of continued discussions and working with the Humane Society, Hogue said “In the long run they were approved to pay a bill [for] forensic testing to further our case, to really allow us to pursue some charges. In the end we were able to secure and get some charges out of it.”

Lt. Hogue said during the investigation into the abuse, “We basically went back and connected the dots the best we could, and we hit a couple of spots where we easily could have said ‘I don’t know where to go from here, I think we’re stuck.”  Thankfully, he says the Humane Society reached out and “If we can be a resource…”

Tissue and specimen blood samples of the dog were sent to California, to be tested and compared with samples sent to the ISU Veterinary Clinic in Ames. The Humane Society paid for a necropsy on the dog, which is similar to an autopsy on a human. Overall, Hogue said the Humane Society shelled-out over $2,000.

The case against Anderton, who turned 30 in September, ended a couple of months ago with the guilty plea as part of deal. Hogue said he wanted to thank for Cass County Attorney Michael Hooper for “Taking the reins [in the case],” which Hogue said had been in an “in-between” up until he took over. He said “The first thing I ever had a conversation with him about, was this case, and where I was kind of stuck. [We] Took his guidance as well and we were able to get somewhere with it.” As a result, a charge of Animal Abuse was dismissed by Judge Jeffrey Larson. Anderton plead guilty to one count of Animal Torture 1^st offense. He was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $315, plus serve one-year of probation.

Ever so humble, Lt. Hogue thanked the Humane Society for the unexpected award. He said “This is a job, this is what we’re supposed to do, is take these complaints and investigate them best we can. I had several officers within the department that helped me along the way with collecting evidence and doing every part that they could to help out.” It was a definite team effort he said, and while Hogue got the award for being the lead investigator, he said he “Was certainly not the only person that put in some time and effort to make this happen.”

Authorities say no injuries were reported following a collision between a car and semi Thursday, in Creston. The accident happened at around 1:25-p.m. on Highway 34, when a 2015 Kia Cadenza driven by 54-year-old Caroline Esther Bathurst of Creston was traveling east on Highway 34 in the center lane, and attempted to change lanes into the outside lane. Her car collided with a semi traveling the same direction.

According to a passenger in the Kia, the Semi continued east and didn’t stop after the accident. Bathurst pulled her vehicle off into the nearby John Deere parking lot. When Creston Police asked Bathurst if she was okay, she initially did not respond and rolled up the window. After being asked several times to roll down the window down, she eventually admitted that she did not have insurance on the vehicle and wanted to drive the vehicle home. The car was determined to be okay to drive. It sustained an estimated $7,000 damage. Bathurst was issued a citation for no insurance and was allowed to drive her vehicle home from the scene.