CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa businessman accused of an ethanol plant scam has been imprisoned. Court records say Darrell Smith, of Forest City, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to 14 years and seven months in prison. He’d pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Smith also was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $1.06 million.

Federal officials say the charges are related to Smith’s investment of clients’ money into an ethanol plant in Hopkinton. Officials say that on several occasions, Smith transferred money from clients’ accounts — against their will and without their knowledge — into his bioenergy fund. Investigators say he used either pre-signed, blank authorization forms or forged his clients’ signatures.

He’d also been imprisoned for failing to pay employment taxes.

A man who showed up at the Pottawattamie County Jail Friday morning to visit an inmate, was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant. 42-year old Richard Henry Rapp, of Council Bluffs was booked into the Pott. County Jail on a Page County warrant for being a Fugitive from Justice. His bond was set at $10,000. A disturbance in Underwood Friday night resulted in the arrest of a Council Bluffs man. 22-year old Nico Juan Lilly was arrested for 1st Degree Harassment by intimidation, an aggravated misdemeanor. His bond was set at $2,000.

20-year old Jake Marie Jerkovich, of Council Bluffs, an inmate at the Pott. County Jail, was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 5th degree, after she allegedly damaged a phone receiver and cord. The damage, which occurred at around 5-a.m., was estimated at $100. And, 25-year old Tanner Jeffrey Dehaai, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for allegedly taking a pumpkin valued at about $6, from a Hy-Vee store on West Broadway Street in Council Bluffs, Sunday night. After the merchandise was returned, and Dehaai was issued a citation for Theft in the 5th Degree, before being released with a court date for Oct. 23rd.

A traffic stop at around 7:25-a.m. today (Monday), in Red Oak, resulted in a woman’s arrest on a drug charge. Red Oak Police say 24-year old Natacia Raynae Houston, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. Houston was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

THOMPSON, Iowa (AP) — The remains of a World War II soldier killed in action have returned home to Iowa after more than 70 years buried as an unknown at an American military cemetery in France. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Iowa Army National Guard members fired a 21-gun salute on Saturday to honor Army Pvt. Donald Brown, who was buried at a cemetery in Thompson. Brown died in 1944 when his tank was destroyed by enemy fire near Cambernon, France. But his remains were unable to be identified. His name was recorded alongside other missing veterans at an American Battle Monuments Commission site in France.

Brown’s remains were accounted for in June after family members submitted DNA for testing. His niece, Alison Conrad, says she regrets that no one from Brown’s generation could see the burial.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Sunday, arrested a Clarinda man. 19-year old Austin Ray Gardner was taken into custody on an Adams County Warrant for Controlled substance violation. He was arrested during a traffic stop on Highway 2, about seven-miles east of Shenandoah. Gardner was processed at the Page County Jail and then transported to the Adams County Jail because he was unable to post a $5,000 cash-only bond.

Austin Gardner

HUXLEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman and her son were rescued from a house fire that killed a man in central Iowa. Station KCCI reports that the blaze erupted around 6 a.m. Sunday in Huxley. Two other people in the house had escaped unharmed by the time firefighters arrived, but rescuers had to break a bedroom window to free the 44-year-old woman and her 17-year-old son.

Fire officials say 47-year-old Brett Van Ersvelde died at a Des Moines hospital. The woman and her son were taken to hospitals for treatment of smoke inhalation. It’s believed the fire started in the kitchen. The cause is being investigated.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place, Sunday. 42-year old Kevin Cavin, of Creston, was arrested at around 3:20-a.m. for OWI/2nd offense. He was later released on a $2,000 bond. And, 32-year old Ryan Weis, of Creston, was arrested at around 11:30-a.m. Sunday for Driving While Revoked. He was later released on a $1,000 bond.

And, 34-year old Amber Smith, of Creston, was cited Saturday evening for allowing an animal to run at large. She was released on the citation.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — Today (Monday) is the first day “early” voting is allowed in Iowa for the November election. Iowa Democrats are holding “First Voter Rallies” in a dozen counties. Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, will be speaking at events in Indianola, Ottumwa and Burlington. Price previewed his message to Democrats on Saturday during a party fundraiser in Des Moines. “It’s so important for each and every one of us to step up and leave nothing on the field thisNovember,” Price says.

Fred Hubbell, the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor, delivered a similar message to the 11-hundred Democrats who attended Saturday’s event in Des Moines. “We need you on the front lines. We need you knocking doors. We need you to spread the word and we need your vote,” Hubbell said.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, says the stakes are clear. Democrats have lost the last two gubernatorial elections. There’s just one Democrat left in Iowa’s congressional delegation and Donald Trump easily won the state in 2016. “The trend line is clear. We’ve got to change that. We have the opportunity to do it, but the question is: ‘Will we?'”

The Iowa Republican Party has no special events planned today (Monday) to mark the kick-off of early voting.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The remains of a Nebraska sailor who died at Pearl Harbor and a Nebraska soldier killed in during a World War II battle in Germany have been identified and are being returned for final burial.
Pentagon officials say 19-year-old Bernard Doyle died Dec. 7, 1941, aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Doyle joined the Navy in 1940, soon after graduating from high school in Red Cloud. His remains will be buried Saturday in Lake City, Iowa, where one of his sisters moved after the war.

The officials say Melvin Anderson enlisted in the U.S. Army a few months after the Pearl Harbor debacle. He and another soldier died Nov. 25, 1944, when a German artillery shell struck their tank destroyer. Anderson’s remains will be buried Friday at Omaha National Cemetery.