DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines woman is accused of binding her children by the hands or feet to keep them under control. Polk County court records say 38-year-old Jessica Henderson is charged with child endangerment. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.
School officials contacted police last month about a photograph taken in March that shows the children tied up on the floor. Authorities haven’t said who took the photograph. Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says the children aged 9, 5 and 4 years were taken to a hospital but had suffered no significant injuries.
Henderson told Des Moines station KCCI that a friend of hers bound the children when she was in another room.

Voters in the Treynor and Council Bluffs Community School Districts approved separate Bond issue referendums during special elections held Tuesday.  Patrons of the Council Bluffs School District just barely approved a $37 million dollar bond issue for renovations at two middle schools. Unofficial results from the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office indicate the bond issue for projects at Kirn and Wilson Middle Schools received 1,283 yes votes–or 60.98%–to 828 no votes–or 39.04%. A 60% supermajority was necessary in order for the bond issue to pass.

The Treynor School District Bond issue garnered more favorable results.  Unofficial show the $11.5-million bond issue for a long list of projects, was approved by a vote of 480-to-113, or 81.9-percent, which was well above the 60% approval required. Among the proposed improvements for the Treynor School District, is additional classrooms at the high school for increased enrollment, a new fine arts complex at the high school–including a new auditorium plus new vocal and band areas–renovation of the existing auditorium into a new wrestling area–including locker rooms and storage, renovation of the district’s weight room, and updated sprinkler and HVAC systems.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 32-year old Joseph Robert Nunn, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10:40-p.m. Tuesday. Nunn was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,000. Deputies were assisted by the Montgomery County K-9 Unit.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County said Tuesday, that four people had been arrested recently, and one breaking/entering/theft was reported. Taken into custody last Sunday, was: 52-year old Brett Duane George, of Creston, for OWI/2nd offense, and 48-year old Dana Lynn Hudson, of Afton, for Simple Assault. Hudson was issued a citation to appear in court and released. George was later released on a $2,000 bond.

Last Saturday, 37-year old Megan Marie Brown, of Lorimor, was arrested in Union County on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. She was later released on a $300 bond. And, 30-year old Casey Lee Tucker, of Lorimor, was arrested for Simple Assault. Tucker was issued a citation to appear in court, and released.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, an Urbandale man reported on Sept. 7th, that his property in Thayer had been broken into, and a trail camera was stolen. The incident happened sometime over the past couple of weeks. The loss was estimated at $200.

(Radio Iowa/Brownfield Ag News) — Two of the Trump Administration’s top trade officials attended this week’s Midwest U.S. – Japan Association Conference in Omaha. Gregg Doud is the chief ag negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office. Doud says trade talks with Canada will hopefully wrap up soon, but Doud says it’s important to get the deal right.

“Both countries are working very hard,” Doud says. “You know, still obviously things to talk about and get sorted out.” Ted McKinney is undersecretary for trade in the U-S-D-A. He acknowledges Trump’s trade policies are making farm country nervous.

“For sure they’re nervous, there’s no doubt. I’m nervous, for goodness sake,” McKinney says. “If we can move through this, I call it ‘right sizing,’ then I think the pathway on the other side is more smooth. It’s not as bumpy. There’s less turbulence. It’s a brighter, sunshiny day perhaps, but we cannot vacate this now, otherwise we will have lost everything we’ve gained.”

McKinney says the NAFTA re-negotiation “seems like it’s very close” to being completed. McKinney will meet today (Wednesday) in Washington with the vice minister of agriculture from China. McKinney, though, cautions that a “free, fair and reciprocal” trade deal with China will take a while to achieve.

(Reporting by Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag News)

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

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — University of Northern Iowa officials have released the name of an employee killed this week in a steam pipe leak. The Courier reports that 61-year-old Kevin Bley, a 10-year-old steamfitter at the university, died Monday morning after the incident in a dining hall. Aaron Clingingsmith, interim director of university relations, says Bley was injured as he was testing the steam distribution service.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a woman died after one of two shootings in Waterloo. Police say the woman was struck inside a house around 9:45 p.m. Monday when someone outside began shooting into the home. Her name hasn’t been released. Residents about three blocks away also reported hearing gunshots. Police found two vehicles struck by bullets in the area. No arrests have been reported.

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man was hospitalized after an explosion rocked a plant in northwest Iowa, setting off a fire. Firetrucks were dispatched to the Polaris Industries plant in Spirit Lake around 9:30 p.m. Monday. Spirit Lake Fire Chief Pat Daly says a blast in the plant’s paint room caused the fire. The damage was contained there. It’s unclear what caused the explosion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State auditors say a man employed full time by an eastern Iowa city and a nearby water and sanitary district likely didn’t put in 40 hours at both jobs and spent hundreds of working hours at casinos. The city of Long Grove and the Park View Water and Sanitary District sought the audit, concerned about the activities of employee Joel McCubbin. The auditors say McCubbin’s players club cards showed he was at casinos during work hours on nearly 220 days. Efforts to reach McCubbin were unsuccessful.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report 24-year old Jesse Dean Uhlmann, of Red Oak, was arrested Tuesday evening on a valid Montgomery County warrant. Uhlmann was taken into custody in the 100 block of S. 4th Street in Red Oak, on the warrant for Harassment in the 2nd Degree. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

A beautiful bronze statue of a man, his horse and a plow were unveiled Tuesday evening in downtown Atlantic, as part of the City’s 150^th Birthday, and its founder Franklin H. Whitney. The President and CEO of First Whitney Bank and Trust, Paul Gude spoke about the man depicted by the statue plowing furrows for what was known as Main Street, and later became Chestnut Street. Gude said Whitney was a visionary in making Atlantic grow, as evidenced by a plaque in his honor on the south side of the statue.

“The Founding of Atlantic”

He said the Atlantic Depot was part of that vision. Without that rail head being brought into town he said, the $200-million ethanol plant wouldn’t have been possible 150 years later. Gude said the statue serves as reminder of where we’ve been, and how far we’ve come. He said the statue, which the bank presented to the City as a token of appreciation to the community, will “Remind us to honor those pioneers that came out here and took a chance. A chance for themselves and their families to make a life in Atlantic 150-years ago. I hope it helps us appreciate people that today, are still taking chances – still staking their lives and their families’ future on Atlantic. And I hope that all those who follow in the next 150 years will do the same.”

With that, the tarp was removed from the 16-foot long statue mounted on a concrete island sunk deep into the ground in the middle of Chestnut, just north of 3^rd Street. A Coke can was placed underneath for future discovery. The audience was then introduced to artists Scott Smith and Troy Muller, who helped design and create it. Smith said Muller was his mentor and lead artist. Both are founding members of the non-profit, New Century Art Guild located between Elk Horn and Kimballton. Muller explained what it took to build the iconic vision of the past.

He said the piece is called “The Founding of Atlantic.” He said they began to lay the plans for the project in Paul Gude’s office in May, 2017. Creating a bronze sculpture he said, is not an easy task. It’s time consuming and a relatively dangerous process involving fire, molten metals, sledgehammers and “Lots and lots of elbow grease.”

Muller then presented the bank with a one-sixth scale sculpture of the namesake sculpture, for display inside the bank. He said the mission of the New Century Art Guild, is to put veterans back to work as artists, which is something they’ve been doing for some time. 100-percent of the proceeds from their sales of sculptures and projects go to the veterans.

(Radio Iowa) — A documentary about barn quilts will be shown in Iowa for the first time this month. The colorful squares can be seen on the sides of barns everywhere, but few people know how the movement began. Sue Peyton, who farms with her husband in northwest Iowa’s Sac County, says the first quilt square was hung on a barn in Ohio in 2001 by a woman whose mom was a master quilter. Her initial goal was to simply spruce up an old barn.

“It was just an idea, just a creative idea that really caught on with barn lovers and quilt lovers everywhere,” Peyton says. “It’s pretty phenomenal how it spread so quickly all across the United States and even into Canada — and probably elsewhere that we don’t know about.” As part of a 4-H project, Peyton’s son, Kevin, launched a barn quilt trail in Sac County when he was a high school junior in 2005. Soon, barns all over the county were sporting the squares.

“We involved art classes and ag classes and 4H clubs and retirees and families,” Peyton says. “We figured before it was all said and done, there were probably over 1,200 volunteers involved here over two years period of time.” The documentary, “Pieced Together,” follows the story of the barn quilts, their origins, their popularity and the “trails” you can follow to see dozens of them. Parts of the film were shot in Iowa, including in Sac County.

The producer and director, Julianna Donofrio, will be coming to Iowa for two showings of the 53-minute movie. Donofrio will introduce the film and do a Q-and-A afterwards. Peyton says the first showing in Iowa will be at 7 P-M on September 24th at the First Christian Church in Sac City.  “I hope we get a sanctuary full,” Peyton says. “We do not have a theater in the county and our church has big-screen monitors up front so we’re using that to show the film.”

There’s room for about 300 in the pews. A second showing is scheduled for September 25th at the Iowa Theater in Winterset.
On the web at http://www.piecedtogetherdoc.com/
See the film trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVCjQhmr3aI

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said Tuesday, that beginning with the Nov. 6th General Election, straight-ticket voting has been eliminated. Each position must be voted individually. Voters should anticipate it will take a little longer to mark a ballot.

Registered voters may request an absentee ballot to be sent to them in the mail. You can fill out an absentee ballot request form online from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, or from the County Auditor, and return the original, signed form to your county auditor. The request form does not need to be witnessed or notarized.

The request form may be returned by mail, in-person, or by a representative of your choice. Ballots will be mailed to voters beginning Oct. 8, 2018. A return envelope is provided. Return postage is paid by the County.

Registered voters may cast their ballot at the office of the County Auditor, beginning Oct. 8th. The last day to vote in the Auditor’s Office, is Nov. 5th. A voter may register and vote absentee on the same day.