(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report a Spring Hill (IA) man, David Mark Ellis, recently pled guilty in Polk County District Court, to two counts of Identity Theft (Aggravated Misdemeanors) and one count of Insurance Fraud (Class D Felony).

The charges stem from a 2021 investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division that found Ellis, the owner of Always Affordable Bail Bonds in Des Moines, had misrepresented the facts surrounding a loss on an insurance claim so that he would receive funds to which he was not entitled.  Additionally, Ellis utilized another individual’s EBT card to obtain benefits which he was not entitled to receive.

Following his guilty pleas, Ellis received suspended prison sentences to be served consecutively up to 9 years.  Ellis also received 2 years of probation, and a fine of $2,735.00.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Wapello County Sheriff’s Office, Ankeny Police Department, and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau with the case.  The case was prosecuted by the Polk County Attorney’s Office.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Elliott, Iowa) – A traffic stop a little before 5-p.m. Tuesday, in Elliott, resulted in an arrest. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 39-year-old Cory R. Smith, of Elliott, was arrested for Driving while barred. Smith was transported to the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak, and held on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Small Business Administration is wrapping up the year reporting a significant drop in both the number of loans made to Iowa businesses and the overall dollar amount approved. Jayne Armstrong, district director of the S-B-A in Iowa, attributes the fall to two key elements — bounding interest rates, and the fact so much money was put out during the pandemic years through grants and forgivable loans.

Armstrong says, “There’s just not as much demand in the small business community, but also there’s been a little bit of tightening, particularly in different industry sectors.” The number of S-B-A-guaranteed loan approvals made in Iowa during the past year reached 340, down from 466 loans last year, while the amount approved dropped from more than 242-million dollars last year to 139-million this year. Armstrong notes, that 139-million figure is still a very significant amount of money that was pumped into start-up and expanding Iowa businesses.

“We’re here, we’re advocates. You’re going to have ups and downs and different cycles through different economic periods. You’re not going to increase your dollar volume every single year,” Armstrong says. “Sometimes, a $10,000 loan to one business means as much to one business as a $5 million loan does to another business.” As a direct result of S-B-A loans, she says more than 16-hundred jobs were created in Iowa and nearly 19-hundred more were retained. Armstrong isn’t particularly worried about the year-end figures, as she says the S-B-A continues to play a critical role in helping Iowa small business owners access capital.

“It will get back on track,” Armstrong says. “We went through some ups and downs with the last recession between 2009 and 2013, so it’s just a cycle that will happen.” Of the 340 loans approved in Iowa during the fiscal year, 208 of them went to new business start-ups or to finance changes in ownership, which are considered new businesses by the agency.

sba.gov

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says former President Trump has an inconsistent record on abortion. During a C-N-N town hall in Des Moines last (Tuesday) night, DeSantis accused Trump of being a flip flopper. DeSantis pointed to Trump’s remarks at a pro-life rally in 2020, when he said all life is a gift from God, then DeSantis cited Trump saying this fall that a six-week abortion ban — like the one Governor DeSantis signed in Florida — was a terrible mistake.

DeSantis also commented on the Texas Supreme Court’s rejection of a woman’s request for an abortion under the medical exception clause to that state’s six-week abortion ban. DeSantis said the woman faced an incredibly difficult medical situation. DeSantis said policymakers have to “approach such issues with compassion.”

DeSantis listed Florida’s abortion ban exceptions if an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother or in cases when there’s a fatal fetal abnormality.

DES MOINES – Today (Tuesday), Governor Reynolds announced the final round of Covid-era stipends for  licensed and registered child care providers, including Child Care Centers and Child Development Homes. The application period begins today through January 12, 2024.

“Child care is the catalyst that drives economic growth,” said Governor Reynolds. “At a time when most parents work outside the home, access to reliable, safe, and affordable child care allows parents to pursue their careers and contribute to the productivity and growth of our economy.”

Award amounts will range from $10,000 to $50,000 based on program size and number of applications received.  Funds can be used for one-time expenses related to employee recruitment and retention, minor renovations, or upgrading equipment. Stipend application and more information about the funding can be found on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website.

Iowa is committed to multi-faceted solutions to child care challenges to provide quality care for children, keep parents working, and drive economic development.  In addition to issuing more than $218 million in Stabilization Grants directly to child care providers during the pandemic, HHS has launched programs to fund recruitment and retention bonuses, allow child care workforce to qualify for Child Care Assistance, and to promote partnerships between child care centers and local businesses to support wage enhancements for child care providers.

HHS has also partnered with Iowa Workforce Development to improve access to quality child care options. More than $35 million in Child Care Challenge grants have been awarded to regional and community projects to create more than 4,880 new child care slots across the state. In addition, the Child Care Business Incentive grant program encourages employers to offer child care as part of their benefits package. Funds support infrastructure investments to build or expand child care capacity, or support arrangements between employers and child care providers to expand and reserve slots for their employees’ children. To date, the $27 million in grant awards has generated a $58 million total investment and more than 1,860 new child care slots.

For more information about child care programs, visit the HHS website.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports the remaining defendants in a deadly fentanyl distribution network were sentenced to federal prison today for a variety of crimes including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, carrying firearms in furtherance of the distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

A total of eleven defendants were sentenced in the Southern District of Iowa as follows:

·         Kyrell Deshawn Wells, 21, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 360 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 18, 2023;

·         Ja’cara P. Baker, 42, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 300 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 18, 2023;

·         Alejandro Diaz, 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 216 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury, and Carrying a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on March 16, 2023;

·         Janelle Lee Cline, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 156 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on February 16, 2023;

·         Christian Blaize Arman, 29, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023;

·         Edward James Arman, 32, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023;

·         Samantha Mae Neemann, 35, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced to 168 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on April 13, 2023;

·         Hai D. Nguyen, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 45 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on April 13, 2023;

·         Megan Kayleen Johnson, 27, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced to 168 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on March 16, 2023;

·         Richard Andrew Null, 26, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, sentenced to 150 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl, and Carrying a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on December 12, 2023; and

·         Jarik Mathew McPherson, 30, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, sentenced to 120 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023.

This investigation began in January 2022, after the Council Bluffs Police and Fire Departments responded to a Council Bluffs residence where an adult female had overdosed on fentanyl. After that victim died, law enforcement began a lengthy investigation into individuals who were actively conspiring to distribute fentanyl in the Omaha and Council Bluffs metro area. Ultimately, investigators identified Kyrell Wells and Ja’cara Baker as the primary distributors of fentanyl to others, including the members of the conspiracy listed above. The fentanyl pills distributed by this organization in the Omaha, Lincoln, and Council Bluffs areas resulted in at least eleven overdoses and six deaths. Kyrell Wells, Alejandro Diaz, Hai Nguyen, and Richard Null were also found in possession of firearms.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said “The Kyrell Wells fentanyl trafficking organization received and distributed more than 10,000 fentanyl pills every five days. The organization was connected to more than seventeen overdoses. Six people in our community died. The FBI and our local, state, and federal partners are dedicated to disrupting and dismantling the most significant drug trafficking organizations in our community.”

This case was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Omaha Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pills, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.

The Iowa AND Iowa State marching bands are finalists in a first-ever competition sponsored by the heavy metal band Metallica. In April, Metallica announced marching bands could use their music for free and enter the contest to win 75-thousand dollars. The University of Iowa Marching Band staged its Metallica show in Kinnick Stadium on September 30th, during a night game.

Photo courtesy of University of Iowa

The Hawkeye Metal band joined the performance, which ended with fireworks.

The Iowa State University Marching Band performed its Metallica show on September 23rd in Ames.

Master of Puppets — the title track to Metallica’s 1986 album — was the closer.

The two in-state rivals and bands from Auburn, Fresno State and the University of Texas are the five finalists in the competition among Division One football schools. The winner will be announced during the first week of January.

(Radio Iowa) – Despite drought conditions, a five-acre operation at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm wrapped up the growing season by reporting record production. Grow Johnson County produces fresh fruits and vegetables, 100-percent of which is donated to 16 local emergency food organizations. Program manager Claire Zabel) says they produced 40-thousand pounds of fresh food this year, the farm’s highest-ever yield.

Zabel says the season’s production increase is due, in part, to increased staffing this year.

Some 83-percent of Iowa is experiencing drought conditions. The U-S Drought Monitor says more than a quarter of the state is in exceptional drought. Historically, that has significantly impacted row crop yields.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy kicked off a five-day, 29-county swing through Iowa this morning (Tuesday), with stops in Northwood and Osage. The tour comes after a man was charged with sending text messages threatening to kill Ramaswamy yesterday (Monday) at an event in New Hampshire.

The Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” released yesterday (Monday) found Ramaswamy has the support of five percent of likely Iowa Caucus-goers. Ramaswamy says many of his supporters are younger voters who aren’t being captured in polls.

Ramaswamy says he’s picking up support on Iowa college campuses and among Libertarians.

Early this (Tuesday) evening, former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Waterloo and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be at Grand View University in Des Moines for a town hall forum broadcast on C-N-N at 8 p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Farmland value survey shows a record price once again, but the increase is less than last year. I-S-U’s Rabail Chandio oversees the survey, and says the average price for an acre is 11-thousand-835 dollars. “This is a three-point-seven percent (3.7%) increase from last year, and a 424-dollars increase from last year,” she says. The single digit increase comes after two straight years where land values went up by double-digits. “Last year, we saw an increase of 17 percent…, and before that the increase was 29 percent So we’re still seeing an increase, but it’s a lot more modest and has slowed down,” Chandio says. She says the current land value trend appears to be following what happened about ten years ago when land values rose, and then there were minor adjustments without a crash in the market.

“And we’re seeing kind of a similar thing here. Right now we’re seeing we were at a quite a high value during the last couple of years, which is decreasing. And we’re hoping again, that it won’t really crash but we’ll see a soft landing,” Chandio says, “as is happening in the broader economy, we avoided a recession we hope to see kind of same thing happen in the land markets.” Chandio says the slowdown led to one of the nine land districts seeing a drop in overall values for the first time in several years.

“This year the northwest (district) saw a decrease of zero-point-eight percent. All of the other crop reporting districts show and increase in the land values, with the highest being the south-central and the southeast at 12-point-eight percent and nine-point-six percent,” she says. Chandio says it appears the southern district was lagging a little behind the others in their increases, and that could be why they are showing the higher values in this report.