(Radio Iowa) – A Des Moines man is jailed who police say kidnapped his own daughter. Des Moines police were called to a house Sunday afternoon where a woman claimed the non-custodial father of her child had kicked in a door, threatened her with a machete, then forcibly took their four-year-old daughter. Minutes later, police spotted the suspect’s car, pulled him over and arrested him — though the child wasn’t with him.

The girl was located a short time later, unharmed, at the home of a relative of the suspect. Police say 36-year-old Duane VanDenHemel is charged with kidnapping, burglary and violation of a no contact order and is being held in the Polk County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City police say there’s been an increase in reports of scams involving online threats, and some people have fallen for them. Sergeant Tom Gill says they’ve had at least ten reports in the last several weeks. “Which means that that number is probably well above ten, because most people don’t report it for one reason or another, whether they’re embarrassed if they fell for the scam, which is probably why they don’t report it,” he says. Gill says the warning is the same for all types of scams, don’t fall to the pressure.

“Anytime you get a phone call somebody wanting you to give money over the phone or wire it through Western Union or put it on iTunes cards, it’s 100 percent a scam,” Gill says. “Don’t fall for it. A lot of times you’ll get text messages now saying that, hey, we’ve observed your social media activity, and we know you’ve been on all these different sites, and we’re going to make it public. Unless you pay us this money, don’t fall for it. It’s a scam.” Many scams are targeted at older people, but Gill says they are also now targeting young people as well.

“There’s so many different apps now, and it’s scary, especially for young kids, teenagers, they find out about these apps, and they’ll get on these apps, and then all of a sudden, next thing you know, they’re going to ask for a picture of them in the nude,” he says. “And sometimes those pictures get sent, and we advise never send a picture, especially a nude picture, to someone, because that never goes away. And then all of a sudden, they’ll try to blackmail that individual, saying we’re going to send this out to your family, your friends. We’re going to put it all over social media, unless you pay us X amount of money.”

Some of the scammers make vicious threats that include saying they are going to harm you. Gill says you should let police know if someone tries to scam you. “By all means, report this, because we want to know about the new scams that are going on and to alert the public not to fall for them,” Gill says. “But just understand, if you send money, whether you wire it through Western Union or pay for gift cards, you’re out that money.” Gill says report it even if you fall for the scam, because it may help prevent someone else from being a victim.

(Greenfield, Iowa)  – Officials with the Adair County Health system say they are “Thrilled to announce that Adair County Health System is officially open to all patients,” nearly six-months after an EF-4 tornado tore through the community, killed four people and damaged over 150 homes, as well as the hospital and other businesses. As of now (November 11th), the hospital is open and ready to provide patients and clients “with exceptional care” in their newly renovated facility.

From the ACHS: “Thank you for your continued support and patience!”

(Radio Iowa) – Waterloo police are investigating reports of “white power” flyers. The flyers claim to be from the Aryan Freedom Network and carry a line reading, “We are everywhere! Your race is calling, will you answer? Take a stand.” There’s a link to a white power website, and across the bottom it says, “Distributed randomly without malicious intent.”

Reports say the flyers appeared Sunday morning on various properties in Waterloo, and KGAN-TV says police don’t believe there’s an immediate threat.

The report says police are asking anyone with home security or doorbell camera footage that might help identify the source to forward it to investigators.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning (Nov. 13th), will canvass votes from the Nov. 5, 2024 General Election. The canvass takes place as part of the regular weekly Board meeting, which begins at 8:30-a.m. Wednesday, in the Red Oak Courthouse Supervisor’s Meeting Room. Following a canvass of the votes, the Board will act on passing a resolution certifying the outcome of votes cast during the General Election, as outlined in the Code of Iowa.

In other, regular business, the Board will act on approving the Treasurer’s semi-annual report ending-fund balance as of Oct. 31, 2024, in the amount of $15,280,458. They will also act on approving the Recorder’s report of fees for Oct. 31st, in the amount of $22,958.50, and Claims payable for Nov. 13th, in the amount of $1,284,556.94.

The next, regular meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors takes place on Tue., Nov. 19th, beginning at 8:30-a.m.

(Radio Iowa) – While today (Monday) is Veterans Day, a solemn service on Wednesday will recognize three former Iowa State University alumni who served in the military and made the ultimate sacrifice. Megan Moore, with the I-S-U Memorial Union, says the Gold Star Hall Ceremony has been a tradition on the Ames campus for more than two decades. “Our first honoree is Air Force Second Lieutenant Max Harvey Collins. He died when his aircraft crashed on takeoff during the Korean War,” Moore says. “We are also honoring James Wayne Harrick, Junior. He was a captain in the Air Force, and he was on a mission when his plane was lost near North Vietnam.”

This year’s third honoree is Army First Lieutenant Sidney Peterson, who served in World War Two and died after taking on anti-aircraft fire aboard a B-26 Marauder. “These wonderful service members were young men, and they were Iowa State students studying various degrees here, and so part of the ceremony is we tell their personal story,” Moore says. “We tell from the very beginning, stories from when they were born and what their family life was like, and then we do go into detail of what their life was like here at Iowa State.”

Wednesday’s program is scheduled to begin at 4:15 P-M at the ISU Memorial Union.  “The Gold Star Hall Ceremony did start in 2003 and it’s our way to remember and honor Iowa State students who died while serving their country,” Moore says. “Their names are engraved into the walls and so every year, we select a handful of our service members who are in the Gold Star Hall to be honored at our ceremony.”

The Memorial Union was built in 1928 as a memorial to Iowa State students who died in World War One. It has continued to be a living memorial for students who died in future conflicts and names have been added to the walls throughout the years.