(Radio Iowa) – The state Environmental Protection Commission has given grants to six Iowa small towns to help them deal with run-down buildings. The D-N-R’s Reid Bermel overseas the Derelict Building Grant Program which selects communities with five-thousand or fewer residents for the grants.

“We help them either renovate, deconstruct or abate asbestos, essentially, and eliminate that environmental hazard for the community while trying to keep materials out of the landfill,” Bermel says. This year’s grant awardees are Coon Rapids, Glidden, Ida Grove, Rockford, Greene, New Market and Menlo. Several of the projects will redevelop buildings for retail or housing. Bermel says a lot of the material from the buildings can go to new uses.

“The majority of the waste of these buildings are in the masonry, so the brick and concrete. It’s common to with the correct permitting, they can do shore restorations with that; they can also repurpose and grind them up and use them on their roadways,” he says.

The program’s funding is capped at 400-thousand dollars annually. The Derelict Building Grant Program has funded nearly 200 projects since 2012 in more than 100 different communities.

(Denison, Iowa) – One person died and four others were injured during a collision Tuesday night in Crawford County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened east of Denison at around 9:50-p.m. on Highway 30, west of N Avenue, when a 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix went out of control and collided with a 2016 Chevy Suburban. The accident took place as the car was traveling eastbound on Highway 30 and the Suburban was traveling westbound.

The Patrol says the driver of the car, 23-year-old Brent Robert Dale Stephan, of Yukon, OK, and two passengers suffered serious injuries. One occupant of the car, 35-year-old Cory Robert Beer, of Bayard, died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. 23-year-old Heaven Marie Holloway, and 44-year-old Stacy Marie Holloway, both of Lytton, were injured, They were not wearing a seat belt.  Both women and Brent Stephan were flown by LifeFlight to the UNMC in Omaha.

The driver of the Suburban, 19-year-old Morgan Wade Andersen, of Shelby, was transported by Denison EMS to the Crawford County Hospital in Denison, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The crash remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and Denison EMS.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood say a man from Omaha was arrested today (Wednesday), on an OWI charge. 44-year-old Joseph Dueling, III, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, with bond set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – A southwest Iowan who graduated from high school last month has won a competitive primary for a seat on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. Eighteen year old Jack Sayers is one of three Republicans seeking two at-large positions on the board. Unofficial results in Mills County show he got nearly 37 percent of the vote, finishing ahead of two incumbents.

Sayers grew up on a farm near Malvern, a town of a thousand residents that’s about 20 miles west of Red Oak. Sayers graduated from East Mills High School on May 19th. He worked as a page in the Iowa House during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions and did a one month stint as a U-S Senate intern last summer.

Jack Sayers of Malvern won 884 votes in the GOP Primary for two at-large seats on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. (KMA photo)

Sayers says his county’s board of supervisors needs to live-stream its meetings so Mills County residents can find out how their tax dollars are being spent.

Sayers finished more than 100 votes ahead of a Mills County Supervisor who’s been on the board for over 11 years. Another incumbent who was first elected in 2016 was in third place. It’s likely Sayers’ victory in Tuesday’s Primary means he’s secured a seat on the Mills County Board of Supervisors. Nearly 61 percent of registered voters in the county are Republicans and no Democrat ran in the primary for a seat on the board.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested on separate warrants Tuesday. 25-year-old Morgan Christine Hamling (No known address), was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). Her bond was set at $300. And, 36-year-old Clayton Shane Geick, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $1,000.

Sheriff’s officials report also, 44-year-old Joseph Arthur Dueling, III, of Omaha, was arrested at around 1:25-a.m. Wednesday (June 5th), following a traffic stop on I-29 in Mills County. Dueling was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Unlawful Possession of a Prescription Drug. His bond was set at $2,000.