Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, late Friday night, identified a man who was involved in an eastern Iowa incident Wednesday night, that escalated into shots being fired by the subject and law enforcement. 29-year old Jihad Merrick, of Minneapolis, MN., died as a result.

On January 17th, 2018, at around 8:31 p.m., the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 report of a subject — later identified as Merrick – with a gun pointed at his head in a vehicle at Love’s Truck Stop in Floyd, Iowa. Prior to officers’ arrival, Merrick fled the area southbound on Highway 218.

At 8:49 p.m., a Nashua police officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 218 at 104 mph. The officer stopped the vehicle and observed the driver (Merrick) get out pointing a handgun at his head. Officers from the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office, Nashua PD, and the Iowa State Patrol responded and negotiated with the Merrick for approximately 40 minutes before the driver fired a shot from inside the vehicle.

Officers approached the vehicle to find Merrick unharmed. Merrick resisted officer’s attempts to take him into custody and drove the vehicle forward striking an officer. Two officers fired and struck Merrick, who was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is continuing to investigate the incident.

w/ Chris Parks

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of 35-year-old Samuel Jacob Whitaker of Red Oak in the 400 block of East Market Street in Red Oak on Friday night. At 9:07pm officers arrested Whitaker for being a Fugitive from Justice on a valid arrest warrant out of the State of Missouri for Parole Violation. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond awaiting extradition by Missouri Authorities. Officers with the Red Oak Police Department assisted in the arrest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A private economic development group in Iowa is refusing to release details about its failed bid to get Des Moines selected as Amazon’s second headquarters.

Greater Des Moines Partnership declined Friday to provide additional information about its efforts to attract the company. Partnership spokesman Sam Hoyle says conversations between the group and Amazon will remain private.

The Associated Press sought records from the Greater Des Moines Partnership in November about the group’s pitch to Amazon. The partnership said it wasn’t subject to Iowa’s public records laws. AP contacted the group again after Amazon rejected Des Moines.

Amazon recently narrowed its list to 20 prospective sites for the $5 billion project that could employ up to 50,000 people. More than 200 municipalities failed to make the cut.

The Cass County Republican Central Committee has set the date and time of the Republican precinct caucuses, the meeting location of each precinct caucus, and the order of business to be conducted. The 2018 Cass County Republican Precinct Caucuses will be held on Monday, February 5, at 7:00 p.m., at the following locations, for each precinct:

The precinct caucuses will perform the following functions:

1. Elect two (2) persons, Republican residents of the precinct, to serve on the County Central Committee.
2. Elect delegates and alternate delegates to the Cass County Republican Convention held on Saturday, March 10, 2018, at 9 a.m. The number of delegates to be elected at each caucus is listed above.
3. Propose and vote on platform planks to send on to County Convention. Please email the Chairman (dlwollaw@metc.net) or call (243-5406) if you would like the County Platform in advance of the Caucus date. 

If you wish to attend and participate in the 2018 Republican party caucuses, then you must be registered to vote as a Republican.  You may register as a Republican at your respective caucus location at the date and time of the caucus, but it is preferable for you to register ahead of time, which can be done at the Cass County Auditor’s Office.  Voter registration forms will be available to register or update your information.

A collision between a car and a semi tractor-trailer this morning (Friday morning) in Dallas County, left one person dead, another injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2015 Lexus GS350 driven by 49-year old Chung C. Lo, of West Des Moines, and a 2006 Kenworth semi driven by 57-year old Douglas Harrison, of Panora, collided head-on as they were traveling on D Avenue, south of Dawson.

The Lexus was traveling north, and the semi was heading southbound, when they collided just north of 150th Street at around 8:50-a.m. Both vehicles came to rest in the east ditch following the crash. Douglas Harrison died at the scene. Chung Lo was transported by Mercy One helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

Both drivers were wearing their seat belts. The accident remains under investigation.

A semi tractor-trailer was involved in an accident Thursday afternoon in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 74-year old William Joseph Davis, of Prescott, was driving a 2001 Kenworth hauling Ag lime in a walking floor trailer, when the rig slid at the intersection of Highway 48 and E Avenue, causing the tractor and trailer to enter the west ditch, where the trailer spilled the load of soil additive onto a field and into the ditch. Davis was not injured during the accident.

Officials say the incident occurred at around 12:38-p.m. northeast of Essex as Davis was making a turn from Highway 48 onto E Avenue. The tractor / trailer combination was owned by Giza Contracting of Creston. The vehicle sustained an estimated $33,000 damage.

No citations were issued due to the road conditions of the melting snow / ice causing the roadway to become water covered ice.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for a Dubuque woman accused of letting her seven children live amid what police say was garbage, rotted food and feces on their home’s floor. Court records say 34-year-old Tiesha Martin pleaded not guilty Tuesday to seven counts of child endangerment. Her trial is set to begin March 19. Thirty-three-year-old Jermaine Watson, who police say is the father of the youngest child, also has pleaded not guilty. Court records don’t yet show a trial date for him.

The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence Jan. 2 found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed. Martin has said officers lied about the conditions.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A historic building in downtown Sioux City could be up for sale after a federal judge granted a bank’s request to foreclose on the 12-story structure. The Sioux City Journal reports that a federal judge ruled in favor of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Bank and Trust’s foreclosure on the Badgerow Building on Jan. 11. The Badgerow Building was built in 1933. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its art deco architecture style.

Minnesota-based Lighthouse Management Group has been overseeing the property during the foreclosure case. Sioux City Economic Development Director Marty Dougherty says the building could attract developers looking to create a downtown, mixed-use facility. The bank can now sell the property though a sheriff’s sale or the U.S. Marshals Service, but hasn’t yet taken steps toward requesting the sale.

What started with a student’s generosity has developed into a new locker room of sorts at Shenandoah High School. A project called the “S-H-S Locker of Giving” is making clothing items available to high school students who need them. Shenandoah sophomore Hannah Mulligan created the program after she started trying to purge her closet at home. “I have way too many clothes,” Mulligan says. “We were sorting through my clothes, and I said, ‘Mom, I don’t need half of this stuff.’ She said, ‘All right, do you want to donate it to one of my friend’s granddaughters?’ And, I said, ‘Mom, what if we started a program that we could donate our clothes to students who might be able to get those at home?'”

After talking to the Shenandoah school superintendent, Mulligan decided to seek donations of not only clothing items, but coats and prom dresses. “What if someone isn’t able to afford a prom dress at the time?” Mulligan asks. “Then, we could have part of our Google classroom be having prom dresses or homecoming dresses. Or, maybe you just couldn’t get out and get a winter coat for the season. We could offer you those for no charge at all.”

With the help of instructors, administrators and students, donations have been flowing into the locker. Kelsey Heintz, the high school’s Life Skills, Special Ed and Health instructor, says the project has helped her Life Skills students with learning important skills, such as washing and folding the donated clothes. “It has definitely helped with the washing of clothes,” said Heintz. “We’re learning how to sort between colors and whites, and not filling our washer too full. That way, we don’t have overflow.”

Heintz says the students are also learning about sorting clothes: “That’s something that we are definitely learning, because when they are at home, they actually don’t have to sort their clothes by size. So, that’s kind of something new to them. But, that’s something I hope will help them if they do get a job in retail, to help them sort clothes there.” Donations to the Locker of Giving are still being accepted, but Mulligan says there are guidelines. “We don’t want anything that’s too, what we might call ‘summer clothing,’ and we wouldn’t want anything with tears, rips, stains or overworn clothing,” Mulligan says. “We’re open to any sizes that would fit a 9th through 12th grader. So, no youth sizes quite yet. We haven’t moved down to the middle school or elementary.”

Other wanted items include shoes, scarves and other accessories. All clothing items are made available to students anonymously.

(Radio Iowa)