Red Oak Police say a woman was arrested at around 7-a.m. today (Wednesday). 31-year old Sara Sue Batten, of Red Oak, was arrested on a valid Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Probation. Batten was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors in northwest Iowa has voted against having a public prayer before opening a board meeting. The Sioux City Journal reports that the board addressed the resolution by board Chairman Matthew Ung at its meeting Tuesday. It would have had supervisors take turns in choosing whether to lead a public prayer or hold a moment of silence. The resolution said the rest of the supervisors could not overturn the decision by the one making the choice.

The board’s current practice is to observe a moment of silence. The four supervisors who voted against allowing the public prayer all said they pray during the weekly moment of silence. But possible legal action over public prayers at public meetings was among the reasons raised against the resolution.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is continueing to collect deer tissue samples from willing hunters as part of its effort to monitor for and track the presence of chronic wasting disease. The agency reports their wildlife staff has a goal of collecting 5,465 samples. The bulk of Iowa’s deer harvest occurs during the two shotgun seasons which provide an opportunity to collect a significant number of tissue samples. Most samples are obtained by wildlife staff, checking with hunters in the field or at home processing points. Terry Haindfield, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR leading the CWD collection effort. says “We’ve had really good cooperation from our hunters so our focus now is collecting samples from some pretty specific areas within our target counties in order to reach our quotas.”

He said the DNR is looking for samples from deer harvested from each county along the Missouri River. “Hunters willing to provide a sample should call their local wildlife biologist to see if the county or area where the deer was taken has filled its quota or is still in need of a sample,” he said. The DNR lists the cell phone numbers for its wildlife biologists on p. 45 of the hunting regulations. Hunters from the targeted areas needing additional help making contact to provide a sample can call Haindfield at 563-380-3422.

Additional testing is been conducted in Pottawattamie County, following positive tests from captive facilities.  The disease has been found in every state around Iowa. Since testing began in 2002, more than 62,500 tissue samples have been collected and tested looking for the presence of CWD in Iowa’s wild deer herd.

CWD is a neurological disease belonging to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases.  It attacks the brain of infected deer and elk causing the animals to lose weight, display abnormal behavior, lose body functions and die. It is always fatal to the infected animal. The disease first appeared in Iowa’s wild deer herd in 2013 and each year since, the DNR has placed extra emphasis to find the extent to which disease is in the area, and to help slow the spread by removing additional adult deer from the local population.

The Iowa DNR has more information about CWD and other infectious disease online at www.iowadnr.gov/cwd.

BARNUM, Iowa (AP) — A malfunctioning switching mechanism apparently caused six tankers filled with ethanol to derail in northern Iowa. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the tankers were hauling the fuel from Valero Renewables-Fort Dodge on Tuesday night when they derailed. Lt. Tom Ubben, of the Fort Dodge Fire Department, says the cars were backing up when the switching mechanism caused them to leave the tracks. The tracks, located in the small community of Barnum, are owned by the Canadian National Railway.

Railway spokesman Patrick Waldron says no one was injured and no ethanol spilled. Ubben says crews from Waterloo and Omaha, Nebraska, were called to the derailment Tuesday night and were using heavy machinery to move the cars off the rail line and transfer the ethanol to other containers.

A traffic stop at around 2:40-a.m. today (Wednesday), resulted in the arrest on a man on drug and other charges. Creston Police say 21-year old Tyrell James Stucker, was taken into custody near Adams Street and the Spillway Road, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of Marijuana, and for Driving While Suspended. Stucker was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,600 bond.

Two people, a man and a woman, were arrested this morning, following the pursuit of a stolen pickup in Council Bluffs.  Authorities say Officers in Council Bluffs began their pursuit at around 12:43-a.m., after the driver of a stolen 2003 Dodge pickup refused to pull-over in the area of S. 16th and 9th Avenue. The pickup fled south on S. 16th St to 16th Ave where it headed east to Harry Langdon Blvd. By that time, the pickup had struck at least one set of Stop Sticks which deflated the front tires on the vehicle.

Kimberly Golden

Adam Wilfong

The vehicle turned south on Harry Langdon and headed south to Highway 92. Upon reaching the highway, the pickup had been driving on its front rims and became disabled at the intersection. The driver opened the door and immediately got out of the vehicle. Officers gave commands to the driver to follow however, he refused to comply. After failing to comply with numerous commands to surrender and follow officers’ orders, a Taser was deployed to incapacitate the suspect. Upon him becoming incapacitated and falling to the ground, officers were able to get him detained and handcuffed. The driver was identified as 31-year old Adam Wilfong, of Council Bluffs.

Officers found Wilfong had an open pocketknife (blade exposed) in his hand while officers had been ordering him to comply with commands to surrender. He dropped the knife on the ground prior to being taken into custody. Wilfong was transported to the hospital for evaluation and then to Pottawattamie County Corrections. The passenger, 27-year old Kimberly Golden, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Disobedience to a Police Officer after failing to comply with lawful orders given by police during the incident. She was transported to Pottawattamie County Corrections. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Omaha on November 9, 2017.

Bird lovers are in for a treat this winter as Iowa is seeing a huge increase in snowy owl sightings across the state. The birds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty act and generally live in the frigid climates found in the Arctic. Carroll County Naturalist, Matt Wetrich, says the creatures usually appear in Iowa during the colder months, just not in such large numbers. “Through an entire winter we might see a handful of snowy owls in Iowa, that’s an average winter, 10 or less, maybe even five,” Wetrich says. “In the last month we have had at least 40 individual birds across the state.”

He says the increase, while exciting, is not that uncommon. The primary food source for snowy owls is lemmings. These small rodents see massive population spikes about once every five to 10 years, and that increase in food is reflected in snowy owl populations. Wetrich says the new birds when they migrate south, and they end up traveling farther than usual. He says the new owls get bumped out of the winter hunting grounds and they get pushed south. Wetrich says they are ending up in Iowa and other states in the U-S.

Snowy owls are almost entirely white and quite popular among birdwatchers. Wetrich says it is okay to appreciate their beauty — but says give them some distance. “If you are close enough where the owl is turning looking at you, you are close enough, and that means back away,” Wetrich explains. “You don’t want to approach them and cause them to fly — because what happen is then they are burning very valuable calories. And you are contributing to them struggling to find food.”

Wetrich is collecting data on sighting across the state for the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union to use for research on these population eruptions. He asks anybody who sees a snowy owl report the sighting to the Swan Lake Conservation Center by phone at 712-792-4614 or through the Carroll County Conservation Facebook page.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines plans to increase the number of hours it charges for downtown street parking. The Des Moines Register reports that the City Council voted Monday for new parking meter hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Current meter hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. In exchange, parking will be cheaper in the city’s seven garages. The city also will work with private lot owners to allow free parking on nights and weekends.

Meter rates will range from 25 cents an hour on the edges of downtown to $1.75 an hour at the best spots. By the end of January, prices for the city’s seven parking garages will be reduced to $1 an hour with a $10 daily maximum.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports two men and a woman were arrested following an investigation into a burglary on Nov. 28th, in Farragut. 31-year old Marcus Washington, of Clarinda, 36-year old Alfred Mutchler, and 29-year old Mindy Irvin, both of Shenandoah, were taken into custody. Washington and Mutchler are being charged with Burglary in the 3rd Degree. Irvin was charged with Conspiracy. They were being held in the Fremont County Jail on $5,000 cash bonds, only. Additional arrests are expected as the investigation continues.

Mindy Irvin

Alfred Mutchler

Marcus Washington

Aistrope said the investigation began on Nov. 28th, after his department received a call about a burglary in the 4000 block of Manti Road, in Farragut. Several interviews were conducted during the ensuing investigation. The interviews led authorities to Shenandoah. Deputies, assisted by Shenandoah Police, followed-up on the leads, and as a result, recovered most of the items reported as stolen. Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery and Page Counties are also assisting in the ongoing investigation.