The Red Oak Police Department reports the early Saturday morning arrest of a Red Oak man for Public Intoxication. At 2:04am Officers responded to a call of a possible intoxicated male in the 100 block of North 3rd Street. Officers then arrested 19-year-old Tyler Austin Sowers of Red Oak for Public Intoxication. Sowers was taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a central Iowa man to life in prison for hooking girls aged 12 and 15 on crack cocaine, having sex with them and later providing them to his drug dealer for sex acts in exchange for drugs.

Federal prosecutors in Des Moines described Clark Wesley Betts Jr. as a dangerous predator who should spend the rest of his life in prison. The 41-year-old Betts, from Urbandale, was sentenced Friday. He was convicted by a jury in June on two counts of child sex trafficking.

He was ordered to pay nearly $350,000 in restitution to one girl and nearly $375,000 to the other, amounts calculated to provide them counseling and appropriate medication for the rest of their lives.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that siblings who inherited a large share of their stepfather’s estate must pay inheritance taxes in a case that challenged the way Iowa’s tax laws treat stepchildren.

The Iowa Legislature in 2003 changed the state’s inheritance law so that children left money from a stepparent after the parents divorced couldn’t qualify for an inheritance tax exemption afforded natural or adopted children.

Paula Tyler and Mark Alcorn sued the state to recover $200,000 in taxes claiming the law violates the Iowa Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. They inherited the bulk of the estate of their stepfather, Donald Hitzhusen, a Rockford area farmer.

The court found that the state did not violate the constitution by revising tax laws as a way to promote close family relationships.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Economic Development Board has approved nearly $10 million in financial incentives for five companies promising to create 436 jobs. The board on Friday awarded TPI Composites in Newton $1.6 million to create 351 jobs. The company leases space in the former Maytag factory to make wind turbine blades. It plans to rent additional space to make bodies for electric powered passenger buses.

The board also approved $1.5 million for Riverdale aluminum manufacturer Arconic Inc. to support a $160 million expansion creating 30 jobs. John Deere received $2.9 million for a project in Urbandale to set up a new software and hardware technologies business to help farmers improve yields, creating 31 new jobs.

Other projects funded included a Swisher whiskey distillery and a Fort Dodge livestock feed additive maker.

Officials with the Cass County Conservation Service have announced the Trumpeter Swans have arrived at the Schildberg Recreation Area, and that the contest which began back in October, has ended. A contest was held with regard to the arrival date of the large winged birds. The winning date was November 9th, when 15 Trumpeter Swans arrived and stayed for more than 24-hours.

Officials say Leola Kanning picked the correct date, and with her good guess and won an 8×10 Trumpeter Swans print from the Cass County Conservation Board. The Board thanks everyone who took the time to enter the contest.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in solving a burglary & theft. Deputies today (Friday) investigated a burglary at 200 3rd Street in Braddyville.  The property is owned by Kevin Douglas Baughman.

Baughman reported that sometime between November 1st & November 16th, someone gained entry into his shop at this address and stole a Miller 110 wire welder valued at $1,200 and 2 Brodix Engine heads for a big block Chevy engine.

The heads were values at $2,800.  Anyone with information about this burglary is asked to contact the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-542-5193 or their local Law Enforcement agency.

Two southwest Iowa men were arrested this (Friday) morning, in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office reports Deputies arrested 34-year old Timothy Dean Curphey, of rural Braddyville, on a Page County District Court warrant for Violation of probation on an original charge of Possession of a controlled Substance.  Curphey was arrested at the Page County courthouse when he appeared for another criminal charge.  Curphey posted the $1,000 cash bond and was released pending future court proceedings.

And, 32-year old Joshua Dean Cooney, of Bedford, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to appear from Taylor County District Court.  Cooney was transported to the Page / Taylor County line and turned over to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office as he was unable to post the $1,000 cash bond.

Cooney

Curphey

DES MOINES, Iowa – November 17, 2017 – The Trump Administration recently appointed Annette Sweeney as the new State Director for USDA Rural Development in Iowa. Sweeney began her new role earlier this week. Sweeney’s experiences as a teacher, parent, family farmer, business owner and church volunteer led her to the Iowa House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013 where she sponsored numerous pieces of legislation that passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support. Her work improved opportunities for rural businesses and enhanced the quality of life for rural Iowans.

Since serving as a state lawmaker, Sweeney participated in trade missions to Brazil, China and South Korea promoting the quality of Iowa agricultural products. She also served on the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders board of directors working with legislators across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sweeney was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Agriculture Education and has volunteered with such organizations as Southfork Watershed Alliance, Iowa Corn and America Agri-Women, the nation’s largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women.

As State Director, Sweeney will use her leadership experience to oversee Rural Development programs in a customer-focused manner to restore prosperity in rural Iowa.

The Atlantic American Legion Building (The old Armory) will play host to a program this Sunday afternoon about Iowans’ role in World War One. Leo Landis, Curator at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, will head up the presentation “Somewhere in France/Somewhere in Iowa,” beginning at 2-p.m., Sunday (Nov. 19^th). He says a lot of people are familiar with famous Iowans who served in World War II, but not that many are as familiar with those who’s stories from WW1 need to be heard, as well, including Veterans from Cass County.

Landis lead the research and set-up a special exhibit entitled “Iowa and the Great War,” and says there’s more than one interesting Cass County story to tell. A man from Anita, for instance, served with the Canadian forces overseas. Landis says one of the projects they’re working on pertains to an effort by the Historical Department in the 1920’s, to document the service men and nurses who gave their lives in service of Iowa. There are currently about 2,600 photos of those persons. But he says there were over 3,500 Iowans who died in service, including one that they need from Cass County by the name of Paul Fackler, who is one of the persons Landis will talk about. The title of the presentation, “Somewhere in France/Somewhere in Iowa,” refers in part, to the letters home from the war, and to the soldiers, some of which were published in local papers at the time.

The American Legion Building in Atlantic was completed as a memorial to World War I veterans. It continues to honor veterans and their families with a Military Museum and Military Library. There is no charge to attend Leo Landis’ presentation, but donations to the American Legion Memorial Building in Atlantic are always appreciated.

(For more from Leo Landis, go to the Podcast tab on the KJAN homepage and look for the Heartbeat Today program.)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators believe a letter purporting to be from a juror who was bribed to rule for the University of Iowa in a major medical malpractice case was likely a hoax by someone upset with the verdict. Johnson County Lt. Doug Gwinn says his 20-month investigation into the letter’s shocking allegation of jury tampering has turned up no evidence that a bribe occurred. He says he’s been unable to identify the author of the letter but believes it was someone who wanted to help the plaintiffs get a new trial.

A judge received the anonymous letter after a February 2016 trial in which parents sued UI Hospitals and Clinics for brain damage suffered by their child during birth. Jurors ruled that UIHC was negligent but awarded no damages.