A southwest Iowa man wanted on warrants out of Polk County was arrested Thursday, in Page County. 45-year old Samuel Wade Walker, of Clarinda, was arrested on two Polk County Iowa Warrants for Probation violation.  Walker was on probation for original charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or subsequent offense and Forgery.  He was arrested at the Page County Courthouse and transported to the Page County Jail, where he was being held without bond, until making an initial appearance before a Polk County Judge.

The Clarinda Police Department assisted the Page County Sheriff’s Office in the arrest.

Officials with the Iowa Army National Guard report, that as part of the U.S. Army’s ongoing overseas operational requirements, the 1st Battalion (Ironman), 133rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa Army National Guard, recently received deployment orders for Operation Spartan Shield in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR).

IANG Public Affairs Officer, Col. Michael Wunn, says this is the first of several deployments announced by Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, the Iowa National Guard Adjutant General, during his recent Condition of the Guard address to the Iowa General Assembly on Jan. 16, 2020.

The Ironman Battalion will deploy with approximately 550 Soldiers mobilizing from National Guard armories in seven Iowa communities: Charles City, Davenport, Dubuque, Iowa City, Iowa Falls, Oelwein and Waterloo. Their primary mission will involve area security and force protection operations in the CENTCOM AOR, which encompasses 27 countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

This is the fifth federal mobilization for the Ironman Battalion since 2000, including a nearly 22-month mobilization in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from September 2005 through August 2007. The battalion’s most recent deployment was to Afghanistan in 2010.

The battalion is currently working to schedule send-off ceremonies, which will occur at the end of May. The Ironman Battalion will then travel to Ft. Bliss, Texas, to complete its final training and readiness checks before deploying overseas. The deployment is expected to last approximately one year.

Col. Wunn says the Iowa National Guard is experiencing an increase in deployments as a number of its units come into their “mission year” as part of the U.S. Army’s current force generation cycle. The Army’s switch to the Sustainable Readiness Model (SRM) in 2016 sought to increase the number of National Guard and Reserve units available for operational deployments. For the last four years, the battalion, along with several additional Iowa Army National Guard units, have steadily built readiness as they progress through the various phases of the SRM cycle.

The Iowa National Guard family services branch is hosting a Joining Community Forces (JCF) event at the Waterloo Readiness Center, 3106 Airport Blvd., on Feb. 11, 2020, starting at 9 a.m., for organizations interested in coming together to support the northeast Iowa military community. JCF is an effort to connect the local community with Soldiers and their families in preparation for the upcoming deployment.

OMAHA, Neb (AP) – The amount of water being released into the Missouri River from Gavins Point Dam has been increased to free up more space in the reservoirs upstream before spring. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that the amount of water flowing out of Gavins Point on the Nebraska-South Dakota border had been increased to 35,000 cubic feet (991.09 cubic meters) per second.

The current releases from Gavins Point dam are more than double what is typical for this time of year. The Corps is working to clear out as much space as possible in the reservoirs ahead of what is expected to be another wet year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate has passed a bill that provides $20 million for flood relief requested by Gov. Kim Reynolds to help shore up levees in southwest Iowa in anticipation of more flooding this spring. All 48 senators present on Thursday voted to pass the bill but some Democrats argued for more money.

They say Republican leaders weren’t allocating enough for suffering Missouri and Mississippi river communities. Reynolds says many projects are paid for with federal grants and the money in the bill is the state match for those funds. The bill goes to the House for consideration.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a construction worker died Thursday after falling from scaffolding while working on an interstate bridge just north of Des Moines. First responders found 56-year-old Benjamin Rivera-Avila unresponsive with a head injury. He’d fallen about 30 feet while working on an Interstate 35/80 bridge over the Des Moines River.

Authorities say he died later at a hospital. Authorities say he lived in Altoona and worked for Cramer and Associates in Grimes.

(Radio Iowa) — As China deals with the corona virus outbreak, former Governor Terry Branstad — the current U.S. ambassador to China — plans to stay in Beijing. Governor Kim Reynolds says she hasn’t talked directly with Branstad, but one of her aides has. “The Ambassador is staying. We’re not sure what Chris is going to do, but the kids are planning on coming back,” Reynolds says.

Chris and Terry Brasntad have been married 47 years. Their daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters had been living in a guest house that’s part of the U.S. Ambassador’s complex in Beijing. Alison Branstad Costa is a teacher and she had landed a job at an international school in Beijing for the children of Americans living in China.

Reynolds says there is no evidence the corona virus is circulating in the U.S., but state public health officials have a plan if it does.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police say a 71-year-old woman who was gravely injured in a hit-and-run as she crossed a Des Moines street has died. The Des Moines Register reported Thursday that Stephanie Markert died a week after being hit near the Drake University campus. First responders found Markert in the street with critical injuries on Jan. 30.

Police say she was the house mother for Delta Gamma sorority at Drake. Police are still searching for a man they want to question in the crash and have issued a material witness warrant for 41-year-old Isaias Flores-Morales of Des Moines.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrat Andrew Yang is restructuring his presidential campaign by laying off dozens of staffers following a distant sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Campaign manager Zach Graumann said Thursday that the campaign is “restructuring to compete as the New Hampshire primary approaches.”

Graumann went on to call the plans “a natural evolution of the campaign post-Iowa, same as other campaigns have undertaken.” The statement followed a report by Politico that Yang’s campaign had fired dozens of staffers across the operation. Yang’s campaign told The Associated Press that most of those let go had been Iowa staff.