A traffic stop early Sunday morning in Pottawattamie County resulted in the arrest of a woman from Audubon County. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says a Deputy saw a 2002 Dodge R-15 pickup traveling north on Highway 59 at around 1:45-a.m., Sunday, and after turning around to follow the vehicle, the deputy observed it was beginning to travel at a high rate of speed. The driver, 30-year old Allison Catherine Schutte, of Exira, was taken into custody for OWI/2nd offense and booked into the Pott. County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office said also, 54-year old Steven Christopher Harmon, of Crescent, was arrested Saturday afternoon for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop near the Old Mormon Bridge Road and Lincoln Highway, near Crescent. The Deputy saw Harmon’s pickup swerving on the road, as another vehicle was between the pickup and the Deputy’s patrol vehicle. When the pickup came to the intersection, it stopped at the stop sign, but then proceeded for about 10-feet in the middle of the intersection and waived the other vehicle around. When the other driver didn’t comply, Harmon turned north onto Old Lincoln Highway, and allegedly began to pour a can of beer. At the same time, the pickup began to swerve from the center line of the road to near the edge. A traffic stop was performed and Harmon was arrested for OWI/1st. He was also cited for improper use of lanes and open container.

And, 66-year old Raymond Richard Brock, of Crescent, was arrested at around 12:45-a.m. Sunday, for Simple Assault, after he allegedly assaulted a 17-year old male during a disturbance at a residence along Monroe Lane.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), released additional details about a single vehicle accident that took place at around 4:40-p.m. Saturday on Highway 92, near 505th Street. Chief Deputy John Reynolds told KJAN News 35-year old Jesse Westover, of Grant, was traveling east on Highway 92 in a 2005 Pontiac GTO registered to a subject out of Oakland, when the car crossed the center line, went out of control, hit a ditch and went airborne before landing on its wheels and stopped.

Westover was transported by Griswold Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic.

Police in Clarinda, late Friday night, arrested 18-year old Jayden Anthony Morris, of Clarinda, on numerous drug-related charges. Morris was taken into custody at around 11:40-p.m. at a residence in the 600 block of North 11th Street, for felony possession with intent to deliver – marijuana, possession of prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and possession of drug paraphernalia, the latter charges of which are serious and simple misdemeanors, respectively.  Morris was being held at the Page County Jail on $6,300 bail.

Investigative reports have been forwarded to Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review and consideration of the filing of formal charges.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Officials with the Creston Police Department report six recent arrests.

Early Sunday morning, 46-year old Dawn Robbins, of Des Moines, was arrested at the intersection of Walnut/Taylor Streets, on the charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance (3rd offense), Possession of Paraphernalia and Unlawful Possession of Prescription Meds. She was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on a $6000 bond.
At about the same time and place, 54-year old Michael Miller, of Creston, was arrested on charges that include 3 counts of Possession of Controlled Substance, and Driving While Suspended. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $15,000 bond.

Sunday afternoon, 50-year old Joel A. Weeks, of Creston, was arrested at Abell and Ringgold on the charge of Driving While Barred. Weeks was released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

Saturday night, 19-year old Aaron Darrah, of Redding, was arrested in the 1500 block of N Lincoln on a charge of Public Intoxication. Darrah was released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

Early Saturday morning, 44-year old Jesse Maldonado, of Marshalltown, was arrested at
the intersection of Howard/Elm Streets in Creston, on a charge of OWI 2nd. Maldonado was later released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

And. late Friday morning, 32-year old Vincent Bentley, of Lorimor, was arrested in Creston on a Madison County Warrant for Probation Violation, based on an original charge of Driving While Barred. He was released to the custody of Madison County.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The only Democrat left in Iowa’s congressional delegation says if his party hopes to win back the White House, the work has to start now. Congressman Dave Loebsack, of Iowa City, delivered that message to about 250 party activists at an event in Des Moines yesterday (Sunday).  “It’s not going to be easy,” Loebsack said. “It’s going to be hard, but we have to be sure that we get ready for 2020 presidential election by taking back the U.S. House of Representatives and by taking back the U.S. Senate and we’ve got a shot at both those things next time, folks, in 2018. We really do.”

Loebsack was among a dozen speakers at Progress Iowa’s third annual “Corn Feed” fundraiser. Seven Democrats who are running for governor addressed the crowd. Progress Iowa executive director Matt Sinovic noted nine candidates for Iowa congressional seats were in the crowd as well. “This is a year when people are fired up,” Sinovic said. “…One of the ways we are seeing this is in how many candidates are running for office, which is a great thing.”

Two potential 2020 presidential candidates capped the event with speeches laying out their ideas for party renewal. Early Sunday afternoon, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley  told Radio Iowa that his party needs to focus on issues that “smooth the path” for working families. “We have two big obstacles right now. One is that the economy is rigged and the other is that the political system is rigged, but there is upwelling of progressive energy, wanting to take our country back for…the ‘We, the People,’ vision that we were founded on.”

Merkley arrived in Iowa Saturday, with an aggressive three-day schedule that included a meeting with some of the Iowans who supported Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016. Merkley laughed when asked if he’d be back in Iowa campaigning for president himself in 2019.”I just want to focus on 2018 and helping people all over the country,” Merkley said. “…My kids have now graduated from high school. They’re off to college, so Mary and I have more flexibility to be of assistance to others in a battle for the soul of our country and, really, for American leadership in the world.”

Merkley, who was the only U.S. Senator to endorse Bernie Sanders in 2016, supports the “Medicare for All” concept Sanders is advancing, as well as a dramatic expansion of federal spending on the nation’s infrastructure. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also addressed the Sunday afternoon “Corn Feed” crowd. Pete Buttigieg raised his national profile earlier this year with a run to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Buttigieg said Democrats need to “stop treating the presidency like it’s the only office that matters” and start looking at state and local elections.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Education is heading into the final week of taking comments on the state proposal for the federal education law now known as “Every Student Succeeds Act.” Department director Brian Wise says the E-S-S-A replaces the “No Child Left Behind Act.” He says they’ve issued three drafts of the plan and tried to refine it based on the input that they’ve already received as they try to maintain accountability, transparency and support for the schools.

Wise says they’ve gotten a lot of input from across the state. “We’ve held 18 public forums all across Iowa. We’ve done three on-line feedback surveys. We held eight focus groups, we did six statewide advisory committee meetings and we’ve had 11 work teams working on this,” according to Wise. “So, we’ve really tried to engage in this process.”

This is the final week (September 11-15) for public input, and then the final touches are completed. “Next week we’ll furiously looking at it, writing and revising and submitting the plan on the 18th,” Wise says.  It then goes to federal officials for review. Wise says the U-S Department of Education has 120 days to review the plan and he anticipates getting a call for any clarifying information and then he hopes the plan would be approved.

Wise says the most exciting part of the E-S-S-A is that it returns decision making back to the state and local level. Wise made his comments during a presentation to the Board of Regents.

(Radio Iowa)

More women are now actively engaged in agriculture in Iowa and other states than ever before. A group of women who farm aims to start conversations about the food they grow and how to protect our land. Ashley Pool, spokeswoman for CommonGround, says they want to spread the message about what is being done on the farm and how they’re always thinking of conservation of precious resources, especially our water.

“We use a lot of conservation pools that the USDA and NRCS teams up with us, they help us to learn the new trends that are going on,” Pool says. “We also use cover crops. We like to keep our nutrients in the soil. We don’t like our organic matter to blow away.”

Pool says CommonGround stresses the importance of technology that maximizes production while conserving resources and protecting the environment.  “We are farm women. We are moms,” Pool says. “We are not going to put anything into the soil, put anything into feed that’s GMO-related. We are not going to do anything that will harm our family, our soil. We want this to last generations.”

The average American is now at least three generations removed from the farm. Back in 1920, before the Great Depression struck, one in three Americans worked and lived on farms and ranches. Today that number is about one in 50. Pool was raised in the city and says her transition to the farm has been an exciting adventure.  “Coming from the city, I just want you to know that we are thinking about cities, we are trying to produce jobs,” she says. “We are trying to make sure that this sustains our nation.”

The change from a rural, agricultural nation to one that is mostly urban and industrialized has been constant over the past century in Iowa and elsewhere. She says farmers are the best stewards of natural resources.

(Radio Iowa w/Thanks to Karla James)

Red Oak Police, Sunday night, arrested 19-year old Dawson Allen Squires on an assault charge. Squires, who’s from Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 10:15-p.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. He was arrested in the 300 block of E. Corning Street and brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where he was being held without bond.