COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man accused of trying to sell a stolen refrigeration unit back to its owner has pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 38-year-old Roger Otts of Council Bluffs pleaded guilty to the theft charge and probation violation on Thursday.

Authorities say Otts stole a refrigeration unit worth $12,000 from a trucking company and tried to sell it back to the owner for $8,000. Authorities say Otts was unaware that the owner was disguised as a buyer. Otts was arrested that day.

As a habitual offender, Otts must serve at least three years behind bars if he violates his two-year probation term. He was ordered to serve 90 days for previous parole violations.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate remained at 3.2 percent in July. The state’s Workforce Development agency reported Friday the rate remained steady amid a drop in the number of Iowa residents with jobs and an unemployment increase to 54,400 in July.

The agency noted increases in manufacturing jobs as well as in hospitality and trade and transportation. There was a drop in construction jobs. Iowa’s 3.2 percent July unemployment rate compares to a 3.7 percent rate a year ago. The national unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in July.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 12:50-a.m. today (Friday), of 41-year old Dustin Hoffman Stevens, of Grand Forks, SD. Stevens was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree, after a Deputy saw a 2006 Nissan Sentra on 430th Street, just south of Highway 92. The vehicle had its hazard lights on. A check of the license plate revealed the plate had been reported stolen from Council Bluffs.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, 33-year old Mescha Jackson, of Prescott (IA), was arrested at around 12:45-a.m. today (Friday), for Contempt of Court. Authorities say at around 11:30-p.m. Thursday, Pott. County Dispatch advised a deputy that Taylor County had a woman in their custody on a warrant out of Pott. County, and that the woman was the breast feeding mother of an infant.

Taylor County officials had tried to get bond for the woman taken care of, but the judge ruled she needed to be transported to Pott. County. A Contempt of Court warrant does not have a bond associated with it until the defendant is seen by a magistrate. A Deputy from Taylor County and a Pott. County Deputy arranged to meet each other in Red Oak, so the woman could be further transported to the Pott. County Jail. Jackson was read the warrant and turned over to jail staff.

An observant Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputy arrested a man Thursday morning, after he learned the man had a warrant for domestic abuse assault. Deputy Stewart was on patrol at around 8-a.m. Thursday in the rural, southeast side of Council Bluffs, when he noticed two men standing in front of a residence in the 1200 block of N. Larchmont Drive. His report said there were no vehicles in the area, and the men appeared to be watching for someone or something.

Knowing that multiple theft reports had been received from the area, the Deputy made contact with the two men, who said they were construction workers, waiting for their boss to arrive. Deputy Stewart noticed the men were not dressed for construction work. Instead, they wore athletic clothing, and one of the men was wearing sandals.

An identity check determined the men to be 26-year old Joel Main and James Urso. When a records check was conducted, the deputy learned Main was wanted on a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding airflow. The man was taken into custody and transported to the Pott. County Jail where he was booked-in.

The Creston Police Department says two residents have reported incidents of theft, Thursday. A 1987 camouflage-style Ford F-150 pickup was stolen from a residence off of High and Dry Road within the past few days. The vehicle was valued at $1,000.

And a woman from Creston said that sometime on Aug. 12th, someone got into her purse while it was on a table in the basement of the 3 Mile Lake lodge. The thief took cash, and prescription medication. The loss was estimated at $800.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The parent company of a former Iowa riverboat casino has been added to a lawsuit seeking nearly $2 million in unpaid revenue-sharing funds. The Sioux City Journal reports that attorneys for Community Action Agency of Siouxland added Penn National Gaming Inc. to its lawsuit against the Belle of Sioux City, which operated the former Argosy Sioux City.

Doing so serves to debunk arguments made by the former casino’s lawyers that the Belle of Sioux City and Iowa Gaming Company do not have the money to make payments.

Attorney Terry Giebelstein, who represents Community Action Agency of Siouxland, argues in a court filing that Belle transferred nearly $13 million to its parent company, Pennyslvania-based Penn National Gaming, in 2013 and 2014.

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

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Police in Creston, Thursday afternoon, arrested 40-year old Teresa Joan Earley, of Creston, on two Union County warrants. The warrants charge Earley with Violation of Probation. The woman was being held for Union County in the Ringgold County Jail, on two, $5,000 cash only bonds.

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

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An Iowa businessman has returned from Brazil where his company helped the country open its first large-scale corn ethanol production plant. Summit Agricultural Group C-E-O Bruce Rastetter, of Alden, says Brazil has previously made most of its ethanol from sugar cane. But the country now has gone to a two-season crop system that has increased the amount of corn available.

“Because of the weather and the rainfall they have been able to move to produce a crop of soybeans, and plant the corn the next day in January and February when harvest the corn in May and June,” Rastetter explains. “So that ability has allowed them to grow to significant corn production on second crop — which allows the opportunity for corn ethanol.”

The 115 million-dollar ethanol plant will annually process 22 million bushels of corn and produce more than 60 million gallons of corn ethanol along with 62-hundred tons of corn oil and 170-thousand tons of feed rations for Brazil’s growing livestock industry. Rastetter says the plant keeps the additional corn production in Brazil — which is good news for Iowa. “For them to produce value in their country — producing energy with it and also then the high-quality livestock feed alongside of it — is probably pretty important to the American farmer when we see large grain surpluses here in the U-S,” according to Rastetter.

He says Brazil already uses more ethanol than the United States, as their minimum ethanol blend with gasoline is 27-and-half percent compared to 10 percent in the U-S. And he doesn’t expect the increased ethanol production to hurt the U-S. He says the U-S exported about 500 million gallons of ethanol to Brazil last year and the number is increasing. And while their home produced ethanol might cut into that, he says other countries like China, Europe and those in Southeast Asia will use more ethanol in the future.

Rastetter says exporting ethanol is not the problem here, he says it needs to be offered in more blends at the pumps like Brazil.”The U-S needs to move form 10 percent to 15 to 20 percent ethanol blends. That’s the problem for the industry, it’s part of the problem for agriculture,”Rastetter says. “Over the last eight years we haven’t seen ethanol use increase in the U-S, production go from 12 billion to 15 billion gallons.”

Rastetter says the new plant used some parts that are only made in the U-S along with some production expertise from a company called I-C-M Incorporated of Colwich, Kansas. He doesn’t think this will be the only modern ethanol plant built there. “We have terrific support from the government..the president of the country as at the inauguration as were a number of ag businesses, farmers and governors. So, we are excited about the opportunity,” Rastetter says.

Rastetter’s company partnered with a Brazilian firm known as Fiagril (Fee-uh-Grill) to build the plant. They broke ground on the facility in early 2016.

(Radio Iowa)