IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The state auditor on Monday criticized $40,000 in relocation benefits that helped a veteran Iowa State Patrol supervisor relocate his family home farther away from his new assignment in western Iowa. State Auditor Rob Sand concluded that there was no “public benefit” for taxpayers to cover closing costs and other expenses on the sale of Lt. Joel Ehler’s home in Adel. Sand’s office investigated the matter after The Associated Press reported on the benefits in May. An internal investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety found that the benefits were appropriate and that Ehler did nothing wrong.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Vandals have defaced the artwork and property of an Iowa man who displayed paintings of Confederate flags and swastikas in his front yard. The Des Moines Register says the vandal or vandals scrawled the words “Nazi scum” on a trailer and the pickup parked at William Stark’s house in Des Moines and spray-painted over several of the wooden pallets in his yard on which he had painted the Confederate battle flag. The vandalism was discovered Wednesday. Stark told the newspaper for a story earlier last week that he isn’t a racist or white supremacist and would paint any flag, if asked.

The monthly Healthy Cass County meeting was held Monday, December 9th, at Cass County Public Health. Officials say the Urgent Need Community Resource Guide has been updated on the Cass County Iowa State Extension website. Healthy Cass County encourages Cass county residents and visitors who have not yet participated to complete the short Produce in the Park survey. The survey can be found online at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

Healthy Cass County holds monthly meetings held at Public Health the second Monday of the month at noon. For more information on local health and wellness events or resources, follow our Healthy Cass County Facebook page @HealthyCassCounty.

Officials with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa report a western Iowa man was arrested for allegedly killing a rabbit at the ARL’s Central Iowa Shelter, Sunday night. ARL CEO Tom Colvin said 64-year old Bobby Carothers, of Carroll, was arrested hours later and charged with Animal Torture and Trespassing. The body of a rabbit, named “Petunia,” was discovered after the shelter had a successful day adopting 33 pets into new homes.

Bobby Carothers

Colvin said “From the time we opened until past closing time, our adoption team had been busy helping customers find their new pet family member. As our team began performing their closing duties, including performing a final check on the animals for the evening, there was still a man in the shelter. They asked him to leave since we were now closed. Just minutes after he left the building,” Colvin said, they discovered Petunia had been violently killed.

Colvin said “The scene was beyond gruesome. We immediately called Polk County dispatch and deputies arrived to begin the investigation and secure the property to ensure our team was safe, since the suspect’s location and further intent was unknown.” During an investigation, Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Carothers about three hours later, after he pulled a fire alarm at a Des Moines trucking company. His bond was set at $2,000 on the animal torture charge and $300 on the trespassing charge.

Colvin said in his statement, “We are devastated, we are shocked, and we are outraged, but beyond that, we are furious. Furious that someone could do this to an innocent animal, furious at the brazen attack on one of our very own, and furious at the lawmakers whose inaction last session will mean the person who did this to Petunia will not get the punishment they deserve.” He added “Iowa’s laws need to change once and for all. For Petunia. For all animals.”

(Radio Iowa) — California billionaire Tom Steyer says President Trump will win re-election if Democrats don’t nominate a candidate who can compete with Trump on the economy. Steyer, who delivered a speech on the economy today (Monday) in Iowa City, says unchecked capitalism hasn’t worked, but socialism isn’t the answer. He supports a tax of wealth to address what he calls the unjust distribution of income over the past 40 years. “How are we going to do the things that we need to do to make sure we’re investing in the American people, investing in their prosperity and therefore our prosperity, so that we can, in fact, build the kind of human capability that’s going to make us actually prosper in the 21st century,” Steyer says.

Steyer is a former hedge fund manager who is worth an estimated one-point-six BILLION. He says all income should be taxed equally, whether it comes in the form of a paycheck or from investments — so the tax break for capital gains should end.  “I think Ronald Reagan was the president who came up with the idea that every tax is bad and therefore we don’t need to have revenues to invest in the American people,” Steyer says, “but obviously that’s not true.”

He’s proposing a 10 percent income tax cut for lower and middle-income households. Steyer says his ideas would cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. Steyer is one of three businessmen in the race. Former New York City Mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg is worth more than 50 BILLION dollars. Andrew Yang has spent his career launching and supporting start-up businesses.

A 35-year old woman found guilty on two felony charges of distributing a controlled substance to a minor, was sentenced last week to 25-years in prison, but her sentence was then suspended. A judge ordered Karrie Elizabeth McCrea, of Guthrie Center, to instead be placed on three years probation for each count, to be served concurrently (at the same time). McCrea is also required to pay over $3,500 for legal assistance, court costs and other fees. She was ordered to obey a no contact order. All other charges in connection with her case were summarily dismissed.

On June 17th, McCrea gave her stepdaughter and another minor a marijuana joint and glass bong to smoke, during a sleepover. After a search warrant was executed June 28th, McCrea and her husband, 36-year-old Jordan Daniel Liggett, were taken into custody. Liggett was sentenced to probation in September.

(Radio Iowa) — It’s still not known what caused several cars of a freight train to jump the tracks last (Sunday) night in the northern Iowa town of Manly, forcing the closure of a nearby highway. The Manly Police Department responded to the Union Pacific crossing at State Highway 9 last night after the report of some grain cars being derailed. The Iowa Department of Transportation says the roadway re-opened at about 6:15 this morning. No injuries were reported due to the derailment.