Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports a trio of drug-related arrests Friday evening into Friday night. At around 5:42-p.m. Clarinda Police arrested 38-year old Stacey Jean Garrigus , of Council Bluffs, for felony possession with intent to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine. Garrigus was arrested after methamphetamine was located in a 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup she was operating in the vicinity of 9th and Chestnut. She had been pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. Garrigus was being held in the Page County Jail on $125,000 bail.

At around 10:45-p.m. Friday, officers with the Clarinda Police Department, Page County Sheriff’s Deputies and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a search warrant at a residence at 614 East Washington Street. Officers seized approximately 30 grams of methamphetamine, a small amount of marijuana, numerous items of drug paraphernalia and a small amount of cash. They arrested 42-year old Jay Dean Miles and 34-year old Cynthia Joanne Butler, of Clarinda who both reside at 614 East Washington Street. Miles and Butler are charged with felony possession with intent to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine. Miles and Butler were being held in the Page County Jail on $125,000 bail.

Clarinda Emergency Medical Services provided stand by medical support functions during the execution of the search warrant. All police reports will be forwarded to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and consideration of the filing of formal indictments in Page County District Court.

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

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

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Governor Terry Branstad says he’s not surprised his fellow Republicans in the legislature have been reluctant to embrace his regulatory reduction plans. “We knew this was going to be tough,” Branstad says. “You’re going up against all of the organized special-interest groups that want to protect their turf, but I’m still hopeful that we can get parts of it approved.”

Branstad’s bill that would have ended state licensing for barbershops, social workers, mental health counselors and other health care professionals was rejected by a three-member House panel. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton suggests the move could “harm the public” by inviting pretenders into the state who would act as if they had legitimate training in the health care field. Branstad says there are too many state-licensed professions in Iowa.

“These licensing boards kind of look at it as something (like), ‘We’re there to protect the profession, not the public,’ and that’s my concern,” Branstad says. “In some cases we’ve gone into places where I really don’t think we need to be licensed and it drives up the costs and it keeps out the competition.”

Another proposal Branstad backed tried to change state regulations to make it easier for health care clinics that are for-profit to set up shop near already existing Iowa hospitals and clinics. That bill failed to advance in the Iowa House, too, because of opposition from Republicans. Branstad says these kinds of regulatory reforms will “never be easy” to get through the legislature.

“Every one of these groups is organized. A lot of ’em have lobbyists and they spend a lot of money and they always sell it on the idea, ‘Well, we’re going to protect the health, safety and well-being of Iowans,'” Branstad says. “But we have more licensed, regulated professions than anybody else.”

Branstad made his comments late Thursday during an interview with reporters from the Radio Iowa and The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Branstad was wearing a red lapel pin at the time. Kentucky’s Republican governor gave Branstad the pin — which featured a tiny pair of scissors. It’s a symbol of the Kentucky governor’s “red tape reduction” campaign.

(Radio Iowa)

Hunters in Iowa killed just under 101,397 deer this past season. Iowa DNR wildlife researcher Tyler Harms says that’s about 3,000 fewer than in the 2015-16 season, but nearly identical to the harvest from two years ago. “We’ve been holding right around that 100,000 mark for the last few years, which to us is a good sign – indicative of a stable deer population in Iowa,” Harms says.

A big factor in the lower numbers this past year was unseasonably warm weather early in the season, according to Harms. He admits some hunters are a frustrated they aren’t seeing as many deer as they’d like. “What we’re hearing, overall statewide, is hunters are pretty pleased with the numbers,” Harms says. “Obviously, that’s going to change depending on specific areas in the state.”

The deer population in southeast Iowa, for example, has decreased. That’s due in large part to a disease outbreak known as E-H-D. “That are was hit pretty hard with epizootic hemorrhagic disease a couple years ago, which can have some pretty drastic impacts on local population,” Harms says.

The Iowa DNR has a goal to manage for a deer population that can provide a harvest of between 100,000 and 120,000 deer each year, based on the recommendations agreed upon by a state deer task force. Around 170,000 hunters took part in the latest deer season. Harms says deer hunting license sales have been “stable” over the last 5 to 6 years.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak, this (Saturday) morning, arrested 37-year old Joseph Dean Wallace, of Clarinda, on felony drug charges. Officers took Wallace into custody at around 4:45-a.m. in the 400 block of E. Maple Street, in Red Oak. He faces felony charges that include Possession of Methamphetamine & Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver, and a simple misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, charge.

Officers seized approximately 18.8-grams of Meth and about 24.1-grams of marijuana. Wallace was being held at the Montgomery Law Enforcement Center on a $100,000 cash bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Legislation making changes to Iowa’s workers’ compensation system is moving through the Legislature despite arguments that the new rules would penalize employees who work in physically demanding conditions. Committees in the House and Senate approved the bill Thursday, and it could come up for votes in the full chambers next week. Opponents have been critical of the bill’s move to cut compensation off at age 67 for fully disabled people, minimize late fees for employers and decrease coverage.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Lebanese man has been indicted on a federal count, accused of a scheme to smuggle guns purchased in Iowa to his country. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa says 42-year-old Fadi Yassine was charged in the indictment with conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and to ship, transport, and deal firearms without a license.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has sided with former Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett in his lawsuit against a state ethics board, saying the board was wrong to reprimand him in 2012. The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board had reprimanded Slockett for making campaign phone calls from his personal cellphone from his county office. On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said a Polk County District Judge overturned the board’s reprimand Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Collins-Maxwell School District middle school social studies teacher has been arrested after federal authorities allege he sent obscene photos to a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl in an internet chatroom and attempted to entice her for sex. The person he was chatting with was a federal Homeland Security agent.

A report called the Solar Jobs Census finds the number of people working in the solar industry in Iowa rose just over 60-percent in the past two years. Avery Palmer, spokesman for the non-profit Solar Foundation, says Iowa had about 350 solar jobs in 2015 versus more than 560 last year. The study finds one out of every 50 new jobs in the country last year was in the solar industry.

Palmer says, “What we’re seeing over and over is that the price of solar is going way down and solar is becoming more and more affordable and accessible no matter what part of the country you live in, whether you’re in a small town a big city or a rural area.” The census finds solar employment increased in 44 of the 50 states last year, growing by 25-percent nationwide, while Iowa’s increase was 61-percent.

“As solar becomes more attractive to homes, businesses and communities, companies are building more projects,” Palmer says, “and they are hiring more people to do the work.” The subject of solar jobs is wide-ranging, Palmer says, and includes far more than the people who install solar arrays on rooftops.

“If you have a big solar project that’s being built out somewhere in the country, you need folks to manage the project and to manage the finances,” Palmer says. “You also need people to do sales, to do the marketing, to do the engineering.” Palmer predicts steady growth, with an increase of at least 10-percent in solar jobs nationwide in 2017.

California saw the most growth in solar jobs in 2016, followed by Massachusetts, Texas, Nevada and Florida. Iowa ranks 41st nationally for the number of solar jobs, 38th in solar jobs per capita.

(Radio Iowa)

Supporters of President Trump are planning rallies in four Iowa cities tomorrow (Saturday). Organizers of these “Spirit of America” rallies across the country say their goal is to show there’s broad support for the president’s agenda.  “We just know how the last few years the middle class has become really crunched and he sees that and he wants to turn that around.” That is Tammy Kobza, a coordinator for the rallies in Davenport, Ottumwa, Des Moines and Council Bluffs. She says the rallies will feature speakers, patriotic songs, and fellowship.

“It’s a very upbeat, family-friendly time where we’re going to cheer him on and just see that America, by and large, believes in the values that our country was built upon and we’re ready to stand for ‘America First,'” Kobza says. The pro-Trump rallies in Iowa are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday). The central Iowa event will be held on the state capitol grounds in Des Moines. The rally in Ottumwa will be held in the Central Park Band Shelter. Davenport Guns will host the event in Davenport.

Organizers of the Council Bluffs event call it a “street corner” rally — at the corner of 16th and Broadway in Council Bluffs.

(Radio Iowa)

One of two Atlantic residents injured during a two-vehicle crash accident in Lancaster County, Nebraska, Christmas Day 2016, has died. 78-year old Joan Harlan, died Thursday, March 2nd, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

The Nebraska State Patrol said an eastbound semi had gone out of control, crossed the median and struck a westbound SUV occupied by Joan and her 78-year-old husband, Robert Harlan. The accident happened on Interstate 80 near the Waverly exit,  shortly after noon on Dec 25th. Both suffered serious injuries during the crash. The driver of the semi, 45-year-old Princewill Dabrinze, of Texas was hospitalized in fair condition at the time.

It’s believed the weather and road conditions were to blame for the crash.