The Creston Police Department reports 40-year old Teresa Earley, of Creston, was arrested at around 5:50-p.m., Wednesday, for Driving While Suspended (DWS). Earley was taken into custody in the 1100 block of Patt Street, and later released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

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

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – A paddle wheel boat built in Dubuque back in 1969 that was out of commission for about four-years, has returned to cruising the Alabama’s Black Warrior River. The popular “Bama Belle,” which was repaired under its new owner, Jasper, Alabama-area businessman Craig Dodson, has begun offering weekend cruises.

The 90-foot long, 54-ton Bama Belle, which can carry 149 passengers, has been part of Tuscaloosa’s river scene since 2001, but it stopped offering cruises in June 2012 after holes developed in the engine cooling systems’ coolers on the bottom of the boat, causing an engine to fail.

After it was built in Iowa, the Belle was christened as the “Captain Ann,” but later renamed “Emerald Queen,” and was based in Destin, Florida. In 2001, the boat was renamed the Bama Belle and brought to Tuscaloosa.

The “Bama Belle” and its owner Craig Dodson (A-P photo)

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports a Nebraska man was arrested this (Thursday) morning for Theft in the 2nd Degree, in connection with the recovery of a stolen vehicle. 29-year old Terry L. Eddy, of Omaha, was arrested following a traffic stop at around 2:34-a.m. in the 2600 block of Avenue B, in Council Bluffs.

Uniform patrol officers located a stolen 1998 Honda Accord traveling west bound on Avenue B and made a coordinated traffic stop before taking Eddy into custody without incident. Authorities say the vehicle he was driving had been reported stolen out of Omaha on Wednesday (February 22nd, 2017).

The National Weather Service has updated the status of their Winter weather-related advisories and warnings.  A Winter Weather Advisory for snow and blowing snow is now in effect from 6-a.m. Friday until Midnight, for Crawford, Carroll, Audubon, Guthrie, Cass Shelby, Pottawattamie and Mills Counties. And, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect from 6-a.m. Friday until midnight, for Monona and Harrison Counties. Further north (the northern 4 tiers of counties), a Blizzard Warning is in effect from 6-p.m. today (Thursday) through early Saturday morning.

Blizzard Warning for counties in bright red; Winter Storm Warning for counties in pink; Winter Weather Advisory for counties in purple.

* TIMING…Rain will transition to snow by early Friday afternoon with winds increasing through the day on Friday. The precipitation and wind are expected to persist into early Saturday morning.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…3 to 7 inches.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…Winds becoming north to northwesterly at 20 to 30 mph with gusts over 40 mph. Visibility will be reduced to one half mile or less during periods of heavier snow and wind.

* IMPACTS…Roadways will become snow covered and blowing snow will reduce visibility creating hazardous travel conditions Friday into early Saturday morning.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Winter Weather Advisory for blowing snow means that visibilities will be limited due to strong winds blowing snow around. Use caution when traveling, especially in open areas.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa is eliminating academic scholarships expected by more than 2,400 resident students for the 2017-18 school year. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that a letter being sent by university President Bruce Harreld blames the Legislature’s decreasing university funding by $8 million. University officials estimate that cutting the scholarships will save the university about $4.3 million.

The university already has reduced its Summer Hawk Tuition program, tightened residency requirements for out-of-state students and raised the minimum number of credit hours required for students to live in the dorms.

Harreld told state lawmakers Wednesday that the cutbacks were necessary because of the $8 million reduction in state funding that the university is required to handle over the next four months.

Montgomery County Sheriff Joe Sampson says Montgomery County Crime Stoppers have paid a reward to a person or persons, associated with a tip that resulted in the arrest of a suspect wanted on numerous charges. Crime Stoppers actively followed-up on the proceedings that led to the arrest of the suspect involved in an incident that took place in Stanton, in Dec., 2016.

Sheriff Sampson says Montgomery County Crime Stoppers thanks the individuals and law enforcement agencies involved, and further requests all citizens of Montgomery County to call 1-888-434-2712, when you see any and all suspicious activity, or with any information relative to current or ongoing investigations.

When you call that toll-free number, you and your tip or information will remain totally anonymous. You are connected to an operator who takes down your information before issuing you a special ID number. You will the be instructed to call back into the Crime Stoppers line with your ID number to receive updates on the case. A successful prosecution resulting from your information may result in a cash rewards, which will also be handled on an anonymous basis.

A Red Oak man who had been arrested early Monday morning on Assault and Obstruction of Emergency Communications charges, was arrested again Wednesday evening for Violating a Protective Order. Red Oak Police says 28-year old Zachary Charles Burkes, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 6:45-p.m. and was being being in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.

And, 38-year old Kevin Duane Staley, of Red Oak, was arrested just after 6-p.m. Wednesday in Red Oak, on a Page County warrant for Probation Violation. Staley was brought to the Page County Jail, where his bond was set at $2,000.

And, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 27-year old Eduardo Monrreal-Robles, of Elliott, was arrested just before 7-p.m. Wednesday in Elliott, on a Montgomery County warrant for Failure to Appear in Court on a Driving While Suspended charge. Monrreal-Robles was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash only bond.

Nineteen Republicans in the Iowa Senate are co-sponsoring a bill that would require Iowa businesses with more than 25 employees use the federal government’s “E-verify” system to confirm all new hires are citizens or legal residents of the United States. Dave Stitz is a vice president at the McAninch Corporation, a central Iowa contracting company that’s been using E-Verify for about eight years. Since 2009, the company has had just one applicant who failed the cross-check.

“If they know that a business is doing this, they will not come and apply for work, so they avoid us, which is a good thing,” Stitz says. “Word of mouth (moves) pretty fast.” Senator Julian Garrett, a Republican from Indianola, says about three percent of Iowa businesses currently use the E-Verify system to ensure they’re following federal law and only hiring citizens and legal residents.

“Their competitors that don’t check and do hire people in the country illegally and pay them substandard wages — I think we all understand that happens — it’s not fair to the people that are obeying the law,” Garrett says. Critics like Pastor Ryan Arnold of the First Christian Church in Des Moines call
the bill anti-immigrant.

“It runs contrary to my church’s faith-affirmed responsibility to welcome the immigrant in our midst,” Arnold said. Iowa Catholic Conference executive director Tom Chapman says the state’s four Catholic bishops aren’t experts in labor law, but they are opposed to the bill.

“The reason for that is when you start messing around with people’s employment, you’re messing around with families,” Chapman said. “And I don’t think there’s any doubt that if this bill gets passed and starts being enforced, you’re going to start having some problems with people being able to provide for their families and harm real families.” Madeline Cano of the Iowa Citizens Action Network suggests the requirement would “promote” discrimination against potential workers who are in the country legally.

“There is a stereotype of what an undocumented immigrant looks like,” she says. A wide range of business groups are registered as undecided on the bill. A spokesman for the Iowa Chamber Alliance says his group supports mandatory use of E-Verify, but it should be FEDERAL requirement, rather than a hodge-podge of laws from all 50 states. In addition, business groups say upgrades are needed in the system to make it work better.

(Radio Iowa)

Home sales are a key economic indicator and sales cooled off across Iowa last month.
Just 2,028 homes were sold in Iowa during the first month of the year. That’s down from 2,107 home sales in January of 2016. The numbers come from the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR) and president Cindy Miller blames inventory levels, in part, for the sales slowdown.

The number of homes on the market is down over 20-percent compared to a year ago. It was also extremely cold during much of January, which may’ve kept prospective buyers from doing a lot of shopping. The IAR reports the median price for a home sold in Iowa last month was $145,000 – up from $135,000 a year ago.

(Radio Iowa)