The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of an Avoca man Tuesday night. 38-year old Duke Lou Bruce Petterson was arrested at his residence for Contempt of Court/Violating a No Contact Order, associated with a previous incident. Petterson was booked into the Pott. County Jail and held on a $1,500 bond.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Grinch has struck again in Creston. Authorities say a resident in the 500 block of N. Cherry Street reported Sunday that sometime between 11-p.m. Saturday and 1-a.m. Sunday, someone stole a Christmas Laser Light projector from his yard. The loss was estimated at $25. Earlier this week, we reported two Creston residents had also reported their laser Christmas lights were stolen from yards in the 500 block of N. Cherry Street and the 400 block of N. Vine Street.

Creston Police said also, the S&K Cafe reported Tuesday, that sometime in the last couple of days someone spray painted the side of the building. The damage was estimated at $200. And, authorities say 37-year old Michael Waddingham, of Orient, was arrested Tuesday night on a charge of Driving While Barred. Waddingham was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

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

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

Subscribe: RSS

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A judge has declared a mistrial in the murder trial of a Sioux City man charged with stabbing a man to death during an argument. The Sioux City Journal reports District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer declared the mistrial Tuesday afternoon after jurors said they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in the trial of 47-year-old Elias Wanatee. Jurors deliberated more than 11 hours before giving up.

Wanatee was charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 17 stabbing death of Vernon Mace. The 50-year-old Mace died after being stabbed nine times. There were no witnesses and police didn’t find the weapon. Defense attorney Jason Dunn suggested during closing argument that Wanatee acted in self-defense. Wanatee will remain in jail while awaiting a new trial.

The president of a research firm devoted to agriculture says while the number of millennial farmers is small, their impact on farming operations is surprisingly large. Jan Johnson of Millennium Research says producers between the ages of 18 and 34 aren’t always recognized for the important decisions they’re making “Even though they’re young and might actually still have a job off the farm, they’re making a lot of the decisions regarding seed, feed, fertilizer, crop protection, technology and all those sort of day-to-day or seasonal decisions that farmers make,” Johnson says.

With the majority of U.S. farmers over the age of 55, Johnson predicts fewer farmers will control more land. “From the work that we do, which tends to concentrate on commercial-sized operations, we find that farmers under 44 years old tend to control farming operations of almost twice the size of older farmers,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s research also finds “technology adoption” high on the list of priorities for millennial farmers, and most are extremely well-educated.

(Reporting by Mark Dorenkamp, Brownfield Ag News)

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former Drake University student is challenging a federal government policy that he says discriminates against men in campus sexual assault cases. He claims the Des Moines-based university failed to consider his allegations of sexual assault by a female student but believed her allegations against him and expelled him. The case is one of several filed in recent years claiming federal guidance from 2011 has resulted in reverse discrimination.

HIAWATHA, Iowa (AP) — A man police found earlier this month wandering naked on an eastern Iowa street has been charged with second-degree murder in his mother’s death. Hiawatha Police said Tuesday that 32-year-old Joseph Hubbard faces the murder charge in addition to other charges levied against him earlier. Officers found him wandering naked on a Hiawatha street on Dec. 2 after they say he broke into a church, poured gasoline inside and punched a man. They then found the body of his mother at the home they shared.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a woman killed at a northeast Des Moines home. The Des Moines Register reports that Polk County deputies called to the home for a domestic disturbance on Monday found 19-year-old Katelynn Rose Gould, of Urbandale, injured in the garage. She died at the scene. Officials have not detailed the nature of her injuries.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City lawyer has been sentenced to 15 days in jail for a hit-and-run that injured two pedestrians and damaged a vehicle. Television station KTIV reports that 32-year-old Thomas Farrens was sentenced Friday after entering an Alford plea to leaving the scene of a serious injury accident. Court documents say Farrens didn’t stop after his car hit two pedestrians and sideswiped another vehicle on April 4.

Members of the Griswold City Council will hold a Special Meeting Wednesday (Dec. 14th) at the Griswold Community Building. During the 6-p.m. session, the Council will discuss Mediation, with regard to the Griswold Rescue Department.

During a work session held November 30th, the Council agreed to a request for formal mediation from four of the nine members of the Rescue Department who had resigned in November following the resignation of former Rescue Captain Julie Kline.

Kline resigned the day after the Council held a closed session Nov. 12th. At a public meeting held soon thereafter, Mayor Jeb Peck said they had issues with the Rescue Department not following its own By-Laws, and their response time to calls, but nothing has ever been mentioned publicly about why Kline resigned.

Griswold City Attorney David Wiederstein said during the Nov. 30th meeting that a complaint had been filed by Kline with the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) following the Nov. 12th closed session. Wiederstein said on behalf of the City, he gave IPIB the materials they requested with regard to that meeting, and that the Board is conducting an investigation into whether there was a violation of the Open Meetings Law. He could say nothing further on that topic.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer said today (Tuesday), a Pottawattamie County man was arrested last Friday night following a chase that began with a traffic stop. 35-year old Randy Buck Evans, Jr., of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody after the Ford pickup he was driving missed a turn during the pursuit, and crashed into a metal ditch tube. Evans faces charges that include Eluding, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and several traffic offenses.  He was unable to post bond at the time and was held on $5000 bond.

Randy Buck Evans Jr.

The incident leading up to his arrest began just after 11-p.m., Friday. When a Deputy tried to stop the pickup Evans was driving near 130^th and Q Avenue, or about seven-miles north of Clarinda, the vehicle did not stop, and fled at a high rate of speed.

The ensuing pursuit continued west on 130^th to O Avenue and then south on O Avenue to 150^th Street.  Evans then attempted to turn east onto 150th, but the pickup was traveling too fast to negotiate the turn.