(Radio Iowa) – Today (Monday), is Indigenous Peoples’ Day and some activists in Iowa’s Native American community want the holiday to permanently replace Columbus Day on the calendar. Trisha Rivers, Siouxland project director of the Great Plains Action Society, calls Columbus Day problematic, and she recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead on the second Monday in October. Rivers says, “The importance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day is that we still are here, after all of the atrocities that we have survived through as a people.”

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was recognized by Iowa’s governor five years ago, however, neither it nor Columbus Day are official state holidays. Rivers, who is based in Sioux City, is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She says the annual celebration of Columbus Day perpetuates a false narrative. “That basically was the beginning of our genocide, the Indian boarding school era, and everything that has followed from that, that still impacts us as Indigenous peoples today.”

The Great Plains Action Society is a nonprofit group that focuses on social justice and political engagement. Members organized a celebration for Indigenous People’s Day today in Iowa City. The Native American Student Association at the University of Iowa plans a rally on campus as well.

(Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

(Hartley, Iowa) – A crash between two pickup trucks Saturday morning in northwestern Iowa resulted in one of the driver’s being transported to the hospital with serious injuries. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2009 Dodge Ram 2500 and a 2011 GMC Sierra 3500 collided at around 10:42-a.m. west of Hartley, at the intersection of 310th Street and Tanager Avenue, in O’Brien County.

The crash happened at the uncontrolled intersection, when the driver of the Dodge, 61-year-old Jeffrey Gerritson, of Sanborn, failed to yield to the GMC pickup driven by 56-year-old Kevin Gonnerman, of Sanborn.

Gonnerman, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by helicopter to the Sanford Sioux Falls Hospital. The crash remains under investigation.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest at around 12:30-a.m. Saturday (Oct. 7th), of a man on an Assault charge. 31-year-old Noble John Murren, of Creston, was arrested at his residence, and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/2^nd Offense. Murren was taken to the Union County Jail where he was later released after seeing the magistrate.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police arrested a man early this (Sunday) morning, for Public Intoxication. Authorities say 40-year-old Miguel Angel Cruz Atzin was arrested at around 2:50-a.m. , in the 600 block of E. Prospect Street. Atzin was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A city that was hit by the 2020 derecho (duh-RAY-choh) will have a celebration this Saturday (Oct. 14th)  to mark a milestone. Tim Ellsworth is president of Imagine Grinnell’s board of directors.  “It’s been a three year initiative,” he says, “and we’re going to finally plant our 1000th tree on October 14th.” Ellsworth says about a third of Grinnell’s tree canopy was destroyed by the storm and the Emerald Ash Borer has hit the community’s tree population as well. Imagine Grinnell raised the money to buy all one-thousand trees, at a wholesale price.

“On one hand, it doesn’t seem like a lot of trees,” Ellsworth says. “…On the other hand, it’s darned near $100,000 and it’s a lot of effort on a lot of different days with a lot of different people.” On Friday morning, Imagine Grinnell will be distributing about 60 trees to Grinnell residents who haven’t already received a tree and live in the city’s 50112 zip code.

“We’ve got a number of different trees available again, some of our favorites,” Ellsworth says, “the white oaks, Chinkapin oaks, Hackberries, tulip trees, American linden.” There about several dozen people on the waiting list for these trees and Ellsworth says Grinnell residents should call ahead to see if there are a few left. The distribution center will be the Grinnell soccer complex. “We’ll have plenty of people to help load them and unload them and if we need to get them delivered, that’s not the end of the world,” Ellsworth says. “We can usually drop some off, too.”

After the project’s thousandth tree is planted, Ellsworth says Grinnell’s Tree Corps volunteers will continue watering many of the trees that have been planted over the past three years.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office, Friday, released a report on numerous arrests that took place from Sept. 12 through October 4, 2023. Information on the arrests is as follows:

9/13/2023 Jason Charles Allison (47) of Coin Iowa. Arrested for driving while suspended. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office
9/14/2023 Adam Blake Sandahl (41) of Essex Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail to serve time.
9/14/2023 Jennifer Elaine Archer (48) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for Burglary 3rd Degree, Attempted Burglary 3rd Degree and Interference with official acts.
9/16/2023 Johnathan Lawrence Heming (19) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of a controlled substance.
9/16/2023 Nicholas Alan Haidsiak (38) of Coin Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for a Missouri warrant for Failure to Appear. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office
9/17/2023 Jeffreiy Richard Pape (61) of Emerson Iowa. Booked into the Page County Sheriff’s Jail on an active warrant for possession of a controlled substance. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
9/18/2023 Krystal Lynne Bell (27) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for theft in the 5th degree.
9/19/2023 David Dale Morelock (37) of Farragut Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving under suspension.
9/19/2023 Katie Michelle Ross (29) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for public intoxication.
9/20/2023 Mark Andrew Devine (31) of College Springs Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for a warrant for failure to appear
9/20/2023 Dustin Eugene Kalkas (41) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for accessory after the fact.
9/20/2023 Neal Jay Williams (52) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for accessory after the fact.
9/20/2023 Charles Eugene Woods (60) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
9/20/2023 Nicholas Briggs (34) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for
domestic abuse.
9/22/2023 Megan Diana Cornelison (36) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for compulsory education violation.
9/22/2023 Skylur Lee Mick (28) of Coin Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for
possession of controlled substance.
9/22/2023 Gerald Dean Archer (53) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for serving time.
9/22/2023 Katie Michelle Ross (29) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for consume and possession of alcohol.
9/24/2023 Amber Jean Russell (46) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for
OWI.
9/24/2023 Michael Lloyd Harms (53) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for Domestic assault and child endangerment.
9/25/2023 Payne David William Dotson (30) of Lincoln Nebraska. Booked into the Page County Jail for OWI. Arrested by the Page County Sheriff’s Office.
9/25/2023 Richard Dean Stubbs (68) of Coin Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for
serve time for OWI.
9/26/2023 Paige Jamie Ruthe Vincent (34) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for violation of probation.
9/28/2023 Karl James Shade III (38) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for Possession of controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia and prohibited acts by a registrants.
9/28/2023 Seth William Rodgers (38) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
9/28/2023 Katie Michelle Ross (29) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for possession of controlled substance and interference with official acts.
9/28/2023 Christopher Russel Marsh (38) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for driving while suspension.
10/01/2023 Matthew Derek James (25) of Harlan Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for criminal mischief, OWI first offense and drug paraphernalia
10/01/2023 Quentin Rex DeManett (29) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for domestic abuse and 2 counts child endangerment.
10/03/2023 Hope Marie Kalkas (32) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for disorderly conduct.
10/04/2023 Lyle Francis Stogdill (40) of Shenandoah Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for public intoxication, domestic abuse and attempted burglary in the 2nd degree.
10/04/2023 Joshua Lee Green (36) of Bedford Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for an Iowa felony warrant for violation of probation and an Missouri felony warrant for sex offender registrations violations
10/04/2023 Christopher Russel Marsh (38) of Clarinda Iowa. Booked into the Page County Jail for violation of probation.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Nebraska was arrested Saturday in Omaha, following a pursuit that began in Council Bluffs, with a stolen ambulance. 29-year-old Austin Patrick Risor, of Lincoln, NE, faces a charge of Theft in the First-Degree out of Iowa. He was also wanted on numerous charges in Omaha, as well as outstanding warrants.

Council Bluffs Police report a City of Council Bluffs  ambulance was stolen at around 7:28-a.m. Saturday from the Emergency Room Unloading Zone at Mercy Hospital (800 Mercy Dr, Council Bluffs, IA).  There were no patients in the ambulance at the time of the theft. Firefighters ran on foot after the ambulance unable to catch it as Risor was driving off.

Austin Risor

Council Bluffs Police pursued the ambulance into Omaha.  Omaha police took over the pursuit for a short time until ABLE 1 (Omaha Police Helicopter) picked it up and tracked the ambulance from the air.   A CBPD Crisis Negotiator utilizing the fire radio channel attempting to negotiate with Risor to get him to stop and give up.  Omaha Police were able to get the ambulance stopped in the area of 138th and Military Ave. in Omaha.

Risor was taken into custody at approximately 9:35 a.m.

(Plymouth County, Iowa) – A boy on a dirt bike died Saturday morning in northwest Iowa, when the motorcycle collided with an International truck that was pulling a grain trailer. The Iowa State Patrol says the unidentified 11-year-old was traveling southbound on a private driveway in the 22,000 block of C-38 near Merrill, when the cycle entered the traveled portion of the road and struck the left side of the grain trailer being pulled by the eastbound truck. The crash happened at around 10:40-a.m.

The boy died from his injuries at the scene. The 45-year-old truck driver was not hurt.

(Griswold, Iowa) – A firefighter from Griswold was injured Friday afternoon, when debris fell on him during a partial building collapse in Griswold.

According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, an emergency vehicle was responding to a house fire with a person trapped inside, when the vehicle struck an open side storage panel door on the Griswold Fire and Rescue Building, that the driver did not see. The door broke free, causing a collapse of the furthest east bay of the building.

Griswold Fire & Rescue bldg. prior to bay door damage (Photo from Sept. 2020 Griswold F&R Facebook page)

Another responding fireman was knocked to the ground by the debris, which also apparently struck the bumper of a vehicle parked next to the building.

The unidentified, injured fireman was taken to Cass County Memorial Hospital.

OGDEN, Iowa (KCCI) — A school administrator in Ogden resigned over his reaction to a homecoming prank. Activities Director and Secondary Assistant principal Eric Hjelle was caught on video threatening to shoot high school students from his front porch as they were walking home from tossing toilet paper (TP-ing) on his property.

The school district said in a statement that Hjelle has been reinstated, but agreed to part ways after this school year. The school board accepted his resignation Friday.

“Mr. Hjelle is remorseful for the comments he made last week and any disruptions to teaching and learning that may have resulted from them,” school officials said in a statement.