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

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The Creston Police Department say three people were arrested on drug charges over the weekend. Early Sunday morning, 21-year old Nathaniel Dewitt-Patterson, of Creston, was arrested on charges of OWI 1st, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Paraphernalia. And, 21-year old Gage Cheers, of Creston, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Both men were later released from the Union County Jail on $1000 bond, each. And, Saturday morning, 22-year old Clinton Marshall, of Corning, was arrested in Creston for OWI/ 2^nd offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Paraphernalia and Driving While Barred. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $2000 bond.

Creston Police said also, 48-year old Gail Cheers, of Creston, was arrested Sunday for Driving While Revoked. He was later released on $300 bond. And, 33-year old Erin Wallace, of Creston, was arrested Sunday for Domestic Abuse/Assault. She was transferred to the Rinngold County Jail and held while awaiting bond.

On Friday, Creston Police arrested 20-year old  Jeremy Ebrecht, of Creston, on a Taylor County Warrant for two counts of Contempt – Violation of No Contact/Protection Order. Ebrecht was transferred to the custody of Taylor County.

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

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AURORA, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 55-year-old Aurora man shot at officers after a domestic disturbance turned into a standoff with officers. Buchanan County sheriff’s deputies were sent around 11 p.m. Saturday to check a report that a man with a gun was threatening a woman at a home in Aurora. Deputies say the man fired at them during the standoff but they didn’t fire back.

The Sheriff’s Office says a negotiator took about two hours to talk the man into surrendering. No injuries have been reported. Online court records don’t show the man has been charged.

Iowa farmers are still struggling with low commodities prices, but Iowa consumers may’ve noticed some grocery prices are actually coming down. U-S-D-A economist Annemarie Kuhns says the agency’s prediction last year that food prices would rise two-to-three percent this year was wrong, as prices have stayed steady or fallen slightly — which is very unusual.

Kuhns says, “Even after the recession of 2007 and 2009, we still saw food prices increase slightly albeit low rates, but we really haven’t seen deflation since the 1960s.” The U-S-D-A report says consumers are paying lower prices for beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk and other dairy products, while the prices Iowa farmers are getting for their products are predicted to drop. Corn is down 11-percent, for example.

“A lot of the costs that make up what we pay at the grocery store include things like food processing, transportation, retail overhead,” Kuhns says. “There’s just so many factors of production that go into the price that we’re actually paying, sometimes these changes at the farm level have a muted effect.” If prices go up overall this year, she predicts they’ll only top one-half of one-percent. The early forecast for 2017 shows grocery prices will rise one to two-percent.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s toss-up status in this year’s presidential election is nerve-wracking for top officials in both major parties — and for the rank-and-file voters. Kimberly Penning of Ankeny voted for Mitt Romney four years ago. She’s undecided about the presidential race this year and plans to make a final voting decision the day before the Election — just in case there’s some last-minute revelation. “I’m looking for somebody that’s going to basically do something good for the country and isn’t going to send us down a rabbit hole,” she says. She describes the campaign as a “roller coaster.”

Irene Wesley of Ames is a Democrat who has already voted, for Hillary Clinton. She says this election is “mind boggling.” “I have never seen a bigger circus in my life,” Wesley says. “It rivals elections in Latin America. It rivals elections in Italy.” Iowa Republicans held their annual fall fundraiser Saturday night. The party’s top leaders condemned what Donald Trump said on a vulgar recording that was replayed over and over this weekend, but remain committed to voting for Trump rather than Hillary Clinton.

Governor Terry Branstad told reporters Iowa Republicans “are not going to abandon” Trump. “We need to look to the future and we need to look at what kind of a leader we’re going to have for this country and I think that the vision that Trump and Pence has is much better for the future of America than what Hillary Clinton offers.” A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted last week — before the video was released — found Trump ahead in Iowa by four points.

That prompted former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to ask a crowd of Democrats on Sunday in Ames why Iowa is the only battleground state in the country where Clinton’s trailing Trump. “We always knew this was going to be a very tough race and a tight race in Iowa, but I think it is important for Iowans to understand what’s at stake here,” Vilsack told reporters. “…There’s a stark difference between these candidates on the issues that matter to Iowans.”

Vilsack decided to fill out his absentee ballot last night, with his young grandchildren in the room to mark the occasion. One Republican member of the Iowa House went on Facebook this weekend to announce he would NOT vote for the G-O-P nominee. Representative Ken Rizer, of Cedar Rapids, says Trump’s recently revealed remarks about women illustrate an “arrogant lack of character.” Rizer, who backed Jeb Bush in the Caucuses, says as a husband and the father of two college-aged daughters, he cannot hold his nose and vote for Trump.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Iowa Workforce Development has won a grant from the U-S Department of Labor to do some system upgrading. I-W-D spokesperson, Courtney Greene, says the grant is for one-point-one million dollars. “That will go to upgrade our integrated case management system. And basically what that will do is help us do a better job of providing services to dislocated workers,” Greene says. “Those workers who maybe the plant closes or the company decides to relocate and leaves those workers out of a job — this will help manage those cases.”

She says the change involves the systems used by state employees. “It’s really a more internal system. It allows our Iowa work staff to track clients to make sure that people are receiving the services they need, when they need them,” according to Greene. Greene says the upgrade will help them get more real-time data. She says it will make the system more efficient and should save money and reduce duplication. Greene says they will be working on the system during the next year.

(Radio Iowa)

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

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court has opened the door for construction to resume on a small stretch of the four-state Dakota Access pipeline while it considers an appeal by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The ruling came Sunday. The tribe had asked the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to continue work stoppage on the pipeline within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The court earlier ordered work to stop while it decided the motion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has highlighted extra benefits under Iowa’s new Medicaid program to show the privatized system functions better than the former state-run setup, but the agency overseeing Medicaid acknowledges it does little tracking of the benefits. Known as value-added services, they range from waived gym membership fees to free cellphones. The Iowa Department of Human Services says it’s not required to track the services.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The remains of a Navy chaplain have been buried in his home state of Iowa nearly 75 years after he died during the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A funeral was held for Chaplain Aloysius Schmitt on Saturday. He was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when the Dec. 7, 1941, attack happened. The Telegraph Herald reports Schmitt helped other sailors escape the sinking ship before he died. The Navy announced in September that Schmitt’s remains had been identified.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City police say bicycle thefts are on the rise this year as more thieves seek cash for drugs. There have already been 175 bikes reported stolen this year, which is more than all of last year. Police say the stolen bikes are often found in pieces in bicycle chop shops around town.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City police say bicycle thefts are on the rise this year as more thieves seek cash for drugs. The Globe Gazette reports there have already been 175 bikes reported stolen this year. In all of 2015, only 132 bikes were stolen. Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen says stolen bikes are often found in pieces in “little clandestine bicycle chop shops.” Jensen says the thefts are often linked to people seeking money for drugs.

When police searched an apartment last month, they found drug paraphernalia, two complete bikes, a pile of bicycle frames and dozens of bike parts. Adam Ochoa says he couldn’t believe it when his bike was recently stolen for the second time in five years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has highlighted extra benefits under Iowa’s new Medicaid program to show the privatized system functions better than the former state-run setup, but the agency overseeing Medicaid acknowledges it knows little about how the so-called value-added services are working for patients. The services range from waived gym membership fees to free cellphones.

After more than six months of the privately run system, there is limited data about how many people have used the value-added services and no information about whether the services are effective. The Department of Human Services says it’s not required to closely track them.

The setup highlights limitations in what the state must share about Iowa’s new Medicaid system. It also adds a layer of work for the public to access information about the services.