Police in Red Oak arrested a man early this (Wednesday) morning for allegedly violating a valid Order of Protection. 25-year old Michael David Jones, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 2-a.m. in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, in Red Oak. Jones was being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on a $300 cash bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Documents show the state agency that oversees Iowa’s flagship history museum used infrastructure money designated for building repairs and museum renovation planning to pay some department salaries. Payroll documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs diverted more than $176,000 from a special infrastructure fund to pay a portion of Director Mary Cownie’s current salary and the salaries of two senior staff. The agency insisted that the move was legal, and it pointed to special appropriations language issued for some of the $3.65 million it received from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. DCA says it exempts normal rules.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A Pella day care provider has been given probation for her role in the death of a 17-month-old-child. A judge sentenced 32-year-old Valerie Wackerly to three years of probation in the death of Amelia Smith. Wackerly pleaded guilty in January to involuntary manslaughter. The judge also ordered Wackerly to pay restitution and to record a public service announcement about the proper use of car seats that will play weekly on a Knoxville radio station.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City officials say a proposed $20.7 million viaduct to prevent railroad delays in the Hoeven Valley will close at least one train crossing to through traffic. City staff told the City Council that closing three streets to traffic at railroad crossings will force people to use the proposed viaduct. The city is seeking about $14.8 million from the U.S. Department Transportation for the project.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The agency that oversees Iowa’s history museum spent money designated for building repairs and other needs on administrators’ salaries. Payroll documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Department of Cultural Affairs diverted more than $176,000 from a special infrastructure fund to pay a portion of three salaries. It highlights a potential loophole in a law that outlines how infrastructure funding should be allocated.

A survey of business managers in Iowa and eight other states shows the economic picture improving, gradually, in both the Hawkeye State and the Midwest region. Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss says while the situation is getting better, the advances are very slow. “The overall index for the month was up again, for the second consecutive month, but it’s up at 50.6 from 50.5,” Goss says. “We’re just ever so slightly above 50. It wasn’t a good report but it was better than the previous months.”

The scale goes from 0 to 100 with a score of 50 being growth neutral. In the past year, Goss says the state has lost 17-hundred manufacturing jobs. Recent surveys show Iowa’s manufacturing sector is gaining jobs, but at a snail’s pace. “All in all, it was a pretty good report but the jobs index, unfortunately, was not good,” Goss says. “We’re still shedding jobs in manufacturing, particularly anything to do with energy, as you well know that.”

That energy sector includes ethanol production, an industry where Iowa is the nation’s top producer. Due to the prolonged low gasoline prices, managers of some ethanol plants are trimming back on production and personnel. As colleges across the region will soon be sending a new crop of graduates into the working world, Goss says one part of the survey focused specifically on pay for recent grads.

“We asked about salaries for a new worker with a bachelor’s degree and it came in at $47,800,” Goss says. “That may not sound like a lot for a person fresh out of college but it’s up 5% from this time last year when we asked the same question.”

In the past year, the region’s manufacturing sector has lost nearly 2%, or roughly 23,000 manufacturing jobs. Goss projects the broader economy to continue to add jobs but at a slow pace.

(Radio Iowa)

MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTIES: WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TO 6 PM CDT WEDNESDAY.

SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS COUNTIES: WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM CDT WEDNESDAY.

NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE INTO THE 30 TO 40 MPH RANGE BY MID MORNING. GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL BE COMMON THROUGH THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. A GRADUAL DECREASE IN WIND
SPEEDS IS EXPECTED BY LATE IN THE DAY.

Wind Advisory Wednesday for counties in brown.

STRONG WINDS AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN AN ELEVATED FIRE
DANGER. ANY FIRES WHICH START COULD SPREAD RAPIDLY. ALSO, DRIVING MAY BECOME DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY ON EAST WEST ROADS. BLOWING DUST MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES AT TIMES IN OPEN AREAS, AND TRASH CANS AND OTHER OBJECTS COULD BE BLOWN ABOUT BY THE STRONG WINDS.

An ember from a torch used to cut steel beams was the apparent causing of a fire that ignited several bales of hay Tuesday afternoon, just north of downtown Atlantic. According to Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon, firefighters were called to 101 Chestnut Street ata round 2:30-p.m. Crews brought the fire under control before the flames could spread to nearby county-owned storage buildings.

The still smoldering bales were brought from the scene to the compost pile a short while later. Crews left the original scene at around 3:20-p.m. and proceeded to the compost pile to soak the bales with more water in an effort to prevent a rekindling of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

Photo’s courtesy Mike Kennon, Cass County EMC

Police have made an arrest in connection with a fire that gutted a restaurant in Greene County. The fire was reported just after midnight on January 27 at the Pizza Ranch in Jefferson. A couple of weeks later, investigators announced they determined that the fire had been intentionally set. Now, the restaurant’s owner, 53-year-old Robert Schultz Jr., is facing charges of arson, criminal mischief, and insurance fraud.

(Radio Iowa)

The annual report from the state Ombudsman shows complaints and questions increased by seven percent in 2015. Acting Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman complied the report. “We’ve been consistently increasing our complaints the last few years — not by a lot — but consistently a little bit every year without an increase in staff,” Hirschman says. “The complaints that we receive that we agree to investigate do seem to be more complex.” The Ombudsmans’ office doesn’t look into every complaint or call they get.

“The primary reason that we use to decline a complaint is if there is an available grievance or appeal process that they haven’t taken advantage of, because it is only fair to give the agency the opportunity to resolve the complaint before we get involved,” Hirschman says. On the other end of the spectrum, Hirschman says they sometimes step in because of the circumstances.

“There’s some complaint that just because they are so egregious on face value, we jump in whether there’s a grievance process available or not,” Hirschman explains. “There’s several…that come to mind that we’ve highlighted in our annual report. One of those being the inmate who was shackled in the shower.” The Ombudsmans’ office recommended the jail install a lockable gate on the shower to deal with high risk inmates instead of keeping them in shackles. The office agreed to look into more than 44-hundred complaints last year, and the majority of those dealt with the prisons or jails.

Hirschman says the Iowa Legislature’s intent through the years has been to have the Ombudsmans’ office focus on corrections complaints so inmates at the state and local level have a place to go with their complaints. She says state law makes the letters to the Ombudsman from prisoners confidential, and they cannot be read by the jail or prison staff. Complaints about county government were second on the list this year.

“In the past actually, the Department of Human Services has consistently been our second highest level of complaints — you know somebody took their kids, they are not taking action against an abuse situation or a child support problem, or they are not getting their food stamps — but this year, county complaints were higher,” Hirschman says. The annual report shows 69 percent of the cases accepted by the officer turned out to be unsubstantiated. Hirschman says many times there was not intentional wrongdoing by local governments, there were factors that cause them to mishandle some issues.

“Lack of resources, lack of planning, lack of understanding of different situations or interpretations in the code. There’s new rules passed every year and I’m sure it is difficult for everybody to stay on top of those, even if it is their job, especially in smaller communities,” Hirschman says. Hirschman says her office works with the people involved in these situations to come to a solution.

Hirschman was appointed the acting Ombudsman with the retirement of Ruth Cooperrider. She has applied for the job and says the state is in the process of filling the position permanently, and that decision will likely come after the legislative session. For more information on the annual report, go to: www.legis.iowa.gov/Ombudsman.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s Deputies in Cass County, Monday, arrested a Pottawattamie County man on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. 20-year old Russell Logan Barker, of Council Bluffs, was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $2000 bond.

A traffic stop Monday afternoon in Guthrie Center resulted in two people being cited on drug charges. During the traffic stop, Kenneth Stephen of Guthrie Center, was cited for Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense. Jill Dean was also cited, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Since Dean was treated as an impaired driver, additional charges are currently pending. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit assisted with the traffic stop.

And, a man from Polk County was arrested last Friday night, following a traffic stop in Guthrie Center. Marcus Austin, of Bondurant, was booked into the Guthrie County Jail for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign, Possession of Marijuana 1st Offense and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Authorities say additional charges are pending.

A bill co-sponsored by both of Iowa’s U-S senators that’s designed to shield American innovators from intellectual property theft passed the Senate last night (Monday). Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he was very pleased to see the Defend Trade Secrets Act be approved by the chamber on a unanimous vote of 87-to-0.

Grassley says, “That will provide new tools for businesses to fight back against bad actors and prevent thieves from disseminating valuable trade secrets.” Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee which convened a hearing on trade secret theft last December and he steered the bill to committee passage earlier this year. The measure would be a boon to many U-S companies, Grassley says, including Iowa-based DuPont Pioneer.

Grassley says, “The company was victim in a high profile 2013 trade secrets case in which six foreign nationals conspired to steal engineered corn seeds in order to benefit a foreign company.” Those seeds were said to be the product of 30-to- 40-million dollars in research. Grassley says the Defend Trade Secrets Act would create a new avenue for companies like DuPont Pioneer to pursue civil claims against trade secret thieves in federal court.

(Radio Iowa)