The Red Oak Police Department arrested a Red Oak woman on Friday morning on a valid warrant. At 10:09am Officers spotted 24-year-old Kaylie Louise Hudson of Red Oak driving a Ford Explorer in town. She was known to have a valid warrant and was stopped. She was taken into custody without incident on a valid Montgomery County Warrant for Violation of Probation. She also was unable to provide proof of insurance and was cited and the vehicle towed from the scene. Hudson was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $10,000 bond.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum today (Friday) announced that on April 18, 2019, 59-year old Robert Joe Kinney, Sr., was sentenced in Council Bluffs United States District Court, for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Kinney was sentenced to 140 months in prison to be followed by a term of supervised release of eight years.

Authorities say on three separate occasions between March 22, 2018 and June 6, 2018, Kinney sold methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement. This matter was investigated by Council Bluffs Police Department and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A man from Pottawattamie County was sentenced Thursday in U-S District Court in Council Bluffs, to more than 27-years in prison for receipt of child pornography.  The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a U-S District Court Judge also ordered 37-year old Justin Stephen Martinez to serve a term of supervised release for 20-years, following his 333 month long incarceration. ,

Authorities say an investigation into Martinez’ activities began in December 2017, when an undercover law enforcement agent received notification that an IP address, identified as being used by Martinez, was sharing multiple files containing child pornography on a peer-to-peer program file sharing program for approximately one year. The investigation showed Martinez had received and distributed over a thousand images of child pornography. In addition, it was determined Martinez had sexually explicit images of his twelve year old niece and had sexual contact with her.

Martinez was previously convicted of Third Degree Sexual Abuse of a Child in 2005 in Pottawattamie County District Court. His case was investigated by the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say one person was hospitalized after an apartment fire in Muscatine. The Muscatine Fire Department says firefighters dispatched late Thursday night could see flames through a second-story window on the rear of the building when they arrived. There was fire damage throughout one apartment and some water and smoke damage to other apartments. The apartment occupant was taken in stable condition to a Muscatine hospital for treatment of what was described as a minor injury. The person’s name hasn’t been released.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A series of infrastructure failures in a crumbling state dormitory caused a toxic gas leak at an Iowa police academy that sickened dozens of recruits and could have killed some of them, a workplace safety investigation concluded. At least three recruits were poisoned by potentially lethal levels of carbon monoxide after an air handling unit and a heating boiler simultaneously malfunctioned on Nov. 15 inside a three-story residence hall at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in Johnston, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request. One officer suffered exposure levels that were more than eight times the amount deemed unsafe.

As dozens of recruits slept, ventilation system failures caused carbon monoxide fumes released by the boiler to build up and spread through large holes in an exhaust pipe. The 48-year-old building did not have carbon monoxide detectors and, even before the incident, had been scheduled to be demolished this June. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the academy in February for exposing 77 recruits to unsafe levels of carbon monoxide and for not having an effective ventilation system, records show. The agency determined the violations were serious, noting they could have resulted in disability and death, and proposed a $9,700 penalty.

The agencies reached a settlement last month in which the academy fixed the ventilation system and paid a $5,500 fine but did not admit to wrongdoing. Iowa OSHA Administrator Luther Peddy said its safety rules do not require buildings to have carbon monoxide alarms and that the settlement eliminated the hazard. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas found in fumes produced by heating sources. It kills at least 430 people in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iowa is facing requests to reimburse medical costs related to hospital visits of four poisoned officers from West Des Moines and Iowa City. Additional claims are expected that could run into the tens of thousands of dollars. In all, 86 cadets were taken by bus to six different Des Moines area hospitals for evaluation, OSHA records show. Most were showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, including headaches, dizziness and nausea.

The problems started two days before the emergency, when a coiler on an air handler unit on the roof of the building froze and broke. The unit was responsible for pulling outside air into the building and its failure contributed to a lack of fresh air inside, the investigation found. Meanwhile, two 9-inch (23-centimeter) holes in an exhaust pipe next to the boiler on the first-floor caused fumes to escape and spread. The boiler, which was shut off after the emergency, produced unsafe levels of gas when it was turned on in a test the next day. The building was closed and classes resumed elsewhere. Academy director Judy Bradshaw recently told the council that oversees her agency that the new building will have carbon monoxide detectors.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate remained at 2.4 percent in March, a rate that hasn’t changed for five months. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the jobless rate held steady, where it has been since October 2018. The rate is the third-lowest in the country, tied with New Hampshire and behind Vermont and North Dakota.

The number of residents with jobs rose by about 5,400 from the February figure, but the number of unemployed people also rose slightly. Iowa’s rate compares to a national unemployment rate of 3.8 percent in March.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – U-S Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon reminds certain non-profit organizations in Adair, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Fremont, Guthrie, Harrison, Monona, Pottawattamie, Shelby, Union and Woodbury counties, that low-interest federal disaster loans are now available for damages sustained during severe storms and flooding that began March 12, 2019. Private nonprofits that provide essential services of a governmental nature are eligible for assistance.

Director Tanya N. Garfield of SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West, says “Private nonprofit organizations should contact Public Assistance Bureau Chief Katie Waters of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department by calling (515) 725-3231 to obtain information about applicant briefings. At the briefings, private nonprofit representatives will need to provide information about their organization,” said . The Federal Emergency Management Agency will use that information to determine if the private nonprofit provides an “essential governmental service” and is a “critical facility” as defined by law. If so, FEMA may provide the private nonprofit with a Public Assistance grant for their eligible costs. If not, FEMA may refer the private nonprofit to SBA for disaster loan assistance.

SBA may lend private nonprofits up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future. For certain private nonprofit organizations of any size, SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that cannot be paid because of the disaster’s impact. Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the private nonprofit suffered any property damage.

The interest rate is 2.75 percent with terms up to 30 years. The deadline to apply for property damage is June 4, 2019. The deadline to apply for economic injury is Jan. 6, 2020. Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.