The Creston Police Department reports four people were arrested Monday, on separate charges. 31-year old Lansey Rene Cheramie, of Creston, was arrested Monday morning at the Wal-Mart store. He was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). Cheramie was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5,000 bond. Later that same morning, 19-year old Kimberlyn Calie Albrechtsen, of Afton, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on two Union County warrants for Class-D Forgery. Albrechtsen was being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail. Her bond was set at $15,000.

Monday afternoon, 20-year old Brianne May Lawson, of Greenfield, was arrested at the Creston Wal-Mart. She was taken into custody for Trespass/1st offense. Lawson was released from custody at the scene, on a citation to appear in court. And, Monday evening, 25-year old Kathryn Lee Roberts, of Creston, was arrested on an outside agency warrant. Roberts was transferred to the custody of Clarke County authorities.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A March sentencing has been scheduled for a nurse accused of stealing medications from patients at a nursing home in Dubuque. Dubuque County District Court records say 38-year-old Jenny Tjaden, of Bellevue, pleaded guilty to tampering with records and to unlawfully obtaining prescription drugs. The Telegraph Herald also reports that she pleaded guilty in a separate case to driving while intoxicated. Her sentencing is set for March 7.

Court records say Tjaden was working as a nurse at Stonehill Franciscan Services in October when she stole prescription drugs from three patients.

Key lawmakers are advancing a plan to continue providing state incentives to Iowa school districts that merge with others. The financial incentives for mergers, along with extra state money for neighboring districts that begin sharing buildings as well as teachers and staff, are set to end next year. Dave Wilkerson of the School Administrators of Iowa says the extra state support eases the burden on taxpayers if a district enters a merger with a significantly lower property tax base than its neighbor.  “If you’re been in one of those districts when a reorganization takes place — and I was teaching in a district when that did, this helps,” Wilkerson says.

School districts that merge or enter what are called “whole grade sharing” arrangements get state incentives for the first three years the deal is in place. Representative Cecil Dolecheck (DOLE-eh-check), a Republican from Mount Ayr, is chairman of the House Education Committee. “I have a couple of school districts in my area right now that are talking about the possibility of whole grade sharing with another school district that could lead to sharing or dissolution or whatever,” Dolecheck says. “I think these are important to allow those talks to take place, those discussions to take place.”

About 19 percent of Iowa school districts currently have “whole grade sharing” agreements.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say three people perished in a fire that heavily damaged a two-story house in the eastern Iowa city of Muscatine. Firefighters dispatched around 6:40 p.m. Monday found flames coming from several doors and windows. One injured person found outside the home was taken in critical condition to a hospital. The Muscatine Fire Department says firefighters found three bodies inside the home. Their names haven’t been released.

The department also says one firefighter suffered a minor injury. The fire cause is being investigated.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa D-O-T’s towing bans in northern Iowa to deal with vehicles abandoned during the blizzard were lifted early Monday evening. Interstate-35 was reopened to northbound traffic at 5 p.m. The southbound lanes between the Minnesota border and the Ames exit had reopened at noon Monday. From midnight on Friday through mid-morning yesterday (Monday), the Iowa State Patrol responded to 145 crashes and helped more than a thousand stranded motorists. “You hope motorists learn from this blizzard that we have here. And. most of all, if we say travel not advised, we mean it.”

That’s Sergeant Nathan Ludwig, a spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol. He advises drivers on the roads today (Tuesday) to buckle up, put the smart phone away and put plenty of distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you — because there are still a lot of icy spots on the highways.

(Radio Iowa) — Before graduating, all Iowa high schoolers have to take a “health class” that covers topics like nutrition, disease prevention and substance abuse. A bill that’s cleared a Senate committee would direct Iowa high schools to add “mental health awareness, coping skills and suicide prevention” to that list for classroom discussion. Senate President Charles Schneider — a Republican from West Des Moines — is the bill’s sponsor. “Schools are really the front lines for a lot of mental health issues today. That’s what school board members tell me. That’s what teachers tell me. My wife has seen that. She used to be a behavioral interventionist at Stilwell Junior High in West Des Moines. It is an important issue,” Schneider says. “This is one more step we can do to try and tackle mental health issues head on.”

The bill is now eligible for debate in the senate. A similar bill has been introduced in the HOUSE by four Democrats.

(Radio Iowa follow-up) — An Iowa Air National Guard official says the agency supports further testing for groundwater contamination at its base in Sioux City. A preliminary U.S. military report shows high levels of toxic PFAS chemicals are present and may be spreading. Iowa Air Guard Brigadier General Shawn Ford says there are an estimated 189 private wells in the area.  General Ford says, “If they find out that there is contamination and the Air Force was a contributor to the contamination, then they will take steps to provide a suitable drinking source for those people on the wells.”

Ford says he’s concerned about potential community impacts and supports further testing on and off the base. “We’re taking every step that we can and not hindering the process to make sure we can identify any problems that exist,” Ford says. “And our next steps from here on out are to just make sure that we’ve got the future testing is being accomplished and make sure that any problem areas are identified so they can get resolved.”

If any off-base contamination is found and linked to the military, Ford says the Air Force will provide alternatives, such as filtration systems or bottled water. Those PFAS chemicals are linked to firefighting foams and can increase the risk of some cancers and fertility issues. The final report is due out in April.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans are being warned to be on the look-out for counterfeit 20-dollar bills that are circulating around the region. Le Mars Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says merchants of all kinds and individual consumers need to be watchful for the bogus bills. Chief Vande Vegte says, “We have not actually seen any in Le Mars yet, however things seem to trickle towards us and we wanted to give everybody a heads up before they started coming across them.”

The counterfeit bills aren’t printed on the high-quality paper as real currency, so that’s a tip-off.  “If you pull a bill out of your pocket, it’s got a certain texture to it, a certain feel. As you rub your fingers across it, you can feel where the thread is built into the paper,” Vande Vegte says. “That’s the first give-away. If it feels like it just came out of the printer, it’s likely a counterfeit.”

There are other, more obvious signs, that the bills are fake — all you have to do is look more closely. “A lot of the bills are inaccurate,” he says. The latest one has “Kruger” where “Jackson” should be under the president’s picture on the twenty. There’s also a typo on the serial number where the “N” is backwards.