Police in Council Bluffs say three juveniles who went missing Tuesday night from a group home, returned to the facility this morning, at 8:20. Bluff Police Sgt. Chad Meyers said authorities thank the public and media for assistance in getting the word out and in looking for, 15-year old Leah Carpenter and 11-year old Malakai Cayton, of Council Bluffs, and 9-year old Cassandra Gomez-Watson, of Carroll.
The trio were last seen leaving Children’s Square in Council Bluffs heading west on Avenue D, at around 9:15-p.m., Tuesday. Children’s Square is a group home for children in need of mental, physical and social support.

The Audubon County Auditor’s Office says it will have to contact the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office to determine how a tied vote on a Public Measure will be resolved. Voters in Brayton voted 10-10 on the measure, which asked them to approve an increase in the levy not to exceed $1.50 per thousand dollars assessed property valuation, for the purpose of paying the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office for police protection, in lieu of the community having it’s own police force.

In Guthrie County, two public measures were on the ballot in Casey. Both were approved by majority vote. The first asked if the Mayor’s term should be for two-years instead of four, beginning in 2020. The Yes votes tallied 81. No votes amounted to 62. And, Casey voters were asked if the Library Board should be comprised of five members, with two being non-residents of the community. The answer was an overwhelming 120 Yes votes. 23 No votes were cast.

Area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Police in Creston arrested a Davis City man Tuesday afternoon, on a warrant out of Decatur County for Sex Offender Registry Violation/2nd or subsequent offense. 27-year old Joshua Thomas was brought to the Union County Jail and then released to the custody of Decatur County deputies.

And, early this (Wednesday) morning, 36-year old Lela Churchwell, of Creston, was arrested at her home on Disorderly Conduct and Public Intoxication, charges. Churchwell was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) – Voters have ousted two Knoxville council members who voted to remove a veterans memorial from a city park. Carolyn Formanek won roughly 15.3 percent of Tuesday’s votes and April Verwers won about 14.3 percent. Their opponents won more than 20 percent each. The Des Moines Register reports that Formanek and Verwers voted with the council majority on Monday to move the wooden silhouette of a soldier kneeling before a cross out of Young’s Park and onto private property. A new bronze memorial would be erected instead.

The plan was offered as a way to stave off any lawsuit by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which wants the cross removed. But the council action prompted calls from supporters of the silhouette to oust incumbents Formanek and Verwers.

Voters in Atlantic, Tuesday, overwhelming rejected a proposed bond issue which would have allowed the second floor of City Hall to be renovated into a multi-purpose facility. The $875,000 bond, which would have been paid for through the Local Option Sales Tax, was defeated by a vote of 517 (64.71%) to 282 (35.29%). A majority was required for the measure to pass. All of the incumbent councilpersons in Atlantic were re-elected, in most cases with few or no write-in votes to challenge them.

Elsewhere in Cass County: Voters in Anita re-elected Mayor Timothy Miller to a 4-year term. Miller garnered 160 votes. His challenger, Ben Daughenbaugh received 57 votes. Both incumbent councilmen in Anita, Jeff Bohnsack and Thomas R. Harris, were unchallenged and re-elected to their seats.

In Cumberland, Mayor Nancy Virginia Coughlin, was unopposed in her bid for re-election. She received 25 votes, with 5 write-in’s recorded. There were two seats open on the City Council in Cumberland. Sandra K. Eversole, who was re-elected, received 21 votes. Joining her is Scott W. Becker, who received 19 votes. Write-In candidates Mike Hill and Darrin Hardisty each received 10 votes. And, Catherine Landstreet-Howard squeaked out a one-vote win over Darrin Hardisty for a vacancy on the City Council. Landstreet-Howard had 8 votes, while Hardisty had 7.

In Griswold, Jeb Peck, a write-in, was elected Mayor. Peck received 106 votes. There were 29 other, scattered write-in votes. And, Incumbents Ryan Askeland and Lisa Cook were re-elected to the Griswold City Council. Askeland garnered 131 votes, Cook 112, and Carmen Sorensen 102. Public Measure C in Griswold, which calls for the Mayor’s term to be extended from two-years, to four, was approved by a vote of 86 to 57.

In Lewis, Jon Mosier was unopposed in his bid for Mayor and received 80 votes. Three people were elected to the City Council. The winners include incumbent Duane Scott Anderson, Kristy Bassett and Marvin Bradfield. Bradfield had the most votes, at 74. Anderson and Basset each received a little over 50 votes, while Nona Erickson had 50 votes, and Leroy Easter 29. Public Measure D in Lewis, calling for a levy of up to 27-cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation for the Public Library, failed by a vote of 48-to 41. (53.93% to 46.07%).

In Marne, Randy Baxter, who was unopposed, was re-elected Mayor. Incumbents Alan Cranston, Lori Holste and Angela Redler, were re-elected to the City Council, along with Kyle Frederiksen and Michael Jensen. And, Public Measure E, asking voters to approve a levy of up to $1.50/$1,000 valuation for additional monies directed to the Unified Law Enforcement District, was approved by a vote of 21-to 12. In Massena, Mayor Linda Reineke was re-elected Mayor, with no challengers. Micah Lee, Adam and Kevin McCunn, all incumbents, were re-elected to the City Council. None were opposed.

And finally, in Wiota, incumbent Ford Lillard was re-elected as Mayor, with no challengers. But in the city council race, incumbent Jon Schwarte was beaten out by Jim Fisher and Steven R. Havens for two seats on the Wiota City Council. Fischer and Havens each had 23 votes, while Schwarte had just 6.

Police in Red Oak arrested a Mills County woman early this (Wed.) morning, following a traffic stop near the intersection of Highways 34 and 48, in Red Oak. 32-year old Dawn Lorren Frink-McFarland, of Hastings, was taken into custody a few minutes after midnight. The woman was charged with OWI/1st offense, and cited for Open Container. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

Police in Council Bluffs say they’ve exhausted their leads in a search for three juveniles missing from a group home for children in need of mental, physical and social support.

Cassandra Gomez-Watson

Malakai Cayton

Leah Carpenter

Authorities say 15-year old Leah Carpenter and 11-year old Malakai Cayton, of Council Bluffs, and 9-year old Cassandra Gomez-Watson, of Carroll, were last seen leaving Children’s Square in Council Bluffs heading west on Avenue D, at around 9:15-p.m., Tuesday.

Carpenter was last seen wearing yellow fleece pants, a black Batman shirt, and black jacket. Her hair was in a pony tail. Cayton was last known to be wearing a dark blue, short sleeve shirt, and blue jogger pants. He was not wearing shoes or socks. And, Gomez-Watson was last seen wearing a black shirt and shorts.

Authorities said they do not believe the youth are in any immediate danger at this time. If you have seen them, please call your local law enforcement agency.

The Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids in west-central Iowa is making plans for 12-hundred acres of land left to the organization by the Garst family. Mary Garst, the wife of hybrid seedcorn pioneer Roswell Garst, left the land to the conservancy following her death in 2014. Whiterock executive director, Conrad Kramer, says there are four sections of land involved. “Two of them are adjacent to each other and one parcel is actually adjacent to the existing Whiterock landscape, and another one is remote. So, only one of the four parcels is connected to our existing landscape here,” Kramer says. He says the lands have a variety of uses.

“Between wetlands and natural lands like prairie and forests, and productive land including hay land and C-R-P,” Kramer says. The Whiterock Conservancy is taking control of the land with an estimated value of seven million dollars. “We certainly will continue to manage it for production, but we would also like to make plans for restoration — prairie restoration and savanna restoration — on these parcels that are really prime candidates for some of that work. And also for opening them to the public, because all of them are quite special,” Kramer says. “Whiterock is already the third largest recreation area in the state, and we put a high priority on opening our lands for public recreation.”

Kramer says the donation adds a lot to the duties of the conservancy. He says they will probably have to hire another full-time person to the staff to oversee the new property. He says the non-profit conservancy depends on public support to run and they hope Iowans will help out. He says people can help out by using the facilities and paying camping and other fees. “But we also need Iowans to sit up and realize that this is a great asset for the state, but we don’t get any state tax dollars, unlike a state park. And if they want access to these great lands in the future, we need them to become donors,” Kramer says. He says they plan to have a formal public dedication for the new land sometime this spring.

To find out more about the Whiterock Conservancy, go to the organization’s website: whiterockconservancy.org.

(Radio Iowa)