ADEL, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa school district official has been given three years of probation for embezzling nearly $217,000 over the course of several years. Dallas County District Court records show 35-year-old Melissa Lantz was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence during a hearing Friday in Adel. The judge also ordered her to pay restitution and perform community service. Lantz had pleaded guilty to theft from Woodward-Granger Community School District. She was hired in 2012, assigned to payroll duties and eventually became business manager.

Her arrest followed a state audit that identified improper and unsupported disbursements by the district over five years, including 101 checks that Lantz issued to herself on top of her authorized paychecks. The district serves around 1,000 students about 20 miles northwest of Des Moines.

The Iowa State Patrol was investigating a serious injury accident this (Monday) morning, north of Cumberland. Rescue crews from Cumberland and Massena, along with Medivac ambulance were dispatched to the scene on a bridge 690th Street (County Road N-28), just south of Oxford Road (County Road G-43), at 7:40-a.m. One person, a female, was injured. The “Jaws of Life” was used to extract her from the vehicle. LifeNet transported the victim to the UNMC in Omaha. The accident remained under investigation, and no other details are currently available.

The Creston Police Department reports 20-year old Kane Allen Michael Farlow, of Creston, was arrested at around 3:40-a.m. today (Monday). Farlow was arrested at a residence in the 800 block of Laurel Street, on a Union County Warrant for Probation/Parole Violation, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of a Controlled Substance Methamphetamine and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He was being held in the Union County Jail without bond awaiting magistrate appearance. And, on Sunday, 19-year old Conner Callison, of Creston, was arrested at his residence on the charge of (Simple) Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) — Court records say a man accused of killing his grandmother in western Iowa will use an insanity defense. Monona County District Court records say 21-year-old Eliot Stowe has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder . He’s accused of fatally beating 66-year-old Cheryl Stowe at the home they shared in rural Castana. Her body was found June 27 about a mile and a half (3 kilometers) from the home.
On Thursday Eliot Stowe’s attorney filed notice of the defense, as required by Iowa law. The court records say his trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 12.