DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — John Deere says it will lay off 30 employees at its plant in Davenport. The company said Monday that the workforce reduction at Davenport Works affects employees who make construction and forestry equipment.

Spokesman Ken Golden tells the Quad-City Times that the layoffs are effective Oct. 2. The company on Monday also announced plans to lay off 150 people at its plant in East Moline in neighboring Illinois. Those layoffs are effective Sept. 18.

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The Red Oak Police Department announced the arrest Tuesday of 17-year-old Dakota Girouex of Red Oak for Driving While Revoked (a serious misdemeanor).  Girouex was arrested at 3:25pm at the intersection of North 5th Street and East Elm Street in Red Oak.  Girouex was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and cited into Juvenile Court and released to her parents.

The Red Oak Police made an arrest this (Tuesday) afternoon at 1:45pm of a Red Oak man on two active warrants out of Mills County.  Officers arrested 32-year-old Bryan David Sapp Jr. at 106 West Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak on a warrant for Forgery and another for 5th Degree Theft.  A $5,000 bond was set for the Forgery charge and Sapp is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail awaiting extradition to Mills County.

A woman wanted on an Adams County warrant for Assault was arrested Sunday at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Sheriff’s Officials say 31-year old Taycey Nichole Martin was later released from the Union County Jail on $500 bond.

(12-p.m. News)

Following reports from concerned citizens about a smell near an unnamed creek east of Redfield, officials with the Iowa DNR say they’re investigating a discharge to the creek. DNR staff found material seeping from an old tile line to the creek, which was creating a milk grey color in the creek and the odor. Authorities say it appears the discharge has been ongoing since July, based on comments from citizens.

The discoloration and odors exist along the creek until its confluence with the South Raccoon River. No impacts have been observed in the river. DNR staff are currently working to identify the source of the discharge. Nearby public water supplies have been notified. People and pets should avoid contact with water in the creek

Work on the Nishna Valley Trail Connector Project in Atlantic continues, despite some setbacks in funding for the project. Nishna Valley Trails President Dave Chase told KJAN’s Jim Field on the “Heartbeat Today” program, that progress is being made, and a pedestrian bridge over the Troublesome Creek just west of the KJAN Studios, is closer to reality, but there have been some “bumps in the road,” financially.

Chase said this past week, a couple of major grant applications they were counting on that were pending approval, went unfunded. The applications that were rejected include those from the Wells Fargo and Wellmark Foundations. He said while disappointing, there was no guarantee the grants would have been approved to begin with, and it does NOT stop the project from moving forward.

Work continues on the Nishna Valley Trail connector project near the KJAN studios.

He says also, there are other funding opportunities that they are exploring, and they still feel as good about their financial position, as they did when they “pulled the trigger” on the project in June. Chase says fundraising efforts will continue as well. Individuals and organizations who have already contributed to the project, according to Chase, have promised to do more if needed to help out. He says right now, they’re about $160,000 short of the funds necessary to pay for the project.

Donations for the project are tax deductible, because Nishna Valley Trails is a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization. If you would like to contribute to the cause, mail your donation to P.O. Box 496, Atlantic, IA 50022, or call Dave Chase at 712-249-3059. There are other ways to contribute as well, so give Chase a call to find out more.

Chase said work on clearing the path for the trail is nearly complete, and a pre-construction meeting with contractors was held Monday, with the plan being to start work on the trail and the bridge next Tuesday, which is earlier than anticipated. It’s expected construction will be completed in about 40-days from the start, weather permitting. The trail is expected to be in use later this fall, instead of next spring, as originally anticipated.

BOSTON (AP) – Two Iowa men charged with making online threats of violence at a Pokemon competition in Boston are being held without bail for at least four months. A judge ruled Tuesday that 18-year-old Ames resident Kevin Norton and 27-year-old Boone resident James Stumbo pose a danger to society. Prosecutors say the men made social media threats against at least one competitor at last month’s World Pokemon Championships.

Police found a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15 rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in their car. They were arrested at their hotel in Saugus, north of Boston.
Defense attorneys argued that there was no evidence the defendants planned to carry through on any threats. But the judge in his ruling said their online postings weren’t “just kids’ stuff on the computer.”

September is here and Iowa’s chief weather watcher says August was one of the colder, wetter Augusts the state has seen in several years. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says the just-concluded month was Iowa’s coolest August since 2009. “On the temperature end of things, we were running about two degrees below normal, mainly thanks to a very cool second half of the month,” Hillaker says. “On the rainfall end, as always, there was a lot of variability across the state, but overall the preliminary statewide average was 5.42 inches of rainfall.”

That’s about one-and-a-quarter inches above normal during August. Here in Atlantic, at the KJAN Studios (The official reporting site for Atlantic), we received 3.88 inches of rain in August, which was a little more than one-half inch above normal. The south-central Iowa town of Albia recorded only about one-and-a-half inches of rain during the month, while Randolph, in southwest Iowa, reported more than 13 inches. Monday marked the end of the three-month summer weather reporting period and Hillaker says the summer of 2015 went out on a cool note.

“Temperatures were a little bit cooler than usual, although June and July, neither one were all that far from normal, but no really hot months this year,” he says. In Atlantic, the average High for August was 83 degrees, which was about 3 degrees cooler than normal, while the average Low of 61 was almost 4 degrees below normal.

Fall will arrive on September 23rd, in a little over three weeks. As for the month ahead, Hillaker says September is starting off warmer-than-normal and humid and it may just stay that way. “The (National) Weather Service’s latest 30-day outlook for September is still favoring above-normal rainfall for much of Iowa and really, much of the central part of the country,” Hillaker says, “and on temperatures, the outlook favors above-normal temperatures.” That’s a flip-flop from the original September outlook which was released about 10 days ago.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN Weather data)

A 21-year old man from Branson, MO., was arrested Monday afternoon on a Page County warrant charging him with Probation Violation. Authorities say Ridge Ballard was taken into custody at the Page County Sheriff’s Office. Ballard was unable to post the $2,000 cash bond and remains in custody at the Page County Jail, pending trial.

Ridge Ballard

An incident that began with the escape of an 18-year old man from the Clarinda Academy Monday afternoon escalated into a pursuit, crash and the arrest of a Nebraska woman, along with return of the escapee. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says at around 1:17-p.m. Monday, they were advised 18-year old Luis David Penaloza had fled a Clarinda Academy building and gotten into a silver Dodge Durango that was waiting outside of the building for him.

Academy staff had located the vehicle west bound on State Street (business HWY 2) on the west side of the Clarinda city limits. Deputies on Highway 2 west of Clarinda located the vehicle approximately 4 miles west of town. It was traveling westbound at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was observed driving recklessly as it passed other vehicles.

Deputies attempted to stop the Durango, which failed to stop for the fully marked patrol vehicle with red / blue lights and audible siren activated. Stop-sticks were deployed by a Page County Deputy in an attempt to safely slow the vehicle to stop. The driver of the vehicle attempted to steer around the tire deflating devices causing the vehicle to go into the south ditch.

The driver, identified as 18-year old Jocylyn Loeza-Garcia, of Bellevue, NE, steered the vehicle back onto Highway 2. A Page County Deputy had pulled parallel to the Durango when it was in the south ditch, but the Page County patrol vehicle had stayed in the westbound lane. When the SUV Durango came back onto the highway from the south ditch, Loeza-Garcia steered the vehicle into the Page County Patrol vehicle, causing approximately $3,500 damage to the driver’s side front fender and that portion of the headlight grill assembly.

Loeza-Garcia was arrested and charged with Felony Eluding, Felony assault on a Peace Officer with a dangerous weapon (automobile), and numerous other misdemeanor traffic violations. She remains in custody at the Page County Jail on $5000 bond.

Luis David Penaloza, the Truant Clarinda Academy student, was returned to the custody of the Clarinda Academy without further incident. Charges are possible on Penaloza pending completion of the investigation.  Another 15 year old female passenger, who is a family member to Loeza-Garcia, also from Nebraska, who was in the vehicle, was also taken into custody. She was later released to her mother and father.