DENISON, Iowa (AP) — The mayor of Denison has placed three of the city’s highest-ranking employees on paid administrative leave. Mayor Jared Beymer and other city officials haven’t explained why the action was taken Tuesday against City Manager Terry Crawford, Fire Chief Cory Snowgren and City Clerk Lisa Koch. Beymer says he can’t comment about the matter because it’s a “personnel investigation.”
Koch said Thursday that she, Snowgren and Crawford were surprised by the mayor’s action and so far haven’t been given reasons for being placed on leave.

Police in Red, Thursday, arrested a local man on an assault charge. 34-year old Billy Lyn Leeper, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 300 block of 1st Avenue, at around 9:40-p.m. Leeper was charged with Simple Assault and Public Intoxication, 3rd or subsequent offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:450 a.m. CST

(COUNCIL BLUFFS) – Police in Council Bluffs, Thursday night, arrested a man wanted in connection with an alleged attempted abduction late Sunday morning. At around 7:20-p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to the Pottawattamie County Jail on a report of a male wanting to turn himself in on a warrant. Officers arrived and located 37-year old Terrance L. Prine, Jr., who was arrested without incident and booked into the jail on the Kidnapping 3rd charge.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Before they arrested a farmhand in the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, investigators scrutinized four other potential suspects during their five-week search. Newly unsealed search warrant documents show that those who drew police interest included a neighbor seen washing his SUV hours after Tibbetts vanished, a Nebraska man who ditched his vehicle in Iowa days later and an acquaintance who had recently erased his cellphone data. All have been ruled out as suspects.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Nate Boulton survived an ethics complaint Thursday that alleged he inappropriately touched a woman at a bar a year before he was elected. The Iowa Senate Committee on Ethics concluded its jurisdiction is limited to legislators’ actions while in office. Boulton plans to remain in the Senate although Democratic leader Janet Petersen has called on him to resign.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa judge is considering whether to order election officials to count 29 mailed absentee ballots that could change the outcome of an Iowa House race or dismiss a lawsuit challenging their validity. Judge Scott Beattie heard arguments Thursday in a case that could flip the winner of the race, in which incumbent Republican Michael Bergan leads Democrat Kayla Koether by nine votes in the northeast Iowa district..

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A $5 million bond has been set for a man charged with murder in the 1979 killing of a Cedar Rapids high school student. A judge set the bond for 64-year-old Jerry Lynn Burns on Thursday during his initial appearance in Linn County District Court in Cedar Rapids. Police arrested Burns, of Manchester, on Wednesday, charging him with first-degree murder 39 years after the killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. Her body was found the next day inside her family’s car parked at a shopping mall.

Police in Council Bluffs, Thursday night, arrested a man wanted in connection with an alleged attempted abduction late Sunday morning. At around 7:20-p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to the Pottawattamie County Jail on a report of a male wanting to turn himself in on a warrant. Officers arrived and located 37-year old Terrance L. Prine, Jr., who was arrested without incident and booked into the jail on the Kidnapping 3rd charge.

Bluffs Police originally stated that the alleged attempted abduction took place at approximately 11:10-a.m., Sunday, outside of the Burger King Restaurant, at 1529 W. Broadway. The suspect (Prine) grabbed a 27-year old female from Council Bluffs by the arm, and tried to get her to come with him, but the woman was able to get away. The suspect then fled the scene in a vehicle. The female victim suffered a minor injury to her arm, but did not require medical attention.

Families with young children in Griswold and the surrounding area are being asked to complete a survey to gauge the need for child care in the area.  The survey can be accessed online at the link:  Child Care Center Survey for Families   http://www.quia.com/sv/891022.html

The survey may be answered anonymously as names are optional.  Although focused on families in the Griswold Community School District, anyone working or living in the Griswold area as well as anyone who would potentially utilize a child care center in Griswold as they commute to work should participate in the survey.  The survey will be used by a non-profit group in the community to determine the level of need in the area.  The non-profit was initiated with a gift of $65,000 from the Noble Center Church.

Since the first meeting of this group, the board of Griswold Communications has stepped forward to match the initial gift with another $65,000 to provide a financial foundation to make a child care center a reality.  Meetings have been held with current child care providers in the area and also with representatives of school, business, civic, governmental, and other community groups.

If anyone has questions or would like to complete a survey but does not have internet access, please contact Steve or Barb Baier at (712) 778-4452.