MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa school district has paid $603,000 in penalties and interest to the IRS after failing to file several payroll reports on time. An audit released Thursday says the IRS denied a waiver sought by the Marshalltown Community School District that would have excused its failure to file monthly and quarterly payroll reports on time from late 2016 until early 2018. The district has paid the IRS but is appealing.

A report issued by State Auditor Mary Mosiman blamed the district’s former payroll specialist for failing to file required reports to the IRS, Iowa Workforce Development, the Iowa Public Employee’s Retirement System and the Iowa Department of Revenue. In addition to the $603,000 to the IRS, the district has accrued an additional $13,000 in penalties to the other agencies.

(UPDATE: Police have identified the suspects as 32-year-old Phillip White and 35-year-old Karen Merrick, both of Sioux City.)

(Radio Iowa) — Le Mars police say a branch of Iowa State Bank was robbed in that northwest Iowa community on Wednesday afternoon. Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says two suspects, a man and woman, fled the scene in a U-Haul truck, which was intercepted soon after the hold-up.  “A Plymouth County deputy located the suspect vehicle a short time later and tried to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle and the vehicle did fail to stop,” Vande Vegte says. “A pursuit of that vehicle did continue into Plymouth County.”

Law enforcement officers from several departments worked together to bring the fleeing truck to a halt. “Stop sticks were successfully deployed causing all four tires on the U-Haul truck to deflate,” Vande Vegte says. “The vehicle was forced off the roadway and the pursuit ended with no injuries.” The Chief was not able to confirm whether a weapon was used during the hold-up, but he says a weapon was mentioned in the robbery. An undisclosed amount of money was seized from the vehicle.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports, that on Wednesday, 47-year old Jimmy Wayne Metzger, of Crescent, was at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities knew Metzger had a warrant for probation violation. The felony warrant was confirmed through Pottawattamie County Communications. Metzger was placed under arrest and booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail. And, at around 7:15-p.m., Wednesday, a Pott. County Deputy was on location at a residence in the 13,000 block of Berryhill Avenue, in Council Bluffs, in reference to a call from the homeowner, who thought someone had been in the porch area of her residence. The deputy cleared the residence, and located 30-year old Tim B. Koenig, of Lincoln, NE., inside the home. Koenig was subsequently arrested for Burglary in the third degree.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report 20-year old Jacobi Christion Mauer, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 11:35-p.m., Wednesday. Mauer was taken into custody at 195th Street and Lambert Avenue, for  Driving While License Revoked and violation of Motor Vehicle Financial liability. He was also arrested on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County, for OWI/1st offense. Bond for Mauer was set at $3,000 altogether.

A large painting owned by the University of Iowa is on an international tour, with its latest stop being the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina, where the curator is an Iowan. Catherine Walworth (WALL-worth) says Peggy Guggenheim commissioned Jackson Pollock to paint “Mural” for her New York apartment in 1943. The painting is Pollock’s largest, at eight-by-20 feet, and she says it “catapulted him into the spotlight.”  “I’m very much into the life the painting has led — of adventure and squabbling,” Walworth says. “It’s led a very fascinating life as an object. I’m planning to focus on Iowa and why Peggy Guggenheim would have given it to the University of Iowa and really share some of my pride in that.”

Jackson Pollock mural

Walworth grew up in Burlington. Her mother still lives there and told Walworth all about the 2008 flood that forced “Mural” out of its home at the U-I. The painting was rescued from the U-I art museum shortly before the building was inundated by high water. Coincidentally, Walworth moved to Columbia in the spring of 2016. “They had a terrible flood just the fall before in 2015 so it was very much on my mind and I was thinking of what exhibitions to take and I thought about whose collections are on the road,” Walworth says. “Then, I thought about the flood and I checked in and there was the Pollock, so it was a perfect happenstance.”

The painting — which may be worth as much as 150-million dollars — will be on display in Columbia until mid-May, then it’ll head to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Eventually, “Mural” will have a new home in the University of Iowa’s yet-to-be-built art museum.

A man from Shelby County was arrested Wednesday morning, after allegedly pulling a gun on a business employee in Woodbine. According to reports, at around 10:50-a.m., Wednesday, 45-year old Richard Green, of Harlan, allegedly walked into NuStyle Development at 514 Walker Street and interacted with an employee, before displaying a weapon. Green eventually fled the scene, but was apprehended in Harlan. He was booked into the Harrison County Jail for robbery in the first degree, with multiple, additional charges pending.

Minor injuries were reported. Woodbine schools went into lock-down upon hearing about the incident. Employees immediately cleared the outside perimeter of the building, including playgrounds. Students were sent to safe areas inside the building. Doors were checked to ensure they were locked and secure, the school district said in a letter to parents. Green was arrested shortly after the lockdown went into effect and school resumed normal operations.

(KNOD/Harlan)