(Radio Iowa) — A faculty member and alumna of a struggling Iowa college is donating half a million dollars to keep the school open. Iowa Wesleyan. Biology professor Dolores Poulter Wilson wants her school in Mt. Pleasant to stay open much longer than that.

“I could do a whole lot with a half million dollars. That even staggers me, you know? But what would’ve been the gain there? And we’re at a critical point,” Wilson says. Wilson says she graduated from Iowa Wesleyan with one dollar and 87 cents to her name, and that she only got her degree because of the school’s scholarships and donations. She went on to teach a the school for 56 years.

(Radio Iowa) — The location of Iowa’s newest casino is raising critical concerns from the C-E-O of a nearby homeless shelter. Candace Gregory, who runs the Open Door Mission in Omaha, Nebraska, says the new Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, is only eight-tenths of a mile away. The casino, run by the Ponca Tribe, opened earlier this month and Gregory fears the impact will soon be felt.

“It’s within walking distance of a very vulnerable population that already has a high addiction level,” Gregory says. “I truly believe the Open Door Mission and other non-profits will be left picking up the pieces of broken lives again, and the social issues that are going to be created, it will be costly to taxpayers.”

The new gambling hall is located almost within sight of the homeless mission, which serves many hundreds of meals daily and offers shelter for up to 600 people nightly.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Animal rescue officials in Iowa are asking for the public’s help in tracking down whoever tossed an emaciated dog trapped in a kennel into a trash bin. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says in a news release Friday that a passerby found the Chihuahua Nov. 2 in a dumpster in Des Moines’ River Bend neighborhood and took the starving dog to Animal Rescue League.

Vets there say the dog, dubbed “Oscar,” weighed just 4 pounds and was suffering from a loss of muscle mass and fur as well as intestinal parasites. His fur was stained from being caged in his own filth for a long period.

The League says Oscar is recovering and regained 25 percent of his body weight in the first two days of treatment.

(Corrects earlier street value) — A traffic stop on an RV in Fremont County early Friday morning resulted in the discovery of nearly 300 pounds of high-grade marijuana worth almost $2.9-million. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says the 2017 Chevy Coachman RV was pulled over for several moving violations at around 2:40-a.m., on Interstate 29 southbound, four-miles from the Iowa-Missouri border.

A Fremont County K9 was deployed and indicated and alerted to the presence of controlled substances inside the vehicle. The pot was worth $2.88-million. Deputies arrested 65-year old Richard Jordan, of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, 44-year old Elwood Perry, Jr., of Chesapeake, Virginia, and 45-year old Patrick Hawes, of Norfolk, Virginia.

Hawes

Perry

Jordan

Each of the men were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver more 100 Kilograms, a Class B Felony.  All parties are being held at the Fremont County Jail without bond, pending an initial appearance with a Magistrate. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Iowa Division of Narcotic Enforcement.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop at around 9-p.m. Thursday for a minor traffic violation, resulted in an arrest. The driver, 24-year old Kendal Leslie Arnold, of Clarinda, was arrested for Driving under suspension. Arnold was transported to the Page County Jail. Arnold later posted bond amounting to slightly more than $566.  She was then released pending further court proceedings.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday), released a long list of recent arrests.

On Nov. 6th: 54-year old Elvin Allen Shrimpton,  of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a charge of Possession with Intent to Deliver More Than 5 Grams of Methamphetamine (a Class-B Felony). Shrimpton was taken to the Cass County Jail and remains held on $100,000 bond. And, 35-year old Matthew James Bruns, of Atlantic, was arrested on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Harassment 1st Degree. Bruns was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $3,000 bond.

On Nov. 5th: 29-year old Andrew Gaston Nickum, of Atlantic, was arrested in Cass County on charges of Domestic Abuse Assault 2nd Offense, and Child Endangerment. Nickum was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $4,000 bond. And, 21-year old Pedro Perez Velasquez, of Lewis, was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Velasquez was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $1,000 bond.

On November 4th: Cass County deputies arrested 27-year old Devin Michael Gardner, of Exira, on a charge of Driving While Barred. Gardner was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

On Nov. 2nd: 24-year old Taber Charles Andersen, of Elk Horn, was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Andersen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on his own recognizance.

On Nov. 1st: 28-year old Cole Jacob Benton, of Hamlin, was arrested in Cass County on an Audubon County warrant. Benton was taken to the Cass County Jail and transferred later that day to Audubon County.

And, on October 31st,  deputies in Cass County arrested 49-year old Pamela Joann Murphy, of Greenfield, on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Murphy was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on her own recognizance.