(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak said a Cass County man was arrested Wednesday on a Montgomery County warrant. 37-year-old Brandon Ray Larson, of Atlantic, was arrested at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Larson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Former Vice President Mike Pence says he has a plan to unleash America’s resources and make the United States the world’s top energy producer by 2040. China has led the world in energy production since 2006.  “For the long term security and prosperity of the United States of America, we have to have a vision and a long term strategy,” Pence said. “In a little more than 15 years America can be the number one energy producer in the world and in one more way we’ll be the leader of the free world again.”

Pence, who’ll be campaigning in eastern Iowa this (Thursday) morning, describes his plan as an “all of the above” strategy. Corn-based ethanol is part of the mix. “Coming from the state of Indiana, I have been an enthusiastic supporter of ethanol. In my plan we actually call for year round E15,” Pence says. Pence says if elected president, he would remove limitations on natural gas extraction and grant new drilling permits on federal lands.  “The Biden Administration slowed down and in many ways shut down oil and natural gas exploration in the United States,” Pence says.

Pence says it’s not realistic to abandon fossil fuels and the Biden Administration’s extreme focus on a carbon-free future is folly, according to Pence. Pence, though, says a comprehensive energy strategy should include renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro-power — as well as nuclear energy. Pence says the safety of nuclear power is light years ahead of what it was decades ago when incidents like the Three Mile Island accident made headlines. “We also have to remind people that as we all desire to reduce CO2 emissions — in my case not through mandates and not through a climate change agenda, but through American innovation — nuclear power generates zero CO2,” Pence says, “so it’s clean for the environment, it’s safe.”

Iowa’s only nuclear power plant was shut down three years ago and MidAmerican Energy abandoned its proposal for a small scale nuclear power plant in Iowa a decade ago. Pence made his comments during an interview with Radio Iowa. He plans to visit the Iowa State Fair this (Thursday) afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn visited a Boys and Girls Club in Des Moines today (Wednesday) to announce bipartisan legislation he says will help improve the reporting in child pornography cases. Nunn says the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline received more than 32 million reports of online child pornography last year.”Sadly in Iowa last year, in 2021, we became one of the top five states in the nation. for child sexual abuse associated with this type of exploitation,” Nunn says. He says it’s up to everyone to help change the situation.

“Too often, child sexual assault happens within a known family member or community. Equally, the good news is our communities are the first safeguard to be able to provide awareness and protection for those children when these types of assaults occur,” he says. Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, says it is long past time for Congress to take a leadership role in making sure the victims of abuse can seek justice for their exploitation trauma, and this legislation will do that.

“It will strengthen the cyber tip line to prevent and respond to online Child Sexual Abuse material,” Nunn says. “It is imperative that we use the full extent of the law to hold accountable those who would exploit and sexually assault a child in violation of the laws and moving it from pornography to what it truly is — a sexual crime against the minor.” Nunn says the Child Online Safety Modernization Act will help law enforcement prosecute the crimes.

Congressman Nunn. (photo from Nunn video)

“It will modernize our cyber tip line and require online platforms to have a role in preventing the exploitation holding and distribution of child sexual assault,” Nunn says. “It will also preserve our cyber tip line reports for a year allowing our law enforcement the ability to not only build a case, but to hold those accountable. Unfortunately, in today’s world, these are only held for days at a time.”

Representatives of the Union County Sheriff’s Department and the Altoona and Des Moines police departments were on hand for Nunn’s announcement. Nunn represents the Third District and hopes the bill will get passed this year.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – An Elvaston, Illinois man was sentenced yesterday (Tuesday) to 25 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to public court documents, and evidence presented at sentencing, Randy Glenn Price, 63, was identified by law enforcement through a confidential informant, who purchased pound quantities of methamphetamine from Price. In 2022, Price received multiple pounds of methamphetamine from out-of-state sources and distributed it in and around Johnson County, Iowa. In total, Price was attributed with distributing 33,046 grams (33.05 kilograms) of ice/actual methamphetamine.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Price will be required to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. The Court also levied a $4,000 fine against Price.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Johnson County Drug Task Force.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Council Bluffs Police Department today (Wednesday), reports a suspect charged following the death of a Council Bluffs woman, now faces additional charges. Officials say 61-year-old Ivan Samuel Brammer, of Council Bluffs, was served at the Pottawattamie County Jail, with a warrant for Murder in the Second Degree. Brammer was being held in the jail on previous charges of Abuse of a Corpse and Theft in the 2nd Degree. The charges follow an investigation into the discovery of a woman’s body earlier this year. The case has been forwarded to the County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

On February 15, 2023, 60-year-old Ilene Gowan was reported as being missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department. According to Gowan’s daughter, her mother had not been seen or heard from since February 13, 2023. Gowan’s deceased body was located on February 26, 2023, in a roadside ditch in the area of 152nd Street and Old Mormon Bridge Road, near Crescent, Iowa.

Ivan Samuel Brammer (CB PD photo)

On May 23, 2023, an arrest warrant application was submitted and approved charging Ivan Brammer with the aforementioned charges  (Abuse of a Corpse and Theft 2nd Degree), which are alleged to be related to Gowan’s disappearance. The investigation into the circumstances of Gowan’s death remains active. The State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office, after Gowan’s autopsy, indicated an unknown cause and manner of death.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Aug. 9, 2023 – Get ready to change the way you get around the Council Bluffs area. Construction on Interstate 29 near I-480 and West Broadway in Council Bluffs is nearly complete. The re-opening is anticipated to occur early next week, weather permitting. Before that happens, a series of overnight closures will be needed to change pavement paint and install new wayfinding signs. Once work is complete, both north- and southbound I-29 will be fully open.

Sunday Night, Aug. 13:

Northbound I-29 is expected to be closed at Nebraska Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 13, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The ramp from Nebraska Avenue to northbound I-29 will also be closed. Northbound I-29 will be fully open and available to traffic at the end of the closure on Monday morning.

Monday Night, Aug. 14:

Southbound I-29 is expected to be closed at 16th Street on Monday, Aug.14, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The ramp from 25th Street to southbound I-29 will also be closed. Southbound I-29 will be fully open and available to traffic at the end of the closure on Tuesday morning.

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Iowa DOT is in the process of reconstructing I-80, I-29, and I-480 in the Council Bluffs metropolitan area as part of the Council Bluffs Interstate Improvement Program. This comprehensive interstate redesign will modernize the highway system and improve mobility and safety of approximately 18 miles of interstate.

(Missouri Valley, Iowa) – A crash Tuesday morning in Harrison County claimed the life of a man from Nebraska. The Iowa State Patrol reports 61-year-old Chris Phillip Sweetman, of Omaha, died at scene, after a 2015 Kenworth tractor-trailer traveling south on Interstate 29, crossed the center median for reasons unknown. The semi collided with Sweetman’s 2020 Hyundai Sante Fe SUV. The crash happened at around 8:50-a.m. near mile marker 74.

The semi driver, 63-year-old Gino Marco Lollio, of Cape Coral, FL, was injured in the crash and transported to the Mo. Valley Hospital.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R heard public comment Tuesday on a new manure management plan for a large cattle feedlot in Clayton County near the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek trout stream. Supreme Beef’s first plan was reversed by a Polk County judge, and Michael Schmidt with the Iowa Environmental Council questioned the details of the new plan. He says Supreme Beef has given no basis for a manure nutrient concentration figure that he says “are inconsistent and untrustworthy numbers.”

Iowa chapters of the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited successfully challenged the initial manure management plan in court arguing the state agency used “illogical interpretations and applications” in its approval.