Police in Lenox arrested a local man late Friday night following a traffic stop. At around 11:30 pm officers observed a vehicle driven by 43-year old Pedro Quintana Flores, of Lenox. Flores was known to have suspended drivers license.

After the car was stopped in the 400 block of w. Temple Street, Flores was arrested for driven while barred, carrying weapons both aggregated misdemeanors, failure to stop at a stop sign, false use of registration, failure to register, and failure to have insurance.

He was transported to the Taylor County Jail.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City woman whose baby nearly drowned in a bathtub last month has pleaded not guilty to a charge of child endangerment. Police tell Sioux City television station KTIV that 20-year-old Maricela Vasquez left her 10-month-old baby along in a bathtub to go smoke marijuana in a nearby bedroom.

Police say the infant nearly drowned, but has since recovered.  Vasquez also faces a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

An Atlantic woman already facing numerous charges associated with allegedly lying about her daughter’s terminal cancer, faces a new charge. According to online court records, Atlantic Police on Friday (today) filed a 1st Degree Theft charge against 30-year old Leatha Kaye Slauson.

The theft charge is with regard to the fundraising efforts she initiated for the medical care of her 5-year old daughter, Riley, whom Slauson claimed had cancer that was being treated by oral chemotherapy. An investigation however revealed the girl did not have such an illness, and that her symptoms were instead allegedly manufactured by Leatha Slauson administering cannabis oil and Neupogen, to make her appear ill.

Several fundraisers both locally and on the internet, raised about $25,000 for medical expenses, and to send the family on a trip to Disney World. In addition to the Theft charge, Slauson faces of two counts of Child Endangerment causing Bodily Injury, one count distributing drugs to a person under the age of 18, two counts of administering harmful substances, two counts of domestic abuse assault, and 10 counts of unlawful possession of a prescription drug or device.

Her Preliminary Hearing is set to take place September 22. A Pretrial Conference on October 13th, and her trial has been scheduled for November 12th. Slauson remains in the Cass County Jail on $35,000 bond.

RED OAK, Iowa (AP) — A man and a woman have been accused of threatening to kill three Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies in southwest Iowa. The Daily Nonpareil reports 25-year-old Mike Andrew Lawson, of Red Oak, and 24-year-old Justine Sheree Powers, of College Springs, were arrested Thursday on three counts each of threat of terrorism. Their attorneys did not respond immediately to messages left Friday.

Authorities say Lawson and Powers threatened the deputies on Aug. 29, though additional information has not been released. A criminal complaint says the pair also told one deputy they would blow up his house and hurt his family.

Lawson and Powers remain at the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond. A preliminary hearing for both is set for Sept. 15.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) selected the name Omaha National Cemetery for the national cemetery that VA will construct in the Omaha region. Robert A. McDonald, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said “The Veterans of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa deserve a final resting place worthy of their service to our nation.” The VA purchased the Sarpy County land located along South 144th St. (Highway 50), at 14250 Schram Road for $6 million in December 2012. The cemetery will serve more than 112,000 Veterans in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa not currently served with an open national, state or tribal Veterans cemetery within 75 miles of their residence.

In fall 2014, the VA plans to award a design/build construction contract to complete the remaining cemetery design work and construct the cemetery. The  VA anticipates that the initial phase of the design/build project will take 2 to 2 ½ years to complete and develop approximately 35 acres of land for approximately 5,500 interment sites. The project will also incorporate memorial walls to commemorate those whose remains are not available for interment.

In addition to the gravesite development, construction will include access roads, an entrance area, a flag/assembly area, committal shelters; an administration building/public information center with electronic gravesite locator, public restrooms, a memorial walkway, a maintenance complex and more.

National cemeteries are named based on the geographic area in which the cemetery is located. VA relies on local Veterans and community leaders to submit name suggestions. Of the names submitted, “Omaha National Cemetery” best met VA’s naming criteria and is consistent with the requirements specified in United States Code requiring VA property, including national cemeteries, to be named for the geographic area in which the facility is located.

Veterans with a qualifying discharge, their spouses and eligible dependent children may be buried in a VA national cemetery. Also eligible are military personnel who die on active duty, their spouses and eligible dependents. Other burial benefits available for all eligible Veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a Government headstone or marker.

Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov, or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 800-827-1000. To make burial arrangements at any VA national cemetery at the time of need, call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 800-535-1117.

CLARION, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Rockwell City police officer last year. The Des Moines Register reports the jury returned the verdict Friday in the case of 33-year-old Corey Trott. Jurors reached a consensus after less than two hours of deliberations in the trial.

Authorities say Trott shot 37-year-old Jamie Buenting during a standoff at Trott’s house in September 2013. Officers were trying to arrest Trott after an alleged assault. Buenting was near a house window when he was shot.

Trott did not testify during the trial, but jurors heard a taped interview where he expressed no regret in shooting a law enforcement officer.

Two southwest Iowa residents were arrested Thursday evening on three counts each, of Threat of Terrorism. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year old Mike Andrew Lawson, Jr.,  and 24-year old Justine Sheree Powers, both of College Springs, were taken into custody at around 7:10-p.m.  The pair were originally arrested by deputies in Page County on the same date. Lawson, Jr. & Powers were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 cash only bond, each.

Details of the investigation are currently limited, because the incident or incidents leading to the arrests are still under investigation.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office extends its thanks to the Red Oak Police Department, Page County Sheriff’s Office and Nodaway County, MO., Sheriff’s Office, for their assistance.