In an update to our earlier reports, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office says at around 8:47-p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office was notified of a vehicle in the ditch at the intersection of Highway 6 and Midway Road.  The caller stated that the driver covered the license plate with mud and ran away from the scene.  Upon arrival, the deputy discovered that the vehicle had been pulled out of the ditch and left the scene.  The vehicle was located and a traffic stop was attempted due to the license plates being covered with mud.  The vehicle, a green 2006 Ford Freestyle, fled from the Deputy and an Atlantic Police Department patrol car.  The vehicle led officers on a pursuit eastbound on White Pole Road.

There was an unsuccessful attempt to disable the vehicle with stop sticks prior to it entering Atlantic.  At times the pursuit reached speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour.  The pursuit continued eastbound onto Interstate 80.  A little before 9-p.m., a Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy joined in the pursuit near Casey. Stop sticks were deployed just before 9:30-p.m., that disabled the vehicle at approximately the 84 mile marker.  The driver, 20-year old Kyle Zenisek, of Solon, was taken into custody without incident.

Zenisek (Cass Co. S/O photo)

Zenisek is being charged with Eluding (Felony); OWI 1st Offense (Serious): Theft 5th (Simple) and multiple traffic infractions including Excessive Speed, Reckless Driving and other offenses.  Zenisek is being held at the Cass County Jail.

The Creston Police Department reports a total five arrests over the past few days. At around 12:10-a.m. Saturday, 28-year old Kylar Wiece, of West Valley, UT., was arrested in the 200 block of N. Elm Street in Creston, for Public Intoxication and Possession of Controlled Substance. He was released on a Promise to Appear in court. At around 8:40-a.m. Friday, 40-year old Brian Haxton, of Rifle, CO., was arrested in the 100 block of W. Adams St. in Creston, for Disorderly Conduct, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was released on all local charges on a Promise to Appear and is being held in the Union County Jail awaiting transport to Pottawattamie County.  At the same time and place, 37-year old Christina Haxton, also of Rifle, CO, was arrested  for Disorderly Conduct. She was released on a Promise to Appear.

At around 1:45-a.m. Saturday, 28-year old Terry Hankins – Lund, of Osceola, was arrested in the 600 block of W. Adams Street in Creston, on charges of Disorderly Conduct (2 counts), Criminal Mischief 5th, Interference with Official Acts with Injury, and Public Intoxication. He is being held in the Union County Jail on a $1000 bond. And, at around 11:15-a.m. Saturday, 23-year old Dallas Earley, of Ellston, was arrested at Birch and Irving on the charge of Driving while Suspended. He was released on a Promise to Appear.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Republican Senator Joni Ernst is joining her friend and political ally Kim Reynolds in questioning whether wealthy businessman Fred Hubbell — the Democratic nominee for governor — has the proper kind of Iowa roots.  “Kim is Iowa through and through and I wish I could say the same about her Democratic opponent, Fred Hubbell,” Ernst said, “but I can’t.”

Ernst’s fourth-annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser attracted about a thousand people in Boone Saturday afternoon. Ernst led a long line of motorcyclists on a 49-mile ride to the event, with Governor Reynolds alongside, riding on the backseat of her husband’s motorcycle. Ernst told the crowd the governor’s opponent “doesn’t appreciate” the state. “Fred was asked if he thought that Iowa was the best place in the country to live and what did he say? ‘No,'” Ernst said. “Are you kidding me? We have a gubernatorial candidate…who doesn’t think this is the best place to live. I have never heard anything more ludicrous in my life.”

During a debate in late May, Hubbell said voters are “dissatisfied” with the status quo and he disagreed with a recent magazine analysis which ranked Iowa as number one among the states in terms of infrastructure, health care and education. Reynolds mentioned Hubbell’s remarks during her speech at the Ernst fundraiser. “Well, Fred, if you don’t think Iowa’s the best place to live, then you just don’t know Iowa,” Reynolds said.

And Reynolds again suggested Hubbell, as part of a prominent Des Moines family, is unable to relate to ordinary Iowans.  “I want Iowa to continue to be a place where it doesn’t matter where you come from, only where you want to go,” Reynolds said, “…a place where hard work and big dreams are more important than famous names and big checks.”

The Hubbell’s family fortunes date back to the mid-1850s, from investments in real estate, railroads and the founding of a Des Moines-based insurance company. Fred Hubbell has contributed three million dollars of his own money to his campaign so far and he’s offered this response to Reynolds’ criticism. “She can attack me all she wants. My wife and I have had a lot tougher experiences than that and so that doesn’t bother me a bit,” Hubbell said.

That’s a reference to the couple’s experience as hostages to airplane hijackers back in 1981. Hubbell touts his experience in corporate boardrooms as an asset. “We’re going to continue to talk about where we want to take this state,” Hubbell said. “You know, she has done a terrible job of balancing the state’s checkbook.”

Hubbell points to last fall’s withdrawal from the state’s cash reserves to balance last year’s budget and the mid-year cuts to this year’s state budget.

(Radio Iowa)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man injured in an altercation at a Cedar Rapids park has died. Police say 38-year-old Scott Dexter died at a hospital of injuries he suffered Tuesday at Greene Square Park.
The case is being investigated as a homicide. No arrests have been reported.

The Council Bluffs Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire at around 11:45-p.m., Sunday, in the south parking lot of the Ameristar Casino. A red Chevrolet Tahoe was found to be the source of the fire. The fire quickly spread to five other vehicles on the lot. The Council Bluffs Fire Department extinguished the flames and no one was injured. At this time it is unknown what caused the fire. The Council Bluffs Fire Department is conducting the investigation.