The Audubon Police Department reports the arrest last Thursday (July 24th, of 51 year old Allen Alfred Riesenberg, of Audubon. Riesenberg was taken into custody for Simple Assault, and later released on a promise to appear in court. And, on Monday, 44 year old Steven James Nellor, of Audubon, was arrested on a  charge of Public Intoxication – 3rd or more offense. Nellor was transported to the Audubon County Jail where he was held to appear before a magistrate.

The Iowa DNR reports the city of Creston discharged about 10,000 gallons of wastewater to an unnamed tributary of the Middle Platte River on Monday, July 28th. A shut-off valve failed around 2 p.m., causing an electrical shortage at a Creston wastewater lift station at Highway 34 and Industrial Parkway. The discharge to an unnamed tributary occurred when portable pumps were unable able to keep pace with the wastewater flow.

The discharge was stopped at 5:30 p.m. when a pump was obtained that could handle the flow until electrical repairs are complete. Officials say  the health risk was minimal due to high water levels in the tributary and Middle Platte River. There was no reported fish kill.

The DNR is monitoring the situation.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A memorial marker honoring a prohibitionist preacher shot to death in 1886 has a permanent home at a Sioux City museum, and volunteers are raising money for a new one. The marker for George Haddock is currently on display at the Sioux City Public Museum. The piece was excavated during construction of the new Hard Rock casino in the downtown area.

The Sioux City Journal reports the circular, metal artifact was set in 1936. It includes the date Haddock died. Cornerstone World Outreach, a Sioux City church, has raised $20,000 to help pay for a new memorial marker. The monument has not been constructed and it’s unclear where it would be placed.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Democrats trying to pick up a Republican-held congressional seat in Iowa are seizing on disclosure records about the GOP candidate that they say gives heft to their charge that he’s a Washington insider.

The records show that Republican nominee David Young raised more than $500,000 in donations for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s 2010 re-election campaign, even while Young served as Grassley’s full-time chief-of-staff. Young reported being paid $51,000 by Grassley’s campaign, receiving a 10 percent commission on the money he raised.

Young is running against former state Sen. Staci Appel for the seat representing Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, which stretches from Des Moines to southwestern Iowa. The seat is being vacated by 10-term Rep. Tom Latham, a popular Republican.

Young says he’s proud of the work he did for Grassley.

A western Iowa man was injured after the motorcycle he was driving was struck by a deer this (Tuesday) morning, in Mills County. The Iowa State Patrol says 50-year old David M. Baatz, of Pacific Junction, was transported by Glenwood Rescue to Creighton University Hospital in Omaha. Baatz was traveling west on Eastman Road at around 6:40-a.m., when a deer ran out of the south ditch and onto the traveled portion of the road. The animal hit Baatz’ 2001 Kawasaki on the left side, causing the cycle to crash onto the same side.

Baatz was able to remove the cycle from the road with the help of a passing motorist.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Missouri man was arrested today (Tuesday) on a drug-related warrant. 19-year old Christian Latham, of Maryville, MO., was taken into custody at around 8-a.m. on a warrant charging him with Delivery of Methamphetamine. His arrest stems from an investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office in February, 2014.

Latham was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $100,000 bond.

Governor Terry E. Branstad today signed a letter to be delivered to President Obama requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for 22 Iowa counties where significant damage was sustained from severe weather that produced damaging winds, tornadoes, heavy rains, hail, and thunderstorms beginning June 26 through July 7, 2014.

The counties included in the request are: Audubon, Black Hawk, Butler, Cedar, Des Moines, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Mahaska, Muscatine, Poweshiek, Tama and Washington.

The Governor requested funding under the Public Assistance Program, which is used to rebuild damaged infrastructure that may include roads, bridges, culverts and other public facilities, or to cover costs of emergency work during, and debris removal after, the storms. A joint federal, state and local preliminary damage assessment of the 22 counties found the severe weather caused an estimated $13 million worth of damage that could be eligible under the Public Assistance Program.

The Governor also requested funding to conduct hazard mitigation activities for the entire state.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The owner of a Council Bluffs bar that appeared on a reality television show has argued against the City Council’s decision to deny its liquor license. Matt Overmyer of the O Face Bar appeared before an administrative judge Monday as part of the appeal process to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

Overmyer’s business was recently featured on a Spike TV show about reinventing struggling bars. The City Council cited actions seen on the March episode in denying the bar’s liquor license renewal in May. Those actions include multiple fights and the use of profanity.

The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports the bar can continue serving alcohol while the appeal is being processed.

DES MOINES, Iowa – July 29, 2014 – USDA Rural Development, through its Direct Home Loan Program, is temporarily accepting applications to refinance home loans in eligible rural areas. With this temporary program change eligible households that will be experiencing an increase in interest rate or change in repayment terms for adjustable rate loans, interest only loans, short-term rate locks, or other forms of specialty lending, may be eligible to refinance their existing mortgage through the USDA Rural Development Direct Home Loan Program.

The USDA program offers 33 or 38 year terms, with a fixed interest rate currently at 3.625 percent (subject to change prior to closing). Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact USDA Rural Development staff no later than September 1 to allow for adequate processing time prior to the end of the federal government’s current fiscal year on September 30, 2014.

Questions regarding USDA Rural Development’s Direct Home Loan Program can be directed by email to: DirectIA@ia.usda.gov; phone (515) 284-4444; fax (855) 415-3562; or USDA Rural Development, 210 Walnut Street, Room 873, Des Moines, Iowa 50309.

USDA Rural Development’s Direct Home Loan Program, which helps low-income households in rural Iowa make home purchases with no down payments, has $11 million in funding available to assist rural Iowans. To be eligible for the program, homes must be located in rural areas which are typically defined as communities of less than 20,000 residents.

(Press Release)

Members from the Midwest Regional Dive Team have recovered the body of a missing boater. Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator and Dive Team member Brian Hamman told KJAN News the body of a white male drowning victim in his mid-40’s was recovered this (Tuesday) morning from 12 Mile Lake, about four-miles east of Creston. He says the body was found at about 9:15-a.m. Divers were in the water for a little more than an hour before they recovered the victim.

Hamman says the body was located about 20-yards from the shore of the 635 acre lake that has a maximum depth of 44-feet and 15-miles of shoreline. He says the team was paged out to assist Union County Sheriff’s Department but were cancelled after the Ringgold County Dive Team arrived and determined it was too dark to proceed with the search.

The Midwest Regional Dive Team arrived on the scene at around 7:30-a.m. today (Tuesday). Hamman says while the outcome is not what anyone wanted, he’s glad they could complete the recovery promptly. He says they were very fortunate they were able to make a quick recovery, because sometimes the search can last for days. It’s the second recovery of a drowning victim the team has made this year. The other was a drowning victim near Skidmore, MO.

Union County Sheriff Rick Piel said authorities received a report of an empty boat on the lake at around 6:15-p.m., Monday. Evidence at the scene led officials to initiate a search of the lake, including by use of the Dive Team, which typically responds to incidents of missing swimmers and boaters. The name of victim has not been released, pending notification of relatives.

The Midwest Regional Dive Team has 18 divers, three trainees and up to 25 support members. Their members are comprised of personnel from the Red Oak and Clarinda Fire Departments, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the Adams County Emergency Water Team and the Ringgold County Emergency Dive Team.