COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Nebraska man was sentenced Thursday, July 6, 2023, to 180 months (15-years) in federal prison for charges of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, carrying a firearm during and relation to a drug trafficking crime, prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on August 6, 2021, a Council Bluffs Police officer found 37-year-old Kyle G. Ashmore in a car in a motel parking lot, at around 3:30-am. The officer saw a baggie of marijuana in plain view. During the search of the vehicle, the officer found a loaded .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, a box of ammunition, LSD, fentanyl, cocaine, buprenorphine, psilocyn, and drug paraphernalia.

Following a two-day trial in November 2022, a jury found Ashmore guilty of the drug charges. Following a two-day trial in February 2023, a jury found Ashmore guilty of the gun charges. Ashmore must serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department, the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and the Department of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Nebraska was sentenced last Thursday (7/6/23) in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for interstate domestic violence – causing travel of a victim. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said today (Monday), 28-year-old Ruben Toledo, Jr., of Omaha, was sentenced to 60 months (5-years) in prison following his guilty plea. According to court documents, on October 23, 2021, Toledo assaulted his then girlfriend at a bar in downtown Omaha then forced her into his car and drove from Omaha, Nebraska to Council Bluffs, Iowa and continued the assault. After his prison sentence, Toledo must serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

When he committed this crime, Toledo was on supervised release for a 2015 federal conviction for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The Court also revoked Toledo’s supervised release and sentenced him to 18 months’ imprisonment, to be served consecutively to the 60-month sentence.

The case was investigated by Council Bluffs Police Department, the Omaha Police Department, the Glenwood Police Department, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE), or the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence at 1-800-770-1650. Additional resources for victims and survivors of domestic violence can be found on the Resources page of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence website at https://ncadv.org/resources.

(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque Police say one adult was shot to death and three others were injured in a shooting this weekend. According to a news release from Dubuque Police, gunfire was reported at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday in a residential area about five minutes from the center of downtown Dubuque. Officers found four adults had been shot at the scene. All four were taken to nearby hospitals and one adult later died of their injuries.

K-W-W-L reports Dubuque Police say the shooting was not random, but was the result of a disturbance between two groups of people that knew each other.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The former City Clerk in Cumberland was taken into custody, Friday on charges that include 1^st Degree Theft, Fraudulent Practices, and tampering with records (financial). Grace Thomsen turned herself-in on the charges, following a State Auditor’s report and investigation into the City of Cumberland’s finances. The incident involving Thomsen allegedly occurred between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2021.

Prior to resigning as the City Clerk in June, 2021, Thomsen admitted to the Mayor of Cumberland, that she took $2,000. The funds were used to help feed Thomsen’s family. In a statement to law enforcement, Thomsen admitted she took utility funds amounting to less than $10,000 from the City.

Her admissions, and the investigation into her alleged activities, resulted in Thomsen being charged with:

• 1st-degree Theft (for the Theft of $27,955.13 from the City of Cumberland). Authorities say the Theft was carried out through multiple means, including writing checks for unapproved or unsupported pay/salary, making personal purchases on City of Cumberland cards and accounts; Theft of utilities by not paying, altering the name on the billed account, and not billing herself; and Theft of cash by not depositing utility payments, rent payments, or other cash collected for the City of Cumberland that should have been deposited.
• Fraudulent practices for allegedly making an entry in or an alteration of a public record, or a record of a corporation, partnership, or another business enterprise
• and, tampering with records for allegedly falsifying, destroying, removing, or conceal writing or record, with the intent to injure, deceive, or to conceal wrongdoing.

Thomsen was being held in the Cass County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular, weekly meeting beginning 9-a.m. Tuesday (July 11), in their Boardroom at the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic. Here’s a look at their agenda:

The order of agenda items may change based on when personnel are available and when time allows.
1. Call to order
2. Approve Agenda
3. Approve minutes from the June 27, 2023 meeting
4. Public Comments
5. Discuss/Approve Addressing excessive scrap metal and inoperable vehicles on rural properties by Zoning Administrator Mike Kennon
6. Discuss/Approve Resolution 2023-26, Appropriations and Transfers for Fiscal Year 2023-2024
7. Approve Resolution 2023-27 Allocating final ARPA payments to fire departments.
8. Discuss/Approve homestead and military tax credits as recommended by the Assessor
9. Report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken
10. Monthly Reports by Debbie Schuler, Cass County Mental Health & General Relief Coordinator for April, May and June
11. Supervisor Committee Reports
12. Filed Reports:
• Sheriff
• Recorder
13. Approve claims
14. Adjournment
15. Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 18, 2023

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Two people were arrested recently on separate charges, in Glenwood. According to Glenwood Police, Crystal Harris, of Omaha, NE, was arrested Friday on a Mills County warrant for interference with official acts. She posted a $300 cash-only bond, and was released. On Saturday, 33-year-old Jordan Henze, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, and Possession of a dangerous weapon. Henze’ total cash/surety bond was at $3,000.

(Griswold, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office said today (Monday), they are asking for the public’s help in locating and identifying a vehicle and driver involved in a hit-and-run incident in Griswold. The incident occurred at the Casey’s Store, at around 6:14-a.m. Surveillance still-frame images show the suspect vehicle appears to be a white, 4-door Ford pickup, pulling a goose-neck flatbed trailer hauling some type of brown boxes. The vehicle was last seen traveling south on Highway 48 out of Griswold.

Additional information was not made available.

Surveillance camera still-frame images posted on the CCSO Facebook page

(Harlan, Iowa) – Events leading up to Wednesday’s opening of the Shelby County Fair in Harlan have been underway since Saturday, including animal weigh-ins and inspections, along with some showing of livestock and pets. The Fair runs from July 12th through the 16th. View the full schedule HERE. Here’s a partial look at the schedule:

TUESDAY, JULY 11 (Pre-Fair Events)
9:00 a.m……………………Enter & Judge 4-H Static Exhibits – 4-H & Morgan Hall. Buildings close at 5:00 p.m.
9:00 a.m……………………FFA Static Entry Judging starts at 9:00 with 4-H Clubs scheduled in Green Book
10:00 a.m………………….4-H Baked Goods & Garden Sale

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12
6:30 – 8:30 a.m………….Enter & Weigh 4-H/FFA Swine – Unload at dock and be inspected by veterinarian.
8:00 a.m…………………..Opening Flag Raising Ceremony – Front Gate
8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m…..Bottle/Bucket Calf followed by Bottle/Bucket Calf Plus One Interviews-
Extension Office, 906 6 th Street
9:00 -10:00 a.m…………Enter & Weigh 4-H/FFA Sheep and Goats –
Unload at dock and be inspected by veterinarian
9:00 -11:00 a.m…………4-H Cake Decorating entries – 4-H Exhibit Building
8:45 a.m…………………..4-H Table Setting Exhibitor’s Meeting
9:00 -11:00 a.m…………4-H Table Setting – 4-H Exhibit Building
11:00 a.m…………………Willard Olson Swine Contest – 4-H Exhibit Building
11:15 a.m…………………Best of Iowa Contest Exhibitor’s Meeting
11:30 a.m…………………Best of Iowa Contest – Immanuel Lutheran Church
1:00 p.m…………………..4-H Booths to be finished
12:00 – 6:00 p.m………..Enter Open Class Non-Livestock Exhibits
6:30 p.m…………………..Judge Open Class Non-Livestock Departments (if not judging Thurs.)
5:30 – 6:30 p.m………….Enter 4-H/FFA Rabbits – All livestock must be inspected by the vet before
going to their cage
4:30 – 7:00 p.m………….Enter & Weigh 4-H/FFA Market Beef, Breeding Beef, & Dairy –
Unload at dock and be inspected by a veterinarian.
4:30 – 5:30 p.m………….4-H/FFA Horses will be checked in – All livestock must be inspected
by the vet before going to stall.
6:00 p.m…………………Tractor Pull – Grandstand
6:30 – 7:30 p.m………….Enter 4-H/FFA Poultry and Rabbits

(Corning, Iowa) – The next to last full-day of activities at the Adams County Fair today, is “Senior Day,” at the fair. Events this morning include:

7:00-a.m., Swine Show

8:30-9:30-a.m., Senior Day Cookie Entries.

9:30-11:45-a.m., Senior Day Entertainment

10:00-a.m., Senior Day Cookie Judging

11:00-a.m., Rabbit & Small Pet Show

There’s no shortage of things to see and do this afternoon, at the Adams County Fair. The activities include:

1:00-p.m., Livestock Judging Contest Bingo

4:30-p.m., Pedal Pull registration.

5:00-p.m., Adams County Extension Council Pedal Pull; Rural Development BBQ.

6:00-p.m., 4-H Awardrobe Fashion Show, 4-H Foundation Award, & State Fair Awards.

7:00-p.m., Iowa Draft Horse Pullers Pull.

Tuesday, activities at the Adams County Fair kick-off with a 4-H Endowment Breakfast. Find the full fair schedule on Facebook, at Adams County Fair, Corning Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – As the Biden Administration continues its push to move from gas-powered to electric cars, police departments are finding it tough to make the transition. Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller says getting regular patrol cars right now is not easy. “It is very hard for us to get patrol cars nowadays there’s a very short window that the manufacturers give for orders — so just being able to replenish your fleet — whether it’s hybrid or electric or or gas engine is very difficult,” he says. “It’s a challenge for all police departments right now.”
Mueller says electric vehicles pose some challenges that include the time it takes to charge them.

“The charging technology is getting better. But during the time period that those vehicles are being recharged, they’re out of service,” Mueller says. “… Our patrol cars are being driven literally 24/7. An officer comes in, they hand the keys off to another officer and they’re off. It’s easier and quicker to fuel them up during the course of a shift than it is to recharge a vehicle, because they’re absolutely unavailable for service then.” Mueller says police vehicles have more equipment than stock electric vehicles, which also poses a problem.

“There’s not a lot of all electric vehicles made for police use and police vehicles need to be ruggedized, they need to be made to accept all the equipment that we give them, and there’s not a lot of manufacturers that are willing to dive into that at the moment,” Mueller says. He says they do not have any electric vehicles in use, but do have a handful of hybrid vehicles. He says the hybrids do save on gas, but they also pose some challenges as well.