A relatively new restaurant in central Iowa has been selected as this year’s winner of “Iowa’s Best Burger” contest. The Brick City Grill in Ames is owned by Jason Mikkelsen.

Best Burger 2014 – Jason Mikkelsen

“We’ve only been open for almost a year now, so to get an honor like this so soon, it’s definitely a surprise,” Mikkelsen said. “But it makes all the hard work…it makes it worth it.” Prior to opening Brick City Grill, Mikkelsen spent 18 years working in several restaurants around Ames. The 36-year-old Creston native moved to Ames in 1996 to attend Iowa State University. He says the secret to a good burger is in the beef.

“We use a flat-top grill to sear in the flavor. All we use for seasoning is just a little salt and pepper,” Mikkelsen says. “We have a really good bun, it’s brioche bun that we toast.” Mikkelsen uses a proprietary blend of Iowa beef, delivered fresh to the restaurant. Brick City Grill has eight varieties of hamburgers and they’re far and away to most popular items on the restaurant’s menu.

“Oh yeah, by far, we go through probably three times more burger than we do everything else,” Mikkelsen says.

Best Burger 2014 – Brick City Pretzel Burger

This is the fifth year for the Best Burger contest, sponsored by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council. Iowans submitted more than 9,600 nomination votes for 456 restaurants in February and March that selected the top 10 restaurants. Those 10 restaurants were then independently visited and judged based on the hamburger’s taste, appearance, and proper serving temperature (160 degrees).

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former township clerk in western Iowa has pleaded not guilty to misspending $60,000 over several years. The Sioux City Journal reports 64-year-old Peggy Powell of Hornick entered a written plea Wednesday in Woodbury County District Court. She is charged with two counts of first-degree theft.

Powell is accused of mishandling money while she was clerk of Grange Township between 2006 and 2013. A state audit released in March showed improper disbursements from the township’s bank account. There was more than $35,000 in ATM withdrawals and fees, some of which came from casinos in Iowa and one in Nebraska.

The report also said Powell misappropriated money to a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, where she was treasurer. Powell’s trial is scheduled to start on July 22nd.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An elderly Iowa man convicted of four sex offenses has been committed to the Mental Health Institute in Clarinda. The Des Moines Register reports 85-year-old William Cubbage consequently won’t stand trial in civil proceedings based on the sexual assault on a 95-year-old nursing home resident in Pomeroy, where Cubbage was staying in 2011.

Cubbage has been moved into a geriatric ward at the Clarinda facility. He was being held by the Iowa Department of Corrections awaiting a decision on whether he’d be returned to the Iowa Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders, where he’d spent eight years before being sent to the Pomeroy nursing home.

Wilderness officials say they plan to release a total of eight swans into two southern Iowa lakes this month, as part of a restoration effort. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Adams County Conservation Board will release four trumpeter swans at east Lake Icaria boat ramp, located six-miles north of Corning on Highway 148 at 9-a.m. Tuesday, May 8th, and, four trumpeter swans will be released in Union County May 9th at Summit Lake, one mile west of Creston on Highway 25. Both events are open to the public.

The birds are being released as part of a statewide trumpeter swan restoration effort. Less than 70 trumpeter swans remained in the lower 48 states by the early 1930s. Both release events will feature a 20-minute presentation on the swans, which includes an opportunity to touch and view the birds up close. Trumpeter swans are the largest North American waterfowl. They can weigh up to 32 pounds with an 8-foot wingspan.

A traffic stop early this (Friday) morning in Adams County resulted in the arrest of a Prescott man on numerous charges. Sheriff’s officials say 64-year old Gail Freihage was arrested just after 1-a.m. for: Driving While Revoked; OWI 2nd offense; Open container of alcohol in a vehicle; and, Failure to show proof of SR-22 insurance as required by law for a previous OWI.

Freihage was being held in the Adams County Jail without bond, while awaiting an appearance before a magistrate.

Police in Red Oak report two recent arrests. Early this (Friday) morning, 29-year old Kyle William Chase, of Red Oak, was arrested for Trespassing. Chase was taken into custody at around 1:20-a.m. at a residence in the 400 block of N. 4th Street. He was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $300 bond.

And at around 3:40-p.m. Thursday, Red Oak Police arrested 31-year old Brent Lee Wagaman, of Red Oak, for Domestic Abuse Assault. Wagaman was taken into custody in the 400 block of E. Coolbaugh Street and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The President of the United States and the United States Congress has declared the week of May 11-17, 2014 as National Peace Officers’ Memorial Week.

On Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. the Clarinda Police Department will conduct a memorial service at the Clarinda Cemetery Armed Services Flag Stand/ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to pay tribute to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Clarinda Police Department Chaplain Dr. Richard F. Iske will provide the invocation. American Legion Sergy Post 98 will provide a 3 volley salute and taps at the service.

Clarinda Chief of Police Keith Brothers and his staff cordially invites the public to attend the memorial service and pay tribute to those law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.

One hundred eleven (111) federal, state and local law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in the United States and its territories in 2013 according to the United States Department of Justice.

In the event of inclement weather the memorial service will be cancelled.

Firefighters from Atlantic were called to the scene of vehicle fire late this (Thursday) morning. The call about a 2008 Chevy Silverado pickup on fire came in at around 11:49-a.m.  from the Monsanto Company at 53751 650th Street.

Fire officials say prior to the vehicle becoming fully engulfed in flames, employees attached a chain and pulled the pickup about 50-feet away from the building. No injuries were reported. The pickup soon became fully engulfed in flames and was a total loss.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release four trumpeter swans at Summit Lake, one mile west of Creston on Highway 25 at 10-a.m., on May 9th. The release site is the boat ramp on the south side of the road. The release is open to the public and will take place rain or shine. The event includes a 20-minute swan/wetland presentation, a unique opportunity to touch and view the swans up close, and a historic photo opportunity with the kids.

As the largest North American waterfowl, these magnificent all-white birds can weigh up to 32 pounds with an 8-foot wingspan.

Trumpeter swans were once common in Iowa, but were gone from the state by the late 1880s. By the early 1930s, only 69 trumpeter swans remained in the lower 48 states. The trumpeter swans being released are part of the DNR’s statewide trumpeter swan restoration effort.