Three people were arrested Sunday night, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 43-year old Shelby Joann Olivares was arrested at around 11:40-p.m. on a charge of aggravated Domestic Abuse Assault. Olivares was taken into custody in the 100 block of East Maple Street in Red Oak, by Red Oak Police. She was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Red Oak Police also arrested 33-year old Dontar Ternall Lewis, of Red Oak, Sunday. He was taken into custody at around 10:07-p.m. on an active warrant out of Page County for Harassment by Communication. Lewis was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and later turned over to deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Department.

35-year old Jamie Ryan Straw, of Villisca, was arrested at around 9:35-p.m. Sunday, on charges of Domestic Assault, Interference with Official Acts (Resisting arrest), and Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree (as the result of damage to a patrol car that amounted to $750).  Straw was arrested following a domestic altercation in Villisca, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held on $3,300 bond.

The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division (ABD) found 93-percent of retailers who sold tobacco refused to sell to an underage customer during checks by the division in the last fiscal year. Meghan O’Brien, the deputy director of administration for A-B-D, says most of the 34-hundred tobacco retailers are checked for compliance each year. “This is only the second time that the compliance rate has been this high, and I think the success of all our education programs and our partnerships are the reason whey we’ve been able to achieve this level of compliance,” O’Brien says.

The compliance rate hit 93-percent for the first time in 2010 and has been at 92-percent in three of the last five years. She says the division works with 193 local law enforcement partners and the Iowa State Patrol to conduct the random compliance checks. “They typically use youth in communities and the youth develop relationships with law enforcement — and that is how the compliance check is done,” O’Brien says. Records show tobacco retailers in the mid 1990’s were selling tobacco to minors during 50-percent of checks.

A-B-D took over the tobacco enforcement in 2000 and created the Iowa Pledge program to educate retailers on how to stop sales to minors. “We work really hard to create partnerships and do education rather than immediately go to the punitive side. We want to have a trust relationship with these retailers and we want to help them be successful and reduce the number of youth getting access to tobacco products,” according to O’Brien Smoking is no longer allowed in many public places after the passage of the Smoke Free Air Act in 2008. O’Brien says it’s a change that has also helped in preventing young people from smoking.

“Youth growing up right now can’t remember a time when an ashtray was ever inside a restaurant,” O’Brien says. She says that’s one piece of the issue and they complement that with restricting the sale of tobacco and that helps reinforces that tobacco usage is not appropriate for youth. “So, I think the State of Iowa has done a tremendous job in overall tobacco control.”

Twenty-seven of the 99 counties had a 100-percent compliance rate. Included among them are Adams, Fremont, Guthrie, Page, Sac and Taylor Counties.

(Radio Iowa)

At midnight tonight the temporary extension of the Farm Bill expires. Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill is among the many residents of farm country who’re finding it difficult to read the signals of congress. “I can’t tell you whether they will try another extension — we can’t support another extension — or whether they’ll have a stop-gap measure and continue to kick the can down the road,” Hill says. The most immediate impact of the Farm Bill’s demise will come with the October shut down of programs that promote the sale of U.S. farm commodities overseas.

In addition, Hill says the U.S. will be accused of trade violations when it comes to the cotton market and country-of-origin labeling. “Both of those could be resolved with the new reform bill,” Hill says. “Avoid having that, we kind of disrupt our ability to be a good partner in trade, as well as many of our export enhancement programs — our Market Access Program and other programs — that will lack funding and so long-term we will adversely impact our ability to trade.” There’s uncertainty for farmers hoping to do conservation projects this fall, like build terraces in fields once the harvesting is done. This comes just as the Iowa Farm Bureau and other groups have begun to urge farmers to take such steps to avoid soil erosion and farm chemical run-off into Iowa waterways.

“Without conservation funding and authorization the CSP program, the CRP program, a number of the things that we use as stewards won’t be available to us and we won’t be able to plan for those tools,” Hill says, “also disrupting our ability to help retain soil and have a safer water supply.” It’s hard to put a dollar value on the overall financial impact of the impasse in congress, but there is one certainty: if congress doesn’t act by January 1st, the price of a gallon of milk is going to more than double. That’s because the price supports for milk will revert to 1949 levels.

“On the farm, that means $39 a hundredweight (of milk) as opposed to $18 a hundredweight today,” Hill says. “That will be unacceptable by consumers and I think politicians will again take notice to that.” If congress fails to fix the problem, milk prices will rise above six dollars a gallon. It was that prospect which helped lead congress to pass an eight-month extension of the Farm Bill last December. By the way, there are about 12 gallons in a hundredweight of milk, which is the measurement dairy farms use when milk is sold.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating a stabbing in Waterloo that resulted in the death of a 29-year-old man. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports officers found John Ladell Bass of Waterloo with a single stab wound to his chest shortly after 4 a.m. yesterday. Bass was taken to the hospital where he died.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The city of Des Moines wants its residents to move around. Several blocks of a major street in Des Moines were shut down yesterday afternoon for Open Streets, an event promoting neighborhoods, local businesses and physical activity. Organizers said the event on University Avenue between 23rd and 41st streets would feature yoga, soccer and dance.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One year after Southwest Airlines began flying out of Des Moines, airfares at the airport are cheaper. The Des Moines Register reports Airport Director Don Smithey credits Southwest for the lower fares because other airlines adjusted prices to compete. Southwest began offering twice-a-day flights from Des Moines to Chicago last September. The discount airline added a daily flight to Las Vegas yesterday.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The criminal case against an eastern Iowa man for growing marijuana highlights the arguments for the medical use of marijuana. Scott County prosecutors say 47-year-old Benton Mackenzie is a drug dealer who had 71 marijuana plants in his house. But the Quad City Times reports Mackenzie suffers from terminal cancer. Mackenzie says marijuana treats the pain and nausea of his illness.

Iowans are being warned about a scam involving the federal government’s Affordable Care Act, a large portion of which will launch next week. Con artists are calling homes, saying they’re ready to send your Obamacare card, all they need is your personal information. Kimberly Hazen, with the Better Business Bureau, says these are the latest in the long-running string of health care “phishing” scams. “Just like we get these bogus emails from our so-called credit card company, asking for our credit card account, that’s a phishing attempt,” Hazen says. “They’re trying to get personal information from you willingly by posing as somebody official.”

Callers may claim they need your Medicare, banking or personal information to get you your coverage. Hazen says it’s highly unlikely Medicare or anyone from the federal government is really calling you. “Remember that the government rarely gives us a call,” Hazen says. “They rarely will email us. They do most of their work through the mail, so when you get a call from somebody saying they’re with the government, do your homework and make sure you know exactly who you’re dealing with.” Hazen says the best response to these calls is to hang up, or to make some calls yourself to learn more.

“Find out what agency they’re calling from and actually get that agency number, look it up on your own via the internet or any government office in the phone book,” Hazen says. “You want to make sure that you are calling them back on your own.” If you repeatedly get these calls, contact your local authorities or contact the Better Business Bureau via www.bbb.org.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak report the arrest late Sunday morning of 43-year old Allen William Heith Pafford. Pafford, of Nodaway, was found to be operating a motor vehicle with an expired registration sticker on the license plate. An investigation revealed he was also Barred from Driving. Pafford was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 cash bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest Saturday evening of Charles A. Bradshaw, from Clarinda. Bradshaw was charged with Driving While Barred after he was found to be operating a vehicle that was stopped for another incident. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) – A collection of Civil War era artifacts has returned to its home at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge along the Missouri River.  More than 250,000 artifacts from the Steamboat Bertrand Museum Collection were removed just before the 2011 flood and stored at a warehouse in Bellevue, Neb. The collection is an archaeological time capsule of 1865 America.

Museum officials say the collection was inventoried and inspected while the refuge and the collection’s home, the DeSoto visitor center, underwent major repairs over the last two years.

Two people were killed while another suffered minor injuries during a head on collision Friday afternoon, in Audubon County. The Iowa State Patrol says 82 year old Harold Akers and his passenger, 79 year old Doris Akers, both of Exira, died in the crash that happened at around 1:25-pm on Highway 44, about 4 miles east of Kimballton.

Officials say 42 year old James Gibson, of Panora, was driving a 2012 Ford F-150 pickup that crossed the centerline of the road and hit Akers’ 2011 Chrysler head on. Gibson was transported by Elk Horn Fire and Rescue to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

The accident remains under investigation. Deputies from Audubon, Cass and Shelby Counties along with the Audubon County Medical Examiner and Audubon County Attorney, assisted at the scene.