The Creston Police Department reports three drug-related arrests. Officials say at around 6:45-p.m. Sunday, 38-year old Michael Waddingham, of Orient, was arrested in Creston on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear in Court, on original charges that include a controlled substance violation and Introducing Intoxicants or Drugs in an Institution. Waddingham was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

This past Friday night, 18-year old Keaton Wambold and 19-year old Taylor Giles, both of Creston, were arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. They were later released from the Union County Jail on $1,300 bond, each.

And, a man who lives in the 200 block of S. Lincoln Street, in Creston, reported to police Sunday afternoon, that sometime between 5-p.m. Saturday and 11-a.m. Sunday, someone entered two vehicles parked outside his residence. Taken from inside those vehicles, was two knives, medication, a gift certificate, and assorted coins. The loss was estimated at $50.

A social worker and advocate for foster children says human trafficking is more common in Iowa than most residents probably realize. Ruth Buckels of Story City has housed nearly 100 teenaged foster children, including some who were victims of human trafficking. Buckels spoke to a group last week at the Des Moines Area Community College campus in Carroll. “The most common trafficking we have in Iowa is family trafficking, which is a family member trading, selling, bartering their children – or their nieces or nephews, or their neighbors, or somebody they consider family to somebody else for sexual pleasure or sexual benefits,” Buckels said.

According to Buckels, traffickers look for a potential victim’s “vulnerability” and they exploit that to gain control over the person. Buckels said it’s not uncommon for a victim to maintain contact with their friends and family – who remain unaware of the situation. “Most of the people I know being trafficked, live at home with their parents or live in their college dorm rooms. They are in constant contact with their family,” Buckels said.

Human trafficking victims can come from all walks of life, according to Buckels. In her work, Buckels has been in contact with victims ranging from infants to people in their 70s. Teenagers are the most commonly targeted age group and Buckels challenged teachers at her presentation in Carroll to question their students.”Ask them who’s missing classes every single week. Ask them who’s late to school or super tired at school,” Buckels said. “I hear from students all over the place.”

Buckels said the best way to stop human trafficking is for people to notify police if they have a suspicion something wrong is happening. Earlier this year, the head of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking told state lawmakers that criminals working in Iowa are now making more money from HUMAN trafficking than they are from DRUG trafficking.

(Radio Iowa)

ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the body of an 84-year-old man was found in a northwest Iowa house that was heavily damaged by fire. Firefighters sent to the home in Rock Valley after 2:20 a.m. Sunday found it engulfed in flames. They found the body after extinguishing the blaze. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Luis Leuvanos, who lived in the home. The fire cause is being investigated.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Drivers in Nebraska and Iowa are being warned to watch out for deer in the next few weeks because breeding season is in full swing and crops are being harvested in the region. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says drivers should watch for deer, especially around dawn and dusk. During breeding season, bucks are actively searching for mates, so they may be more likely to cross a road. And farming activity may drive them out of an area. Drivers should wear their seat belts and anticipate having to stop suddenly if they encounter a deer.

Honking and flashing headlights may help frighten deer. If drivers see a deer, they should assume others are nearby. Driver who hit a deer can take the carcass if they contact Game and Parks officials within 24 hours.

Red Oak Police Sunday afternoon, arrested a Cass County man on two warrants for Contempt of Court/Resist Order. 34-year old David Allan Minard, of Griswold, was arrested at around 4:10-p.m. in the 1600 block of N. Broadway Street, in Red Oak. Minard was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held without bond.

Former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is lamenting the “lost art of human relations” in the United States Senate. Harkin, a Democrat who served 30 years in the U.S. Senate, did not run for reelection in 2014. Harkin says these days senators spend little time listening to one another in private or in public. “The lack of debate, legitimate debate,” Harkin says. “Everybody goes and gives a speech and then they walk off the senate floor. There’s no such thing as a debate any longer on the senate floor.”

Harkin says “the money chase” is partly to blame as senators have to raise more and more cash for their reelection campaigns. “We need a whole new generation of young people that will sort of raise the bar,” Harkin said. “…Young people know how to get along, maybe more so than some of us old timers.”

Harkin made his comments Sunday afternoon after receiving an award at the Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. The Institute was started by Bob Dole, the Republican Party’s 1996 nominee for president who was a long-time G-O-P leader in the U.S. Senate. Harkin says Dole was “a great legislator” because he knew who to work with people. “Willing to compromise, probably a dirty word today,” Harkin says. “Someone said once: ‘Cooperation is the essense of civilization.’ It is, so we could cooperate and get things done.”

Harkin is scheduled to be in Des Moines this (Monday) afternoon to hand out his annual “Excellence in AmeriCorps Award.” His 2017 award goes to a young woman who helped create an institute at the University of Northern Iowa that encourages students to get involved in their community through service to others.

(Radio Iowa)