(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Elliott was arrested Thursday, in the 900 block of Cass Street, in Griswold. 40-year-old Quintin Perdue was taken into custody at around 3:50-p.m., on an active Pottawattamie County warrant for Violation of Parole. Perdue was transported to the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak, and held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Republican Party leaders say there have been clear signals this week that their Iowa Caucuses will be first-in-the-nation again in 2028. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann was chosen to deliver the nominating speech for former President Trump and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird was chosen to preside over the V-P’s nomination at the party’s national convention. Bobby Kaufmann, the son of the state party’s chairman, is a senior advisor to Trump’s reelection campaign.

“President Trump has repeatedly told many people that he values Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status,” Kaufmann says. “…He is what kept us first-in-the-nation when other states were coming after us, he stepped in and said, ‘No, we’re going to have Iowa (first).’ And I think him putting us in prominent roles in the first day of the convention just solidifies what he’s already said I’m confident we will have his backing for 2028.”

Steve Scheffler — Iowa’s Republican National Committeeman — says national party rules approved last week keep the Iowa Caucuses first, followed by New Hampshire’s Primary. “When you’re from Iowa, you’ve always got to keep two eyes in the back of your head to make sure that nobody’s trying to take us out,” he says. Nearly 30 percent of the Republican National Committee members are new this year, so Schefler says he and other Iowa G-O-P leaders will be meeting with them to tout the Caucuses.

“Making them understand we play a unique role and there is no reason on God’s green Earth that you should upset the apple cart and start from some other direction,” Scheffler says. Governor Kim Reynolds says having the Iowa Republican Party’s chairman AND Attorney General Brenna Bird in prominent speaking roles this week is a good indicator Iowa’s Caucuses will remain first.

“Just super proud of them and the role they’ve been able to play in the convention and really bringing Iowa just front and center,” Reynolds says. The Democratic National Committee kicked the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses out of the lead-off position in 2024. Some Iowa Democratic Party leaders have said they intend to try to get their Caucuses back in the first voting slot for the 2028 presidential campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa law allows schools to start on August 23rd this year — but the fall semester will begin September 5th in the Rock Valley school district as the community recovers from severe flash flooding that hit in June. In a message posted online, Rock Valley Superintendent Mike Van Voorst says district officials hope returning to classes can bring some normalcy back to students’ lives. School rooms aren’t ready, though, so students in kindergarten, first and second grades will start classes at a Rock Valley church.

Third, fourth and fifth graders will start school in cleaned, sanitized but unfinished classrooms. The State of Iowa is constructing six temporary classrooms that will be used by students in sixth through 12th grades and those older students will rotate back and forth to unfinished spaces in the school building where reconstruction is underway.

The superintendent says while the situation is far from ideal, the plan provides staff with the necessary space to educate students in person.

[updated 5:37-p.m.] (Atlantic, Iowa) – A fire at a home in Atlantic was declared under control about 20-minutes after the first firefighters arrived. The blaze was reported at around 4-p.m. at the home located at 1402 Bryn Mawr Blvd.  Heavy smoke was reported coming from the dwelling when the first firefighters arrived on the scene.

Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel said firefighters entered the south door of home and went downstairs, where the fire was primarily located. He says there was a lot of heavy smoke damage. Ventilation and clean-up operations  wrapped-up at around 5:40-p.m

Cappel says after speaking with the residents, he thinks the cause may have been a candle that was burning in the downstairs area, but a final determination was still being investigated at last report. He said three youth were at home when the fire was first noticed. All were reported to be safe. The home’s owner, Todd Glade and his wife had just arrived at the residence the kids told him about the fire.

AFD was assisted at the scene by Atlantic Police and Cass EMS.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking informal comments on administrative rules for special nonresident deer and turkey licenses. Executive Order 10 (EO10), signed by Governor Reynolds on January 10, 2023, requires all state agencies to identify which administrative rule chapters will be retained or rescinded. The EO10 process includes public engagement with the opportunity for meaningful input.

The Iowa DNR has reviewed the following rule chapter relating to programs administered by the Customer and Employee Services Bureau: 561 Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) Chapter 12 (Special Nonresident Deer and Turkey Licenses). Based on the review, the DNR has revised this chapter to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency and clarity. Additional changes include removing inconsistency on due dates for applications by allowing the coordinator to set dates, removing language about services provided by recipients of special promotional licenses, and removing reference to an electronic lottery system, as outdated.

The public is invited to provide informal comments on the proposed rule changes. The DNR will accept written comments through July 25, 2024. Written comments or questions regarding the proposed rules should be submitted to Denise.Roberg@dnr.iowa.gov. Comments should be made to specific portions of the rules.

After receiving and reviewing informal comments, the DNR will create a draft Regulatory Analysis and draft Notice of Intended Action. The DNR will host a formal public comment period for these drafts, followed by a public hearing, in September 2024.

Versions of the rules, including a “clean” copy and a version showing revisions, can be found on the DNR webpage: https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/About-DNR/Administrative-Rules.

(Radio Iowa) – The Dickinson County Emergency Management Commission will lift high water speed restrictions on the Iowa Great Lakes area this weekend. Dickinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Ehret says some commissioners wanted to extend the five-mile-an-hour rule another week, but that was overruled.

“There were still concerns about the shorelines that were damaged. There’s also concerns about the economic impact that it’s having on the lakes area and tourism,” Ehert says. “There’s no level that we can set that’s going to please everybody. It’s just not possible.” A report from the Iowa Regents’ Lakeside Lab says more than 70 shorelines have collapsed due to the high water. Tourism officials in the region estimate tourism is down by 40 to 60 percent. Ehert is urging boaters to remain cautious.

Photo via Okoboji Online

“Everybody’s anxious to get out in the lake and have fun but just be careful and then be respectful of the lake shore property owners that had damages,” he says. Ehret says the rule would be reinstated if the area get high amounts of rain that bring the water levels back up.

The speed limit for boaters and jet skiers will end Saturday at 6 a-m.

(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – An Algona woman is accused of stealing $1.8 million in state and federal funds from a state agency in South Dakota. Sixty-eight-year-old Lonna Carroll is charged with two felony counts of aggravated grand theft.

Carroll was an employee of South Dakota’s Department of Social Services who retired in 2013. She’s accused of embezzling money intended for child care services between 2010 and 2013. Carroll was arrested Wednesday in Algona and is awaiting extradition to South Dakota. Her bond has been set at $50,000.

(Kossuth County booking photo)

According to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Carroll’s position within South Dakota’s Department of Social Services let her request payments and then intercept the checks. Jackley says staff in the agency discovered the scheme this past February, more than a decade after Carroll retired.

(Radio Iowa) – One of Spencer’s school buildings won’t be opening this fall due to flood damage and about 500 third, fourth and fifth graders who would have been starting school at Lincoln Elementary next month will attend classes in other buildings in the district. “We’re going to be cozy and tight in our buildings, but we’re going to be OK,” said Spencer Superintendent Terry Hemann.

Third and fourth graders will go to two other elementary buildings in the district. Fifth graders will go to Spencer’s middle school. “That comes after a lot of discussion and a lot of work by a principals to find the space for everyone that we’re moving,” Hemann said.

Classes start August 23 in Spencer. Online registration is underway through August 11.

“Additionally we will have an in-person day this year, which we haven’t done in a while, but we’ll have an in-person registration day on August 8,” Hemann said. “We’ll do that for anybody who needs a device to complete online registration. It’s kind of hard to do that on your cell phone.”

Last week, the head Iowa Department of Education said her agency was rounding up portable classrooms for Spencer and Rock Valley schools. Spencer’s superintendent said his district came up with its plan to shift students to other buildings in the district because there was greater need in Rock Valley schools for portable classrooms