w/ Brett Johnson

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Friday, that a Clarinda man pleaded guilty to trespassing while hunting deer north of Hepburn, in Page County, on December 17th, 2011.  Officials say while 29-year old Donald E. Runyon entered his guilty plea in court on January 4th, and paid nearly $400 in fines and court costs, he faced additional charges uncovered during the trespassing investigation. Runyon was charged last Monday, with two felony counts of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He was taken into custody and has since been released on a $5,000 cash bond.

The DNR says Runyon had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and based on that conviction was prohibited from possessing firearms. A court date has not been set.  The investigation into his alleged activities was conducted by officers from Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State Patrol, Page County Sheriff’s Office, Clarinda Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The Trevor Frederickson Fund in Atlantic recently provided a boost to the Schuler and Washington Elementary Libraries, by donating $1,000 for new books to those libraries. Fund representative Melanie Petty said she was able to visit with Janice Dickerson, Atlantic School Librarian, and view a series of Major League Baseball books she was able to purchase for Schuler Elementary.

Melanie Petty visits with Janice Dickerson, Atlantic School Librarian

Melanie says her son Trevor loved the Big Leagues, especially the Chicago Cubs.  She says they were also able to contribute approximately 32 new books to Washington Elementary. It’s the second year the Fund has been able to help out the libraries.

Petty says the children of our community are our future, and as the community continues to support the Foundation through the annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament, they will continue to support the community of Atlantic. The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund was established after the 21-year old Atlantic native died during a Council Bluffs house fire, in June 2009. The fund raises money by hosting the annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission hit the Riverside Casino with a 20-thousand dollar fine this week for allowing an underage person to get onto the gambling floor. It was the second recent violation for the facility. General manager Dan Franz spoke to the commission. “We certainly regret that this happened, we take it very seriously, we take our responsibility to maintain the integrity of the gaming floor very seriously. And quite frankly to be up here again the second time within a year regarding a violation, we’re embarrassed by that, and don’t feel good about it at all,” Franz said. Franz says this case was a simple mistake as the minor had a paper I-D and it couldn’t be scanned by the security officer.

Franz says the man looked at the I-D and immediately started looking at the height and weight listed and missed the date of the person’s birth. “There’s really not other excuse for it, other than he made a mistake,” Franz said. Riverside also paid a 20-thousand dollar fine for the first instance, and would have to pay 30-thousand dollars if there is another problem before April. The Racing and Gaming Commission also fined Harrah’s Casino and the Horseshoe Casino, both in Council Bluffs, $3,000 each for allowing someone who had banned themselves from gambling to enter the casinos. Commission administrator Jack Ketterer says the casinos have to be vigilant in preventing people who “self exclude” themselves from gambling.

“People do that all the time, and there’s not any way for the licensees to catch all these people, but what we do want them to do is when they have a taxable jackpot….that they compare that person’s name with the name on the self exclusion list and their Social Security number,” Ketterer said. He says these two casinos did not catch the self exclusions and allow the people to collect jackpots. Any jackpot over 12-hundred dollars requires identification before it can be paid out.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say one-person was arrested late Friday night on a charge of Public Intoxication. 28-year old Jared Alan Gresham, of Red Oak, was taken into custody just before midnight. Gresham was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

Authorities in Montgomery County are asking for the public’s help in finding the person or persons responsible for a break-in and burglary at a church in Emerson. The Sheriff’s Department says members of the Wales United Presbyterian Church reported late Friday morning, someone entered the church and took several items.  The burglary happened sometime between 5-pm Thursday and 9:45-a.m. Friday.  If you were in the area and noticed any suspicious activity during that time frame, you’re asked to call Montgomery County Crime Stoppers, at 1-800-432-1001, or the Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107.

The Iowa State Patrol says a 22-year old woman from Shelby County died Friday afternoon during a crash between her car and a semi-tractor trailer. Nicollette M. Johnston, of Harlan, died at the scene of the crash on Interstate 80, a little more than two-miles west of the Avoca exit.  Officials says Johnston’s 2006 Saturn was traveling west on I-80 at around 1-p.m., when, for reasons unknown, her car went out of control, entered the median, spun counterclockwise and came to rest on the eastbound lanes of I-80, where it was struck on broadside by a 2007 Volvo semi. The truck impacted the car on the driver’s side, causing it to enter the median, where it came to rest.

The semi, registered to Holiday Express in Estherville, and driven by 45-year old Bret Roberts, of Estherville, crossed the median and came to rest on the westbound lanes of I-80. The accident, which remains under investigation, closed the interstate in both directions, for nearly 4 hours.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has confirmed 40-year old Robert Taylor’s vehicle was located at the eight mile marker on the side of the road along I-29, northbound Friday evening.  Officials said a subject matching the description of Taylor is deceased due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. However, positive identification won’t be made until the autopsy is completed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

Murder suspect Robert Taylor

At approximately 2:06-am Friday, the Ringgold County Communications Center received a 911 call from 2339 – 280th Street in Mt. Ayr.  A juvenile inside the home called and reported a domestic altercation between Taylor,  and 45-year old Lori Yeager.  The responding deputies found Lori Yeager dead inside the home; the victim of an apparent homicide. Robert Taylor was not located at the home.

Since law enforcement discovered Yeager dead Friday morning, they had been actively searching for Robert Taylor.  An active arrest warrant had been issued for Taylor on the charge of Murder in the First Degree.  Taylor was last seen driving a copper (burnt orange) 2008 Ford F350 Super Duty truck with Iowa license 981 RZD.

Vehicle similar to Taylor's, which authorities had been looking for

KCCI-TV in Des Moines is confirming a report we first reported here on KJAN.com, that the Mt. Ayr murder suspect is dead. Officials say a man matching the description of 40-year old Robert Daren Taylor, of Mt. Ayr,  shot himself in front of a Freemont deputy this (Friday) afternoon. The Freemont County Sheriff said his deputy spotted the Ford pickup Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents were looking for around 4 p.m. on Interstate 29 near mile marker 8.

The sheriff told KCCI when his deputy approached the vehicle, the man inside opened his car door, faced the deputy and shot himself. Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents told the station the man who shot himself matches the description of Taylor, but they could not confirm his identity without an autopsy. However, according to scanner traffic by law enforcement monitored by KJAN News Director Ric Hanson, a Medical Examiner who arrived on the scene was said to have acknowledged Taylor was the man who died.

Taylor was wanted by law enforcement in the death of 45-year Lori Yeager, who agents said lived with Taylor. Yeager and Taylor’s 9-year-old daughter called 911 just after 2 a.m. Friday to report a fight between the two. When authorities arrived they said they found Yeager dead and Taylor missing.

Sheriff’s Officials in Page County say a College Springs man was arrested Friday morning on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, an aggravated misdemeanor. 34-year old Ricky Dean Peterson was taken into custody at around 10:20-a.m., following an investigation into a complaint about domestic abuse at a residence in the 900 block of School Street in College Springs.  Peterson was being held in the Page County Jail without bond,  until he appears before a magistrate.