COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – An Audubon County man was sentenced on April 18, 2023, to 60 months in prison following his plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

On September 15, 2022, Audubon County Sheriff’s Department, Atlantic Police Department, Audubon Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Department, and Iowa State Patrol, responded to a call of shots fired. Deputies found Adam Lee Karstens, 41, standing outside the residence by a locked pickup truck. A search of the vehicle revealed a nine-millimeter Taurus handgun with an obliterated serial number underneath the driver’s seat. Karstens was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he had a prior felony conviction. Karstens must serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – April 19, 2023 – Drivers who travel on Interstate 29 and Pottawattamie County Road G-12 near Loveland need to be aware of an upcoming concrete paving project that may slow down their trip beginning on Wednesday, April 26 until Friday, June 2, weather permitting.

During this bridge closure, drivers on southbound I-29 wanting to access eastbound Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) will travel south to the Honey Creek interchange (exit 66), turn north onto northbound I-29, and exit at Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) where they can travel east.

Drivers on northbound I-29 who wish to travel west on Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) will travel north to the Missouri Valley interchange (exit 71), turn onto southbound I-29, and exit at Pottawattamie County Road G-12 (exit 72) where they can travel west.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – April 19, 2023 – Drivers on U.S. 30, three miles east of Denison, need to be aware of a bridge construction project that may slow down their trip. Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 24 until Oct. 28, weather permitting, construction crews will reduce the roadway to one lane with traffic controlled with traffic signals as they replace the U.S. 30 bridge over Rocky Run Creek near Denison.

During this project, a ten-foot lane-width restriction will be in place. Jensen Construction Co. was awarded the $1.8 million project.

Sidney, Iowa – On April 17, 2023, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a stabbing at 508 Main St. in Sidney, Iowa. Upon arrival, deputies and first responders located two make subjects outside the residence who had been stabbed, one individual later succumbed to his injuries, while the other was life flighted to University of Omaha Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha with life threatening injuries.

On the afternoon of April 18, 2023, a forensic autopsy was conducted by the Iowa Office of the State Medial Examiner on the deceased male. The death has been ruled as a homicide and the manner of death was identified as stab wounds. The deceased male has been identified as 26-year-old Corey Miller of Sidney, Iowa.

The second stabbing victim has been identified as 28-year-old D’Andre Kyle of Sidney, Iowa. Kyle is currently in stable condition at UNMC.

On April 17th, a search warrant was conducted at 508 Main St in Sidney where upon illegal and illicit items were seized. On April 18, 2023, Mark Dupre (age 26) and Katelan Jacobs (age 23) of 508 Main St. Sidney, Iowa, were arrested at a separate location by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office on charges stemming from the search warrant. Both Dupre and Jacobs were charged with possession of a controlled substances with intent to deliver over 5 grams of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Dupre was also charges with possession of marijuana (2nd offense) and Jacobs was charged with possession of marijuana (1st offense). Dupre’s bond was set at $100,000.00 cash and Jacobs was set at $300,000.00 cash.

Jacobs

Dupre

This is an on-going criminal investigation, and no further details will be released at this time.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 36-year-old Bradley James Jackson, of Glenwood, was arrested last Friday afternoon at the Mills County Jail. He was taken into custody under the authority of a Montgomery County warrant for 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse. Jackson posted $25,000 bond, and was released.

On April 13th, 37-year-old Jason Kyle Rush, of Elliott, was arrested on a warrant for Domestic Assault. He later posted a $300 bond, and was released.

And, on Wednesday, April 19th, 21-year-old Chad Stanley Padilla, of Red Oak, was arrested by Montgomery County Deputies, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, on $2,500 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – A national group is helping a family near Wellman continuing to recover from the damage done by the March 31st tornado, as planting season gets underway. Clint Whetstine’s family’s farms have been in Wellman since the late 1880s. There are multiple farmsteads, and while not every one saw destruction — Whetstine tells K-C-R-G T-V the E-F4 tornado wiped out one. “Did not have a structure left standing here,” Whetstine says, “the machine sheds, the livestock buildings, they’re all gone.”

Dan Erdmann and the non-profit group Farm Rescue is helping the Whetstines with the big task of recovery. “The whole goal is to lighten the burden. He said, “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work.”  While the nonprofit gets many requests, he tells K-C-R-G T-V this particular instance is one that has taken priority. “As you might imagine, there’s still quite a bit of debris strewn about so we’ve been cleaning up the fields. But the last few days we’ve been doing that tillage work,” he says.

Farm damage near Wellman, IA. (KCRG-TV photo)

Erdman says they call it a hand up, not a hand out. He says they’re providing tangible support just to get them through this crisis and onto the next season, and hopefully keep them farming long-term.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood, today (Wednesday), report the arrest on Sunday (April 16), of Mikayla Nelson, from Glenwood. Nelson was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. She was released after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A man from Nebraska was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, to 168 months (14-years) in prison following his plea of guilty to distribution of a controlled substance. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on January 12, 2021, the Council Bluffs Police and Council Bluffs Fire Departments were dispatched to a motel to provide medical treatment to an unresponsive victim, who ultimately died from a fentanyl overdose. 22-year-old Jason D. Hartzell, of Omaha, distributed fentanyl pressed pills to the victim.

Officers linked Hartzell to the fentanyl overdose death after reviewing phone information, social media information, surveillance footage, and conducting witness interviews. Hartzell must serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The Council Bluffs Police Department, Omaha Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.
Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pills, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl.

Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – If you plan on indulging (albeit illegally, in Iowa) on marijuana, Thursday (“420 Day), you should know that the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB) is partnering with law enforcement, to keep drug-impaired drivers off the road. Drug-impaired driving is dangerous and illegal. The Iowa GTSB and Department of Public Safety (DPS) says “If you feel different, you drive different.”

Statistics show, that in Iowa, from 2020-2022, 36% of impaired driving fatalities involved drug use. Authorities say “It has been proven marijuana can slow reaction times, impair cognitive performance, and make it more difficult for drivers to stay in their lane. The GTSB’s coordinator for Iowa’s Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program, Todd Olmstead, says “High, stoned, or wasted: it doesn’t matter what term you use, if you are impaired, do not get behind the wheel. Our DRE experts assist local law enforcement in the detection of drug-impaired drivers. If you think you can get away with driving high, you’re mistaken.”

Those who plan to consume cannabis on “420 Day” (or any day, for that matter): Don’t drive! If you find yourself drug-impaired and stranded in your vehicle, give your keys to a sober driver. If you have a friend who is about to drive “High,” take the keys and help them get home safely.

According to urban legend, “420 Day” began in 1971, when five San Rafael, CA. High School students devised a secret code which they used to indicate to each other that they would meet later in the day to smoke cannabis. After saying “420” to each other in passing in their school hallways, they would then meet at 4.20pm in order to smoke cannabis. Time magazine reported in 2016, the actual numbers “420” don’t have much symbolic significance.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a regular weekly session on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. According to the meeting minutes provided by Auditor Mark Maxwell, the Board heard from Supervisor Bryce Schaben, who noted the Nishna Bend boat ramp is getting closer to completion. Assistant Shelby County Engineer Chris Fredericksen presented a utilities permit application from Nishna Valley REC, for the Board to consider. A motion to approve was passed unanimously. Fredericksen mentioned also, the recent rain has given the road blading operations better outcomes.

The Board then held a public hearing on the proposed FY 2024 Shelby County Budget. There were no spoken or written comments. The Board closed the hearing and acted to Adopt the Budget as presented, along with the Shelby County Compensation Board recommendations. They also acted to pass a resolution setting May 16, 2023 at 9-a.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on a Budget Amendment for Public Safety and Legal Services, amounting to $843,838.

In other business, the Shelby County Board of Supervisors passed two resolutions that established a180-day moratorium, effective immediately, on commercial Wind and Solar Energy construction permits, so that the Board will have more time to gather information and coordinate with multiple agencies for the purpose of reviewing, updating or creating ordinances, policies and procedures relative to commercial wind and solar energy systems. The moratorium prohibits the siting, construction, and operation of commercial wind and solar energy systems, until such time as the Board is able to draft and adopting an ordinance regulating those commercial energy systems.