Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — the former governor of Arkansas — is standing by his defense of an Arkansas family after revelations the family’s teenage son molested underage girls. Last month Josh Duggar — one of the stars of a cable T-V reality show called “19 Kids and Counting” — confessed to molesting four of his underage sisters and a babysitter when he was a teenager after a magazine published police records of the case. In late May, Huckabee called Duggar’s behavior “inexcusable” but not “unforgivable.” Today (Wednesday), Huckabee stood by those remarks.

“I never regret standing with friends of mine, in this case someone that I knew since serving in the legislature,” Huckabee said. “You know, I just feel for his sisters who have been unfairly been paraded through a living hell because the media’s not interested in truth. They’re interested in exploiting a very unfortunate situation.”
Huckabee is campaigning in southwest Iowa today (Wednesday). Huckabee says the country “is in more trouble now than it was eight years ago” when he won the Iowa Caucuses and is “hurting” for new leadership.

“In the history of the Caucus no one has ever received more votes in a Republican Caucus win that we did in 2008,” Huckabee said. “But I’m mindful of the fact that we can’t count on any of that being automatic. We have to go back and win it and earn it just like we did eight years ago and that’s why I am, will be and can be depended upon to spend a lot of time in Iowa between now and February.” Huckabee met with about 50 people at a cafe in Clarinda this morning (Wednesday) for nearly 90 minutes, with a stop this afternoon in Red Oak and early this evening in Creston — the same type of retail campaigning he engaged in during his 2008 run.

“Not everybody will come out of Iowa alive,” Huckabee said. “…We need to come out of here like a rocket and that’s our goal, to win the Caucus.” Reporters asked Huckabee for his thoughts on Donald Trump’s entry into the Republican race. Huckabee noted Trump has indicated he’ll use his own wealth to finance his campaign. Huckabee joked that anyone who had thought about contributing to Trump’s campaign now is more than welcome to donate to the “Huckabee for President” effort.

(Radio Iowa)

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – A federal appeals court says a Waterloo officer was justified in stopping a drug suspect who was driving just barely over the speed limit. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the officer’s belief that the car was speeding was reasonable based on the circumstances.

An analysis of dash cam video shows Geoffrey Gaffney drove an average speed of 35.8 miles per hour in a 35 zone during the nine seconds the officer observed him. During the stop, police found methamphetamine in Gaffney’s car. He later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Dissenting Judge Kermit Bye says the officer didn’t have sufficient basis for the stop and lacked credentials to visually estimate the car’s speed.

A bomb threat shut down the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids for two hours early this (Wednesday) morning. Police were alerted by OnStar at 3 a.m. about a man claiming to have an explosive at the airport. A suspect was taken into custody a short time later near the airport, which was placed on lockdown.

Emily Dudley of Cedar Rapids told KCRG-TV she arrived at the airport and nearly missed her flight. “We came in and there were cop cars everywhere. We had to wait in line. Then they told us we had to go around. We waited for about 40 minutes. Then, finally, they let us through,” Dudley said.

Bomb technicians searched the terminal and the parking lot. No explosives were found and the lockdown was lifted around 5 a.m. The man who was taken into custody was transported to a hospital for an evaluation.

(KCRG/Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved fireworks permits for four rural residents. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman said there were six applications filed, but two were within City limits, with those two being referred to the Cities for approval. The other permits filed include those on behalf of the Marsh family, with the event taking place near the Old Walnut Grove Research Farm southwest of Atlantic.

The second permit was for the Abild family at 66610 610th Street, which is southeast of Lewis. The third permit approved by the Board was for Chad Williams 62495 690th, north of Cumberland. The final permit was for Karen Ackerman at 61211 690th, which is south of Wiota.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors heard from Griswold City Manager Nick MacGregor and Assistant Cass County Attorney Jamie Arnold, with regard to the annexation of a parcel or parcels of land owned by Rick Conry. MacGregor said at this point, he wanted to inform the Board about recent action taken by the Griswold City Council, and no action was needed by the Board. He said the Council recently passed a Resolution for voluntary annexation of property near 6 Union Street, just off of Highway 48.

Dale Sunderman explained that if annexed, the property taxes will be levied by the City, instead of the County. The County has maintained a road on the property, but whose jurisdiction it would fall under if annexation is approved, is a subject of debate.

The County Engineer’s Office says the road appears to be under private ownership, according to Sunderman. In any event, there are still several “hoops” to jump through before annexation takes place, including at least one public hearing.