(Radio Iowa/updated) – The prosecution wrapped up its case around noon today (Thursday) against the Grundy Center man accused of killing State Trooper Jim Smith during a standoff last April. In coverage streamed by K-C-R-G T-V, the lawyer for Michael Lang asked the judge to dismiss the charges for lack of evidence. But Judge Joel Dalrymple declined.

“The court does find that there is a question of fact regarding the defendant of having acted with malice aforethought and that the defendant acted willfully deliberately with premeditation and with the specific intent to kill serve as Smith. And so as it relates to count one, the motion is denied,” he says. That count is first-degree murder, and the judge also denied the request to dismiss charges of attempted murder and assault on a police officer in connection with the case.

The prosecution rested after calling a ballistics expert from the D-C-I and the State Medical Examiner to testify. The defense lawyer then said they would not call any witnesses. They also said Lang would not testify in his own defense and the judge confirmed it with him. “Would you like any additional time to discuss that matter with your attorneys before that is a final decision,” Dalrymple said. Lang replied “no sir.”

Prosecutors asked that the trial not be resumed until Monday to allow Sergeant Smith’s family can fly to Washington, D-C for the National Peace Officer Memorial ceremony Friday. The defense attorney said he had a concern about the long weekend and jurors possible discussing the case. The judge addressed the issue with the jury before ending the session for the day. “The court obviously always has concerns, heightened concerns when we take a break for a weekend because that opportunity for things that might create issues and problems for all of us are just that much more prevalent over the course of a weekend,” he said.

The judge then reminded the jury they have not gotten the case yet and should not discuss it during the next three days. “Stray away from whether it be the barbecue, and the neighbor who’s a well aware of the fact that you’re on this jury wants to come over — particularly after a couple of beers and start chirping in your ear — about their opinion of jury service or this case or whatever the case may be. That you walk away and you make it clear to them that you want no part of that and that they shouldn’t be talking to you about that,” Dalrymple said.

He also reminded jurors to not discuss the case with family members during the weekend. The trial will resume Monday at the Hamilton County Courthouse in Webster City where the case was moved on a change of venue.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office say one person was injured during a dump truck rollover accident this (Thursday) morning. The incident occurred at around 7:23-a.m. on westbound Highway 34, near mile marker 2. Authorities say 24-year-old Tuwane English, of Omaha, was driving a 2018 Freightliner dump truck and en route to a work site.

As the vehicle was traversing a curve to the right, it went off the road to the left, and came into contact with the shoulder. English over-corrected caused the truck to lose traction and cross both lanes of traffic before losing more traction and skidded back across the lanes to the median. The truck skidded sideways while entering the median and flipped over before coming to rest on its wheels.

The driver was transported by Glenwood Rescue to the UNMC in Omaha. He was cited for Failure to Maintain Control, and for not wearing a seat belt. The dump truck was a total loss.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four arrests took place Wednesday:

• 30-year-old Dillan Michael Jones, of Glenwood, was arrested for Child Endangerment, Assault w/Injury, Assault on Person in Certain Occupations, and Interference w/Official Acts (Bond: $6,300)
• 25-year-old Cheyenne Rose Lopez, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original Probation Violation charge. (Bond: $25,000)
• 37-year-old Shanna Marie Black, of Bellevue, NE, was also arrested at the Pott. County Jail. She was taken into custody at around 5:23-p.m., on a warrant for Violation of Probation. (Bond$5,000)
• and, 49-year-old Edward John Deaman, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Wednesday for Driving While Barred. (Bond $2,000)

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report a civilian K9 instructor was issued a citation for assault, following an altercation this (Thursday) morning at the Police Department. Authorities say at 10-a.m., K-9 training was being conducted at the Council Bluffs Police Department. 28-year-old Anson Berry entered the lobby of the police station and began filming the training being conducted in the Community Room.

One of the civilian course instructors approached Berry and inquired about him filming. A physical altercation began but was quickly brought under control. Berry refused medical attention.

(Radio Iowa) – A Sioux City sailor who died aboard the U-S-S Oklahoma during the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor is coming home. The remains of storekeeper third class Harry Nichols will be buried Friday at a ceremony at Memorial Park Cemetery. Mark Nichols is the nephew of the sailor and he was contacted about identifying his uncle’s remains after he had his D-N-A tested by a national company.

“Some relatives of mine that I’d never knew existed in Delaware reached out to me and said the Navy was looking for relatives of Harry Nichols because they were trying to basically do the D-N-A match,” he says. “and I submitted that to them sometime in latter part I believe of 2018 and about mid-2020, the Navy contacted me and said they had found a number of bones that were identified as Harry Nichols, based on my D-N-A.” The COVID pandemic prevented the Navy from holding a visit with the Nichols family until this April 1st when they got together with Nichols and his sister at her home in Tennessee. They brought a 100-page book to the family with Nichols’ history of service and an explanation of the identification process.

USS Oklahoma Storekeeper 3rd Class, Harry E. Nichols.

“That basically starts with Harry’s induction letters, all that paperwork in there all the forensics and pathology analysis that they had done and identifying Harry’s remains. The Navy has informed Harry’s parents, and my grandparents. He was lost during Pearl Harbor,” Nichols says. He says there was also a letter from Harry’s mom. “She writes a handwritten letter that was actually in this booklet that expressed her frustration with not knowing the exact outcome of Harry,” he explains. Harry Nichols was 20 years old when he enlisted in January of 1941 and had turned 21 when he died 11 months later at Pearl Harbor. Mark says his my dad went through North Africa into Italy and fought in nine major campaigns and did say that there wasn’t a day that didn’t go by that he didn’t think of his brother. Mark intends to do something very special at Friday’s ceremonies:

“And I’m actually bringing my dad’s ashes with me and having him buried with his brother and his parents,” Nichols says. Project Oklahoma started in 2015 to identify 388 service members who were unaccounted for after the ship was hit at Pearl Harbor. There have now been 355 individuals identified using D-N-A reference samples from U-S-S Oklahoma families as well as many medical and dental records from the Oklahoma service members.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – An Atlantic man facing felony charges of Arson and Attempted Murder, as well a Serious Misdemeanor charge of Assault causing bodily injury or mental illness, and other charges, will stand trial in July. According to online court records, the trial for 30-year-old Anthony Rey Asay will take place in Cass County District Court on July 12th, beginning at 9:30-a.m.  His arraignment will be held on June 6th, with a pre-trial conference on June 11th.

Asay is accused of being involved in a May 4th residential structure fire on Cedar Street in Atlantic, and an assault that occurred later that same day at 1207 Birch Street in Atlantic. During the apprehension, he was uncooperative and resisted Officers. Asay was charged with Possession of Marijuana./1st offense, and a separate assault charge in connection with an incident that took place April 30th .

(Radio Iowa) – Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg, a native of Hawarden, says northwest Iowa is proof that private schools do not diminish the performance of public schools.  “The thriving public and private schools right here in this area I believe are proof positive that education and school choice are not a zero sum game,” Gregg says. “All can be winners in that.”

Gregg addressed a crowd in Sioux Center on Wednesday. “If there’s proof anywhere in the state of Iowa and maybe anywhere in the United States that public and private schools can live together harmoniously, it’s Sioux County,” Gregg said. “We’re here in Sioux Center. Sioux Center has an outstanding public school. It also has Sioux Center Christian.”

Sioux Center Christian is a kindergarten through eighth grade school with about 550 students. About three times that many students are enrolled in Sioux Center’s public K-through-12 schools. The governor’s plan to provide 55-hundred dollar state scholarships to 10-thousand private school students has stalled in the Republican-led Iowa House. Critics say it will shift state funding away from public schools in th e42 rural counties in Iowa that do not have a private school. Others say it will become an ever increasing entitlement for the parents of students who attend private schools.

The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports a traffic stop Wednesday on Highway 2, about three-miles east of Clarinda, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Clarinda. 48-year-old Christina Kay Johnston was taken into custody for Driving Under Suspension. She was transported to the Page County Jail and held on $491.25 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This weekend will mark the 30th annual National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive in Iowa. Mark McNees is a supervisor with the Atlantic Post Office. He say non-perishable goods collected Saturday will benefit the Atlantic Food Pantry. It’s especially important because of the effect COVID had on collection efforts the past two-years. He says in the past the community was always supportive of the food drive.

Bags of food may be placed beside your mailbox — either by the house or at the curb on Saturday morning. McNees says this year, their focus is not so much on getting as many non-perishable goods they can gather, it’s about how much money they can get, in order to secure a grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). The Pantry needs $25,000 to qualify for the federal COVID-19 dollars.

Mark says if you wish to donate cash, please hand it to the carrier directly, or bring it down to the Post Office, which will be open on Saturday. For every $1 raised by the pantry, an additional $4 becomes available from the grant for food purchases by the pantry.

Since 2019, the local number of families served annually, in Atlantic, has tripled and the cost has increased by an even larger amount. The Atlantic Food Pantry has been serving the community since 1982. Donations to the Food Pantry are tax deductible. During its previous 29 years, the USPS food drive has brought in more than one-point-eight billion pounds of food nationwide.

(Johnston, Iowa) – The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) was formed in the late 1800s and has continued across much of Iowa to this day. Officials with the Weather Service in Central Iowa said the volunteer program is currently struggling however, with numerous vacancies leading to gaps in the climate record in many locations.

KJAN photo from Jan. 6, 2014.

The official records, officials says, are invaluable to learning more about floods, droughts, heat and cold waves, agricultural planning and assessment, engineering, and litigation. Observations can also play a critical part in deciding whether local communities receive state and federal disaster declarations and benefits. If observations are not available for your location, officials may determine these declarations, with hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars on the line, based on surrounding observations, which may or may not be representative of your community.

CoOp Observer taking rain gauge measurement. (NWS)

The NWS in Johnston is asking for persons to help with record keeping, especially persons who are able to record data at the same time every day. Co-op observers are volunteers who use equipment (digital thermometers, an official rain gauge and other tools) provided by the National Weather Service, and routinely record daily high and low temperatures, as well as precipitation and snowfall amounts, at a particular time, often 7am (a 24-hour cycle). You will receive instructions on how and where to measure snow. The observations should only take you a few minutes per day.

In southwest Iowa, a Co-Op observer is needed in Bedford, which began keeping the official records in 1898, and in Beaconsfield, where records have been kept since 1951. If you, or another weather enthusiast you know, would be interested in being a part of this long standing network or would like more information, please contact either Cory Martin or Allan Curtis by emailing the office at dmx.coop@noaa.gov or calling (515) 270-4501.

Here is the list of communities where Observers are needed the most (and the year the records were first recorded)

Albia (1894); Ankeny (1950); Beaconsfield (1951); Bedford (1898); Britt (1897); Clarion (1944); Conrad (1977); Gilman (1899); Harcourt (1963); Hubbard (1973); Jewell (1949); Lorimor (1950); Ottumwa (1894); Parkersburg (1951); Tripoli (1946); Winterset (1893).