(Radio Iowa) – A Des Moines man is now jailed in the murder of his motel roommate. Police were called to the southside motel Friday on a report of a man bleeding and in apparent cardiac arrest. They found the body of 45-year-old Russell McKeehan Junior in his room, dead of a gunshot. A man police say was the victim’s roommate at the motel for at least a month was later charged in the killing. Reports say overwhelming evidence points to 50-year-old Surfun Boens as having pulled the trigger, including a message on his cell phone saying he “did something super super bad” and needed to “get out of town.” Police say Boens was carrying a recently-fired gun when arrested.

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A Sioux City man is jailed in the weekend shooting death of a woman on the city’s north side. Police say 23-year-old Austyn Self is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of child endangerment. Police Sergeant Tom Gill says officers were dispatched to a house around 9:40 P-M Saturday during a 9-1-1 call where a woman was pleading for help. “Approximately two minutes into the phone call as police were heading to the scene, our dispatchers heard a gunshot, there was one gunshot,” Gill says. “They heard the female screaming on the line. When officers arrived on scene, they didn’t make entry right away. They called the male party out and he came out. He was cooperative. He came out with his hands up.”

Gill says officers found the 31-year-old woman in the home with a gunshot injury to her abdomen. “She was slowly breathing at this time,” Gill says. “They did have medical on scene. Medical began working on the female in the house. They then transported her to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead.” The woman’s name hasn’t been released. Gill says the suspect and victim were in a relationship. “They do live together. They do have at least one child together,” Gill says. “There was three children in the house, all under five years of age. That’s why the three counts of child endangerment.”

Self is being held in the Woodbury County Jail.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will discuss and act on several matters to come before them during their meeting 9-a.m. Tuesday, in their Courthouse Boardroom. According to the agenda, the Board will:

• Discuss a Township allocation to the Wiota Fire Department
• Act on approving a five-year lease extension with the Cambridge Law Firm for part of a county-owned building near 8th and Poplar Streets.
• Approve a Resolution with regard to Livestock Facility Construction Evaluation and the use of the Master Matrix.
• Approve changes to the employee manual.
• The Board will also act on the following appointments:
  • Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett to the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), for 2023 (w/City Admin. John Lund as Alternate)
  • Chelsea McCunn to the County Zoning Board of Adjustment
  • Brighton Township Clerk (If a candidate is available), and,
  • Victoria Township Trustee (if a candidate is available).

The Cass County Supervisors will also hear a monthly report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber, a Quarterly report from County Conservation Director Micah Lee, and a weekly report from Engineer Trent Wolken.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four recent arrests. At around 3:12-a.m. Sunday, 20-year-old Emily Marie Dohrn, of Creston, was arrested at Birch and Fremont Streets She was taken into custody on multiple warrants, including two out Union County for Forgery, Possession of a Controlled Substance/marijuana -1st offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Interference with Official Acts, and Providing False Identification Information. She was being held without bond in the Clarke County Jail.

Saturday night, 28-year-old Brandon Walls, of Creston, was arrested at Sumner and Spencer on a charge of OWI 1^{st offense.}  Walls was transported to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

There were two arrests on Friday, in Creston: 21-year-old Malachi Shon Elms, of Orient, was arrested at around 8:47-p.m. Elms was charged with Disorderly Conduct, Interference with Official Acts, and Public Intox. Elms was taken to the Union County Jail where he was released on $900 cash or surety bond. And, at around 9:32-p.m., Friday, 37-year-old Ashley Ann Davis, of Creston, was arrested at 119 N Walnut. Davis was charged with Assault. Davis was taken to the Union County Jail where she later bonded.

On Thursday, Creston Police arrested 40-year-old Milea Mickey, of Creston. Mickey was charged with Assault and transported to the Union County Jail. She was released on promise to appear. in court.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak say no injuries were reported following a collision that occurred at around 1:40-p.m. Saturday, on Highway 48 (Broadway St.). Authorities say a2006 Dodge pickup driven by 60-year-old Steven Johnson, of Red Oak, was southbound on Broadway. A 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 16-year-old Maddex McCunn, of Red Oak, was at a stop sign and began to pull out from the stop sign. He failed to see the pickup passing by and struck the pickup broadside. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts.

The collision caused the truck to spin into the grass on the west side of the road. McCunn was cited for Failure to Yield from a Stop Sign. Damage from the collision amounted to $10, 500.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council will begin their regular session at 4-p.m. Wednesday (90 minutes earlier than normal) Jan. 18th, due to what City Administrator John Lund says is a “Presentation-heavy meeting themed around economic development.” The meeting takes place in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

The only action item on the action is an Order to reappoint Lloyd Munson to the Board of Adjustment. The meeting includes a Public Hearing on the status of funded activities for the City of Atlantic CDBG CV Project (Community Development Block Grant Corona Virus eligible project[s]).

Presentations are expected from:

• Retail Coach Austin Farmer, with regard to retail recruitment activity.
• Chamber Executive Director Bailey Smith, on 2022 Chamber Accomplishments and 2023 Goal.
• CADCO (Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation) Executive Director Jen McEntaffer will present a similar report to Smith’s.
• and, Jessie Shiels and Alexsis Fleener will discuss the DiscoverAtlanticIowa.com Project.

In his report to the Council, Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue will discuss Dec. 13, 2022 through Jan. 11, 2023 Police Department date, that includes:

• 427 Calls for Service
• 60 Traffic stops
• 34 Citations issued.
• 22 Written Warnings issued
• 26 Arrests were conducted
• 40 Charges were filed
• 20 Incident reports were completed, and
• 12 accidents were covered.

Following the regular session, the Atlantic City Council will adjourn and open a Work Session/Budget Workshop, which includes discussion on: Emergency Management Preparedness Planning; FY 2024 Budget Issues and Beyond, and a Budget Schedule for Jan. 19 through Feb. 15, 2023.

(Radio Iowa) – An Elma man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a New Hampton man. The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says 26-year-old Sayvonne Jordan is accused of killing Jonathan Esparza on October 20th in Elma. Authorities executed a search warrant at Jordan’s home on November 30th and human remains were found.

The sheriff’s office says Esparza was listed as a missing person and his car was located on November 11th. Jordan is being held in the Howard County Jail on one million dollars bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control show the most recent bivalent COVID-19 booster is very effective in preventing hospitalizations of older Iowans. Some of the state data came from the University of Iowa and it shows that people over 65 who got the bivalent booster were 73 percent less likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who have just received doses of a monovalent vaccine. U-I emergency medicine professor, Nick Mohr, says the elderly aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the bivalent booster. “Being vaccinated is important not only for those people, but for the people who are in their families and their loved ones and friends to protect the people who are most likely to have bad outcomes from COVID 19 infection,” Mohr says.

He says the bivalent booster is also effective against the new highly transmittable XBB.1.5 subvariant. “The vaccine is still especially effective at preventing hospitalization and death and COVID-19. And even with the new variant, it looks like the bivalent vaccine is still an effective tool in the toolbox,” he says.

Information from the C-D-C shows just more than half of Iowa seniors who are 65 and older have received the bivalent booster.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg says the State of Iowa will be testing a smart phone app that could improve emergency response times in rural Iowa.) “Last year on a trade mission to Israel I learned about the United Hatzalah model for EMS. Hatzalah is the Hebrew word for rescue,” Gregg said. “Think of it as Uber, but for EMS, allowing us to crowd source emergency responders. When an emergency occurs and 911 is called nearby trained volunteers are alerted through an app on their phone, allowing them to respond quickly and stabilize the patient until an ambulance arrives.”

Gregg says the system could be adapted to address the lack of ambulance services in rural Iowa. “As it stands today, too many rural Iowans have limited access to timely, lifesaving intervention in an emergency,” Gregg says. In Jerusalem, the Hatzalah E-M-S app is used by 62-hundred trained volunteer medics who respond on specially equipped motorcycle ambulances.

“This Israel model has driven down response times in Jerusalem to 90 seconds on average,” Gregg says. “We believe this concept can be adapted to help address our EMS challenges in rural Iowa and we’ll be funding a pilot program to do just that.” The Hatzalah model is being used in some areas of the United States, but mostly in urban areas.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 1:50-p.m., Saturday, of 75-year-old Dennis Leroy Vanderhoof. The Red Oak man was arrested for operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent, criminal mischief in the 2nd Degree, and driving while barred. Vanderhoof was being held on a full cash bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

A few area school districts will hold their regular monthly meetings on Monday, January 16th (2023):

The Exira-Elk Horn Kimballton Board meets at 5-p.m. in the Conference Room in Elk Horn. Discussion items include 2023-24 Sharing Agreements. Action items will include: Setting the date/time for a public hearing on the 2023-24 School Calendar; ’23-’24 Elementary School Counselor Sharing Agreement with Coon Rapids-Bayard CSD; and the hiring of Randy Kelly as Head Baseball Coach.

The Griswold CSD Board of Education meets at 5:30-p.m. in the Conference Room at the Griswold Building, and includes a public hearing on the ’23-’24 District Calendar, beginning at 6-p.m. The rest of their agenda includes:

Old Business:

• Board Policies – Second Reading (D.R.) – 507.2E2, 600, 601.1, 602.4, 705.1.;
• Discussion And Possible Action On Retirement Benefits For Non-Certificated Staff Member(s) (I or D.R.)

New Business:

• Peer Mentoring Program Presentation (I)
• Consider Approval Of Early Graduation Request (D.R.)
• Approval Of Chemical Application Specifications (D.R.)
• Consider Approval Of Modified Supplement Amount (MSA) And Plan For Dropout Prevention And At-Risk Programs (D.R.)
• Consider Approval Of 2023-2024 School Calendar (D.R.)
• Consider Approval of MS/HS Student Handbook Changes (D.R.)
• 14. Board Policies – First Reading (I) – 603.1, 603.2, 603.3, 603.4, 603.5, 603.5E1

An Exempt Meeting will be held following the regular Jan. 16, 2023 Griswold Board of Education meeting, for “…to discuss strategy in matters relating to employment conditions of employees not covered by the collective bargaining law,” per Iowa Code.

The Audubon CSD Board of Education will hold a Work Session at 7-p.m. Monday in their Board Room at the High School, for the purpose of determining Board Goals. Their regular meeting starts at 7:15-p.m. Action items are as follows:

• Approve Sharing Agreements with Coon Rapids – Bayard
• Approve New Board Committee Structure
• Approve Change Orders
• Approve Seeking Bids for Electric School Bus
• Personnel

Communication & Updates:

• Superintendent Report
• Building Project Updates
• Legislative Update
• Principal’s Reports
• Adjournment

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