(Radio Iowa) – Part of a state office building was evacuated this (Monday) morning over a concerns about a package. The spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol says they were called to the Lucas State Office Building at 11 this morning about a suspicious package within the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.

The first floor was evacuated and the Des Moines Fire Department’s Hazmat Team was contacted. The State Patrol spokesman says the package was determined not to be threat.

The origin of the package is being investigated.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – An employee with the Adair County Attorney’s Office was arrested Monday (Sept. 16th), on a warrant for a felony offense allegedly committed in Fontanelle on Sept. 11th. According to Iowa Courts Online, a criminal complaint filed Sept. 13th by the Fontanelle Police Department accuses 52-year-old Donnell M. Griffith, a paralegal in the Attorney’s Office, of Going Armed with Intent, which is a Class-D Felony charge.

The warrant was issued Friday and returned today (Monday). Griffith posted a $5,000 bond. Judge Michael Huppert has ordered a Special Prosecutor to be appointed in her case.

Additional details concerning Griffith’s arrest are currently unavailable.

(Cedar Falls, Iowa) – One person died and another was injured this (Monday) afternoon, during a UTV accident in Black Hawk County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2019 Polaris Ranger was traveling north on N. Union Road (northwest of Cedar Falls), and failed to yield before turning in front of a 2013 Chrysler 200, which was traveling southbound on Union Road. The crash happened at around 2:20-p.m.

Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the southwest ditch, where the UTV caught fire. The names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of family.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, MercyOne EMS, Covenant EMS, Cedar Falls and Waterloo Fire Departments.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City of Atlantic has been reimbursed $100,000 from SHIFT ATL, thanks to the sale of a property SHIFT rehabilitated at 201 W. 14th Street. Work on the home took about a year. Atlantic First Ward Councilperson Emily Kennedy commented on the success of the project and ongoing efforts at housing rehabilitation in the City.

Kennedy, who is one of three board members for non-profit SHIFT ATL, said they received an interest free loan from the City’s Housing Fund on or about November 1st, 2023. The house they purchased and 201 W. 4th Street was in foreclosure and had a tree on it. It needed a lot of work, she said. The home was purchased with SHIFT’s own funds, and then renovated using the money from the City. The finished home was sold and the purchase closed in August. “And so we paid-off the loan and the profit that we made we are donating to Vision Atlantic as well as doing two scholarships.”She said it turned out very nice.

The Atlantic City Council, Monday, passed a Resolution appointing McLean as the new City Clerk.

Mayor Grace Garrett issues the Oath to Laura McLean.

Former City Clerk Barb Barrick’s last day was March 22, 2024. She resigned to take a similar position with the City of Huxley. McLean was the top choice of the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee, who said in the recommendation, she was vetted through “a multi-tiered interview process, ” and that “Throughout the process, Laura made it clear she would always strive to do what is best for the City, its citizens and our employees. She brings a strong set of education, skills and experience, and is excited to join our team.”

McLean currently serves as Vice-President of the Atlantic School Board. She has served as a member of the School Board since Nov., 2019. Mayor Grace Garrett issued the Oath of Office to Laura McLane near the end of the meeting. She succeeds Acting City Clerk Rich Tupper, who was appointed as City Clerk following the resignation of Barb Barrick.

In other business, the City Council also approved:

• The reappointment of Shawn Shouse and Melissa Ihnen to the Board of Adjustment.
• An Order to close Indian Trail Drive on Sept. 29th from 4-until 9-p.m., for Church Worship Night, which is hosted by a number of local churches. The temporary street closure is intended to decrease the risk of safety concerns with children running back-and-forth from their parents to the Kiddie Korral Playground at Sunnyside Park.
• The 3rd and final reading of an Ordinance “Vacating the 66-foot wide Street Right-Of-Way on W. 4th Street, in Atlantic. ” The two earlier readings were previously passed by the Council.

The Atlantic City Council, acting on a recommendation from the Parks Commission, to include additional trees to the “Do Not Plant” list. The prohibited trees include: Freeman/Hybrid Maple (Acers x freemanii Autumn Blaze, Armstrong, Marmo and Sienna Glen are frequently seen cultivars); Amur Maple; Norway Maple; Golden Raintree; Tree of Heaven; Black Locust; White Polar; Siberian Elm; Russian Olive, and Salt Cedar. Those same trees are on the DO NOT PLANT list issued by the Iowa DNR and Trees forever, due to their lack of disease resistance and susceptibility to storm damage.

In the Council Committee Reports, Engineer Dave Sturm mentioned the City’s Airport received a grant for nested T-Hangars, which will be through design and engineering until 2025 and then construction in 2026. Sturm said we’ll most likely get additional funding next year to pay for 90-percent of the project cost. The grant allows for the construction of eight more T-Hangars. Sturm said “They [the airport] has a waiting list of way more than that,” and the hangars will be full when the project is done. The hangars will be located on the north side of what used to be G-30, he said, on the east end. The pad is already available for the aircraft storage buildings.

The City Council’s next meeting is a Workshop at 5-p.m. on September 25th.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa (September 16, 2024) – Officials with ITC Midwest says they will be conducting aerial patrols of high-voltage transmission structures and lines throughout its service territory from approximately September 23 – October 1, weather permitting. Helicopter patrols provide an overall status of the overhead transmission system owned and operated by
ITC Midwest. The flights take place across the following areas of the ITC Midwest service territory:

Central zone
The flights will be conducted in the Ames, Ankeny, Boone, Cedar Rapids, Dysart, Gladbrook, Iowa Falls, Marengo, Marion, Marshalltown, Newton, Palo, Perry, Vinton and Williamsburg areas. Iowa counties in the aerial patrol areas include Adair, Benton, Boone, Cass, Dallas, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hardin, Iowa, Jasper, Linn, Marshall, Polk, Story and Tama.

Image via ITC Holdings Corp Facebook page

The company says the patrols are a North American Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC) requirement for ITC Midwest’s vegetation management program, support proactive maintenance objectives, and align with the company’s model for operational excellence. The flights will include the inspection of vegetation in the vicinity of transmission structures, wood poles, conductors (wires), insulators and other equipment.

The inspection flights are often conducted at low altitudes to facilitate accurate visual inspection of vegetation hazards. This is normal procedure, so there is no cause for alarm if a low-flying helicopter is sighted near transmission lines during the time frame mentioned above.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, today (Monday), said a Council Bluffs man, 34-year-old Dereck Meyer, was sentenced last Friday (September 13, 2024), to 144 months (12-years)  in federal prison, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. Meyer pled guilty April 19, 2024, to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. In 2011, Meyer was previously convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa for possession with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of methamphetamine within a protected location.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that on November 19, 2022, law enforcement officers in Denison, Iowa stopped a vehicle driven by Meyer. Meyer admitted to being in possession of marijuana, failed to follow officer’s commands and drove off at a high rate of speed initiating a pursuit through Denison, Iowa. Meyer ultimately drove into the alley and was taken into custody.

During a search of the vehicle officers located 55.46 grams of methamphetamine in the rear seat next to Meyer’s wallet. Officers also seized four plastic bags, each containing approximately one ounce (about 28 grams) of marijuana, a clear plastic bag containing 4.4 grams of marijuana, and a clear plastic bag containing 3 grams of suspected cocaine. Meyer intended to distribute some or all of the drugs to another person or persons.

Sentencing was held before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Meyer was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment and must serve an eight-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Meyer remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Iowa DCI Laboratory, and the Denison Police Department.

(Radio Iowa) – The Des Moines City Council will vote tonight on whether to ban camping in public areas and to cut the notice time before removing tents and shelters on city property from ten days to three. Opponents say the changes would criminalize homelessness and further crowd shelters. Backers say the amendments will push homeless populations to use available resources nearby.

City Manager Scott Sanders says the intent of the ordinance is not enforcement. “There is language that we have added to be as clear as possible that the intent of this ordinance is get compliance,” Sanders says. “To get to the heart of what we’re trying to do here is to get individuals into safer environments.”

The city’s plan is for Primary Healthcare outreach workers to visit people found camping on public property and help transport them to shelters. Shelby Ridley, director of programs at Primary Healthcare, presented a plan to the city council last week to hire three more outreach workers. “Street outreach is a necessary thing for this community,” Ridley says, “but you won’t see less people experiencing homelessness until we have an increase in housing.”

Someone who fails to comply would be fined $15 and charged with a simple misdemeanor. However, if shelters are full or the person is unable to pay, they would not be held liable. The city first introduced the proposed changes at a meeting in July. Tonight will be the third and final reading.

(Radio Iowa) – An Associated Press investigation has found a group called the Patriots Run Project tried to recruit candidates to run as independents in two of Iowa’s competitive congressional districts. Congressman Zach Nunn — the Republican in Iowa’s third district — says he’s outraged to see anyone prey on hardworking Iowans or try to deceive voters. The man from Scranton who was recruited to run against Nunn told the Associated Press he withdrew his name from the ballot after determining his candidacy was intended as a dirty political trick.

The group failed to collect enough petition signatures for a woman it recruited to run against Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the first district. Iowa Republican Party chair Jeff Kaufmann says it’s truly despicable that this Democrat-backed group knowingly took advantage of disabled or retired Trump supporters to try to cheat and pull votes away from Republicans.

The Associated Press reports the Patriots Run Project recruited candidates in run for congress in four other states. According ot the A-P, the group is not registered as a business, a non-profit or a political action committee in the United States and the group’s website lists a Post Office Box in Washington, D.C. as its address. Meta took down the group’s Facebook page a few weeks ago and the group’s website cannot be found in a Google search.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report the arrest at around 10:45-a.m. today (Sept. 16th), of 46-year-old Jill Renee Coddington, from Red Oak. She was taken into custody at her residence in the 1600 block of E. Summit Street, for Domestic Abuse Assault. Coddington was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – A study from Iowa State University shows that only five to ten percent of the 230-thousand private well owners in the state test their water annually. Iowa State Extension Water Quality Program Manager Catherine DeLong says one of the barriers to testing is a misunderstanding of what quality well water should be. “I think a lot of the time, private well owners think that if you have a private well, it’s a normal thing to have bacteria, but it really isn’t,” She says. “It means there’s something potentially structurally unsound with the well, that there’s a way for things from the surface to get into the well, so it is something to take seriously.”

Bacteria, nitrates, and arsenic are the most common contaminants, and have all been detected in Iowa wells. DeLong says testing regularly is important because the impact of the contaminants don’t immediately show up when people drink the water.  “With things like arsenic, with things like nitrate, we know that those health effects can really take years to have an effect. They’re odorless and tasteless, so if people have them in their water, they wouldn’t necessarily know unless they get it tested,” Delong says.

Nitrates and arsenic in drinking water have been linked to cancers, cardiovascular issues, and birth defects.