(Harlan, Iowa) – A former Harlan Community School District “teacher associate” is facing charges in two separate felony cases. KETV in Omaha reports investigators said 35-year-old Ashley Cibic is accused of having a relationship with a student and buying prescription drugs from an undercover officer. A criminal complaint alleges Cibic had a relationship with an 18-year-old student. The complaint states the student confirmed the relationship to investigators and alleges that deputies found pictures of Cibic and the student in bed.

Then in October, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said Cibic bought hydrocodone, a prescription opioid, from an undercover deputy. Investigators said Cibic left her 13-year-old autistic son home alone to go make the purchase.

The woman is charged with: Sexual Exploitation by a school employee (a Class-D Felony); A controlled substance violation (Class-C Felony); Child Endangerment; and two counts of Unlawful possession of prescription medication. Her arraignment is set for Dec. 19th, with a pre-trial conference scheduled for January 23rd. Cibic’s trial is set for February 7, 2023.

In a letter to parents, the district said Cibic was a teacher associate at the high school. It said she was placed on leave after her arrest and fired once charges were filed. The district said the relationship with the student did not happen during school hours or on school property.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says the threat of bird flu continues to hang over Iowa’s poultry industry, as migrating wild birds are identified as the likely source of bird flu outbreaks at seven Iowa sites this fall. “We’ve had three just in the past few days and it does appear that these continue to be wild bird introductions,” Naig says. “We’ve still got that migratory waterfowl that are carrying this virus as they are returning south. They carried it north and really, truly what we need for them to do is to get moving south.”

A hard freeze will help drive birds out of the state, as their landing spots on Iowa lakes and streams turn to ice. During the last bird flu outbreak in 2015, the virus had essentially vanished by June. During this year’s outbreak, wild birds continue to spread the deadly disease nine months after it was first detected. “Once again when those birds head north next spring, we’re very concerned about what they could be bringing back into the area again,” Naig says.

“It’s just unfortunately a reminder that our producers have to be in a constant state of readiness and keeping their biosecurity at just the ultimate levels really now all year round.” Naig plans to ask the 2023 legislature for additional funds to enhance his agency’s ability to prevent and respond to foreign animal diseases. “So of course we’re dealing with (highly pathogenic) avian influenza in the state of Iowa again,” Naig says, “…but we also have in the background the continuation of the threat of African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease.”

African Swine Fever is a deadly virus that has been spreading in Asia and Europe since 2018, but has not been detected in the United States. Foot and Mouth Disease has not been confirmed in the U.S. since 1929, but an outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 led to the destruction of a million animals.

FREMONT COUNTY, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) said today (Thursday), that “Over the past three days, state, local, and federal law enforcement assisted with an investigation in Fremont County. Authorities brought in an array of experts representing several disciplines and significant assets to excavate, collect and examine soil samples from a site identified by a reporting party. After exhaustive efforts, no evidence or other items of concern were recovered.

Law enforcement agencies coordinating this effort included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.”

You may recall that in late October, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said they were looking into claims from a woman there who said her father murdered many women decades ago and buried the remains in a remote field near Bartlett. The woman claims her late father killed at least 50 women over a span of three decades and used his children to help bury them in a well. The alleged victims are believed to be prostitutes or transients picked up in Omaha and lured to the farmland.

The man who allegedly committed the murders, died in 2013, at the age of 75.

(Radio Iowa) – The grant money awarded for production of a “Field of Dreams” TV series in Iowa will be redirected to another tourism-related project.

The TV series was to be a “prequel,” featuring stories about characters in the Field of Dreams movie. In late June, Governor Reynolds announced the project was getting $6 million from Destination Iowa, a state grant program financed with federal pandemic relief money. Universal pulled its financing for the Field of Dreams series days later.

The executive producer of series told the Des Moines Register the project is suspended indefinitely and his team didn’t want to keep the $6 million in limbo when it might be used on another project.

Field of Dreams site. (Photo from Dyersville city website.)

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Economic Development Authority says applications for about $28 million in Destination Iowa grants are still open, but the deadline to apply is December 31st of this year.

The Field of Dreams series was to be filmed in Polk, Boone, Mahaska, and Clinton Counties. Destination Iowa grants are to reimburse expenses, so none of the $6 million in grant money was spent on the never-produced series.

(Radio Iowa) – As the downstream navigation season on the Missouri River is wrapping up for the year, releases from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton are being reduced to winter levels. It’s a seasonal move, according to John Remus, chief of the Missouri River Basin Water Management Division of the U-S Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha.

“We don’t support navigation usually past the end of November,” Remus says, “so we run winter releases normally and then when we get into drought conservation measures, like we’re in now, we go to what we call minimum winter releases, which is just to conserve water in the system for future years, just in case the drought continues.” While releases are being cut way back, Remus says the Corps will continue to work with downstream users.

“The water intakes downstream of Gavin’s Point, particularly from Omaha to Kansas City, should be able to draw water for the municipal intakes, the power plants, and so on and so forth, with normal inflow,” Remus says. “We’ll watch that carefully and if certain situations arise, we may increase releases just to accommodate some of those water intakes.” Remus says there will be some higher-than-normal releases from upstream dams over the coming months because the reservoir system is a bit unbalanced right now.

“The flooding on the Yellowstone River there in late June and early July put quite a bit of water into Garrison Reservoir, which is higher relative to Fort Peck and Oahe right now,” Remus says, “so we’re going to be dropping Garrison through the winter and raising Oahe up about five feet or so to get those three reservoirs a little more balanced.” Depending on upstream conditions, he says the Corps normally starts increasing flows again in mid-March.

(Radio Iowa) – A statement from University of Iowa Hospitals confirms multiple people were injured by an explosion at a soybean plant in Marengo late this (Thursday) morning. Homes and businesses near the facility in Marengo were evacuated. In a Facebook post, the Iowa County Sheriff said anyone who’s still in Marengo should stay inside due to heavy smoke billowing from the property, which is about seven miles north of Interstate 80.

The facility operated as a printing plant for 33 years, but reopened in 2017 as Heartland Crush. It’s a producer owned plant that crushes soybeans.

A statement from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics indicates it has received multiple patients following the explosion.

(Neola, Iowa) – The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was injured during one of two crashes Wednesday morning. The first accident happened at around 4:52-a.m. on Interstate 80 westbound, near mile marker 19. Authorities say a 2020 Kenworth tractor-trailer driven by Emilio Lucio Guerra, of Des Moines, went out of control due a possible deer on the road. The truck rolled over, and blocked the left lane of travel.

Soon afterward, a 2013 GMC Sierra pickup driven by Larry Wineland, of Underwood,  broadsided the rolled over semi. A third collision occurred when a 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo, driven by Michael Carroll, of Avoca, rear-ended the pickup truck.

All vehicles became disabled. Michael Carroll was transported by Underwood Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, to be treated for his injuries. Guerra was cited for Failure to Maintain Control. Damage to the pickup and car amounted to $40,000 altogether.

At around 4:50-a.m., also on westbound I-80, Chad Ira, of Altoona, was driving a 2017 tractor-trailer. When he saw the overturned semi on the roadway, he stopped his truck in the right lane. A 2019 Freightliner semi driven by Jeremy Ryan, of Omaha, was unable to stop in time, and struck the rear of the other semi, causing a total of $60,000 damage.  Ryan was transported by Neola Rescue to Jennie Edmundson for treatment. No citations were issued.

Notice is hereby given that the Board of Adjustment of The City of Atlantic will conduct a Public Hearing at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, December 15, 2022, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 23 East 4^th Street, Atlantic, Iowa. The Board will consider an application by New Life Church, 600 Pine Street, Atlantic, Iowa, for a Conditional Use Permit that would allow for the operation of a church in the C-3 Central Business District [as allowed by section 12.030(10) of the Zoning Ordinances of the City of Atlantic, Iowa]. Application for the Conditional Use Permit is for the properties located at 28 West 5^th Street and 410 Poplar Street, Atlantic, Iowa,

[legally described as follows:

W46 2/3′ LOTS 13-14- 15-1-17-18 (EXC W39.5′ LOT 18 & W39.5′ N20′ LOT 17) BLK 28in the City of Atlantic, Cass County, Iowa

LOT 19 & S10′ LOT 20 BLK 28 in the City of Atlantic, Cass County, Iowa.]

The Public may comment in person at the hearing or may submit written comments in advance to the City Clerk’s Office, 23 East 4^th Street, Atlantic, Iowa 50022. Questions may be addressed to the Zoning Administrator, John Lund or johnlund@cityofatlantic.com or you may call (712) 243-4810.

This notice is given in accordance with Article 25.080(4) of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Atlantic, Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – More details have been released on the death of a Fort Dodge newborn as the search for the baby’s body continues. Twenty-four-year-old 24 year old Taylor Blaha and 31-year-old Brandon Thoma were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of their newborn daughter. Blaha told detectives that on November 16th she gave birth to her daughter in the bathroom of her apartment, the child was alive and crying. Blaha told detectives it was the child’s crying that caused her and Thoma to panic in a drug fueled state, they then took her to a half-filled bathtub, where it is reported that together, they allegedly held her under the water until she died.

Thoma faces an additional charge of Abuse of a Corpse. Both Blaha and Thoma are being held in the Webster County Jail on a one-million dollar cash-only bond. The child’s body has not been found despite a search that has stretched from downtown Fort Dodge to the Des Moines River and in and around the Fort Dodge landfill. Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the child’s body is urged to call the Fort Dodge Police Department or Webster County Crime Stoppers.

(Radio Iowa) – A leading Iowa conservative says conservatives across the country are tired of Republican election losses — and this week’s special election in Georgia is another blow to former President Trump, who backed the losing Republican candidate, Hershel Walker. Bob Vander Plaats is president of The Family Leader, a politically active group of Christian conservatives. “The midterms were not the success that we should have had and that we were hoping to have,” Vander Plaats says.

The Family Leader will host an event this summer for 2024 presidential candidates and Trump, who announced in November that he was running again, might be in the mix. Vander Plaats says Republicans should not choose a nominee who’s entire focus is payback for what happened in 2020. “I believe that America, in many ways, is making up its mind on Donald Trump,” Vander Plaats says. “…We thank him for a lot of good things he did and his administration did when he was president. However, because of the 2022 election, 2024 becomes that much more important — that we need to win — and I believe that America right now is saying, you know, President Trump may be your biggest risk to losing in 2024.”

Vander Plaats is encouraging Trump to endorse one of the other Republicans running to be America’s next president. “We need to choose well about how we’re going to win in 2024.” Vander Plaats says “His announcement has not been met with the overwhelming embrace that I think he thought it would and part of any candidate’s decision going forward in a campaign is: ‘Are the people embracing this or not?'” Vander Plaats says he really thought a red tsunami would happen in the midterms, but Democrats won two governorships that had been held by Republicans and G-O-P results for U.S. Senate and House races fell below what typically happens when a Democrat is in the White House.

“America’s speaking that we want to have a vision of where you’re going, where are you going to go in the future, how are you going to unite Americans versus looking back at the past and just critiquing what happened in 2020,” Vander Plaat says. “I’m not saying that election integrity isn’t important, but they don’t want to be just stuck on the 2020 election.” Vander Plaats has personally endorsed presidential candidates prior to the Iowa Caucuses. He backed Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Ted Cruz in 2016 — al of whom won on Caucus Night.