(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports a man was arrested early today (Thursday), on felony warrants for Burglary in the 3rd Degree/2nd offense (A Class-D Felony), Attempted Burglary in the 3rd Degree/2nd offense, and Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree (Both are Aggravated Misdemeanors). 22-year-old Deven Anthony Hatfield, of Omaha, was taken into custody at around 1:10-a.m. in the 1200 block of E. Summit Street, in Red Oak. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $9,000 cash-only bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a man from Omaha, NE, was arrested Wednesday afternoon for allegedly attempting to cash fraudulent checks in the area. 25-year-old Christopher D. Springston was taken into custody at around 2:45-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was charged with Theft in the 2nd Degree, a Class-D felony. Bond was set at $5,000.

(Iowa News Service) – Alternative energy advocates say Iowa is making significant progress on reaching its green power goals by 2035. The state has become a national leader in wind production. The Iowa Environmental Council took the unusual step of hosting a “Condition of the State” webinar to announce the areas where Iowa is making progress on reaching its alternative energy goals.

Steve Guyer, energy policy counsel for the commission, said solar and wind top the list. “Overall, in 2019, we actually started generating more wind in the state than we actually got from our coal plants in the state,” Guyer pointed out. “That actually is continuing, where the coal plant generation is going down and wind is going up.”

Iowa is among the nation’s leading producers of wind energy, despite pushback from some farm groups. Guyer added beyond the economic benefits of alternative energy, there are air and water quality implications too, both of which he said have improved with the increase in green power.

Guyer noted reducing emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants has a dramatic effect on crop production in Iowa. He cited a 10-year study showing the effects of closing specific coal-powered facilities.  “Some of those plants were actually Iowa-based plants,” Guyer emphasized. “They saw a marked increase in production after the closure of those plants. The theory is that the sun basically is being blocked, and so, if it had the sunlight that wasn’t being blocked, it would produce more. So yes, coal plants definitely are impacting corn production.”

Iowa is getting help from the federal Inflation Reduction Act to invest in alternative energy sources. However, the report said none of the utilities in Iowa are taking what it calls “adequate steps to achieve a carbon-free energy sector by 2035.”

(Oskaloosa, Iowa) – The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy who died Wednesday afternoon after he was accidentally shot. The incident happened at around 2-p.m. at a rural Mahaska County residence.

When deputies arrived, they found a 4-year-old boy with a gunshot wound. Deputies and paramedics attempted lifesaving efforts but were ultimately unsuccessful and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investigation determined the gunshot wound was a result of an accidental discharge. The incident remains under investigation by the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI).

(Radio Iowa) – Libertarian candidates will NOT be listed on the General Election ballots in Iowa’s first, third and fourth congressional districts. The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the candidates were not properly nominated because the Libertarian Party failed to follow state law in the timing of its county conventions. Will Admussen  of the Iowa Attorney General’s office asked the justices to make that decision during legal arguments on Tuesday.

“Even if you’re close to those timing requirements, it’s important to comply strictly with them so elections can run orderly and transparently and fairly,” he said. The ruling was issued shortly after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, a few hours before Iowa’s top election official said he had to certify the list of candidates for the November election, so election officials can begin printing ballots. Jules Cutler, chairwoman of the Libertarian Party of Iowa, says they’re being punished for starting their county conventions 181 minutes too early.

“We are going to sit down and go through the Code and be a lot more thorough next time, obviously,” Cutler said. The Libertarian Party held its county conventions right after its caucuses back on January 15th. Libertarian congressional candidates Nicholas Gluba in the first district, Marco Battaglia in the third district and Charles Aldrich in the fourth district say they will run write-in campaigns since voters won’t see their names printed on ballots. Battaglia says he and the other party’s other two congressional candidates have been unfairly targeted.

“I didn’t think we did anything wrong, to tell you the truth,” Battaglia said. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Iowa election law on candidate qualifications requires strict compliance and holding county conventions and caucuses on different days is a modest burden for political parties.

Republican voters in the first, third and fourth congressional district filed the objections that ultimately led to Wednesday’s decision. They did NOT challenge the process for nominating Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver, so his name WILL be listed on ballots for this year’s election.

(Atlantic, Iowa/UPDATED) – The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday evening, received a monthly report from Interim Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen. She touched on several topics, including a Robotics Grant. The grant, if approved, will be for high school students.

Dr. Johnson spoke also with regard to recent district building safety inspections, which pointed out some minor issues that were quickly addressed by District Maintenance Director Russell Peck and his staff.

Dr. Johnsen said also Steven Green, representing the AHS Classes of ’69, ‘70,’ ‘71 & ‘72, said they’ve raised a substantial amount of money to purchase and install an electronic marquee in front of the Atlantic High School.

In the monthly Board Report, School Board President Kristy Pellett and Dr. Johnsen both thanked and commended area law enforcement for keeping the school environment safe, especially in light of a social media threat to two of the district’s buildings this past weekend.

As we previously mentioned, a 12-year-old male suspect who allegedly sent out the message was arrested and charged with Threats of Terrorism and False Reports to or Communications with Public Safety Entities. He was being held at the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs.

The School Board approved:

• Funding to the Jack & Jill 4-year preschool, which, at the present, amounts to $222,000 from the district each year.
• A quote from Camblin Mechanical for the replacement of HVAC equipment in the district’s bus garage.
• A Costa Rica trip planned for the summer of 2026, and,
• the continuation of the SWIAC Apex Consortium Agreement for 2024-2025.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Judicial Branch, Wednesday, said that on Tuesday, September 24, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Harlan. The proceedings will take place in the Harlan High School auditorium, 2102 Durant Street. The oral arguments are open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m.

The court will hear attorneys argue in the following case:

IA SUPCO (front row, left to right): Justices Thomas D. Waterman, Susan Christensen, & Edward M. Mansfield; (Back row, left to right): Matthew McDermott, Christopher McDonald, Dana Oxley & David May.

Todd P. Halbur v. Stephen Larson, Administrator of the Alcoholic Beverages Division, in his Official Capacity, case number 22-2021 from Polk County.

Case summary: The Administrator of the Alcoholic Beverages Division appeals following a jury verdict of $1 million on a whistleblower claim brought against him by the division’s former comptroller. The administrator contends the district court erred by not dismissing the claim on grounds the comptroller’s complaints were not protected disclosures under Iowa Code section 70A.28 because they were made to the administrator, his supervisor, about the administrator concerning matters within the comptroller’s normal job duties. The issue is whether the whistleblower protections of Iowa Code section 70A.28 shield an employee from termination when the employee’s complaints are made directly to the employee’s supervisor concerning decisions the supervisor has made.

Attorney briefs for Todd P. Halbur v. Stephen Larson, Administrator of the Alcoholic Beverages Division, in his Official Capacity are posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-oral-argument-schedule/case/22-2021.

A public reception with the supreme court justices sponsored by the Shelby County Bar Association will follow the oral arguments.

(Radio Iowa) – The board of trustees of Graceland University in Lamoni has selected its 19th president. Joel Shrock started at Graceland in 2022 as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. He had been interim president since Graceland’s previous president resigned this summer.

“Graceland chose me to lead as president, but I chose Graceland as well,” Shrock said. “This place represents and stands for the values that are important to me.” Graceland was founded in 1895 by the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and remains affiliated with the church. Just over 12-hundred students are enrolled at Graceland for the fall semester.

“In no particular order, I love these things about Graceland: the mission to create learning communities that help students to lead meaningful and productive lives; the diversity on Lamoni campus, the diversity on the Independence, (Missouri) campus, the Kansas site,” Shrock said, “a safe place for self discovery; skills for a changing world.” Shrock said values dissent and debate.

“I’m not talking about embracing nihilism or disruption or intolerance or shouting down people who disagree with us. Our passions must not divide us,” Shrock said. “…A university is a place where differences of opinion are necessary and good. They must unify us.” Shrock says the world is always changing, and Graceland must as well.  “Universities are not factories. We don’t pour out widgets. We transform people into their better selves,” Shrock said. “Graceland provides students the opportunity…to learn, but it only works if we all join together in a mutually supportive community of learners.”

Shrock says the world is always changing, and Graceland must as well.” Shrock, an Indiana native, was a history professor, dean and provost at Anderson University in Indiana for 20 years before being hired to be an administrator at Graceland. Shrock graduated from Ball State University with a degree in U-S history and got his doctorate from Miami University in 1996.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican nominee for Lyon County Sheriff is seeking judicial review of a decision that the county’s incumbent sheriff is eligible to be on the General Election ballot as the Libertarian Party’s nominee. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Brian Hilt won the Republican Primary for Lyon County Sheriff in June. But since one person wrote his challenger Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep’s name on the Libertarian Party’s Primary ballot in Lyon County, Vander Stoep became the Libertarian nominee.

That was verified by a 2-to-1 vote last week by an objections panel, made up of two members of the Lyon County Board of Supervisors and the Lyon County Recorder. But now Hilt has filed a lawsuit seeking judicial review to reverse their decision, calling it “arbitrary…illogical and based on an erroneous interpretation.”

The Lyon County Sheriff sought the Republican Party’s nomination, but lost to the state trooper. Trooper Hilt’s appeal claims the sheriff had to be nominated by a county convention of Libertarians and argues the sheriff could not have been nominated by a single write-in vote on the Libertarian ballot.

The appeal asks for quick review of the case. Iowa’s Secretary of State has said 11:59 tonight (Wednesday) is the deadline for certifying candidates for the General Election, so the ballots can be printed in time.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Council Bluffs man was sentenced today to 40 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents, T.J. LeBaugh, 37, dropped a bag with a loaded nine-millimeter firearm and an extended firearm magazine while fleeing from law enforcement. Prior to fleeing on foot, LeBaugh was speeding and caused a car accident. In 2015, LeBaugh was convicted of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

After completing his term of imprisonment, LeBaugh will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Council Bluffs Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.