(Radio Iowa) – Opening arguments began Tuesday afternoon, in the murder trial of Michael Lang of Grundy Center in the shooting death of Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith last April. During opening arguments streamed by K-C-R-G T-V, prosecutor Douglas Hammerand described how Smith and other officers entered Lang’s garage to arrest him. He says that’s when Lang turned on Smith with a shotgun.

“By the time Sergeant Smith saw him, he yelled ‘gun, gun’ and then you hear bang, bang,” Hammerand says. He says Lang fired again before Smith could be pulled to safety. “Then as he’s laying on the ground, we hear another bang. The defendant shot him again with the slug through his leg — it went through his back calf,” he says. He says another officer pulled Smith away but he died. Hammerand told the jury they will lay out why this is first-degree murder.

“The evidence will show the defendant acted with malice aforethought. The evidence will show the defendant acted willfully deliberately, and premeditatedly and with the specific intent to kill Sergeant Smith,” Hammerand says. Lang’s defense plans to use the state’s Stand Your Ground law and will argue Lang shot Smith in self-defense.

The trial was moved to Webster City due to pre-trial publicity.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials plan to set up a booth at the Iowa State Fair to recruit people to work in Iowa’s prison system. Iowa Department of Corrections director Beth Skinner recently hired a recruitment and retention officer for the prison system. “We’re trying to be creative. We’re trying to get out there. We’re still doing job fairs,” Skinner says. “We’re doing internship programs with colleges, so we’re still keeping our foot on the gas, but it has still been a major challenge.” Skinner says she’s currently focused on recruiting efforts at the high school and college level.

“It’s a career. You’re a public servant, you know, you’re giving back to your communities,” Skinner says. “It’s public safety.” The agency had just over 300 vacancies at the end of April and 71 percent of them were for correctional officers. The department’s website shows the starting salary for a full-time correctional officer is at least 43-thousand dollars a year.

Last week, Skinner told the Iowa Board of Corrections the agency was making progress system-wide in hiring nurses and the Newton prison, for example, had no job openings for nurses last Friday.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports several arrests since the beginning of the month:

On May 1st: Chance Lucas, age 32 of Harlan, was arrested for Driving while Revoked and an active Harrison County, IA warrant. Lucas was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 2nd: Lee Miles, age 45 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance, (Methamphetamine), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Miles was arrested during a traffic stop in Tabor. Fremont County was assisted by the Mills County K9 Unit.

On the 4th: Malik Kyle, age 21 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Kyle was arrested during a traffic stop

On May 6th: Carson Cusick, age 43 of Sidney, IA was arrested for Theft 1st Degree. Cusick was arrested in connection to the theft of a fountain valued in excess of $75,000 from a residence in rural Sidney.

On the 9th: Brandon Bogard, age 21 of Sidney, IA, was arrested for Public Intoxication. Bogard was arrested in connection to a call for service of an unconscious male in a gas station parking lot in Sidney;  Eric Hamilton, age 49 of Council Bluffs, IA, was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. Hamilton was arrested during a traffic stop.

On May 10th: Robert Watts, age 43 of Tabor, IA was arrested for Child Endangerment and Domestic Abuse. Watts was arrested during a call for service in Tabor; and, Kevin Wolford, age 66 of Tabor, IA, was arrested on an active warrant for Possession of Controlled Substance (Marijuana). During the course of the arrest he was found again in Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia.

Wolford

Watts

Miles

Kyle

Hamilton

Cusick

Bogard

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Guthrie County man was sentenced in Council Bluffs federal court, Tuesday, for making a False Statement to the State of Iowa. 53-year-old Kendall Dean Kipp, of Yale, was sentenced to three years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a $9,500 fine and perform 180 hours of community service over a three-year period. According to court documents, Kendall pleaded guilty to the charge on December 16, 2021.

Kipp submitted falsified documents to the State of Iowa concerning the quality of water produced for the residents of the City of Yale. This violated the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act and, in turn, the False Statement statute. “As a certified drinking water operator, the defendant was entrusted not only with ensuring compliance with our environmental laws, but with the health and safety of the community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Cate Holston of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in Lenexa, KS. “His actions betrayed that trust, and today’s sentencing demonstrates that EPA will pursue and hold accountable those who intentionally violate the law.”

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Criminal Division of the Environmental Protection Agency and The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Firefighters from Atlantic responded to a structure fire this (Tuesday), at W. 7th and Locust Street. The blaze in the three-level rental property owned by Pat McCurdy, was home to eight people in separate apartments. It was reported just before three-p.m.  Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel says it was a difficult fire to fight because of where it was in the building.

Mutual aid was called for and received from the Griswold, Lewis, Marne and Anita Fire Departments, who provided much needed personnel. They switched-off with crews battling the interior fire, due to the heat.

Cappel said crews were inside for no more than 30 minutes at a time. It takes another 30 minutes to get them cooled down with water and a special cooling vest for those who were overheated. The Cass County Fire Association and others brought cold, bottled water to the scene. At one point in the afternoon, fire trucks sounded their horns, warning those inside the home to evacuate due to fears the roof would collapse.

About a block of 7th Street in each direction was blocked off while crews battle the blaze. As of 6-p.m., crews were still on the scene. No injuries were reported, but it’s thought a couple of cats were lost to the smoke and flames. There were very few people inside when the fire broke out.

Chief Cappel said it’s too early too determine what may have started the blaze, although initial speculation was that it was electrical in nature. He said it appears the fire started on the northwest corner of the house, because that’s where the heaviest smoke was upon firefighters’ arrival. In addition to the aforementioned fire fighters, Atlantic Police, Cass EMS, Cass County Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and the Cass County Drone were on the scene. The drone was piloted by Deputy Ben Bartholowmew, who provided information to the fire department on any unseen hotspots and trouble areas.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

(Radio Iowa) – Nominations are now being accepted for Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin for 2022. Kelsey Sutter, spokeswoman for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says the program is in its 20th year and it’s easier than ever for Iowans to nominate a favorite.  “Go to our website, iowapork.org, and there’s a drop down list of hundreds of restaurants in the state of Iowa,” Sutter says. “Of course, if you don’t find the one that you’re looking for, there’s a simple way to click and add another restaurant to that list. It should take seconds to nominate your favorite tenderloin in the state of Iowa.”

Iowans are encouraged to go online and submit entries for their favorite restaurant. “We get hundreds of restaurants nominated through this process,” Sutter says. “Last year, we had around 6,000 nominations come through the website for over 500 restaurants.” Nominations are due by June 6th. Sutter says the judges will spend the summer dining out at the 40 restaurants with the most nominations, five in each of the state’s eight districts.

Richard and Angela Buman with their winning 2021 tenderloin. (IPPA photo.)

“Spreading it out across our eight districts really allows us to make sure the entire state is captured. Rural communities have just as much of a chance as our larger cities in the state of Iowa,” Sutter says. “That’s going to give us our top 40, and then we’ll spend the summer as an organization with our members across the state, judging the top 40.” That will be further narrowed to the top five which will all be visited in secret by the panel, with the winner being announced in October.

Last year’s winning pork tenderloin was at Victoria Station in Harlan.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Sentencing will take place in Atlantic at 9-a.m. on June 6th, in the case of an Atlantic man initially charged of Attempted Murder and Willful Injury-Causing Serious Injury. After originally pleading not guilty by reason of self-defense in April, 19-year-old Michael Gehling has made a plea agreement with prosecutors, that dismisses the Attempted Murder charge.

Gehling will be sentenced instead on the Willful Injury charge alone. Gehling was accused of stabbing a man during the late night hours of April 3rd. His trial was to have taken place June 28th. His guilty plea was filed with the court on May 6th.

As previously reported, Gehling had been arrested without incident on April 4th, following an investigation that began with a 9-1-1 call about a man who had a stab wound. Officers learned the incident happened in the area of 6th and Pine Streets.

The victim (whose name was not released) was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital (Cass Health), in Atlantic, and was later transported to the UNMC in Omaha, for treatment of serious injuries.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department Tuesday (today) reported four arrests from over the past week. Two people were arrested Monday (May 9th), following a traffic stop, in Harlan: 19-year-old Jayden Halbert Christian Fleming, and 25-year-old Madisyn Alyssa Hansen, both of Harlan, were taken into custody. Each was charged with Violation of a No Contact Order.

Authorities say 22-year-old Madison Marie Hansen, of Elk Horn, was arrested following a traffic stop on May 7th. She was charged with Driving While Suspended. And, on May 2nd, Harlan Police arrested 34-year-old Paula Kathryn Koester, of Harlan, for Theft in the 5th Degree.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Nebraska man, 44-year-old Jeremy Joel Binns, of Omaha, was sentenced Monday (May 9th) in Council Bluffs federal court, to 144 months (12-years) in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. His prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. According to court documents, Binns pleaded guilty to the charge on November 18, 2021.

In March of 2021, Binns was arrested for selling methamphetamine at a gas station in Council Bluffs. The following month, Binns was again arrested with methamphetamine in Omaha following a high-speed chase. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2021.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force,  Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Nebraska State Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.