The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five recent arrests. On Thursday (Jan. 28), 55-year old Claude Marvin Minard, of Rogers, AR, was arrested at the Mills County Jail, for being a Fugitive from Justice. He remains held without bond. And, 33-year old Terry Eugene Lunsford, JR., of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Eluding. His bond was set at $26,000.

Wednesday night, 52-year old Shannon Gene Cooper, of St. Joseph, MO., was arrested on I-29 in Mills County, for Driving While Revoked. Bond was set at $1,000. And, Wednesday afternoon, 32-year old Jessica Lynn Pedrin, of Audubon, was arrested in Webster County on a Mills County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Prostitution (stemming from an incident in December). Her bond was set at $12,000.

On Sunday, 40-year old Daniel Lee Walling II, of Omaha, was arrested in Mills County on a warrant for Violation of Probation, with bond set at $5,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A announcement of a second positive case of coronavirus at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday again raised the issue of safety in the building. Iowa House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson says a person associated with the House tested positive on Wednesday. It is the second positive coronavirus test in the building since lawmakers convened more than two weeks ago.

Democrats have complained daily that Republican leaders refuse to initiate a mask mandate in the building. House Speaker Pat Grassley says leaders have done what is needed to ensure a safe work environment.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old Missouri woman has been sentenced to five to 20 years in prison for her role in a stabbing death in Nebraska. Krystal Martin, of Hawk Point, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to being an accessory in the June 26, 2018, death of Brent Quigley during a robbery at his home in Bellevue.

Martin and her boyfriend, Raymond Davis, of Des Moines, Iowa, fled to Chicago before being arrested in Troy, Missouri. Davis will be sentenced next month after he was found guilty of first-degree murder and two other counts in Quigley’s death. Three other people also were charged in the case.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 38-year-old Sioux City man who was impaired and texting on his cellphone before he hit a bicyclist who later died has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Edy Guevara was sentenced after pleading guilty Tuesday to vehicular homicide and operating while intoxicated. Prosecutors said Guevara hit 64-year-old Charles Fluharty on his bicycle in June 2019.

Fluharty, who was dragged about 66 feet, died a week later. Guevara also must pay $150,000 in restitution to Fluharty’s estate. Court documents say Guevara told investigators he was texting on his phone when he hit Fluharty.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa legislature are one step away from putting a proposed gun rights amendment on Iowa’s 2022 ballot. Twenty-nine Senate Republicans have voted to present the proposed constitutional amendment to Iowa voters next year. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says the part of the amendment that says any gun-related laws challenged in court should be subject to strict scrutiny is important.

Senator Zach Wahls, a Democrat from Coralville, says just three other states have constitutional amendments that go as far as this one.

Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, suggests gun laws that limit kids’ access to guns or that require permits for concealed weapons may be struck down if the amendment passes.

Republican Senator Brad Zahn of Urbandale has this response.

Zaun says the amendment’s needed because it will create a high legal standard to protect gun rights. G-O-P leaders plan to bring this proposed amendment up for a vote in the Iowa House tonight (Thursday). That’s the final step in a multi-year legislative process to get the proposed amendment eligible for a statewide vote in 2022.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors for Iowa say a Cedar Rapids doctor has agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement over allegations that he prescribed opioids to patients who had no legitimate medical need for the drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says an investigation by the Iowa’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration found that Dr. Paul Lottes had violated the Controlled Substances Act. Prosecutors say that from August 2017 to April 2019, Lottes wrote prescriptions for the powerful painkillers to two patients in violation of the act.

(12-p.m. News) The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests over the past week.

On Saturday, 41-year-old Zachary James Watkins, of Atlantic, was arrested for Interference with official acts.

On Jan. 21^st, 36-year old Ty Daniel Jordan, of Exira, was arrested by Cass County deputies, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Assault.

And, on January 19th, Cass County deputies arrested 35-year old Robert Benjamin Waite, of Audubon, on a Cass County Sheriff’s warrant for Simple Assault.

All three men were later released on their Own Recognizance.

(Radio Iowa) – Legislators are considering creation of a Cold Case Task Force in the Iowa Department of Public Safety to investigate more than 400 unsolved murders. Representative Marti Anderson of Des Moines was director of the state’s Crime Victim Assistance program for 22 years. “I have know a lot of people who live with a cold case of a parent or child, or a sister or brother, a friend, uncle and this task force will be very helpful to them,” Anderson said.

Anderson said also “I had an employee whose father was found down by Indianola and they have never solved the case and that was 20 years ago and she still is tortured by it.” Representative Jon Thorup, a state trooper from Knoxville, says the plan calls for hiring two agents to investigate murders as well as missing person cases where the person is presumed dead. “When get to the time frame of appropriations, we need to make sure that these positions are funded,” he said, “otherwise that will be basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, by taking probably taking two agents from the Major Crimes unit.”

The bill cleared the House Public Safety Committee this (Thursday) morning. It’s now eligible for debate in the full House.

Our sister station KNOD in Harlan, reports the Earling, Defiance, Harlan and Panama Fire Departments were called to a structure fire at 501 Main Street in Earling this (Thursday) morning. More information will be released later today.

(Photos courtesy Jason Anastasi)

OMAHA, NEBRASKA – January 28, 2021 – Farmland values increased in 2020 across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, driven largely by gains in the second half of the year. That’s according to a report from Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica). The COVID-19 pandemic shaped much of 2020, and farmland values were no exception. Historic low interest rates following the initial outbreak, higher grain prices and government ad-hoc payments supported a real estate market that has been generally stable the past few years.

The latest report on benchmark farmland values from FCSAmerica marks the first time since 2013 that values have increased in each of the four states served by the financial cooperative. However, values remain well below the record highs of 2013. Many of the same factors that supported farmland values in 2020 remain in place, including low interest rates and opportunities to lock in profits.

Tim Koch, chief credit officer for FCSAmerica,  says “Significant improvement in net farm income, along with a favorable outlook for 2021, has continued to build on the favorable price momentum seen in the second half of 2020, with continued strengthening of real estate values anticipated through the remainder of the current sales season.”

Iowa and Nebraska led the region in overall gains. South Dakota and Wyoming each trended up in the second half of 2020, but South Dakota lagged its neighboring states in year-over-year gains.

State-by-State Changes in Benchmark Farmland Values:

In Iowa, 17 of the benchmark farms tracked by FCSAmerica increased in value. The remaining four saw no change. Fourteen Nebraska benchmark farms saw an increase, three declined in value and one was unchanged. In South Dakota, six farms increased in value; 16 saw no change. Wyoming’s two benchmark farms saw an overall increase. Weakness in grass land values partially off-set the strength reported in cropland values across South Dakota.