CARTER LAKE, Iowa [KETV) – Disputes in Carter Lake were once again on full display on Wednesday night. KETV-TV in Omaha reports the lone item on the agenda for the special meeting that was more than an hour long was the investigation into City Councilmember Jackie Wahl. Three of the five council members voted to discuss the matter behind closed doors, but that would have required four votes in support.

Councilmembers voted not to publicly release the report. Council members and the city attorney shared some key points, however. The investigator hired by the city said Carter Lake has an opportunity to turn a corner. She wrote that while Wahl acted inappropriately, so did others. Wahl faced accusations from four city employees.

The investigator recommended a reprimand of Wahl, which the other four council members did. She also recommended re-adopting a 90-day plan from 2022 for all council members intended to restore “order and productivity.” That plan does not allow council members to speak publicly against council decisions that have already been made. The investigator also recommended that Carter Lake create the role of city administrator and hire someone from outside the town.

In a lengthy statement provided before the meeting, Wahl said the report was a waste of taxpayer dollars. She said she will not be a “scapegoat” for city-wide issues and she will not resign.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report a Nebraska man was arrested Tuesday afternoon following a traffic stop in the area of 260th St. and Dobney Avenue. 28-year-old Jose Montes-Regro, of Bellevue, NE., faces charges that include:

• 4 counts of Abandonment/Neglect of a Dependent Person
• OWI/1st offense
• Possession of a Controlled Substance & Drug Paraphernalia
• Public Intoxication
• Failure to show proof of automobile insurance
• Permitting an unauthorized person to drive
• Failure to use a seat belt, and,
• Failure to Maintain Control

Montes-Regro’s bond was set at $10,000.  The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 32-year-old Nicholas James Gragg, of Malvern, was arrested Tuesday evening, for Domestic Abuse Assault, Child Endangerment, and Interference with Official Acts. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail. And, late Monday night, Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 18-year-old Jasmine Ameliana Cadena, of Glenwood, for Violation of a No Contact Order. Her bond was set at $300.

(Creston, Iowa) – A man from Creston was arrested Wednesday evening, on an Assault charge. According to Creston Police, 19-year-old Nicholai Quenten McVay was arrested for (General) Assault, at a residence in the 600 block of N. Birch Street, at around 7:17-p.m.  He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $300 bond.

ANAMOSA, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, on Wednesday, said an inmate at the Anamosa State Penitentiary died over the weekend. 24-year-old Andrew Arnold Redman, Jr., was pronounced dead due to an unexpected medical emergency at 9:53-a.m., Saturday. Foul play was not suspected.

Redman had been serving a sentence for the crimes of Prohibited acts — manufacture, delivery, possession and Dominion/Control of Firearm/Offensive Weapon by Felon in Polk County. His sentence began on Feb. 7, 2023.

An autopsy is pending at the State Medical Examiners to determine the cause of death.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — A Cornell College instructor who was stabbed in a random attack in China is out of the hospital and on his way home. David Zabner’s brother told KCCI-TV in Des Moines, that Zabner was on a plane Wednesday night and was expected to be home on Thursday (today). Zabner was stabbed in the arm but is recovering well.

Police say a 55-year-old man stabbed four instructors while they were walking in a park on Monday. The instructors were in China as part of a partnership with a Chinese university.

Iowa leaders are working with the State Department to bring the rest of the victims home. They’re all expected to survive.

(Radio Iowa) – Bird flu is confirmed at a third dairy in northwest Iowa as state and federal officials are trying to find out how the virus spreads between farms and livestock. On Wednesday, Iowa’s ag department confirmed avian influenza at a dairy farm with 17-hundred cows in Sioux County. State veterinarian Jeff Kaisand says most cows recover within a few weeks, unlike infected poultry, which are euthanized.

“We do have a USDA epi strike team that’s on the ground in Iowa right now that we requested,” Kaisand says. “They’re trying to help us understand some of those connections between farms to try and reveal some of those connections as best we can.” It’s the second case in Sioux County and the third in the state after the virus was first found in an Iowa dairy in O’Brien County last week. Kaisand says one priority is trying to figure out how avian influenza spreads between farms and livestock.

“We don’t know how it moves through the whole herd,” he says. “Does it go through all at once, or are there pockets that it doesn’t go through? And also trying to understand how it goes through a dairy herd or a poultry herd or vice versa.”

The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship recently started testing dairies within a 12-mile radius of infected poultry farms.

(Radio Iowa) – Blaming partisan politics and a packed legislative calendar, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s no longer optimistic a Farm Bill will pass Congress this session. “I may often be the first to say that we probably won’t be getting a Farm Bill this year, but I’m also the first to say that farmers need the Farm Bill this year,” Grassley says, “because they need the certainty that comes with a five-year Farm Bill instead of a one-year extension.” The legislation is typically reviewed and renewed every five years, but it had to be extended last year into this fall, and Grassley fears another repeat is looming.

“Farmers today are operating off of the 2018 Farm Bill,” Grassley says, “a five-year Farm Bill which is now a six-year Farm Bill and I think soon-to-become a seven-year Farm Bill.” Grassley, a Republican, suggests the Farm Bill won’t pass this year because of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democrat who’s created the framework for this session. “That’s my feeling. It’s not on the list of 17 bills that Schumer wanted to get done this year,” Grassley says, “and also, there’s just such few legislating days left before the 2018 Farm Bill sunsets, September 30th.” Grassley says there needs to be “more farm in the Farm Bill,” noting that 85-percent of the U-S-D-A’s spending outline is for food stamps. He says farmers in Iowa and nationwide will have a difficult 2025 if Congress -again- fails to update the important legislation.

“It’s not adequate from the standpoint that a one-year extension will still use 2018 prices,” Grassley says, “So it doesn’t reflect the inflation we’ve had in diesel, seed, fertilizer, chemicals and interest, and those are all things that should be added to the safety net for farmers.” He says the Farm Bill being drafted by Senate Republicans includes a 15-percent increase in commodities supports, stronger crop insurance, a doubling of funds for foreign market assistance — or exports, along with a healthy boost in spending on ag research.

(Radio Iowa) –  Iowa is part of a 700 million dollar nationwide settlement with Johnson & Johnson over allegations of deceptive marketing practices related to the company’s talc-based baby powder and body powder products. The company has agreed to permanently stop the creation and sale of these talc-based products within the U-S. Iowa will receive more than nine million dollars from the settlement.

(Radio Iowa) – The state Board of Regents will vote on an increase in tuition and mandatory fees undergrad and graduate students at their meeting today (Thursday) in Iowa City. Graduate students spoke out against their increases Wednesday during a public comment period. Amanda Kozar is a grad student in history, and says they can’t afford increases. She says between moving expenses, security deposits, university fees, the U-bill and the monthly payments, the current pay scheme is unsustainable for graduate students. Noah Neibor is also a history grad student and he called for the fees be abolished altogether. Nicole Yeager says other universities have recognized this and taken steps to help and keep graduate students.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says a man from Red Oak was arrested early this (Thursday) morning, following a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Evergreen Avenue. 37-year-old Jesse Ray Nelson was taken into custody at around 12:36-a.m., on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Nelson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted by Officers with the Red Oak Police Department, in making the arrest.