BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Another defendant has been imprisoned in the slaying of a 26-year-old man in southeast Iowa. Des Moines County District Court records say 44-year-old Derrick Parker was sentenced last week to 15 years. He’d pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and to willful injury.

Parker was one of five men charged with killing Demarcus “Peanut” Chew on Sept. 10, 2017, outside his mother’s apartment in Burlington. Andre Harris also has been sentenced to 15 years, and Antoine Spann was given 20 years. Caesar Davison and Emmanuel Spann have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

The Atlantic Police Department reports numerous arrests took place from August 26^th through September 12^th. Most recently, 42-year old James Almadarris, of Winettka, California, was arrested September 12^th for Burglary in the 3rd Degree and Theft in the 2^nd. On Sept. 7th, 18-year old Rachael Stanley, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County Warrant for Theft in the 5^th degree, and, 47-year old Amy Rollins, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County Warrant for Failure to Appear.

On Sept. 1st, 20-year old Froilan Amaya, of Atlantic, was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order. Amaya was arrested again on September 2^nd for Possession of a Controlled Substance – Marijuana. On August 31st, 32-year old Justin Donaldson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested in Atlantic for Driving While License Denied or Revoked. On August 29th, 70-year old Stephen Tasto, of Missouri Valley, was arrested for 2nd Degree Theft, and 31-year old Justin Cooley, of Atlantic, was arrested for Theft in the 3rd Degree. He was taken to the Cass County Jail and booked in. Authorities say while he was in custody, Cooley was additionally charged with two counts of Burglary in the 3^rd, three counts of Criminal Mischief in the 5^th and Theft  in the 3rd Degrees.

And, on Aug. 26th, 28-year old Mario Lopez, of Atlantic, was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 5^th Degree.

Each of those individuals were booked into the Cass County Jail.

IOWA FALLS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa city has agreed to pay $250,000 to a man who suffered a broken leg in 2017 after a police officer took him to the ground during an arrest. A settlement shows the city of Iowa Falls and its insurer agreed to the payment in July to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Aaron Bailey. Bailey was arrested for disorderly conduct and handcuffed outside his home by officer Joe Metz.

As Metz was walking Bailey to his squad car, the officer said Bailey was belligerent and appeared to try to head-butt him. The officer said he took Bailey to the ground and fell on him. Bailey’s lawsuit claimed Metz picked Bailey up and slammed him down after Bailey called the officer a homosexual slur. It claimed that Bailey suffered a compound leg fracture that resulted in permanent injuries.

The lawsuit also called the underlying arrest baseless. Bailey pleaded guilty to public intoxication and charges of interference with official acts and disorderly conduct were dropped.

Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns reports four candidates for offices in Cumberland and Massena have filed nomination papers for the Nov. 5th City Elections in Cass County:

• N. Virginia Coughlin (incumbent) for Mayor in Cumberland
• Micah Lee – (Incumbent) Massena City Council
• Sandra Eversole and Scott W. Becker,( incumbents) for Cumberland City Council.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds met with the president Thursday to talk about ethanol policy. Governor Reynolds Tweeted last night (Thursday night) that she “appreciated the opportunity to meet with Trump at the White House to discuss the importance of ethanol to rural America!” She used an exclamation point at the end of that sentence, then concluded by saying she’ll “never stop fighting for” ethanol. A month ago, Trump gave the green light to waivers so oil refineries do not have to blend as much ethanol into gasoline. Reynolds has said Trump did not fully understand the negative impact that would have on the ethanol industry.

This (Friday) morning, Bloomberg News is reporting President Trump has revealed Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both U.S. Senators from South Dakota and Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (SASS) were part of a “big meeting” at the White House about ethanol.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A man has testified that he saw a woman now on trial for murder burn what he says were bloody clothes a day or two after the eastern Iowa slaying in 1992. The Muscatine Journal reports that Scott Payne told a jury Thursday that Annette Cahill said the clothes were covered with paint. He says he believed otherwise, because he knew the difference between red paint and blood from his days working in a pig slaughterhouse.

Cahill, now 56, was charged in May 2018 with first-degree murder in the beating death of her former boyfriend Corey Wieneke. Her first trial ended in a mistrial because jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Payne didn’t testify about the clothes at the first trial, and he told a prosecutor that he didn’t report what he saw because he tried to avoid police, owing to what he says was his use of drugs and illegal driving.

Testimony is expected to resume today (Friday).

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a woman from Hastings turned herself-in to authorities, Thursday morning. 29-year old Davionna Elizabeth Marie Christensen was wanted on warrants out of Pott. County, for Driving While Barred and Failure to Appear. Once the warrants were confirmed, Christensen was transported to the Pott. County Jail, and booked-in. Her bond was set at $2,000.

Thursday afternoon, 38-year old Robert Edward Benedict, of Council Bluffs, was transported from the Sarpy County, Nebraska Jail to the Pottawattamie County Jail. Benedict was wanted on charges and/or warrants for: Credit card fraud (under $1,500), Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense; Theft in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees. His bond was set at $12,000.

And, 44-year old Steven L. Schrawyer was transported from the Saunders County, NE. Jail to the Pott. County Jail Thursday afternoon. He was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Violation of Probation.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(8-a.m. News) — Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports that at around 10-p.m. Thursday, September 12th, officers responded to a shots fired call at a Clarinda business. Investigation revealed that 46-year old Robert Christopher Cook, of Casper, Wyoming, allegedly shoved and directed racial and ethnic slurs at 25-year old Luis David Ramos, of Denison. Ramos retaliated and struck Cook in the face with a closed fist.

Cook then retrieved a Glock .45 caliber pistol from his room, and allegedly brandished the pistol in a threatening manner before firing a shot into the air. Cook then began chasing Ramos, who was able to retreat to safety until police arrived. Cook suffered injuries to his face, and was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center for treatment. He was later released from the hospital and transported to the Page County Jail, where he was being held on charges that include for going armed with intent, aggravated assault and reckless use of a firearm.

A charge of assault resulting in bodily injury is pending against Ramos. Reports concerning the incident have been submitted to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review regarding the filing of formal charges.

No doubt you have heard how the latest clean water crisis now looms in rural America: the Des Moines Register has reported unsafe levels of bacteria and nitrates continue to pollute Iowa’s water, according to findings over the past 16 years. Clean water protections are jeopardized by recent escalated federal attempts to deregulate, slash budgets and restrict supervision and enforcement. Matt Russell, Executive Director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light and fifth-generation owner of Coyote Run Farm in Lacona, spoke with KJAN News about the work being done to protect and preserve Iowa’s environment. He said there are four practice areas that are very effective: Conservation tillage, extend crop rotation – grow more than corn and soybeans, have something growing all year around, and integrating livestock by managing manure better…rotational grazing and more.

Russell grew up on a farm south of Anita. His parents, Bill and Connie Russell, and his brother and sister-in-law Todd and Cathy, still farm the same land. On his Lacona farm, they took 110 acres and turned it all into a managed grazing system. They used EQUIP, CRP and other conservation programs, partnering with the tax payers to help put practices on the farm that will help them sell their meat directly at a higher value. They built ponds, and changed to a rotational grazing system as well.

He said Interfaith Power and Light works with farmers in getting them engaged in their profession in terms of climate change and water clean-up. Those that are already using practices to be “High-level” stewards of the land in conservation, he says, take more risk and get less return than the farmers who take short cuts. The trick, according to Russell, is how to “shift the economics.” He says “We have an economic situation that does not reward those farmers who do the highest levels of conservation. Those who do the least level and sometimes poor conservation – they actually pay very little cost. The economics do not encourage better stewardship, and we don’t have a way of calling-out those farmers who are doing a poor job.”

Russell says “We know we have these increased nutrients and bacteria as well, and that’s not changing. That’s not getting better. We can’t just keep doing what we’re doing, expecting that something is going to change.” The Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) is a solution to address nutrient pollution and reduce Iowa’s inputs by up to 45%. However, despite significant investments in the NRS – including a $242 million dollar water quality bill passed by the legislature in January 2018 – the implementation rates of water quality practices are actually slowing rather than ramping up.

The efforts of good land stewardship, Russell says, creates economic opportunities. “What we have to think about as Iowans, is that this water is all of ours. There are multiple problems with the water, but also gives a lot of opportunities for strategy to fix it and work together to do it. This is a great opportunity for that rural-urban divide that we hear about. How do we partner together instead of making this farmers against other folks in the State. How do we come together to all take responsibility to get solutions that are based in concrete efforts that works. We’ve got to move past talking about the problem to really engaging ‘How do we get the dollars, how do we get the practices, how do we get the partnerships to get to a place where everybody has access to clean drinking water, everyone can jump in a close-by body of water, and float and paddle, fish, and hunt water fowl.'”