Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 31-year old Casey Lee Tunnell, of Red Oak, Saturday. Following a traffic stop, Tunnell was arrested at around 7:45-a.m. for OWI/2nd offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a rollover accident Saturday afternoon, near Red Oak. Deputies responded at around 12:56-p.m. to the scene west of Hawkeye Ford on Highway 34. Upon arrival, they found a 2000 Ford Expedition in the north ditch on its driver’s side.

An investigation revealed the SUV was traveling east on Highway 34 and had approached an eastbound vehicle from behind. A motorcycle ahead of the SUV completed a pass of the vehicle and while overtaking the eastbound vehicle, another vehicle traveling westbound came into view from the curve in the road.

The driver of the Expedition, 29-year old Leroy D. Gladden, of Omaha, avoided colliding with the westbound vehicle by steering onto the north shoulder of the road. The SUV went out of control and overturned before landing on the driver’s side, facing northwest.

Neither Gladden nor his juvenile passenger were injured as a result of the crash. Gladden was cited however, for Unsafe passing, and Driving Under Suspension. The SUV, owned by Amber N. Gladden, of Omaha, sustained $3,500 damage and is considered a total loss.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The cities of Dubuque, Fort Dodge and Oskaloosa have been awarded federal grants to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the cities had been selected to receive $1.6 million in brownfield grants. They’re among 149 communities nationwide selected to receive 151 grant awards totaling nearly $65 million.

Dubuque will receive $800,000 to revitalize areas across the community, including sites in the South Port, Washington Neighborhood and North End neighborhoods. Fort Dodge is getting $500,000 to clean up the Wahkonsa Annex contaminated with inorganic contaminants, and Oskaloosa will get $300,000 to promote investment in existing neighborhoods, encourage cleanup and reuse contaminated property.

Police in Red Oak, Friday evening, arrested 52-year old Barbara Darlene Wilson, of Red Oak. The woman was taken into custody in the 600 block of Sunset Avenue on a charge of Simple Assault. Her bond was set at $300.

w/ Chris Parks

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NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — Central Iowa law enforcement officials say a second arrest has been made in a home invasion robbery last year in which an 82-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted.

The Des Moines Register reports that 20-year-old Manuel Eduardo Balderas was arrested Thursday in Des Moines on a warrant charging him with sexual abuse, robbery, theft and willful injury. He was booked into the Story County Jail.

Police continue to search for another suspect, 18-year-old Jacob Jimenez. Police say Jimenez is the grandson of the elderly victim and that he led Balderas and a 17-year-old to the woman’s home last August. The three broke in, tied the woman up, beat her and sexually assaulted her. Police say the trio took about $1,000 worth of items from the home before going to burglarize the home of another one of Jimenez’s relatives.

The 17-year-old was arrested last month in Texas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has denied a request by the attorney for former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to stop a civil trial in which Branstad is accused of discrimination against a gay former state worker’s compensation commissioner.

Branstad and two former staffers were sued by Christopher Godfrey, who was pressured to quit after Branstad took over as governor in 2010 and received a pay cut. Godfrey claims it was because he’s gay. Branstad denies he knew that Godfrey is gay.

An eight-person jury is hearing the case in Polk County District Court. Branstad attorney Frank Harty claims the trial judge is allowing Godfrey to put Branstad’s and the Iowa Republican Party’s “anti-gay” views on trial, violating their free-speech rights.

Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman on Friday denied the request to stop the trial.

NEWTON – The State Historical Society of Iowa and the nonprofit group Preservation Iowa presented the state’s highest awards for historic preservation Thursday, during the 2019 Preserve Iowa Summit in Newton. The State Historical Society, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, presented its annual Preservation Project of Merit Awards to historic properties in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Northwood and Waterloo.

The awards recognize projects that exemplify the best practices of historic preservation, meet the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings, and use the State Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit Program.

Among the winners were those located in:

Coon Rapids: Rural Preservation: Historic Garst Farm House – The Historic Garst Farm House, owned by Whiterock Conservancy, is a visible reminder of the agricultural innovations Roswell Garst introduced, which changed the course of farming in Iowa and the world. In 1959, during the height of the Cold War, Garst hosted Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at the Garst family farm. The visit not only helped open conversations about worldwide agricultural practices but also eased some of the tension of the Cold War. Under the guidance of RDG Planning & Design, the home was carefully restored to its 1959 condition.

Sioux City: Special Projects: Woodbury County Courthouse Website – The Woodbury Court House in Sioux City is one of the finest examples of Prairie Architecture in the United States. It is a National Landmark and listed on the National Register. To commemorate the building’s 100th anniversary, the Woodbury County Supervisors appointed a committee to plan a week-long celebration in order to encourage locals and out-of-towners to tour the property. The committee developed an eye-catching website that depicts not only the building’s beauty but also the rich architectural history of Prairie School buildings. The Courthouse Foundation funded the project.

Sioux City: Community Effort: Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District and Railroad Museum – The Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District in Sioux City is a 30-acre site that contains surviving structures, foundations, buildings, and a rail yard from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad shops. The district is home to one of seven surviving roundhouse terminal landscapes in the nation. After being abandoned by the railroad in 1980, the district became a junkyard for farm equipment. Twenty-five years ago, there was little indication of the area’s historic significance, but the Siouxland Historic Railroad Association acquired the property in 1995 and began to celebrate the district’s long-ignored historical assets. During the past 10 years, more than 160,000 volunteer hours helped transform the district and implement many educational programs to keep the history of the rail industry in Iowa alive.

The State Historical Society of Iowa is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. More information about Iowa’s historic properties and locations are available on the Iowa Culture app or iowaculture.gov.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the long-awaited passage of a federal disaster relief bill is good news for Iowa farmers. President Trump on Thursday signed the 19-billion dollar package designed to assist victims of several recent disasters — including Iowa flooding. Naig says the bill helps Iowans in a couple of areas.

“It brings much needed support for our recovery efforts in the recovery area there in southwest Iowa,” Naig says, “whether it’s levee repair, or funds that farmers need to help remove the debris from their fields, or providing some compensation for damaged grain. We know that those are very, very important things for our producers as they recover and get back on their feet, and be productive again next year and in future years.”

Naig says the bill also provides for U-S-D-A assistance for farmers who are unable to plant crops this year because of swamped fields, though questions remain. “We don’t know what it looks like yet,” he said. “It certainly can apply to those areas that are flooded. But, we’re wondering — and asking — whether it can also apply to folks who have taken ‘prevent plant’ in other parts of the state, as well. So, those are some question marks, but it’s much needed support for our flood recovery efforts.”

Naig says statistics compiled by his office indicate the losses incurred by Iowa farmers during this spring’s record flooding are staggering. “You’ve got 100,000 acres that have been impacted in Pottawattamie, Fremont and Mills counties,” said Naig. “Then, we did an assessment of how much grain had been damaged. That number comes to right around 1.9 million bushels of corn, and about a half a million bushels of soybeans.”

An assessment was also done on how much grain in storage was impacted, and again, he says, it was millions of bushels ruined due to the floodwaters. The ag secretary says it all adds up to an economic disaster for producers. Naig also expresses concerns about lingering issues associated with the flooding.

“I keep saying this: you just lost your 2018 crop,” he said. “You’re not able to plant the 2019 crop, and really, your 2020 crop is in question, given how much water is still remaining. So, this is really, economically, a tough pill to swallow for folks.”

(Radio Iowa) — Forecasters say Iowa may have cooler-than-normal temperatures and much less rainfall throughout June. That may sound great, but not if you’re a farmer. Rains will diminish over the coming weeks and other signs of summer may be lacking. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says the rainy spell we’ve been enduring for months is over.

“For once in quite a while, most of our region is free of expected big rainfalls,” Todey says. Still, that doesn’t mean there won’t be rain on Iowans’ parades. Todey says there will be plenty of opportunities for showers, thunderstorms — and for more flooding. “Much of our region still has chances for storms,” Todey says. “They’re going to be spottier and less effective in the way of big precipitation. We don’t have a lot of capacity in much of our hydrologic system in the soils and the rivers, so even minor rainfall amounts can cause some problems.”

According to forecast models, Todey says much of the month ahead will be cooler than usual and may not bring Iowa’s acres of corn and soybeans the warmth they need to mature. “June is one time when above-average temperatures would help spur more development and accumulate some more ‘degree days’ without reaching those stressful mid-to-upper 80s on a regular basis,” Todey says.

“Instead of having above-average temperatures, we’re likely to have below-average temperatures throughout almost all of our region. It will be pleasant from a human standpoint and for livestock, but for our crops, it’s not good news.” Summer arrives two weeks from today. Todey says the effects of the ongoing El Nino pattern will be felt well into fall.