The Creston Police Department reports one arrest occurred Wednesday afternoon. 24-year old Jordanne Beardsley, of Creston, was arrested on the 100 block of E. Adams Street, on a charge of Driving While Suspended. Beardsley wass being held in the Adams County Jail on a $300 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A western Iowa woman accused of having sex with a teenage boy staying at the Child Saving Institute shelter in Omaha, has been sent to prison. Douglas County, Nebraska, District Court records say 24-year-old Hanna Dickerson, of Neola, was sentenced Tuesday to two years. She’d pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse of a protected person. Prosecutors lowered the charge in exchange for her plea.

The 17-year-old boy was a ward of the state who told investigators that he and Dickerson engaged in sex several times in July and August 2017. Her job at the institute was to supervise wards of the state, sometimes overnight. The institute specializes in adoptions, emergency foster care and family therapy.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a woman whose body was found alongside a highway near Muscatine in eastern Iowa. The Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office identified the woman as 20-year-old Lea Renae Ponce, who lived in Fairfield. The sheriff’s office received a call around 1 a.m. Tuesday that reported a woman lying on a side of Iowa Highway 38. Arriving deputies found the body.
Officials are awaiting autopsy results.

Red Oak Police arrested a man on a Public Intoxication charge late Wednesday night. 31-year old John W. Jett, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 10:35-p.m. in the 1200 block of Senate Avenue. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 cash bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to three kidnapping charges related to the 2017 starvation death of her 16-year-old adopted daughter. The Des Moines Register reports that 41-year-old Misty Jo Bousman Ray pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of first-degree kidnapping and two counts of third-degree kidnapping involving two other adopted children in her care illegally confined to her Perry home. First-degree kidnapping carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped first-degree murder and other charges. The charges stem from the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray, who weighed only 56 pounds when she died.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Palestinian immigrant who was jailed in Iowa for two years while awaiting deportation has been released after a federal judge ruled he had been held for too long without a reasonable expectation of being repatriated soon. Advocates for immigrants’ rights say Hasan Salama Dibai Ghithan’s case is not unusual and that far too many immigrants awaiting deportation are jailed indefinitely because they don’t know how to navigate the U.S. legal system. Ghithan was released last week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a 2012 Iowa law making it illegal to get a job at a livestock farm to conduct an animal cruelty undercover investigation. Judge James Gritzner in an order filed Wednesday sided with opponents of a law intended to stop organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from doing animal abuse investigations at farms and puppy mills. The judge found the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Billionaire Tom Steyer says he’s decided to stay focused on getting the president impeached instead of trying to replace him. The investor and Democratic activist has been traveling around the country promoting a political platform. But in his announcement Wednesday in Iowa, Steyer said he would spend $40 million this year to encourage the impeachment of President Donald Trump rather than mount a presidential campaign himself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A three-term Iowa state senator says he plans to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Steve King in next year’s Republican primary. Randy Feenstra, an assistant Republican legislative leader, announced Wednesday he intended to run for the northwest Iowa seat and has opened a federal campaign committee. King just began his ninth term. He’s known for hardline views on immigration, abortion and gun rights.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education approved resignations and new hire contracts during their meeting, Wednesday evening. In addition to our earlier reports on the resignations of Andrea Reilly – TAG, STEM Coordinator & Teacher, Head Cheer sponsor; and Julie Birge – Food Service), the Board approved the resignation of Jeremy Blake, Assistant/JV Volleyball Coach. They also approved the hiring/contracts for Dawn Russell, Assistant Head Cook at Schuler Elementary, Riley Hayes, Washington Elementary Clerical Para, along with Industrial Tech Teachers Ryan Messerschmidt and Dexter Dodson.

Superintendent Steve Barber said the addition of two Industrial Tech teachers is remarkable, considering how hard it is to find qualified instructors in-light of an abundance of teacher shortages. He said “We experienced that last Spring with the late resignation of our Industrial Tech position. Obviously, we worked hard with business partners last year and part of our STEM grant was to build partnerships between the school and create a construction trades program.” A condition of the STEM grant, during the second year of a Construction Trades program, was to hire more people to be able to take care of the requirement and head out into the community to build houses, etc. Barber said “We’re a year ahead. These guys [Messerschmidt and Dodson] have great skills that will help us put this program together.”

The Atlantic School Board discussed some proposed changes to the Athletic Facility Plan. (See the photo’s below. Click on an image to enlarge) Superintendent Barber said the changes do not represent an increase or decrease in $9.5-million dollar price of the projects. In fact, he said “It’s a wash” when some aspects were scaled-back or removed, and others were added. Barber said some of the proposed changes deal with the traffic flow in front of Schuler Elementary.

The Facility Committee, experts and others determined that alleviate all buses from E. 14^th Street, in the drop-off area, and creating two-or three lanes directly in front of the Schuler building, for vehicles to drop-off students more quickly, and putting a parking lot with a separate entrance into the parking lot will allow the teachers to get in there as well.” The parking lot would have anywhere from 66-to 74 stalls. The Board discussed making E. 14^th one-way in front of the school, so as to not cause more traffic problems.

Other proposed changes include moving soccer and tennis to the High School stadium, installing new, natural turf at the high school. The Trojan Bowl would still be used for “Friday Night Lights” (football). The would be no team building at the Trojan Bowl, Barber said, because that was designed to accommodate a soccer team, football team and others.)

With regard to the Atlantic School District Special Election April 2^nd on the bond referendum. It was previously indicated the polls would be open from 7-a.m. until 8-p.m., however, Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman decided the polls will be open from Noon until 8-p.m. on that date, with early voting at the Auditor’s Office beginning at 8-a.m.  Two sites are being considered for voting locations: The Atlantic Public Library and the Heritage House.

HS Stadium & tennis

High School Ballfields

Trojan Bowl

Schuler Parking

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) report DNR staff were on site four miles west of Winterset responding to a spill at a hog confinement, Wednesday. The site owners, Waldo Farms of Nebraska, reported a release due to a plugged pipeline. That spill has stopped and did not reach a creek.

During the investigation, DNR field staff discovered a second, ongoing manure spill from a closed hog confinement. Manure storage at the closed facility was full, causing a small amount of manure-laden waters to overflow into a Cedar Creek tributary.

The DNR’s field tests showed elevated ammonia levels in the tributary, but normal levels downstream in Cedar Creek. The agency is requiring the owner to stop the release. Officials say the DNR will continue to monitor the cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Billionaire investor and Democratic activist Tom Steyer said Wednesday that he will not run for the White House in 2020 and will instead focus on calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

Steyer, who has spent $50 million on his Need to Impeach campaign and announced plans to spend $40 million more this year, said at an event in Des Moines that “the impeachment question has reached an inflection point,” given that Democrats have taken majority control of the House.

“I said last year that I’m willing to do whatever I can to protect our country from this reckless, lawless and dangerous president,” Steyer said. “Therefore, I will be dedicating 100 percent of my time, effort and resources working for Mr. Trump’s impeachment and removal from office. I am not running for president at this time.”

Steyer said his $40 million commitment for 2019 was designed to pressure the Democratic-controlled House to begin impeachment hearings and to persuade the party’s presidential contenders to support impeachment on their platform. The decision not to run comes as a surprise since Steyer had been traveling the country promoting the political platform he released after November’s midterm elections.

But Steyer, who chose the premier presidential caucus state to make his announcement, likened his mission to seeking the presidency itself. “Most people come to Iowa around this time to announce a campaign for the presidency,” he said. “”I am proud to be here to announce that I will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to remove a president.”

Although Steyer’s call for impeachment comes as House Democrats have taken the majority, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that the House shouldn’t move to impeach Trump without more facts and that the effort would be divisive. Steyer objected. “If someone says there are tactical, political reasons not to do the right thing for our country, I would say that’s not the basis on which we’re making decisions,” he said.

Although Steyer opted against a presidential run, the constellation of political organizations that he has built is likely to have an impact on the presidential race and on key congressional races across the country. Several prominent Democrats have also declined to run in 2020, including former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to three kidnapping charges related to the 2017 starvation death of her 16-year-old adopted daughter. The Des Moines Register reports that 41-year-old Misty Jo Bousman Ray pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of first-degree kidnapping and two counts of third-degree kidnapping involving two other adopted children in her care illegally confined to her Perry home.

First-degree kidnapping carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped first-degree murder and other charges. The charges stem from the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray, who weighed only 56 pounds when she died.

Her husband, 43-year-old Marc Ray, pleaded guilty last month to child endangerment causing death and three counts of third-degree kidnapping. The couple will be jointly sentenced on Jan. 18 in Dallas County.