Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater today (Tuesday), reports 29-year old William Albert Bethke the 4th, of Orient, was arrested last Thursday night for Public Intoxication. Bethke was taken into custody at around 11:35-p.m. in Orient, after the Sheriff’s Office received a call about a suspicious, possibly intoxicated male. The caller said also, the subject (Identified as Bethke), had been in a bar in Orient with another man. Together, they broke a couple of glasses and were asked to leave. Bethke and the other man left and walked down the road before standing there and eventually throwing rocks at passing vehicles.

When a deputy arrived on the scene, Bethke was in the 100 block of W. Tuttle Drive, in Orient. In speaking with the man, the deputy noticed Bethke had an odor of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes. He also had trouble keeping his balance. Bethke admitted to the deputy that he had consumed too much alcohol. He also thought he was in Creston, and that his friend left him there. The deputy noted Bethke had wounds on his head, which he said occurred when he fell down while walking. The deputy speculated the wounds instead came from rocks thrown at Bethke. The man was checked out by Orient Rescue, and released.

He was transported to the Adair County Jail and released early Friday morning on a $300 bond.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been accused of setting two fires in Cedar Rapids. Linn County court records say 48-year-old Carolyn Mittman is charged with two counts of arson. Mittman’s next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28. Court documents say Mittman told investigators that she’d set a fire Oct. 22 at an apartment and set one on Oct. 13, 2017, at her former home to collect insurance money.

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

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Red Oak Police say no injuries were reported following an accident Monday afternoon. Authorities say a 2012 Freightliner Semi-tractor trailer registered to XPO Logistics and driven by Beau Kinney, of Glenwood, was traveling south on Broadway Street from the intersection of Highway 34. A 2004 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Jeffrey Steven Whitt, of Villisca, was merging onto Broadway from Highway 34, when he failed to yield to the semi in his lane. The semi hit the car on the driver’s side, causing minor damage. Whitt was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a highway, and Failure to show proof of insurance.

And, the Union County Sheriff’s Office says there were three accidents on Friday. At around 2:30-p.m., a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 15-year old Tessi May VanScoy, of Creston, was traveling south on Highway 25, in an area where cars were slowing for another vehicle that was being pulled from a ditch. VanScoy slowed down as well, but was unable to stop due to the road conditions. Her car hit the rear of a vehicle that then left the scene. Damage to the Pontiac was estimated at $3,000. No injuries were reported.

Just before 6-p.m. Friday, a 1999 Chevy Tahoe driven by 27-year old Samantha Kay Gyles, of Knoxville, was traveling east on Main Street in Lorimor, when the vehicle went out of control on the snow covered road. The SUV hit a legally parked 2008 Honda Accord, which in-turn, was pushed into a legally parked Volvo. There were no injuries. Damage from the mishap amounted to $4,000.

And, At around 6:30-p.m. Friday, a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by 70-year old Roger Henry Shephard, of Creston, went out of control due to the slippery road, as it was traveling south on Cherry Street Road. When the van swerved into the northbound lane, a 2018 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 31-year old Kody Karl Nielsen, of Guthrie Center, struck the left rear of the van. The impact caused the van to spin around and slide backward into the west ditch. Shephard was transported the hospital in Creston by ambulance to be checked-out. Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines City Council has been urged to adopt a ban on racial profiling by police. Creation of a civilian review board was among the proposals aired at the council meeting Monday night. The proposals include bans on what were described as “pretextual stops”: traffic stops in which police use minor traffic violations as excuses to pull over people officers find suspicious because of their race or sex.

The council also was urged to make marijuana possession Des Moines’ lowest police enforcement priority because, the activists said, it unfairly targets minorities. The council voted to instruct City Manager Scott Sanders to research and report on each of the proposals. Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert disagreed that the city needs a civilian review board. He says that’s something for cities with major problems within their police departments.

Sheriff’s deputies in Adams County arrested an Adair County man at around 2:35-a.m. today (Tuesday). Delson Grantham, of Fontanelle, was taken into custody after authorities received a call at around 2:15-a.m., about a suspicious vehicle in the 1300 block of Walnut Avenue. Upon further investigation, Grantham was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, Carrying a firearm while under the influence, and Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $2,300.

(Radio Iowa) — A northwest Iowa man has returned home from the West Coast, where he tried to save his mother’s home from wildfires that destroyed much of the town of Paradise, California. Andrew Duran of Sioux City is a retired carpenter who had been working on his mother’s home in the days before the fires swept through the area. He stayed behind as his mother and two brothers fled the approaching flames. Duran says he used a hose to “drench” the outside of their homes.

“I just kept watering around the house, under the car port and everything, just trying to get it as wet as I could,” Duran said. “About 45 minutes later, I saw the house across the street go up (in flames). Then, the next door neighbor’s house went up.” Duran quickly found himself fighting a losing battle and realized he was also in danger of being trapped. He shot and narrated a cell phone video of the homes going up in flames around him as he made his way towards nearby firefighters.

“There’s my mom’s house, going up right now. Sorry, mom,” Duran says in the video. Looking back, Duran said he was focused on saving his mother’s home and not worried about his own safety at the time. “I didn’t have time to think about me,” Duran said. “My number one concern was not to let my mother’s home burn…she’s not going to be homeless.”

Duran’s mother and other family members made it safely to a nearby Wal-Mart that was transformed into a make-shift “refugee site.” They are currently staying with other relatives in California and trying to decide if they’ll eventually rebuild or move elsewhere.

The director of the Iowa Department of Revenue says she’s living through a thrilling, “once in a lifetime” experience. Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson reports. (Click on the left side of the audio bar below to listen)

Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City has been the top-ranking Democrat on the Iowa Senate’s tax committee. He says: “It would be really fun if the Department of Revenue would send out refunds to Iowans in a timely manner this year.”

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The 2018 midterms are barely history, but the next campaign is already in full swing in Iowa, home to the first caucus of the 2020 Democratic presidential nominating campaign. In the two weeks since the election, potential White House contenders have intensified their effort to recruit operatives who could help them navigate an Iowa campaign. The competition is shaping up to be especially fierce because the field could include as many as two dozen candidates.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has sentenced a second man to life in prison for the 2016 killing of a gender-fluid Iowa teenager. The Des Moines Register reports a judge Monday sentenced 26-year-old Jaron Purham to life in prison, which was mandatory because of his October conviction of first-degree murder. Another man, Jorge Sanders-Galvez, already is serving a life term for the March 2, 2016, fatal shooting of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson of Burlington. Johnson’s relatives say he identified as both male and female.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa farmers are nearing the end of this year’s harvest of corn and soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Monday that 91 percent of the corn crop had been harvested by Sunday. That matches last year’s harvest but was three days behind the five-year average. About 97 percent of the soybean crop had been harvested, which is just behind last year’s 98 percent and the five-year average of 99 percent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman has filed an ethics complaint against state Sen. Nate Boulton, detailing allegations she initially made in May that led the lawmaker to drop his campaign for governor. The Des Moines Register reported Monday the woman filed the complaint with the Iowa Senate. The complaint alleges that in November 2015, Boulton repeatedly grabbed her buttocks. The Register had previously reported the allegations as well as allegations from two other women regarding incidents more than a decade ago.

Three out of the five members of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors were present Monday evening for their monthly meeting. During the session, Parks & Rec Director Seth Staashelm said the pieces of the west playground for the Schildberg Recreation Area have arrived, and are being kept in storage until they can be installed next Spring.

The west restroom at Schildberg has been ordered and will arrive in mid-December. Staashelm said a four-foot hole for a vault restroom vault (tank) will be dug within the next couple of weeks, and the 17-by 8-foot blue metal roof building will be lowered over the pit on the level surface. There is no concrete pad.

In other business, Staashelm proposed, and the Board approved, a staggered four-year term for Parks Board members, who currently serve a six-year term. A recommendation for the proposed change will be submitted to the full City Council for their approval. Staashelm said in his opinion, the six-year term is too long, because members tend to lose interest and become out of touch with what’s needed or desired. He said also, by rotating the terms, more citizens might be encouraged to serve, and it would hopefully keep board members more engaged. Board Chair Stuart Dusenberry agreed. He said many boards are on a two-or three-year term, and a six-year term is a lot of commit to.

Staashelm also reported to the Board the Sunnyside Park Ice Rink liner will be installed the first week of December, but it won’t be open until sometime around Christmas, because of the fluctuating weather patterns. A second cold snap is needed for the surface to freeze. Once it’s open, the hours will be posted at the site and on the Parks’ Facebook page.

He said also, the Schildberg Campground is slated to close Nov. 26th, and the City’s parks restrooms are closed for the season, but the parks remain open for winter activities. The streets to Sunnyside Park are still open he said, but there will be a time soon, when they will have to be closed. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the park, it’s just that vehicle traffic won’t be allowed for safety reasons.