A traffic stop Sunday in Fremont County resulted in the arrest of an Arkansas man, on drug charges. Sunday evening, the Fremont County K9-unit stopped a 2008 Nissan Xterra for a traffic violation. During the course of the stop 36-year old Robert Jerrod Castleman, of Pocahontas,AR, was placed under arrest.

Castleman was found to be in possession of Methamphetamine, Marijuana, Xanax, and Drug Paraphernalia. Castleman was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center where he was being held on a $5,000 cash-only bond.

JASPER COUNTY, Iowa – The Iowa DNR says a man setting up hunting blinds for a Veteran’s Deer Hunt, was run over by a UTV Saturday afternoon, in rural Jasper County. 58-year old James Whitson, was run over at around 1:30-p.m. by a Polaris Ranger at the Reichelt Unit Area.

Authorities say the incident happened, as 72-year old David Drew was backing the Polaris Ranger up to a trailer. Whitson was located between the trailer and the Ranger when Drew pushed the accelerator instead of the brake.

Whitson was transported to Methodist Medical Center by helicopter and the extent of his injuries are unknown. The investigation is on-going by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers.

TAYLOR COUNTY, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources report four men from outside of Iowa have plead guilty in court, to the illegal taking of deer and other charges, associated with a hunt in Taylor County. On Wednesday, November 7th, Iowa DNR Conservation Officers Andrea Bevington and Adam Arnold were checking hunters in deer camps in Taylor County when they observed one group of hunters with an untagged deer.  After interviewing the hunters, the conservation officers uncovered numerous hunting violations including falsifying residency and hunting with Missouri deer licenses in Iowa.

Authorities say 39-year old Davis Dunlap, of Willow Spring, North Carolina pled guilty to one count of no non-resident any-sex deer bow license and one count of no non-resident antlerless deer bow license with fines totaling over $1,250; 29-year old Nathan Granger, of DeQuincy, Louisiana pled guilty to one count of illegal take of an antlerless deer and one count of no non-resident antlerless deer bow license.  Fines and liquidated damages totaled over $2,090 plus condemnation of a bow and other hunting equipment.; 52-year old Ralph Thompson, of Dry Creek, Louisiana pled guilty to two counts of illegal take of an antlerless deer, one count of false claim of resident deer license and one (1) count of no non-resident any-sex deer bow license.  Fines and liquidated damages totaled over $4,400 plus condemnation of a bow and other hunting equipment.

27-year old Clint Bushnell, of Dry Creek, Louisiana pled guilty to one count of illegal take of an antlered deer (over 150 pts), one count of illegal take of an antlerless deer and one count of no non-resident any-sex deer license.  Fines and liquidated damages totaled over $11,200 plus condemnation of a bow and other hunting equipment.

Total fines, liquidated damages and equipment condemned exceeded $23,600.   Four deer were donated to the DNR HUSH program.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:15 a.m. CST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Anyone who handles anhydrous ammonia fertilizer is encouraged to attend safety training because it can be dangerous if it is mishandled. One of the next training opportunities will be on Nov. 29 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies in the southwestern corner of Iowa have seized about 300 pounds of marijuana in a traffic stop along Interstate 29. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that the marijuana was found after a recreational vehicle was pulled over near Hamburg. Deputies say a police dog indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle, leading to a search of it.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Agribusiness experts say high production costs and low commodity prices are forcing more and more dairy farmers out of business in Iowa and other dairy states. Experts say the global flood of milk has depressed prices to about half what they were in 2014, and they still haven’t hit all-time lows. University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy policy analyst Mark Stephenson says the U.S. needs a significant increase in exports to bring about a dramatic improvement in prices.

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities believe the pilot of a small plane that crashed in central Iowa, killing all four people on board, may have suffered a heart attack. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that a student pilot was going to attempt an emergency landing Friday night because the pilot apparently had a heart attack, but the plane dropped off radar southwest of Guthrie Center airport.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Anyone who handles anhydrous ammonia fertilizer is encouraged to attend safety training because it can be dangerous if it is mishandled. One of the next training opportunities will be on Nov. 29 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Dan Neenan with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety says it’s important to understand the hazards of anhydrous ammonia and to use proper safety gear, especially a full-face respirator.

Neenan says anhydrous ammonia will freeze human tissue on contact and cause chemical burns.
The training costs $10. More information is available by calling 800-551-9029.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans who drive cars with advanced technology are finding they’re much more expensive to repair. A study shows cars equipped with “advanced driver assistance systems” may cost twice as much to fix after crashes or even fender-benders. Beth Mosher, at Triple-A-Iowa, says “high tech” features are important in preventing crashes, but they’re not cheap to replace after a wreck. “Front radar sensors used with automatic braking, that can cost anywhere from $900 to $1,300,” Mosher says. “The rear radar sensors, used with blind spot monitoring and the rear traffic alert systems, those cost anywhere from $850 to just over $2,000.”

Sensors, cameras and other devices are being embedded in bumpers, side mirrors and windshields. Mosher says even minor damage might need to be fixed right away. “Something that people think, ‘Oh, I’ve got a small chip there, I’ll get to it when I can,’ but that could really distort the camera sensor that’s behind that windshield,” Mosher says. “It could become a necessary repair instead of just something that we’ll get to when we’re able to.”

Car owners should make sure their mechanics are qualified to calibrate advanced driving systems. The study shows one in three Americans can’t afford an unexpected car repair bill, even as low as 500-dollars.

Mosher says Triple-A has several recommendations for car owners:
– Learn about repair costs when shopping for a car
– Discuss them with your insurance agent
– Start saving money for emergency repairs

(Radio Iowa) — The new president of the Iowa Association of Realtors says the housing market in the state has evened out. John Goede is a Realtor in Spencer and says the most recent numbers available showed September sales dropped by nearly 13 percent compared to last year, but the overall yearly sales are down only one-point-six percent. Goede says the median sale price was up four-point-two percent even though the inventory of homes is rising. He says agents are using social media more to generate interest in houses — and there’s also a new trend being used. “A coming soon type thing where you actually market the property before it is ready to show to the public. And that’s created some buzz to and sometimes the first time you have it on the market you may have multiple showings — and then within the next day or so you could have multiple offers,” Goede says. “That’s brought up some prices.”

Interest rates have gone up some this year, but he says they are not a point where they will have a big impact. “It’s still so low that they if they pay an extra couple thousand dollars, the monthly payment is affected maybe less than five dollars per thousand that they borrow,” according to Goede. He says many homeowners who took it on the chin when the house bubble burst, are now seeing some turnaround. He says the crash of 2008 was real and people lost as much as 10 percent of their equity. Goede says we are having “a steady, not alarming” raise in prices.

Goede says things are evening out so both sides tend to be happy when a house is sold. “It’s been a good market for both. You usually says is this a sellers market or buyers market,” he says, “There’s indications that buyers are still in a pretty good position to buy and sellers are getting a fair price and can expect to be able to live in a house for two or three or four or five years and be able to sell it for a slight gain.”

Goede says the season trend for the rest of the year is for sales to fall off as the weather gets colder. The median sales price for a home was 160-thousand dollars in September compared to 153-thousand-500 in September 2017.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest at around 8:07-a.m. Saturday, of 26-year old Justin Lewis Marsden, of Red Oak. Marsden was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond, for charges that include Eluding, Reckless Driving, and Interference with Official Acts.  Deputies were assisted during the incident, by Red Oak Police.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:55 a.m. CST

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities believe the pilot of a small plane that crashed in central Iowa, killing all four people on board, may have suffered a heart attack. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that a student pilot was going to attempt an emergency landing Friday night because the pilot apparently had a heart attack, but the plane dropped off radar southwest of Guthrie Center airport.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The city of Omaha and its fire and police departments are teaming up with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program to help make the holiday season memorable for less-fortunate children. The program gives to children in Omaha and neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lincoln and the Hastings and Grand Island areas. Most Omaha fire stations and police precincts will be accepting public donations of new, unwrapped toys through Dec. 1.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Agribusiness experts say high production costs and low commodity prices are forcing more and more dairy farmers out of business in Iowa and other dairy states. Experts say the global flood of milk has depressed prices to about half what they were in 2014, and they still haven’t hit all-time lows. University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy policy analyst Mark Stephenson says the U.S. needs a significant increase in exports to bring about a dramatic improvement in prices.

Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County this (Saturday) afternoon, released the names of four people, including three adults and one teenager, who died in a single engine airplane crash Friday evening while en-route from LeMars to Osceola. The victims were identified as the pilot, 49-year old  Edward Ralph Anderson, and his passengers 36-year old Patrick Kellen, and 15-year old Samantha Clark, all of LeMars, along with 28-year old Tyler Douvia, of Merrill, Iowa. The deceased occupants of the plane have been transported to the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office. The crash site is being secured pending an investigation by the FAA.

Authorities say a little after 5-p.m. Friday,  the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call from Des Moines Air Traffic Control requesting an emergency landing for a single engine aircraft tail# 91770 at the Guthrie Center Airport. Des Moines Traffic Control advised the pilot had suffered a heart attack and a student pilot would be attempting an emergency landing.

Guthrie Center Fire and Rescue along with Panora Rescue were dispatched to the Guthrie Center Airport for the emergency landing. The aircraft never arrived at the airport. Des Moines Traffic Control reported the aircraft dropped off radar approximately 4 miles southwest of the Guthrie Center Airport. The aircraft had left Le Mars, Iowa at around 4:15-p.m..

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office launched an extensive search and rescue mission to locate the aircraft. The Sheriff’s office utilized the assistance of the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Panora police Department, Stuart Police Department, Guthrie County Emergency Management, Guthrie Center Fire and Rescue, Panora Fire and Rescue, and numerous other law enforcement, fire, and rescue agencies.

At around 6:30-a.m. Saturday (Today), a Guthrie County Citizen reported a small plane crash in a cow pasture southwest of the intersection of 265^th and Maple Avenue. The plane was identified as the missing aircraft. It had impacted the terrain very hard before skidding to a stop. (All photo’s below supplied by the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office)