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

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Officials with the Creston Police Department report 27-year old Kelly Belt, of Creston, was arrested on a charge of Theft in the 5th degree at around 1:45-a.m. today (Tuesday). Belt was cited for the offense and then released from custody on a Promise to Appear (later, in court). Two people were arrested at around 10:30-p.m. Saturday, in Creston. 38-year old Johnnie Lovell and 26-year old Amanda Steinbach, both of Creston, were arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on charges of Burglary in the 2nd Degree. Lovell and Steinbach were later released from the Union and Adams County Jails, respectively, on $10,000 bond each.

And, Creston Police say a resident reported Sunday afternoon, that sometime on Saturday, someone took a handgun from his residence in the 200 block of N. Division Street, in Creston. The loss was estimated at $150.

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

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(Updated) – First-degree murder charges have been filed against two people from Decorah, in connection with an assault this summer. Authorities say 18-year-old Dalton Adam and 17-year-old Jacob Seelinger were charged in a July 12th attack on 46-year old David Hansen, of Decorah. Hansen died of injuries suffered during the attack, on August 30th. Before the charges were upgraded, Adam and Seelinger both entered not guilty pleas to willful injury and attempted murder.  Records show the teen and Adam had already pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and other crimes.

(Radio Iowa & the A-P contributed to this story)

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa State University golfer was found dead at a golf course Monday, and a man was charged with murder. Police said in a news release that 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena was found dead Monday at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames and officers determined she had died after being assaulted. They said 22-year-old Collin Daniel Richards was charged with first-degree murder. Police said Richards has no known address.

Police were called to the golf course around 10:20 a.m. Monday after golfers found a golf bag with no one around it. Officers found a body some distance from the bag. Barquin Arozamena was the 2018 Big 12 champion and Iowa State Female Athlete of the Year. The university said the native of Puente San Miguel, Spain, was finishing her civil engineering degree this semester after exhausting her eligibility at Iowa State in 2017-2018. She was one of the most accomplished players in Cyclone golf history, the university said. In April, she became the second women’s golfer at Iowa State to earn medalist honors at a conference tournament when claiming the 2018 Big 12 Championship. She did it with a three-shot victory.

Barquin Arozamena, who was ranked No. 69 nationally by Golfweek, ended her career as a Cyclone with a fourth-straight NCAA Regional appearance and earned All-Big 12 Team honors for the third time — the second player in Iowa State’s history to do so. She became the third Cyclone women’s golfer to compete in the U.S. Women’s Open Championship, the university said. Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement on Twitter that she was “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death” of Barquin Arozamena, describing her as a “dedicated civil engineering student” and an “acclaimed golfer with a bright future.”
Head women’s golf coach Christie Martens said in a release that Barquin Arozamena was “loved by all her teammates and friends” and was an “outstanding representative of our school.” “We will never forget her competitive drive to be the best and her passion for life,” Martens said.

No injuries were reported, but a piece of heavy machinery sustained $15,000 damage, Monday, in Creston, after it struck a bridge. Creston Police say 59-year old Raymond E. Osborn, of Humboldt, was driving a 2000 Sterling tractor-trailer southbound on Osage Street at around 10:25-a.m., when a payloader being hauled on the trailer hit a railroad overpass. No damage was observed on the overpass. The payloader is owned by Blacktop Service Company, in Humboldt. No citations were issued.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa oversight agency has dismissed its case against two teachers accused of cheating and fraud. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners dropped its case regarding Ehren Wills and Kay Slusher, following the recommendation of an administrative law judge who held a hearing in June. Wills was accused of submitting Slusher’s work as her own while pursuing a master’s online from Hannibal-LaGrange University in Hannibal, Missouri. Slusher was accused of completing assignments for Wills.

Holding a master’s degree can earn a teacher more money each year. Wills testified that she produced all the assigned degree work for her degree. She wrote her assignments longhand. Slusher typed them and sent them by email. They described Slusher’s role as a “typist, editor and logistical coordinator.”

Two separate traffic stops Monday night in Adams County resulted in the arrests of three people. At around 10:40-p.m., Adams County Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle near Highway 25 and 250th Street. K9 “Baxo” was deployed on the vehicle and gave a positive indication to the odor of narcotics. Upon further investigation, Alicia Lovell, of Creston, was placed under arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance (methamphetamine), Possession of a Controlled Substance (marijuana), and Possession of a Controlled Substance (Hydrocodone). A passenger in the vehicle, Jacob Lowe, of Creston, was also placed under arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance (marijuana).

(Radio Iowa) — A warm and dry week of weather has helped Iowa’s corn and soybean crops. Between September 10th and 16th, there was no measurable rainfall at any of Iowa’s National Weather Service stations. Chad Hart, an associate professor of economics and grain markets specialist at Iowa State University, says farmers are thrilled with turnaround – after a very wet start to the month.

“One of the biggest things you worry about is – you like rain to grow that crop, but you like to see that rain sort of stop as we go to harvest that crop,” Hart says. “Because if you get rain now, you can have issues with molds and other things growing on the crop before you get it harvested.”

The new USDA crop report, issued Monday, shows 53-percent of Iowa’s corn is mature. That’s about a week ahead of the five-year average. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of the state’s corn crop is rated in good-to-excellent condition. Soybean fields are also maturing more than a week ahead of normal and three-quarters of those fields are in good-to-excellent condition. Last week, the USDA projected the NATION’s corn production for 2018 at just over 14.8 billion bushels. The forecast for soybeans is 4.7 billion bushels.

“These would be massive crops,” Hart said. “It would be the second-largest corn crop, with the top one in 2016. This would be the largest soybean crop this country has ever seen.” The crop production report released last Wednesday led to a drop in corn prices. Hart says record yields tend to keep commodity prices down.

“At the same time, we’ve got really good demand, it’s just that the supply…is swamping that demand. That’s been the situation for the past several years,” Hart said. The USDA project Iowa’s average corn yield at a record 206 bushels per acre — with an overall harvest of just over 2.6 billion bushels. Iowa’s soybeans are estimated to match the 2016 record of 60 bushels per acre. Iowa is project to harvest 590.4 million bushels of soybeans this year.

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

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa State University golfer has been found dead at a golf course, and a man has been charged with murder in her death. Police said in a news release that 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena was found dead Monday at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames and officers determined she had died after being assaulted. They said Collin Daniel Richards has been charged with first-degree murder. Barquin Arozamena was the 2018 Big 12 champion. She was a native of Puente San Miguel, Spain.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Ankeny police have identified the person killed by an Ankeny police officer as a 31-year-old Missouri man. Police on Monday said officer Todd Webb responded to a call Saturday afternoon of a robbery in progress at a Hy-Vee gas station and located a suspect nearby. Police say the man pointed a handgun at the officer, who then shot and killed the suspect. The man was identified as Christopher Leonard, of Springfield, Missouri.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a body found in a rain-swollen Cedar Rapids stream as a missing kayaker. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the state medical examiner’s office had identified the body as 34-year-old John Conley of Cedar Rapids. Conley’s body was found Sept. 6 in Indian Creek. His wife, 30-year-old Samantha Conley, was rescued several days earlier from the stream after their kayak overturned. The creek was running high because of heavy rain.

LEON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has declared a mistrial in a murder trial after a person began discussing the case with jurors. Judge Brad McCall declared the mistrial Monday in the trial of 27-year-old Patrick Ryan Thompson, of Ames. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson after a May 15, 2017, fire in Guthrie County. The judge took the action after someone started loudly discussing the case with prospective jurors.