DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government has decided it wants to build a new courthouse in Des Moines on the former riverfront site of a YMCA. The General Services Administration said Tuesday in a news release that the planned $137 million courthouse will “complement the character and context of the surrounding structures and amenities, interact with the Principal Riverwalk in a way that facilitates pedestrian activities and outdoor recreation, and include publicly accessible space.”

The government will have to acquire the site from Hubbell Realty Co., which released plans Monday for a luxury condominium development there. The city had wanted to reserve the land for private development.
Officials say courthouse construction is scheduled to start in fall 2019, and the building would open the following year.

(Radio Iowa) — Most people who visit Iowa’s 19 state-licensed casinos don’t suffer from gambling addiction, but for the few who do, those environments can be very detrimental. This is Responsible Gaming Education Week in Iowa. Wes Ehrecke, president and CEO of the Iowa Gaming Association, says it’s a time to focus on educating casino employees and patrons. “Well over 98% of people can go to the casino for the fun and entertainment it’s intended to be using their discretionary dollars,” Ehrecke says, “but for those that it might be a problem, we want to heighten awareness about resources that are available, gambling treatment counselors, 1-800-BETS OFF and other tools and resources they could explore if they’re experiencing a problem.”

Last year, significant changes were made to the voluntary self-exclusion program as a result of legislation passed in the Iowa legislature. This week, continued emphasis will help clarify and explain to patrons this reform that allows a person to voluntarily ban themselves for either five years or for life. Ehrecke credits the work of gambling treatment counselors at facilities near all 19 casinos.  “They are coming in to spend time, in some cases interacting with the patrons by setting up tables near the entrances,” Ehrecke says, “but especially with the employees to do staff training to better understand intervention skills and how to recognize if someone may be having a problem.”

Ehrecke says there is a new online link that was created by the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Gambling Treatment Program for those who are in need of help.”They have developed this new link called Your Life Iowa,” he says. “It’s not just gambling. It could be substance abuse. It could be mental health, various issues people might be experiencing and they have it all under one umbrella. YourLife.Iowa.org is a very helpful resource for people.”  There is also more information at www.iowagaming.org.

A man in Humboldt County is accused of stabbing a sheriff’s deputy. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office announced in a press release that a Rutland man has been charged with assault on a peace officer using a deadly weapon. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office executed a search of the residence of 47-year-old Michael J. Saeger in Rutland on Monday, and after initially talking to deputies, he became combative towards a deputy.

Officials with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said Saeger fled to a room with authorities giving chase and that he grabbed a knife and stabbed the deputy 4 times. The deputy was wearing body armor and was not injured. Saeger is being held at the Humboldt County Jail on assault charges, interference with official acts and manufacturing and possession of controlled substances.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst (R-Red Oak) has been calling on congress to launch its own investigation of the U.S. Olympic Committee to see why a sports doctor was allowed to treat athletes for years after dozens of complaints. “Like many Americans, I was horrified to hear of the crimes committed by Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics doctor who abused hundreds of young athletes,” Ernst said during testimony in a senate committee this summer. Since January, Ernst has joined with other senators on a number of occasions to call for a congressional response. Ernst says Nassar’s actions and the individuals and institutions who protected him are “reprehensible.” “When these athletes reported the abuse to those they trusted — people within their university, their gymnastics club, Olympic leadership or people their parents paid to turn them into strong and healthy athletes — they were shut down,” Ernst said. “They were ignored and they were told: ‘There was nothing to see here.'”

The U.S. Olympic Committee’s chairman resigned at the end of February and Nassar essentially has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, but Ernst says problems persist in the U.S. Olympic Committee and its affiliates that must be investigated and addressed. “Even more maddening is these organizations rake in millions of dollars a year and enjoy tax-exempt status,” Ernst said.  As a student at Iowa State University, Ernst volunteered at a rape crisis center and Ernst says that experience showed her survivors are forever altered by the abuse they endure. “Abuse like this is not something you can just simply forget,” Ernst said. “…We must take survivors’ stories seriously and ensure they are heard.” Ernst said. ‘

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has been created to oversee abuse complaints from athletes training for the Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Committee is a federally-chartered organization. It oversees 47 other groups like U-S-A Gymnastics that govern the individual and team sports that are part of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

A traffic stop in Montgomery County early this (Wednesday) morning, resulted in two, drug-related arrests. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a vehicle driven by 58-year old Terry Joe Halvin, of Red Oak, was pulled over in the 1800 block of Highway 48, at around 1:20-a.m. Halvin was subsequently arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – with the intent to deliver, a Class-B Felony. Halvin was also charged with Driving While Revoked. A passenger in the vehicle, 57-year old Julie Ann Vore, of Council Bluffs, also faces a Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – with the intent to deliver, charge.

Both were transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where they were being held without bond until being seen by a magistrate. The Montgomery County K9 Unit and Red Oak Police assisted in conducting the arrests.

Three people from southwest Iowa were hurt during a collision Tuesday evening in Taylor County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2005 Pontiac Grand Am driven by 19-year old Konner Ray Martin, of New Market, was traveling east on Highway 2 at around 6-p.m., when the car crossed the centerline of the road and collided with a westbound 2014 Toyota Highlander SUV, driven by 61-year old Jean Ann Minor, of Clarinda.

Both vehicles ended up in opposite ditches. Both drivers – who were wearing their seat belts – and a passenger in one of the vehicles, 18-year old Sophia Alezandra Groumoutis, of Creston, were injured. Martin and Minor were transported by Clarinda EMS to the Clarinda Hospital. Groumoutis, who was not wearing a seat belt, was flown by LifeNet helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha.

The crash remains under investigation. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Taylor and Page County Sheriff’s Offices, Clarinda and New Market EMS, and LifeNet.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An outspoken critic of Iowa’s Medicaid privatization process says he has been removed as a chairman of a state council that monitors the state’s shift to private management of its $5 billion Medicaid program. The Des Moines Register reports David Hudson says Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has dropped him from the Medical Assistance Advisory Council for apparently pushing back too hard against the privatization scheme.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman for a central Iowa nonprofit crime-stopper organization says the reward fund for a missing University of Iowa student has grown to more than $300,000 and is likely to continue climbing. Greg Willey, spokesman for Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa says the Mollie Tibbetts reward fund has reached $301,363 a record for the organization that was incorporated in 1982.

EDDYVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man died after a boat capsized on the Des Moines River in southern Iowa. Rescuers were sent to a spot on the southern end of Mahaska County around 7 p.m. Sunday to check a report about a capsized boat and people in the water. The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year-old Martin Almond was found unconscious in the river and that he was declared dead later at a hospital. He lived in Oskaloosa.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man accused of trying to kill his estranged wife has been sentenced to 25 years in an Iowa prison. The Telegraph Herald reports that 51-year-old Clifford Smiley was sentenced Monday. Prosecutors say Smiley stabbed his estranged wife in a Dubuque store parking lot on April 1.

(Radio Iowa) — Templeton Rye Spirits held a grand opening for several new facilities today (Tuesday) that will help produce their rye whiskey on the east side of Templeton. Construction on the 35-thousand-square-foot distillery and 55-thousand-square-foot aging warehouse started in April of 2017.

Templeton Rye Co-Founder, Keith Kerkhoff, says he is proud to bring all parts of the whiskey-making process from the 1920s and 30s back to town. A renovated visitor center goes along with the production facilities to highlight the town’s past. Kerkhoff says the community was excited to step up and provide stories and artifacts from Templeton’s bootlegging days.

“We certainly want to thank them for their support. Very meticulous, very pride-driven people,” he says. Kerkhoff says that community involvement is one of the reasons for the investment in the plant. “I am really proud to be an heir of this community,” Kerkhoff says.

The project is also a significant investment in the community — with a total of 17 new jobs to the town and total employment of 28 people at their new location. The company spent 35 million dollars on the project and the distillery can now produce nearly 500-thousand proof gallons of rye whiskey per year, and up to 40-thousand barrels of the product can then be aged on site at the new warehouse State and county officials, local residents and whiskey lovers were in attendance to see the changes firsthand.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman for a central Iowa nonprofit says the reward fund for a missing University of Iowa student has grown to more than $300,000 and is likely to continue climbing. Greg Willey, spokesman for Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa, says the Mollie Tibbetts reward fund has reached $301,363, which is a record for the organization that was incorporated in 1982.

Willey says donations have come from more than 180 individuals and businesses from across the country. The fund has been established to help return Tibbetts to her family. The 20-year-old woman went missing on July 18 from her hometown of Brooklyn, about 70 miles east of Des Moines.

Officers from the FBI, state and local law enforcement agencies are working to find her. She was last seen jogging on the city streets in the town of 1,400.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer, Tuesday, issued a report on an accident involving a semi tractor-trailer that took place on Friday, Aug. 3rd. Palmer said Deputies were notified at around 11:20-a.m., about a semi tractor trailer blocking the road at 290th and Highway 71, about three-miles north of Braddyville, where the rig had been involved in a single motor vehicle accident.

When Deputies arrived, they found that 26-year old David L. Meyer, of Brule, NE. was operating a 1994 Peterbilt semi tractor attached to a 2000 semi tanker trailer hauling concrete powder for Transwood Logistics of Omaha, NE.

Meyer had missed the turn on Highway 71 and attempted to pull from a field drive onto 290th just west of the highway. Meyer did not swing wide enough for the semi trailer to stay in the field drive. The semi trailer dropped into the ditch and caused the rear tires of the semi tractor to lift into the air. This rendered the semi tractor trailer combination in-operable and blocked 290th street.

When the semi trailer dropped into the ditch, damage was done to the tube under the drive. The tube is owned by Darrin Sunderman of rural Clarinda. Damage to the Semi tractor / trailer is estimated at $10,000. Damage is estimated at $500 to the tube.

No injuries were reported.