COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports the remaining defendants in a deadly fentanyl distribution network were sentenced to federal prison today for a variety of crimes including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, carrying firearms in furtherance of the distribution of fentanyl, and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

A total of eleven defendants were sentenced in the Southern District of Iowa as follows:

·         Kyrell Deshawn Wells, 21, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 360 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 18, 2023;

·         Ja’cara P. Baker, 42, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 300 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on October 18, 2023;

·         Alejandro Diaz, 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 216 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury, and Carrying a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on March 16, 2023;

·         Janelle Lee Cline, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 156 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on February 16, 2023;

·         Christian Blaize Arman, 29, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023;

·         Edward James Arman, 32, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023;

·         Samantha Mae Neemann, 35, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced to 168 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on April 13, 2023;

·         Hai D. Nguyen, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to 45 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on April 13, 2023;

·         Megan Kayleen Johnson, 27, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced to 168 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl Resulting in Death or Serious Bodily Injury on March 16, 2023;

·         Richard Andrew Null, 26, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, sentenced to 150 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl, and Carrying a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on December 12, 2023; and

·         Jarik Mathew McPherson, 30, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, sentenced to 120 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl on December 12, 2023.

This investigation began in January 2022, after the Council Bluffs Police and Fire Departments responded to a Council Bluffs residence where an adult female had overdosed on fentanyl. After that victim died, law enforcement began a lengthy investigation into individuals who were actively conspiring to distribute fentanyl in the Omaha and Council Bluffs metro area. Ultimately, investigators identified Kyrell Wells and Ja’cara Baker as the primary distributors of fentanyl to others, including the members of the conspiracy listed above. The fentanyl pills distributed by this organization in the Omaha, Lincoln, and Council Bluffs areas resulted in at least eleven overdoses and six deaths. Kyrell Wells, Alejandro Diaz, Hai Nguyen, and Richard Null were also found in possession of firearms.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said “The Kyrell Wells fentanyl trafficking organization received and distributed more than 10,000 fentanyl pills every five days. The organization was connected to more than seventeen overdoses. Six people in our community died. The FBI and our local, state, and federal partners are dedicated to disrupting and dismantling the most significant drug trafficking organizations in our community.”

This case was investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Omaha Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pills, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.

The Iowa AND Iowa State marching bands are finalists in a first-ever competition sponsored by the heavy metal band Metallica. In April, Metallica announced marching bands could use their music for free and enter the contest to win 75-thousand dollars. The University of Iowa Marching Band staged its Metallica show in Kinnick Stadium on September 30th, during a night game.

Photo courtesy of University of Iowa

The Hawkeye Metal band joined the performance, which ended with fireworks.

The Iowa State University Marching Band performed its Metallica show on September 23rd in Ames.

Master of Puppets — the title track to Metallica’s 1986 album — was the closer.

The two in-state rivals and bands from Auburn, Fresno State and the University of Texas are the five finalists in the competition among Division One football schools. The winner will be announced during the first week of January.

(Radio Iowa) – Despite drought conditions, a five-acre operation at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm wrapped up the growing season by reporting record production. Grow Johnson County produces fresh fruits and vegetables, 100-percent of which is donated to 16 local emergency food organizations. Program manager Claire Zabel) says they produced 40-thousand pounds of fresh food this year, the farm’s highest-ever yield.

Zabel says the season’s production increase is due, in part, to increased staffing this year.

Some 83-percent of Iowa is experiencing drought conditions. The U-S Drought Monitor says more than a quarter of the state is in exceptional drought. Historically, that has significantly impacted row crop yields.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy kicked off a five-day, 29-county swing through Iowa this morning (Tuesday), with stops in Northwood and Osage. The tour comes after a man was charged with sending text messages threatening to kill Ramaswamy yesterday (Monday) at an event in New Hampshire.

The Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom “Iowa Poll” released yesterday (Monday) found Ramaswamy has the support of five percent of likely Iowa Caucus-goers. Ramaswamy says many of his supporters are younger voters who aren’t being captured in polls.

Ramaswamy says he’s picking up support on Iowa college campuses and among Libertarians.

Early this (Tuesday) evening, former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Waterloo and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be at Grand View University in Des Moines for a town hall forum broadcast on C-N-N at 8 p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa State University Farmland value survey shows a record price once again, but the increase is less than last year. I-S-U’s Rabail Chandio oversees the survey, and says the average price for an acre is 11-thousand-835 dollars. “This is a three-point-seven percent (3.7%) increase from last year, and a 424-dollars increase from last year,” she says. The single digit increase comes after two straight years where land values went up by double-digits. “Last year, we saw an increase of 17 percent…, and before that the increase was 29 percent So we’re still seeing an increase, but it’s a lot more modest and has slowed down,” Chandio says. She says the current land value trend appears to be following what happened about ten years ago when land values rose, and then there were minor adjustments without a crash in the market.

“And we’re seeing kind of a similar thing here. Right now we’re seeing we were at a quite a high value during the last couple of years, which is decreasing. And we’re hoping again, that it won’t really crash but we’ll see a soft landing,” Chandio says, “as is happening in the broader economy, we avoided a recession we hope to see kind of same thing happen in the land markets.” Chandio says the slowdown led to one of the nine land districts seeing a drop in overall values for the first time in several years.

“This year the northwest (district) saw a decrease of zero-point-eight percent. All of the other crop reporting districts show and increase in the land values, with the highest being the south-central and the southeast at 12-point-eight percent and nine-point-six percent,” she says. Chandio says it appears the southern district was lagging a little behind the others in their increases, and that could be why they are showing the higher values in this report.

(Radio Iowa) –  [updated] Governor Kim Reynolds says a display from the Satanic Temple of Iowa will stay in the Capitol in Des Moines this month, but she’s asking Iowans to join her in prayers focused on the nativity scene nearby.

The Satanic Temple display features a statue with a ram’s head surrounded by electronic candles. The group got a permit to put up the display in December. A Republican lawmaker called on the governor to have it removed. Reynolds says she finds the display objectionable, but the governor says in a free society the best response to objectionable speech is more speech.

Image of left of Satanic Temple of Iowa display near the Grand Staircase; image on right of crowd gathered around Christmas tree and nativity scene in center of Capitol rotunda. (RI photos)

Reynolds is encouraging Iowans to join her today in praying over the Capitol, where a nativity scene is also on display. Reynolds says the nativity represents the true reason for the season.

Reynolds joined a large crowd gathered in the Capitol today (Tuesday) for a midday prayer service. The crowd gathered around a Christmas tree and a nativity scene that are in the center of the Capital rotunda. The smell of incense from the Satanic Temple display near the main staircase wafted over the crowd.

(Cumberland, Iowa)  – Cumberland Mayor Virginia Coughlin reports the City is conducting maintenance at the treatment center this morning. In a statement on social media, the Mayor said “At this time we are [asking] residents to boil water until we let let you know otherwise. Thank you.”

Police in Red Oak (IA) report the arrest at around 9-a.m. today (Tuesday), of a woman on a Theft charge. 61-year-old Brenda Marie Mutschler, of Red Oak, was arrested at the Red Oak Rehab and Care Center, for Theft in the 5th Degree. Her bond was set at $300.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Choral Society will present their annual Holiday Concert Thursday, December 21.  The program will be in the Atlantic Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 pm.  There is no charge for admission, but free-will donations will be accepted.  Donations are used to fund the group’s music and support the Atlantic Ministerial Association’s Helping Hand Fund.

In 2018, Ray McCalla and Jan Highfill came up with the idea of forming a Choral Society.  Their first concert was that Christmas and was followed by a summer show and Christmas concert in 2019.  “I had wanted to field a community choir for years, and it seemed like the right time to do it,” McCalla said. “Making music together with others is a joy. It brings people together.” Covid forced the group to pause performances in 2020, but they resumed with Christmas concerts in 2021 and 2022.  The group is directed by McCalla and Michelle Andersen.

Any community member is welcome to join the Choral Society; rehearsals for Christmas concerts usually begin in October and are held on Sunday afternoons.  For more information, contact Ray McCalla at 712-250-1607.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 12, 2023 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today (Tuesday), announced that the Agency is investing $1,084,171 in grants to 16 rural Iowa projects to connect medical professionals to patients, support water system planning, and establish basic quality-of-life and services for individuals and families in rural communities.

With funding from the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program, Trinity Regional Medical Center received a $122,371 grant to equip one hub site and ten end-user sites throughout Buena Vista, Calhoun, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster, and Wright counties in northern Iowa with telemedicine equipment. Medical professionals at Trinity Regional Medical Center in Webster County will provide nephrology, dermatology, pulmonology, women’s health, pediatrics, and mental health care to ten locations benefiting 16,800 individuals.

Three grants were funded through the Water and Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grants. The program is designed to assist eligible low-income communities plan and develop applications for proposed USDA Rural Development water or waste disposal projects.

-City of Knierim received a $22,000 grant to help create a water facility plan developed by engineers. This project will address water system conditions and performance, including alternatives and recommendations, to meet the rehabilitation needs of the entire water system. This project will assist with the costs of planning for construction and will promote water quality for residents of this rural Calhoun County community.

–City of Murray received a $22,500 grant to help complete a wastewater system plan. The project will supply a plan created by engineers with alternatives and recommendations to address rehabilitation of the city’s wastewater infrastructure. The project will help support much-needed wastewater upgrades that will promote the health and safety of residents of this rural community in Clarke County.

–City of Pisgah received a $22,000 grant to create a water facility plan developed by engineers. This project will address water system conditions and performance and will include alternatives and recommendations to meet the rehabilitation needs of the entire water system. This project will promote better water quality for residents of this rural Harrison County community.

Twelve of today’s (Tuesday’s) investments were funded through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Grants program. The program is designed to provide affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial, or business undertakings. Among the grant recipients is:

-The City of Griswold, which received a $7,100 grant to help purchase communications equipment. This project will provide voice pagers for the city’s fire department personnel. Once completed, the project will streamline fire department operations and promote the safety of residents of this rural Cass County area.

-The City of Lenox received a $43,000 grant to help purchase equipment for the fire department. This project will promote the operational efficiency of fire personnel. Once completed, the project will streamline fire department operations and promote the safety of residents of this rural Taylor County area.

-The City of Blockton received a $50,000 grant to help purchase a vehicle. This project will provide a tanker truck for the city’s volunteer fire department to increase water capacity in fire-fighting operations. Once in service, the project will promote the safety of residents and property in this rural Taylor County community.

–Montgomery County Memorial Hospital received a $50,000 grant to help purchase medical imaging equipment for Villisca Medical Clinic. This project will provide an X-ray machine to make more accurate diagnosis and to save patient travel time to distant hospitals. Once in place, the new equipment will promote the health and safety of residents of this rural Montgomery County area.

–City of Corning received a $49,000 grant to help remodel city hall. This project will renovate and update the shingles, concrete, and lighting on the building. Once completed, this project will better facilitate official business of the city and improve on-site safety for residents using the adjoining community center in this rural area in Adams County.

–City of Anita received a $50,000 grant to help purchase an ambulance. This project will expedite vehicle access to response sites and make patient transport safer and more reliable. Once in operation, the new ambulance will facilitate emergency services for the residents of Cass County and nearby rural areas.