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2 men arrested on separate charges Saturday morning in Adams County

News

June 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says two men were arrested on separate charges at around 12:30-a.m., today (Saturday). At around 12:30-a.m., Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Shaun Reich, of Kent. Upon further investigation, Reich was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and cited for Failing to Have valid Insurance. As the scene was being processed, a vehicle driven by Joshua Reich, of Nodaway, drove past Adams County Deputies and Shaun Reich’s vehicle, at a high rate of speed, and honking its horn. Adams County Deputies located Joshua Reich at his home and arrested him for Interference with Official Acts. He was also cited for Failing to Yield to an Emergency Vehicle and for Operating a vehicle without a valid license.

Joshua Reich was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,035 bond. Shaun Reich’s bond was set at $1,000.

Red Oak woman arrested Friday night for OWI

News

June 2nd, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Police in Red Oak, Friday, arrested 27-year old Jamiee Renea Miner, of Red Oak. Miner was taken into custody at around 9:43-p.m. in the 200 block of W. Reed Street, and charged with OWI/1st offense. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

Three Democrats running in third congressional district race

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

There are congressional contests on the ballots in Tuesday’s Primaries. In the third congressional district, Republican Congressman David Young of Van Meter is seeking reelection and three Democrats are hoping they’re selected to challenge him in November.

Cindy Axne of West Des Moines worked in state government for nine years when Democrats Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver and Republican Terry Branstad were serving as governor. She and her husband run a digital design firm. Pete D’Alessandro of Des Moines has worked for Tom Harkin and Tom Vilsack and he was state coordinator for the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign here.

Sanders has endorsed D’Alessandor and helped him raise money. Eddie Mauro of Des Moines is a former teacher and coach at the high school and community college level. He is currently president of a wholesale insurance firm that does business nationwide. Simpson College political science professor John Epperson says Mauro’s last name is well-known in populous Polk County because his relatives have won office.

Axne may benefit from being the only female in the race. “I think she absolutely does,” Epperson says. “That doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll win. And Epperly says D’Alessandro mainly presents himself “as the Bernie guy. That’s an interesting strategy which if you look nationally hasn’t worked all that well in most places.” There is also a Libertarian candidate running in the third district. Bryan Holder of Council Bluffs is a Creighton Law School graduate who runs his family’s photography business.

(Radio Iowa)

Three Democrats, one Republican and a Libertarian line up to challenge Steve King

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Republican Congressman Steve King has a primary opponent and three other candidates are competing to be the Democrat who runs in the fourth congressional district this fall.

King is seeking a ninth term in the U.S. House. The district is decidedly Republican, but the Democrats who’ve lined up to run against King are hoping King’s headline-grabbing comments may be a turn-off for Republicans and independents, while Democratic turn out may be higher in a mid-term election.

Thirty-eight-year-old J.D. Scholten, a paralegal from Sioux City, is a former professional baseball player who says his competitive energy extends to the political field. “I’m fighting for your job. I’m fighting for your wage and your paycheck and I’m fighting for your health care and I’m fighting for your kids’ education,” Scholten says. “That’s what it boils down to.”

Fifty-five-year-old LeAnn Jacobsen is a member of Spencer’s city council who helped start a farmers market and a coffeehouse/wine bar in Spencer. “I don’t think candidates that have run in the past have done a really intentional job of holding Steve King accountable for the fact that he does nothing and gets nothing done,” Jacobsen says.

Fifty-eight year old John Paschen, an Ames pediatrician, says running for office wasn’t on his bucket list, but Paschen says he felt he had no choice but to run given the current political climate. The Republican running against Congressman King in the primary is 46-year-old Cindi Hanson of Sioux City, an administrator at the community college campus in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Hanson, who says she is a moderate Republican, argues it’s time for some collaboration in congress, “instead of being severely entrenched and in an extreme position.”

Congressman King says he believes he has a “reasonable chance” to win in November. Libertarian Charles Aldrich of Clarion is also running for congress in the fourth district. Aldrich, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, is an industrial engineer.

(Radio Iowa)

Reynolds approves $7.4B state budget, issues several vetoes

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has given final approval to a roughly $7.4 billion state budget and issued a handful of vetoes to conclude this year’s legislative action.

The Republican governor announced Friday afternoon she signed the bills making up the state budget, which goes into effect on July 1. The GOP-controlled Legislature was forced to make mid-year spending cuts the past two years. Legislators hope next year’s budget avoids a similar fate, even as the state cuts income tax rates starting next year.

Reynolds vetoed a proposal to immediately halt a pilot program for pretrial assessments, which will conclude this winter. She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed self-employed workers to qualify for small-group health insurance coverage, which she said would “further destabilize” Iowa’s health insurance market.

In addition, Reynolds vetoed portions of bills dealing with pooling employee benefits, regulation of the Iowa Insurance Division and a $195,000 appropriation she said could go through a competitive bidding process.

Court: Iowa church didn’t defame women exploited by pastor

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says an all-male church board’s characterization of female congregants who were pressured into sex with the pastor as sinning “adulteresses” who gave into “temptation” was constitutionally protected religious speech.

In a ruling Friday, the court held that members of the Covenant Reformed Church’s board of elders didn’t defame the two women because they were expressing their religious beliefs. The court also found that the Pella church wasn’t obligated to provide counseling to the women that went against its religious teachings.

The pastor, who was later removed from the ministry, was convicted of sexual exploitation by a counselor. Iowa law treats religious leaders as counselors and bars them from having sexual contact with congregants they’re counseling.

(UPDATE) Iowa judge will block fetal heartbeat abortion law

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge will temporarily block the most restrictive abortion law in the country from taking effect in Iowa next month under an agreement between lawyers for the state and abortion rights groups.

Attorneys for the state and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds agreed Friday to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1 after discussions with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood Federation of American and the Emma Goldman Clinic.

The advocacy groups have sued the state to block the law, which bans most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected. An attorney for the state says the goal is to quickly get the case before a judge to argue the law it’s constitutional.

Judge Michael Huppert said during a court hearing Friday that he’ll issue a temporary injunction later in the day. Reynolds signed the law May 2, two days after lawmakers approved it.

Iowa motorcyclist dies in crash with horse in SE Minnesota

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

MABEL, Minn. (AP) — A motorcyclist from Iowa is dead after colliding with a horse in southeastern Minnesota. Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase says the crash was reported about 11:30 a.m. Friday on Highway 44 west of Mabel.

The 60-year-old man from Decorah, Iowa, was driving a motorcycle eastbound on the highway when he struck a horse in the eastbound lane. The man died at the scene. His name was not immediately released. The horse also died in the accident.

Dead woman’s home searched for info on 2012 death of girls

News

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have searched the Belle Plaine home of a woman who killed herself and her 8-year-old son, looking for information on the 2012 killings of two Evansdale girls. The Des Moines Register reports that detectives recently searched 36-year-old Teresa Catherine Gerleman’s home, taking several items and a handwritten note.

On May 4, Gerleman pulled 8-year-old Henry Fields onto tracks in the path of a train that killed them both. Police say in court documents that someone who had counseled Gerleman told investigators that Gerleman claimed to have a six-page letter written by men who admitted involvement in the girls’ deaths.

Ten-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins were taken on July 13, 2012, as they rode their bikes. Their bodies were discovered on Dec. 5, 2012, in Bremer County. No one has been charged in the killings. It was not clear if any evidence relating to the girls’ deaths was found in Gerleman’s home.

Air Quality Alert expanded to all of Iowa

News, Weather

June 1st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Alert for all of Iowa. Ozone levels near EPA health standards are expected to persist in these areas until 7 pm today.

The DNR recommends that individuals with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children limit prolonged outdoor exertion until air quality conditions improve