DES MOINES – Governor Kim Reynolds and First Gentleman Kevin Reynolds invite Iowans and their families to join them for Christmas at Terrace Hill on Sunday, December 17, from 1-until 3-p.m. Guests are encouraged to explore the historic property and enjoy several activities including photos with Santa Claus and the first family, ornament decorating, carolers, Christmas cookies and a letter-writing station to send correspondence to deployed Iowa National Guard service members.  

At this year’s event, as an additional way to say “Thank You” to our men and women who are currently deployed, Terrace Hill will be collecting donations for deployed service members. A list of suggested items can be found here.  The event will conclude with Governor Reynolds reading No Company for Christmas, a story which centers around Terrace Hill and was written by local children’s author, Susan Maupin Schmid, with illustrations created by local artist, Tara Gartin.  

Tickets are $25 per individual or $50 per household + processing fees and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets, call our office at 515-281-7205 or click here.  Proceeds from the event benefit the Terrace Hill Partnership, the non-profit organization that supports necessary conservation and restoration projects at Terrace Hill. Last year’s event raised over $5,000 that went toward the upkeep of the 154-year-old building and grounds. 

(Radio Iowa) – North Dakota Doug Burgum has ended his presidential campaign.

Burgum did not meet the polling threshold for Wednesday’s debate for GOP candidates. Burgum, who did not qualify for the debate in November, either, said the Republican National Committee’s requirements are “nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire.”

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum appeared on Iowa Press on Iowa PBS in October. (Iowa PBS photo)

Burgum did participate in the first two televised debates. He met the fundraising requirement for the first one by offering $20 gift cards to donors who gave at least $1 to his campaign. The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll in late October showed Burgum with three percent support here, behind former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has not campaigned in Iowa this year.

Burgum launched his campaign in June.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2023 Iowa Teacher of the Year teaches English language learners at Des Moines Hoover High School. Ann Mincks says Hoover is one of the state’s most diverse high schools in the state with around 25 percent of students who are English learners. Mincks plans to focus on English language efforts as she travels the state for the Iowa Department of Education in the next year.

“I will really be working to be an advocate for those students. In addition, I’ve really been exploring literacy practices,” she says. “So I will be discussing evidence based practices and how to improve literacy instruction throughout the state.” Mincks gives credits her colleagues and family for allowing her to receive the honor.

2023 Iowa Teacher of the Year Ann Mincks. (Dept. of Education photo)

“For me the really important thing is that it’s kind of shining a light on Des Moines Public Schools and the good work that we’re doing here,” Mincks says. “And in addition just kind of honoring my family and all they have given me.” Mincks says her mother, aunt, grandmother and her grandmother’s four sisters were all in education. Mincks has been teaching for 15 years at Des Moines Hoover High School.

The Iowa Department Education announced her as the teacher of the year at a ceremony at the school this (Monday) morning.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report seven arrests took place over the past week. On Saturday (12/2): 43-year-old Barbara Riley, of Glenwood, was arrested on an Audubon County warrant. Riley was being held without bond; 36-year-old Michael Ramsey, of Big Sandy, TX, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He posted a $1,000 bond and was released; and, 36-year-old Antwan Burton, of Omaha, was arrested Saturday in Glenwood, on an Omaha Police Department warrant. Burton was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

There were two arrests last Friday in Glenwood: 18-year-old Jayden Jensen, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a Mills County warrant. Jensen posted a $1,000 bond and was released. And, 36-year-old Cameron Ford, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. Ford posted a $2,000 bond before being released.

On Nov. 30th, Glenwood Police arrested 24-year-old Tyler Bascue, of Glenwood, of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and, Child Endangerment. He posted a $3,000 bond and was released. On the 27th, 28-year-old Elijah Fritz, of Glenwood, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree, Public Intoxication, and Interference with Official Acts. Bond was set at $900. Fritz was later released on his Own Recognizance.

Fritz had previously been arrested on Nov. 26th, for Public Intoxication. He posted a $300 bond and was released.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is co-sponsoring a bill that would make members of the U-S House and Senate who are expelled ineligible for a congressional pension. “No one should be serving in congress, be excommunicated and removed from congress and still be able to draw on a pension,” Nunn says. Former New York Congressman George Santos, who was expelled last week, will not be getting a pension because he hadn’t served long enough to be eligible for one, but Nunn says two House members who were expelled in 1980 and 2002 were able to get pension checks from the government.

“Going forward I think it’s very important that we have a clear roadmap for individuals who violate the public trust and are removed for congress, that they can’t access any of those benefits,” Nunn says. Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, is co-sponsoring the legislation with a Democrats from Minnesota and New Hampshire and a Republican congressman from New York. Nunn says members of the military are ineligible for benefits if they’re dishonorably discharged. “We absolutely should be holding our members of congress to the same standard,” Nunn says, “that they don’t get to walk away with money in their pocket from the taxpayer after they’ve been fired from their job.”

Nunn and the other three Republicans from Iowa who serve in the U-S House voted late last week to remove Santos from office. Some House Republicans opposed the move, saying it sets a dangerous precedent because Santos has been charged, but not yet convicted of a crime. Nunn says a House Ethics Committee report on Santos was damning evidence that Santos should be expelled. “He stole from the voters,” Nunn says. “He embezzled from the voters and it was repeatedly improved in the ethics committee that he was well aware of it and admitted to doing as much.”

Santos is accused of using campaign funds for personal expenses, like Botox treatments, and racking up charges on credit cards that were used to make donations to his campaign.

(Update 12:03-p.m.: Atlantic and Marne Fire told to disregard their previous page requests)

(Walnut, Iowa) – Firefighters from Atlantic and Marne were requested at around 11:51-a.m. today (Monday), to assistant Walnut Fire with a residential structure fire. The call went out for mutual aid to the scene at 50596 Highway 83. Additional information is currently not available.

(Des Moines, Iowa/via the Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An Iowa bank is facing a potential class-action lawsuit claiming it has charged “crippling” overdraft fees to its customers’ accounts. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, challenges Bankers Trust’s alleged practice of charging overdraft fees on debit-card transactions that have been authorized by the bank itself due to the availability of sufficient funds in the customers’ accounts. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the lawsuit centers on the controversial use of fees applied to so-called “Authorize Positive, Settle Negative” transactions, or APSN transactions.

The alleged practice works like this: The moment a purchase is made from a merchant using a debit card, the bank immediately reduces the customer’s checking account balance by the amount of that purchase. The bank also sets aside the full dollar amount of the purchase, holding that money in reserve for the merchant. However, the bank will then impose a $33 overdraft fee on the transaction if, days later when the bank forwards the reserved funds to the merchant, the customer’s funds are depleted and the account shows a negative balance. Essentially, the overdraft fee isn’t simply applied to transactions for which there are no funds; it’s imposed on transactions for which the bank is actually holding a customer’s cash in reserve to ensure payment.

The lawsuit alleges these “crippling” overdraft fees are unwarranted because a customer’s balance is always adjusted, in real-time, to account for every debit-card transaction at the precise instant the transaction is made. “Indeed,” the lawsuit alleges, “the entire purpose of the immediate debit and hold of positive funds is to ensure that there are enough funds in the account to pay the transaction.” The lawsuit alleges that while many banks and credit unions “that employ this abusive practice require their accountholders to expressly agree to it” when they open an account, Bankers Trust never did. Bankers Trust, the lawsuit claims, was fully aware that its customers believed they couldn’t be assessed overdraft fees for debit-card purchases given that the funds needed to cover those purchases were instantly set aside by the bank and held in reserve to ensure payment. “Besides being deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable, these practices breach contract promises” made to customers, the lawsuit claims. “In breach of these promises, (Banks Trust) assesses $33 overdraft fees when there is enough money in the account to cover the transaction.”

While some banks, including Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo and others – have taken steps to eliminate such fees – some have not. The lawsuit claims Bankers Trust continues to assess overdraft fees on APSN transactions and that the bank “has made substantial revenue — to the tune of tens of millions of dollars — seeking to turn its customers’ financial struggles into revenue.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has called APSN fees “unfair” and “deceptive,” noting that consumers typically have no reason to anticipate such fees since they aren’t always disclosed to consumers. In October 2022, the bureau warned that even if a consumer closely monitors their account balance and carefully calibrates their spending, they can easily incur an overdraft fee. When a customer checks their account balance online or at an ATM, the amount displayed may be sufficient to cover their planned purchases — but the balance in the account may not be sufficient to cover the purchases days later when the bank chooses to process the transactions.

In some cases, depending on the order in which a bank structures debit-card purchases, a customer can be charged multiple overdraft fees in quick succession, driving their account balance even further into the red. The lawsuit notes that banks can protect themselves from true overdrafts by simply rejecting transactions once an account shows insufficient funds. Instead, the lawsuit claims, banks process the transactions, hold the money for the purchases in reserve, and then impose the APSN overdraft fees as a way to generate millions in revenue at the expense of customers who can least afford such fees. The lawsuit seeks class-action status to represent not only Jones but all other Bankers Trust customers who have been subjected to APSN overdraft fees. It seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and violations of the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

Bankers Trust is headquartered in Des Moines and is the state’s largest privately held community bank. In addition to 12 branches serving central Iowa, Bankers Trust has branches in Cedar Rapids and Phoenix, Arizona, as well as an office in Omaha, Nebraska.

(Des Moines, Iowa/WHO-TV) – An Indianola man was arrested Sunday and charged in connection with the violent kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend from Des Moines. WHO-TV reports 40-year-old Jordan Mangum is being held in the Polk County Jail on charges of first-degree kidnapping, willful injury, and violation of a no-contact order, according to a news release from the Des Moines Police Department. The 32-year-old woman ended up at the Clark County Hospital with serious injuries. Police say she was choked, run over by a vehicle, and had her throat cut. Her injuries were so severe she was transferred to a Des Moines hospital where she underwent surgery. She was still hospitalized as of the latest report, and recovering from her injuries.

Des Moines Police began investigating the incident Saturday night, after being notified by the Osceola Police Department that a woman at the Clark County Hospital reported she was kidnapped from her Des Moines home around 2:30 that morning. Investigators were able to interview the victim after surgery and learned she had been bound with duct tape and taken from her home by Mangum, her ex-boyfriend, around 2:30 Saturday morning. She was then taken to a residence in Indianola where she was held against her will, before being taken to an unknown location outside of Indianola. Police said she was forced out of the vehicle and that’s when the violent assault happened.

The victim said she pleaded with Mangum to stop. She was put back into a vehicle and driven to the Clark County Hospital, where police said she was dropped off in the street. Police arrested Mangum Sunday after executing a search warrant at an Indianola residence.

(Indianola, Iowa/WHO-TV) — The trial of a Norwalk woman accused of murdering her newborn son back in February is being moved out of Warren County.  26-year-old Megan Staude is charged with first-degree murder in the baby’s death. On November 27th, a judge ruled in favor of a motion for her trial to be moved because of pretrial publicity. WHO-TV reports the judge said after seeing the responses to a juror questionnaire, it appeared that a significant portion of potential jurors had heard of the case and a significant portion of those jurors did not think they could be fair and impartial based on their previous knowledge of the case. A new trial venue has not been solidified yet but the court is eyeing Black Hawk County or Pottawattamie County as possible locations.

The defense and the State have tentatively agreed for the case to be heard in mid-June 2024. The trial is expected to take 10 days to two weeks to complete. The judge also ruled in favor of Megan Staude’s motion to sever her case from the case of her father, Rodney Staude. He is also charged with first-degree murder. Rodney Staude’s case is on hold while a competency evaluation is completed. Court documents revealed in September that he planned to use diminished responsibility as a defense during his trial.

Investigators say Megan Staude gave birth on February 24 at the family’s Norwalk home. According to court documents, she put the baby boy in a box and didn’t provide any care for him while he cried on and off for two days. After that Megan said and her father Rodney put the baby, who was still alive, into a plastic bag. Rodney allegedly discarded the baby’s body in a ditch in the 5300 block of Delaware Avenue.

The newborn’s body was discovered on March 9, one day after Megan’s co-workers expressed concern about the health and safety of the baby to the Norwalk Police Department.