(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has proclaimed Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as “Mia Peterson Day in Iowa,” to commemorate the 50th birthday of an under-recognized Iowan who worked throughout her adult life to promote self-advocacy and equal treatment. Peterson served in state and national roles while living in Iowa and Ohio. She returned to Iowa in 2005, and passed away in 2021, but her legacy endures. The proclamation includes Peterson’s belief that we should “let people with disabilities speak for themselves, and don’t let others speak for them.”

Iowa Developmental Disability Council Chair Brady Werger of Waverly will read the proclamation during a ceremony at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the State Historical Building of Iowa in Des Moines. It will be live streamed via Facebook Live. The program will serve as the official event for the proclamation.

“Mia Peterson created a lifelong advocacy legacy,” Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council Executive Director Brooke Lovelace said. “She was an inspiration to everyone, always encouraging people to be their own voice. This proclamation just keeps her legacy alive and will continue to encourage others to be their own advocate.”

Peterson was born in Sioux City in 1973, grew up in Webster City, and became the first person with Down syndrome to serve on the Iowa Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities, known today as the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council. She would go on to testify before Congress, serve on the National Developmental Disabilities Council, and be viewed as a national trailblazer for self-advocacy.

“I learned of Mia Peterson’s importance shortly after her death,” said Leo Landis, state curator for the State Historical Society of Iowa. “She was a model for all Iowans to seek ways to shape society. When we wanted to recognize Iowans who changed our state and nation in our ‘Civics in Action’ exhibit, I wanted to include her, and we are honored to share a bit of her story. We can all learn from her example.”

“Civics in Action”

The State Historical Museum of Iowa’s “Civics in Action” exhibit features the Iowa caucuses and Iowans of action with more than 60 artifacts, including Peterson’s Olympic torch, a Ding Darling political cartoon, election tickets from the 1860s and ’70s, Iowa caucus artifacts – banners, buttons, brochures – and the pen Ambassador Terry Branstad used when he was governor to sign legislation for the construction of the State Historical Building

(Waterloo, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Corrections, Monday, said 24-year-old Tyrin James Jones, a black male who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree in Fayette County, failed to report back to the Waterloo Residential Correctional Facility as required on Friday (Nov. 17, 2023).

Tyrin Jones (IDOC photo)

Jones stands 6-feet 3 inches tall, and weighs 198 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on October 12, 2023.

Persons with information on Jones’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department, today (Monday) report 34-year-old Ashley Ann Flint, of Glenwood, was arrested today on two different Mills County warrants. Her cash bond amounted to $10,300 altogether.

Flint was taken into custody following an investigation into a single-vehicle accident that took place at around 11:47-p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16th, on North Locust Street, in Glenwood. Authorities say the 2021 Chevy Equinox Flint was driving struck a curb and utility pole light support, a traffic sign support, and finally a fire hydrant, before coming to rest.

The vehicle sustained $15,000 damage. Damage to the City of Glenwood Stop sign was estimated at $100. Flint complained of pain & possible injury. She was transported to Mercy Hospital by Glenwood Rescue. The Police report attributed excess speed and failure to maintain control as causes for the crash. No citations were issued.

(Cumberland/Massena area) – In an update to our previous post, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, late this (Monday) afternoon, said multiple, minor injuries were reported following a collision on Highway 71. At around 11:29-a.m., a wide load semi was traveling southbound on the Highway.  The driver intended to turn east onto Highway 92.  In preparation for the wide load making the turn, the lead pilot car went to the crest of the first hill on Highway 92 east of Highway 71 to stop westbound traffic.

A pilot car operator stopped a 2019 Chevy 2500 pickup on Highway 92.  A 2007 Chevy Town and Country was westbound and did not see the pickup stopped on Highway 92.  The Town and Country rear ended the pickup. The accident took place just west of 640th and Highway 92. Persons in both vehicles were injured. They were transported to Cass Health in Atlantic.

No names have been released.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), released a report on arrests covering the period of Oct. 26th through November 16th, 2023. Beginning with the most recent arrest:

On Thursday, November 16th, Cass County Deputies arrested 29-year-old Joel White, of Council Bluffs, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. White was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On November 14th, 37-year-old Justin Knutsen, of Cumberland, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct. Knutsen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release after seeing the Magistrate; Also arrested on the 14th, was 54-year-old Paul Jessen, of Atlantic. He was arrested on a warrant from the United State’s Marshal’s Office. During the course of his arrest, Jessen was found to be in possession of a controlled substance and charged with drug trafficking. Jessen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On November 6th, Sheriff’s Deputies in Cass County arrested 65-year-old Gail Christensen, of Cumberland, for OWI/3rd Offense. Christensen was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on his own recognizance.

On November 5th, 35-year-old Apolonia Tilipou, of Oakland, was arrested for OWI/1st Offense. Tilipou was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on her own recognizance.

On November 2nd, 40-year-old Zachary Frank, of Atlantic, was arrested in Cass County for Driving Under Suspension and Operating a Non-Registered Vehicle. Frank was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On October 30th, 2023, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 32-year-old Cody Pleis, of Atlantic, on two warrants for Violation of Probation. Pleis was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

On October 28th, 53-year-old Tammy Pringnitz, of Pflugerville, TX, was arrested in Cass County for OWI/1st Offense. Pringnitz was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release after time served.

And, on October 26th, Cass County Deputies arrested 21-year-old Sean McCormick, of Villisca, on a warrant for Assault While Displaying a Dangerous Weapon. McCormick was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is preparing her list of priority issues for the 2024 Iowa legislature and it includes a tax plan. A year ago, Reynolds said her goal was to completely eliminate the state income tax by early 2027. Reynolds told reporters this (Monday) morning she’s meeting with legislators and business leaders — and her staff is analyzing a variety of data points, but the governor isn’t ready to reveal details.

“We’re visiting with the respective parties that we need to and, most importantly, economists to make sure that we’re in a good place to be able to sustain it,” Reynolds says. The Iowa Taxpayer Relief Fund currently has a more than two-point-seven BILLION dollar balance of taxes that were paid to the state, but not spent. The state surplus is approaching two BILLION dollars on top of that.

“The fact of the matter is we’re sitting on a pretty good surplus and the Taxpayer (Relief) Fund especially is designated to really help reduce the tax burden on Iowans, so we’ve got money there and we’re going to turn it back over to Iowans and we need to be more competitive,” Reynolds said. Democrats in the legislature say state tax cuts should be targeted to low and middle income Iowans.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has pardoned two turkeys raised by a teenager from northwest Iowa. Fifteen-year-old Ava Moline, of Manson, has been raising turkeys since she was nine. “None of my turkeys have ever been pardoned, so seeing that two of them will live is pretty exciting,” Moline says.

Moline picked out a tom and a hen that the governor nicknamed Freedom and Flourish. “I picked the hen because she came right up to me when I walked in the barn that day and so, I’m like, ‘You know what, you get to stay,'” Moline says. “And the tom basically did the same thing and he looked the best.” Moline’s profits go into her college fund and she took the rest of the turkeys she’d been raising to market earlier this month. “I got them mid-July and have raised them up ’til now,” Moline says. ” I started my business six years ago with the help of my brothers. I have an older brother and a twin brother and I basically have just taken over since and I started out my first year with around 300 turkeys and this year we had around 2000 turkeys.”

This tom turkey, nicknamed “Freedom” by Governor Reynolds, was pardoned this morning during a ceremony at the governor’s mansion in Des Moines. (RI photo)

Ava’s father is Brad Moline, president of the Iowa Turkey Federation. During today’s (Monday’s) turkey pardoning ceremony on the lawn of the governor’s mansion, Reynolds announced the Moline family has been in the turkey business for 99 years. Reynolds noted turkeys at a previous pardoning ceremony had been a bit more aggressive — and that prompted a reaction. “It’s not over yet. Well, I’ve egged ’em on.”

The Moline family provided the very first turkeys that were pardoned at Terrace Hill by Governor Robert Ray in 1976. Ava Moline, the fifth generation of the family in the turkey business, is raising free-range turkeys, taking them to a small poultry processor near her farm and selling them as fresh, not frozen turkeys to Thanksgiving customers. Her Golden Prairie Turkeys are being sold in grocery stores in Manson, Pocahontas, Greene and Ankeny.

(Radio Iowa) –  The Iowa Board of Medicine is beginning the process of setting rules doctors must follow if the so-called fetal heartbeat abortion ban takes effect. The law that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy has been blocked in court, but the Iowa Supreme Court will hear a request to let it move forward. The rules being considered say doctors must ask questions to determine if rape or incest occurred for that exception to be used. Doctor Deborah Turner, the League of Women Voters president, told the Board that would traumatize patients. “It is clear that these rules are written to assure that most women and those who can become pregnant and certainly girls who are victims of incest and rape are prevented from access to abortion and choice,” Turner says.

Deputy Attorney General Leif (leaf) Olson disagreed with that. “We trust that doctors in their professional judgment know how to…elucidate information from a patient to get to the root of a problem,” he says. “And in this case that includes the root of the reason for why the woman is presenting herself to request an abortion.”

Doctors who violate the rules could be subject to discipline. A public comment period on the rules is set to begin December 13th.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, today (Monday), released a report on recent arrests. On Saturday (Nov. 18), 31-year-old Rogelio Olivera-Martinez, of Creston, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol at the Union County Jail, on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear on the original charge of OWI/1st offense. He was later that same day on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

Friday afternoon, Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 35-year-old Christopher Adam Fannon, of Corning, on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear on the original charge of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. Fannon was released later that day on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

As we previously reported, 52-year-old David Matthew Hanson, of Creston, was arrested Nov. 15th, in Orient, on multiple felony & other charges. Sheriff Vandewater says at around 1:39-a.m., the Adair County Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call from a man -later identified as Hanson – who said he was at a residence in Orient (Iowa), and that he was armed with and shooting “two guns.”  An Adair County sheriff’s deputy and a Greenfield police officer responded to the call. It is believed that Hanson fired multiple shots, with at least two handgun projectiles striking and entering the walls of the residence, which was occupied at the time. Hanson faces charges that include: Going Armed with Intent; Possession of a Dangerous Weapon while Intoxicated; Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon; Burglary in the 1^st Degree; and Attempted Murder. He was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $750,000 bond.

On Nov. 12th, the Iowa State Patrol arrested 31-year-old Omar Andrew Hynes, of Des Moines, following a traffic stop for speeding on I-80 in Adair County. A records check indicated he was a fugitive from justice, wanted a warrant out of Clarke County, NV, for (Felony) Battery with substantial bodily harm; and Battery constituting Domestic Violence. Hynes was initially held without bond, but the following day, authorities in Nevada decided not to extradite him. Hynes was subsequently released from custody.

And, 19-year-old Keaton Michael Ballinger, of Creston, was arrested Nov. 12th by Stuart Police, for OWI/1st Offense, Interference with Official Acts, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense. The Sheriff’s report says Officer Daniel Irving was dispatched at around 10:54-p.m. Nov. 12th to the area of the westbound off-ramp of I-80 at mile marker 93 (Near Stuart), for a reported vehicle in the ditch. He found a Honda Civic in the ditch, and was told a witness was out with the driver (Ballinger), at the Casey’s Store in Stuart. When the officer made contact with Ballinger – who had multiple cuts and bruises – he admitted to drinking and was on his way home from Des Moines, when the accident occurred. He would later attempt to discard a an item identified as THC wax. He was transported to the Adair County Jail and later released on a $2,300 cash or surety bond.

Disclaimer: “It should be noted a criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, is slamming the reception given China’s leader by the president and governor of California. ” I think this warm reception filled with pleasantries in San Francisco is antithetical to our American values. And I’m quite frankly disgusted by it,” she says. Hinson says the Biden administration shouldn’t have reached an agreement on fentanyl that included lifting sanctions on China’s Forensic Policy Institute.

“Give me a break, that shouldn’t have been a negotiation. I am backing legislation that calls on the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Chinese suppliers of fentanyl precursors. And on any C-C-P official found to have ties to precursor production or trafficking,” Hinson says. “That should be our strategy, not compromising on human rights for lip service from a genocidal dictator. ”

IA (R) Congresswoman Ashley Hinson

Hinson says we have to treat the Chinese Communist Party based upon what they do, not based on the lies that they tell us. “I will continue working on the select committee on China to ensure that the C-C-P does not succeed in their goal to overtake the U-S as the dominant military, cultural and economic superpower by 2049,” Hinson says.

Hinson made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.