The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the sentencing of a man in Crawford County District Court, four-years after he was mistakenly allowed to serve probation for a forcible felony offense. Last year, the District Court corrected the illegally lenient sentence and ordered 30-year old Christopher Jepsen to serve 10-years in prison. Jepsen was 25 when he was convicted in Aug. 2011 of two felony counts of sexual abuse in the third degree and was sentenced to serve a total of 20-years in prison, with the sentence suspended. The court then ordered Jepsen to serve 5-years of probation.

In Oct. 2014, the State filed an application to revoke Jepsen’s probation due to his admitted use of the internet to obtain pornographic images of children. While investigating the probation violation, the State noticed the illegality of Jepsen’s original sentence on Count II, where a forcible felony in the case of the 13-year old victim, is not eligible for a suspended sentence. In 2015, the State filed a motion to correct the illegal sentence and ordered an updated Pre-Sentencing Investigation (PSI).

Jepsen appealed, based on the contention the court failed to credit his corrected sentence for the time served while he was on probation, saying that the ruling violated Double Jeopardy. Because the multiple-punishment protection under the Double Jeopardy Clause turns on legislative intent, the Appeals Court examined whether Jepsen was entitled to a sentencing credit under Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure.

Because only limited records are available in the case, the Appeals Court affirmed the corrected sentence and remanded the case back to District Court to determine whether Jepsen served any of his probationary sentence in a residential treatment facility or alternative jail facility. They acknowledged he is entitled to “full credit” for any time spent in those types of facilities but no credit for time otherwise spent under supervised probation.

A whiskey bottler in west-central Iowa’s Carroll County is breaking ground today (Wednesday) on a 20-million dollar production facility. The expanded home of Templeton Rye will include a 34-thousand square foot distillery, a barrel-aging warehouse and a museum at the 20-acre facility in the town of Templeton. The project should be complete in about 18 months and will create some two-dozen jobs.

Launched in 2003, Templeton Rye faced heavy criticism in recent years — and multiple lawsuits — over its claims the small-batch rye was made in Iowa. It’s actually a stock whiskey which is — for now — distilled and aged in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and is only bottled in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports two recent arrests. Monday morning, 25-year old Ian Richard Alexander MacVenn, of College Springs, was arrested at the Page County Sheriff’s Office on a Page County warrant for violation of probation.  MacVenn was unable to post the $1000 cash only bond and was held in the Page County Jail pending further court proceedings.

And, Sunday afternoon, Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office responded to 1790 F Avenue for a disturbance. During the investigation 35-year old Michael Ryan Johnson, of Red Oak, was arrested for Assault.  Johnson was transported to the Page County Jail where he posted bond and was released pending future court appearances.

Officials with the Iowa DNR say the emerald ash borer (EAB) can now be linked to 45 counties in Iowa, as Fayette and Madison counties are the most recent to be added to that growing list. EAB is a destructive wood-boring beetle that attacks and kills all ash tree species. The exotic pest was first discovered in Iowa in 2010.

In Fayette County, the insect was discovered in a city-owned ash tree in Oelwein. For Madison County, the finding took place in a rural area south of Winterset. Insect specimens taken from these sites were confirmed as EAB by a federal identifier.

The adult beetle is metallic green in color and measures approximately one-half inch long and can be noticed during the summer months. The larvae burrow through the inner layer of bark, eating away at the vascular tissue, which supplies nutrients to the tree. Starved trees usually die within two to four years.

A federal quarantine, enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, remains in effect and restricts the movement of all hardwood firewood and ash articles out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states. To help reduce the potential for people to unknowingly transport EAB and other destructive tree-killing pests, Iowans are strongly encouraged to use locally sourced firewood.

If a landowner is interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation, the treatment window for protecting an ash tree begins very soon. Soil treatments should be made from mid-April to mid-May. Basal trunk sprays should be applied mid-May to mid-June. Trunk injections begin once the tree has a full canopy. Full details are available in Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication PM2084: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/13114

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Tuesday evening in Avoca led to the arrest of 57-year old James Allen Harriman, of Avoca. Harriman’s SUV was pulled over by a Pott. County Deputy and an Avoca Police Officer at around 4:20-p.m. The two officials believed Harriman to be under the influence of a drug other than alcohol, and requested another Deputy’s assistance. Upon further investigation, Harriman was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was also given a verbal warning for having an expired registration.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

FARLEY, Iowa (AP) – The police chief in the eastern Iowa city of Farley has quit, saying he can’t work “for a city like this.” Chief Rick Wagner says he gave his two-week notice Monday night at the end of a City Council meeting during which he was criticized. A council member requested a performance review of him, expressing concern about a burglary investigation.

On Tuesday Wagner told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald “I decided I cannot work for a city like this anymore.” He’d been chief for nearly 15 years. Mayor Jay Hefel declined to discuss Wagner’s status but confirmed that Wagner was the only full-time department member. Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy says his deputies will continue to handle calls in Farley.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 4 Office in Atlantic says in recognition of National Work Zone Awareness Week, the Iowa Department of Transportation wants to bring attention to the 2017 construction season for the Council Bluffs Interstate Improvement Program. A public open house meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18th, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program’s office, located at the Mall of the Bluffs (1751 Madison Ave., Suite 750), in Council Bluffs.

The public is invited to attend and discuss the upcoming construction activities. Iowa DOT staff will be present to explain the impacts to people traveling on the interstate and to local businesses in the areas of interstates 29 and 80 in Council Bluffs. Two short presentations are planned for 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; the public may join either presentation.

The meeting space is accessible for persons with disabilities. For those who cannot attend the open house, an online meeting will be available beginning April 18 and can be accessed by visiting the project website, www.CouncilBluffsInterstate.IowaDOT.gov, and clicking the online meeting link on the home page.

2017 construction projects include:

• East system interchange of I-80/I-29.
• Dual divided freeway.
• West system interchange of I-80/I-29 and I-29.
• U.S. 275/Iowa 92 interchange.

An update will also be provided on the ongoing environmental study and preliminary design alternatives for the I-29/I-480/West Broadway project. Scott Schram, Iowa DOT District 4 engineer, says “The Council Bluffs Interstate Improvement Program will continue to make progress reconstructing I-80 and I-29 in Council Bluffs that will potentially impact travel and local businesses in the area. The meeting on April 18 will provide details on what drivers can expect during the busy construction season.” Schram says they “Encourage motorists to use extra caution when traveling through work zones.”

Construction during the 2017 season is part of the Iowa DOT’s Council Bluffs Interstate System Improvement Program. The program is the single largest project in the Iowa DOT’s fiscal year 2017-2021 Iowa Transportation Improvement Program.

Visit the Iowa DOT’s project-related public involvement event website at www.iowadot.gov/pim for information about scheduled public meetings and hearings, and opportunities to offer input to the Iowa DOT during the development of certain projects.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports a traffic stop this (Wednesday) morning near Thurman, resulted in a Nebraska man’s arrest on drug and weapon charges. The Fremont County K9 unit conducted the traffic stop at around 3-a.m.

An investigation ended with the arrest of 45-year old Rafael Petitphait, of Omaha, for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia, and a Carrying Weapon charge. Petitphait was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $1,300 bond.

Rafael Petitphait