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Traffic stop results in arrest

News

August 16th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop early this (Saturday) morning in Red Oak resulted in an arrest. According to Red Oak Police, 18-year old Dallas Brady Meyers, of Emerson, was arrested for OWI/1st Offense. He was also cited for Driving with a restricted license. Meyers was pulled over near the intersection of south Broadway and Short Streets, at around 3-a.m.

He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

Hanafan to run for Pott. Co. Supervisor’s seat

News

August 16th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Retired Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan has announced his candidacy for one of three vacancies on the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors. The Daily NonPareil reports Hanafan, who filed his election papers on Friday, said he wants to bring “common sense” back to county government. The 67-year old said also, his focus will be county spending and addressing the long-term care of county roads and bridges.

Hanafan, who served seven terms – a total of 25 years – as mayor, retired in January.Since Hanafan didn’t file before the deadline for candidates running under a political party affiliation, he will run as an independent. A Democrat during his tenure as mayor, Hanafan said that county races should be nonpartisan, citing the Council Bluffs City Council as a nonpartisan board.

Hanafan also said his move back into politics was influenced by several conversations about taxes and infrastructure with people in Council Bluffs, Carter Lake and rural communities in Pottawattamie County. Kristi Everett, first deputy auditor of elections for the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office, said Hanafan was nominated by petition, which meant he needed at least 100 signatures to be on the ballot. In late April, Hanafan said he had more than 500 signatures.

Other county board candidates include Republicans Scott Belt, Loren Knauss and Justin Schultz. No Democrats filed papers for the race. The filing deadline to run as an independent in the Nov. 4th general election is Aug. 27th.

Independent candidate from Pott. Co. to run for Congress

News

August 16th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

A man from Council Bluffs has thrown his hat into the Congressional race, as an independent candidate. The Daily NonPareil reports 42-year old Bryan Jack Holder filed his nomination papers Wednesday with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. Friday was the filing deadline for state and federal offices for those running as independents or third-party ticket.

Holder says if elected, he said he wouldn’t take a paycheck for those two years of service in Washington. Except for a handful of signatures provided from a friend, Holder went out door-knocking and met with small businesses – as well as friends and strangers – to gather 433 signatures to get on the November ballot. The minimum required number is 375.

He joins three others seeking the 3rd Congressional District that represents southwest Iowa, including Council Bluffs and Des Moines. The others are Republican candidate David Young, Democratic candidate Staci Appel and Libertarian Party candidate Edward B. Wright.

Holder believes current congressional districts serve too many people. In the original Bill of Rights, he said, it was proposed that congressional districts represent no more than 50,000 people – something states have never ratified.

Iowa early News Headlines: Sat., Aug. 16th 2014

News

August 16th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Agricultural equipment maker Deere is announcing it will indefinitely lay off more than 600 employees at four of its factories in the Midwest as demand slumps. The affected sites are in the cities of East Moline and Moline in Illinois, as well as Ankeny, Iowa and Coffeyville, Kansas. Deere is the world’s biggest farm equipment supplier.

EPWORTH, Iowa (AP) — The mayor of Epworth in northeast Iowa has cited personal health concerns for his resignation. City clerk Janet Berger says Tom Gassman submitted his resignation on Tuesday. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald says Gassman has been mayor since 2012 and a council member before that. Jacob Reuter will serve as acting mayor until the City Council fills the post of mayor. That’s expected to occur at the council’s September 9th meeting.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man has pleaded guilty to charges in connection to threatening letters involving a major high school football program. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports 44-year-old Daniel Stone of Solon pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree harassment and interference with official acts as part of plea deal.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has been sentenced to five years in prison for leading authorities on a high-speed car chase in May. The Sioux City Journal reports 25-year-old David Whitlock was sentenced Thursday in Woodbury County District Court after he pleaded guilty to eluding, possession of a controlled substance and second-offense operating while intoxicated.

Ex-Iowa doctor gets prison for child pornography

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former Council Bluffs doctor has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on a child pornography charge. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 69-year old Dennis Seaborn Jones received the sentence Friday (Aug. 15th) in federal court in Council Bluffs on one count of possession of child pornography. Jones pleaded guilty to the charge in May as part of a deal. He also agreed to permanently surrender his medical license.

Authorities say they found about 1.2 million images and 9,300 videos of child pornography during a search of Jones’ home. Court documents say other images and videos showed patients at Jones’ medical clinic that were taken secretly with a pen camera.

Jones faces a separate sexual abuse charge involving a minor. He also faces lawsuits in connection to the patient images and videos.

Third district candidates speak at Soapbox

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

The two major party candidates running for Iowa’s third district congressional seat have given short speeches at The Des Moines Register’s “Soapbox” this week. David Young is the Republican seeking the seat now held by the retiring Congressman Tom Latham. Young emphasizes his work the past six years as Senator Chuck Grassley’s chief of staff. “So I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work and you know a lot of it doesn’t work,” Young said. “But I’ve seen what can be done and how to get it done.” Staci Appel (APP-ull, like the word apple) is the Democrat running in the third district, which covers southwest Iowa and includes the cities of Des Moines and Council Bluffs. Appel emphasizes that she might break the glass ceiling in Iowa politics.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a woman’s voice in congress that represents the state of Iowa?” Appel said, to cheers from the crowd on the fairgrounds. Appel is one of two women from Iowa seeking seats in the U.S. House this election. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa is running against Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa City, the third time the two have faced one another on the ballot.

Iowa voters have never sent a woman to serve in the U.S. House. Iowa is one of six states which have never had a female elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Those other states are Alaksa, Delaware, Mississippi, North Dakota and Vermont.

(Radio Iowa)

Six Iowans receive Governor’s Lifesaving Awards at Iowa State Fair

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Six Iowans were honored at the Iowa State Fair today (Friday) for actions they took that likely saved the lives of other citizens. Seth Thompson of Treynor was presented with a Governor’s Lifesaving Award for his bravery on the morning of December 14, 2009. The wind chill was five-below-zero and roads were icy at the time Thompson and a co-worker were driving near Storm Lake on their way to Okoboji for a construction job. The truck in front of them spun around, rolled twice off the road, and landed upside down in a frozen creek. Thompson and his co-worker, Nolan Strobehn, stopped, ran through the snow, and jumped a fence to reach the truck.

Seth Thompson and family (father Marv, wife Michelle, son Taytum, mother Melinda) with Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds

Seth Thompson and family (father Marv, wife Michelle, son Taytum, mother Melinda) with Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds

“We both jumped down on our stomachs and started feeling around in the water. We just barely felt a hand or an arm or something, grabbed a hold of that and pulled the guy out,” Thompson said. “As we were all standing there, in disbelief of what just happened, the guy slowly muttered out as he was freezing, ‘there’s another guy.'” Thompson reached back in the submerged pickup and pulled the driver out as well. Thompson said both men in the pickup, Jesus Alvarado and Joshua Allsup, would have likely drowned had they not been followed on the highway.

“If we were not behind them, there was nobody else on the highway…the truck was not visible from the highway, so there would have been cars passing all day,” Thompson said. The two men in the pickup suffered only minor injuries and were treated at a hospital for symptoms of hypothermia. Thompson credits his six years of service in the Coast Guard for his quick response to the accident.

“I was used to crazy, gruesome stuff happening, so it was just respond, do what you need to do to help out, and that was it,” Thompson said. While Thompson has not kept in close contact with the men he helped rescue over five years ago, he did hear that one of the men, inspired by the incident, became a volunteer firefighter.

(Radio Iowa)

Bridge out for construction in Shelby County

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert reports a bridge on Redwood Road, located over the Dutch Branch of the East Branch of the West Nishnabotna River, will be closed for about the next 10 weeks, for work on a bridge replacement project.bridge out

The bridge is between Monroe Townships 16 and 17. Emergency responders and others in the area needing to reach residences in the affected area, should plan to take alternate routes. If you have any questions, call the Shelby County Engineer’s Office at 712-755-5954.

(12-p.m. News)

Deadline approaches for non-profit grant apps in Cass & Aud. Counties

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Officials with the Cass and Audubon County Community Foundations are issuing a reminder to non-profit organizations in the respective counties, that the deadline to apply for fall grant program funds is Sept. 1st. In Cass County, $26,775 is available. Of that, $2,275 is from the Griswold Community Development Endowed Fund, and $500 is from the Triumph Endowed Fund for Cass County.

In Audubon County, $39,770 is available for eligible non-profit organizations. Of that, $2,500 is from the Leon and Iva Milliman Endowed Fund for the Exira area, $2,800 is from the Charles T. and Kathleen K. Manatt Endowed Fund. Another $690 is being made available by the Audubon State Bank/Stephen Garst Endowed Fund, $1,200 is from the Audubon Masonic Association Endowed Fund for the City of Audubon area, $490 is available for the City of Audubon from the Fred and Evelyn Nissen Endowed Fund for Audubon, and $490 is made possible through the Merle and Norma Petersen Endowed Fund for the City of Audubon.

Only organizations providing services in Cass and Audubon are eligible for funds in their respective counties. Those groups must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support, and supply a copy of their 501(c)3 IRS determination letter.

Application procedures and grant guidelines can be found online at www.iowacommunityfoundations.org.  (Add /auduboncef after.org for Audubon County, or /casscef for Cass County)

3 arrested last weekend on drug charges in Clarinda

News

August 15th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

(Correction to charges issued to Wiebeseik & Bergren by Chief Brothers)

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers today (Friday), released details about a drug bust conducted in his community last weekend. Brothers says at around 3:50-a.m. August 9th, Clarinda Police Officers responded to a loud party/noise complaint at 422 N. 17th Street. The residence is rented by 21-year old James Kinghorn, of Clarinda.

Kinghorn was arrested for delivery of a controlled substance believed to be marijuana. Also arrested at the residence was 21-year old Brodie Lee Bergren, and 23-year old Jared Daniel Wiebesiek, both of Clarinda. They were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance.

All three men were booked into the Page County Jail and held while awaiting initial appearances before the Page County Magistrate. The matter has been referred to the Page County Attorney’s Office for review and the formal filing of charges.