COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – An Omaha, Nebraska man was sentenced in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, Monday (September 18, 2023) to 151 months (nearly 12 1/2 years) in prison for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

According to public court documents, Timothy James Monte, 58, was stopped for a traffic violation in November of 2022 in Council Bluffs. A search of Monte’s vehicle resulted in the seizure of approximately 6.5 ounces of pure methamphetamine.

Monte must serve a five-year term of supervised release following the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case.

Volunteers are needed to help run the second annual IowAbility Fair next weekend in central Iowa, a free event designed to remind Iowans who have limited mobility how many other abilities they still have. One of the fair’s organizers is Angie Hulsebus (HULSE-ah-bus), who’s been in a wheelchair half her life, following a motor vehicle accident when she was 20. She’s hoping hundreds of Iowans with disabilities will turn out on Saturday, September 30th.

Hulsebus says the event is a one-stop shop for networking, researching and finding new ways to have fun. The fair will feature a vendor area that will offer a host of medical equipment, devices and things like adaptive vehicles, while there will also be a wide array of adaptive sports and recreational activities to sample.

The fair will be held at Easter Seals’ Camp Sunnyside in north Des Moines. At 10:30 that morning, there will be a Walk-N-Roll fundraiser. There’s also a raffle, a shopper’s alley where all business owners have a disability, and a free swap meet.

The event is co-hosted by the Iowa chapter of the United Spinal Association and the Spina Bifida Association of Iowa. The register to attend or to volunteer, visit: https://iowabilityfair.com/

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna today (Wednesday) updated the list of candidates who have filed nomination papers for various city offices in advance of the Nov. 7, 2023 elections.

Offices that will be on the ballot and Current Candidates Filed:

*Mayoral seats are 2 year terms (Except Stanton & Coburg, where the Mayor is a 4-year term)

*Council Member positions are 4 year terms (Except Grant – Council is 2-year terms)

Red Oak City Offices- Candidates Filed

Mayor 2yr term—Vote for 1–Shawnna L. Silvius

Council Member Ward #1 4yr term—Vote for 1–

Council Member Ward #3 4yr term—Vote for 1–

Council Member At Large 4yr term—Vote for 1–Sharon Bradley.

Elliott City Offices

Mayor 2yr term -Vote for 1– Michael Carson

Council Member At Large 4yr term—Vote for 2– Leta Rush, Lisa Jamison

Grant City Offices

Mayor 2yr term—Vote for 1—John J. Giefing

Council Member At Large 2yr term— Vote for 5– Chelsea Dvorak, Nancy Taylor, Greg Karwal, Clay Amos, Connie K. Giefing, Jeff Brown

Villisca City Offices

Mayor 2yr term—Vote for 1–

Council Member At Large 4yr term—Vote for 3– Robert Tripp Narup, Marsha S. Shepherd

Stanton City Offices

Mayor 4yr term—Vote for 1–

Council Member At Large 4yr term-Vote for 2– Pier Osweiler, Greg Hampel

Council Member At Large – TFV 2yr term—Justin R. Rhamy

Coburg City Offices

Council Member At Large 4yr term—Vote for 3–

(Radio Iowa) – An Illinois man who was convicted of robbing a northwest Iowa bank is sentenced to eight years in federal prison. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, 38-year-old Leon Sutton, of Chicago, received the prison term after he pleaded guilty to bank robbery in May. The court says Sutton entered Iowa State Bank in Sheldon about noon on June 3rd, 2021, armed with a handgun, and demanded money.

Sheldon Police officers were able to trace the recently purchased car Sutton was driving back to him through video surveillance and the previous owner of the car. Sutton fled to Chicago, where he was apprehended.

In addition to eight years in federal prison, Sutton will also serve three years of supervised release.

(Neola, Iowa) – A family dog traveling with the family, alerted them to a dangerous build-up of suspected carbon monoxide. The incident happened as the family was traveling in an SUV on Interstate 80, near Neola. Soon after, the father of three children in the vehicle smelled the fumes and when he looked back, saw the children were lethargic. A two-year old traveling in the vehicle was unresponsive, but his eyes were open.

The family pulled over onto the shoulder and called 911. Law enforcement arrived within minutes. All three of the children, ages 2, 4 and 6, were at the hospital Tuesday night. The incident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – Private colleges in Iowa have been cutting their tuition costs in an effort to retain students. Graceland College in Lamoni is the latest, with president Pat Draves making the announcement Tuesday.

She says cost has become one of the biggest factors for students in selecting a school.

Graves says that left them without the chance to even discuss what they had to offer.

Wartburg College in Waverly recently announced it was reducing its published tuition price by more than 45 percent to 25-thousand dollars. Wartburg president, Rebecca Ehretsman says that is part of an overall plan.

Wartburg also offers students what they call the “Knights Experience Fund. ”

Ehretsman says scholarships and other programs sometimes don’t get figured in when students are searching for a school.

Ehretsman says that is even more important with the nationwide drop in college students after the pandemic.

Wartburg has an enrollment of around 15-hundred students.

Red Oak Police report that on Tuesday, September 19th, they arrested a 14 year old juvenile from Red Oak on a pair of drug offenses.  The teen was charged with delivery to a minor, and distributing drugs near a school, both charges are class B felonies.  The juvenile was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs.

Many of Iowa’s trees are struggling in the long-running drought. Joe Herring, a district forester with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says some insects are causing problems with trees, and not just the emerald ash borer.

Herring says fall colors should be coming into view soon, starting with a species of small tree or bush found along roadsides, called sumac (SOO-mack).

During some drought years, the reds, yellows and oranges of fall appear more vibrantly on several species of trees in particular.

The D-N-R says the peak of fall color should be during the second week of October for the northern part of the state, and the second through the fourth weeks of October in southern Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has made her first public statement about former President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about abortion policy. During an interview a few days ago with N-B-C’s Meet the Press, Trump said the six week abortion ban his rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed in April was a terrible mistake. Trump commented on his Truth Social platform yesterday afternoon, saying the three U-S Supreme Court Justices he appointed did something nobody thought was possible by ending Roe v Wade and sending the abortion issue back to the states.

Trump says Republicans need to learn how to talk about abortion or risk losing elections in 2024. Governor Reynolds posted a comment on social media a little over an hour later. Reynolds says it’s never a terrible thing to protect innocent life and she’s proud of the fetal heartbeat bill she signed into law in 2018 and, again, this summer. On Monday, DeSantis told Radio Iowa Trump’s remarks don’t reflect the values of Iowans and last night he praised Reynolds on social media for promoting a culture of life.

Trump is scheduled to campaign in eastern Iowa today(Wednesday). He’ll hold an event in Maquoketa, then appear at a late afternoon rally in Dubuque. It’s the same Davenport venue where Trump held a rally eight years ago — the first one Sam Clovis attended.

Clovis had joined the Trump campaign team the morning of that 2015 rally in Dubuque and introduced Trump to the crowd. Clovis later went on to become the national co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Clovis says it’s important for Trump’s current campaign to hold rallies in each of Iowa’s four congressional districts.

Clovis says “Ninety percent of winning the Caucuses is showing up and that to me is important that he make appearances out here in the state and I’m convinced he will.” Clovis, who does not have a role in Trump’s 2024 campaign, says while current polling shows Trump holding a commanding lead — the Caucuses are four months away.

Clovis says Trump faces a better slate of candidates than he did in 2016. In the 2016 GENERAL Election, Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to win Dubuque County in half a century. In the 2016 Iowa CAUCUSES, though, Trump narrowly won the Dubuque County with about 27 percent of the vote — roughly half a point ahead of Marco Rubio got in Dubuque that night.

(Nevada, Iowa) – Officials with the Nevada Public Safety Department, Tuesday, said two people were arrested in California, in connection with the death on Sunday of a 7-month-old child, in Nevada. As a result of an investigation, 35-year-old Juan Angel Montalvo, Jr., and 23-year-old Sheyenne Nichole Shore, of Nevada, were each charged with Murder in the 1st Degree, and Child Endangerment causing death. They were in custody in California on additional charges unrelated to the child’s death, and will be returned to Iowa to face charges.

A criminal complaint released Monday said Shore brought the baby to the hospital, where she was cold, stiff and her pupils were dilated and fixed. Doctors attempted life-saving measures, but they were unsuccessful.

The Iowa State Medical Examiner said the baby had multiple scrapes and bruises on the face, forehead, back and abdomen, skeletal fractures of her wrist, and hemorrhages of the right eye and liver. The medical examiner also said findings in the brain and eyes were consistent with non-accidental head injuries. Her death was ruled a homicide.

The criminal complaint said officials searched Montalvo and Shore’s residence and found the baby’s blood on her clothes and blankets.