On Monday, August 28 at 1:01 am, Creston Police arrested 29 year old Alan Dean Smith of 720 North Oak in Creston on charges of Harassment 1st Degree-Threaten Forcible Felony, OWI 1st Offense, and Assault Causing Bodily Injury or Mental Illness, No Intent.  Smith was taken to the Union County Jail where he is being held on $4,000 cash or surety bond.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today announced that the Agency is investing $13,435,000 in loans and $2,946,000 in grants to five projects in Iowa to strengthen infrastructure, promote business expansion and create jobs.

One of the grants goes to the city of Irwin in Shelby County, who received a $1,795,000 loan and a $2,346,000 grant through the Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants program to make water distribution system improvements.  This project will construct a new 35,000 gallon water tower and replace water mains with 6″ PVC.  This project will also replace older galvanized steel, cast iron, and lead service lines with copper lines and will eliminate four dead-end lines by adding two short loops.  Once completed, this project will improve water security and storage, bring the city into compliance with water quality standards, and better protect the health and safety of 341 townspeople and residents of surrounding rural areas.

The other four grants will go the rural electric cooperatives.

Black Hawk County will soon be turning methane from its landfill into fuel for vehicles. Black Hawk County Solid Waste Management Administrator John Foster says that carbon reduction has been at the forefront of his team’s mind for a long time, and the public-private partnership provided the answer.

The landfill is the 4th-largest in Iowa and will be only the second in the state to recycle its methane into this type of fuel.

Foster expects that the project will be ready to go by November, and the sale of the recycled gas could yield 70-thousand dollars in revenue in its first year.

Montgomery County Deputies Sunday morning shortly after 2:15 am made a traffic stop at 270th and Evergreen Avenue and arrested 49 year old Jeffery Dean Etter of Red Oak on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, a simple misdemeanor.  Etter was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.  Mills County Deputies assisted with the arrest.

The second week of hearings opens tomorrow (Tuesday) in Fort Dodge as the Iowa Utilities Board takes public comments on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline that would run nearly 700 miles across 29 Iowa counties. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the board’s ultimate decision could have a tremendous impact on the Midwestern ethanol industry.

The pipeline, one of three proposed in Iowa, would carry liquid carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to a sequestration site in North Dakota. Goss says states like Iowa and Nebraska depend heavily on ethanol production.

The first week of testimony was mostly from landowners and farmers who oppose the project, ridiculing what they say are scare tactics being used by the company. Many expressed fears about the potential impacts on land prices and on the environment. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association issued a report in February saying 75-percent of the state’s ethanol production would contract or migrate out of the state if carbon sequestration projects are curtailed, leading many plants to shut down.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is subtly urging Iowa Caucusgoers to focus on the 2024 election rather than on former President Donald Trump’s indictments. Without saying Trump’s name, DeSantis made the pitch to a crowd in Garner this weekend.

DeSantis says last Wednesday’s debate has kicked off a new phase of the campaign.

DeSantis is about halfway through his plan to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Businessman Vivek (vih-VAKE) Ramaswamy (rahm-uh-SWAH-mee) also campaigned in Iowa this weekend and told reporters his goal is to finish in the top three in the 2024 Iowa Caucuses.

Ramaswamy held events in half a dozen Iowa towns Friday and Saturday, drawing people who had never heard of him before Wednesday’s debate.

Ramaswamy was in seventh place in this month’s Des Moines Register/N-B-C News/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Montgomery County Deputies received an anonymous tip on Sunday, August 27 of possible animal neglect in the 200 block of Maple Street in Grant.  After speaking with the animal owner, 25 year old Shelby Woods, they determined that 2 dogs and a cat have not had adequate access to food and water or proper hygiene.  All three animals were released to Animal Alliance of Red Oak.  Woods was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with three counts of Animal Neglect.  All three charged are misdemeanors.  Bond was set at $300.

One person was killed and two others injured in a motorcycle accident in reported in Fremont County Saturday night.

The Iowa State Patrol reports that two Harley Davidson motorcycles were traveling on Bluff Road in Fremont County between 242nd Avenue and 190th Street when several deer entered the roadway, causing both motorcycles to take evasive action.

One of the motorcycles sustained a wheel malfunction on the sidecar causing it to lose control.  The driver and side car occupant were ejected while the second motorcycle was laid down on its side, ejecting the lone occupant.

The driver of the first motorcycle, 38 year old Andy Lee Wiese of Silver City was pronounced dead at the scene.  The passenger, 70 year old Janelle Lois Wiese of Corning suffered injuries and was taken from the scene by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.  The driver of the second motorcycle, 44 year old Adam Ryan Wiese of Denison was also injured and transported by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The Red Oak Police Department is asking for the public’s help after a rash of overnight vandalism.

Police report vandals either slashed tires on vehicles or spray painted obscenities on other people’s property.  Thirty individuals were affected by these perpetrators, resulting in several thousand dollars worth of damage, and these individuals need to be held accountable.

We ask for the public’s assistance; if you or someone you know was out and about and witnessed something suspicious, we’d like to speak with you. If you have a camera on your property, it may have some valuable information that we would like to look at.

Please contact the Red Oak Police Department at 712-623-6500.

Deputies in Montgomery County were called Friday at about 6:30 pm to the 1700 block of 205th Street in Red Oak.  The caller said a man was sleeping in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked on the roadway.  When they arrived, deputies found a silver Chevy Cruze parked on the road and woke the driver, 40 year old Miguel Cruz of San Pablo, Mexico.  After a brief investigation, Cruz was taken to the Montgomery County Jail with a breathe alcohol level of .202.  Cruz was booked on OWI-first offense and held on $1,000 bond.