(Red Oak, Iowa) – A semi tractor-trailer’s mechanical issues resulted in a an SUV being struck by pieces of the trailer’s brake shoes. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the driver of the semi, Jorge Urizar, of Bakersfield, CA, told deputies that he lost the set of dual tires on the trailer. He stopped and picked them up before continuing west on Highway 34.

While back on the road, the brake shoes fell off of the axle of the semi’s trailer, and damaged a 2020 Jeep Wagoneer, driven by Brandon Bennett, of Arlington, WA. The accident happened at around 4:30-p.m. The SUV sustained disabling damage. Urizar was cited for Driving or Towing an Unsafe Vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted by Red Oak Police.

(Radio Iowa) – There will soon be just one Ben Franklin store left in Iowa. Fifty years ago, there were more than 100 Ben Franklin stores in the state, but there’s a store closing sale underway at the Ben Franklin in Eagle Grove — and the Ben Franklin in Sheldon will be the last one operating in Iowa. Phil Warnke says he and his wife were relatively young when they bought the store in 1991.

“Most of the others have retired as they get into their 70s,” Warnke says. “Some of the other younger ones did change the name and go with other names, where we chose to go with the Ben Franklin name.” The original Ben Franklin chain went bankrupt in 1996, but Warnke has been paying a licensing fee just to be able to keep the name on the building.

“There’s been a store associated with that name in our town for over 100 years,” Warnke says. “We figured no matter what we changed the name to, to the local people it’s always be the old Ben Franklin store, so we thought it was just better identification if we just kept the name.” Warnke says when the Ben Franklin company went out of business 27 years ago, that actually helped his operation because as a franchise, his store had to buy and stock company products.

“It did open up different products for us that we weren’t able to carry by being just a strictly company Ben Franklin store,” Warnke says. The Ben Franklin store on the town square in Winterset closed in December after 83 years in business. The owner of the Ben Franklin store in Nevada retired last November and the store closed. The Ben Franklin store in Eagle Grove announced its “store closing” sale on Facebook a few weeks ago, but has not set an end date.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Community School District (ACSD) say the District is currently hiring a variety of certified and support staff positions. The variety of positions varies greatly with the highest need under the umbrella of our Paraeducator support staff positions.  ACSD currently has multiple positions available for Paraeducators.

The State of Iowa has changed the online application website platform for which both certified and support staff employment opportunities in the educational sector are available to view and apply for.

Previously the website, TeachIowa was utilized. In July, the website changed to IowaWorks. Under this new IowaWorks website interested individuals can browse all state-based government and/or educational positions within the state of Iowa.

The new IowaWorks website also provides a significant amount of information and resources about employment in Iowa, resources and support for both job seekers and employers looking for the perfect candidate.

Interested in joining the ACSD team as a Paraeducator or one of the other current available positions? All available positions can be found and applied for under the new state website, IowaWorks.

Specific questions regarding employment can be directed to the ACSD Central Office: 712-243-4252.

(Radio Iowa) – A Texas firm that invested in Mercy hospital in Iowa City says the facility is on the verge of insolvency. Preston Hollow Community Capital, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, says it is seeking a court-appointed receivership to restructure the debt of Mercy hospital in Iowa City. The firm’s statement says Mercy Iowa City’s board of directors has failed to shift its approach to deal with unsustainable financial issues and avoid closure of the facility.

Two years ago, Mercy Iowa City rejected the University of Iowa’s more than 600 million dollar offer to buy Mercy Iowa City and turn it into a community division of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

According to Mercy Iowa City’s website, 250 doctors are on staff and the hospital has 194 beds for acute care, 25 outpatient surgery rooms and a 23-bed nursery. A spokesperson for the hospital was not immediately available for comment.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa-born astronaut Peggy Whitson is featured in a national interview with Norah O’Donnell on the C-B-S program “Person to Person.” The Beaconsfield native reflected on her recent space flight, the fourth in her long career. In May, Whitson led a crew to the International Space Station as part of the private Axiom 2 mission. Whitson says the toughest part about the flight was readjusting to Earth’s gravity after the 10-day mission was over.

She retired from NASA in 2018 and joined Axiom, which plans to build a commercial space station beginning as early as 2025. Whitson hopes the company will expand on some of the medical experiments that were conducted during her latest mission, including cancer research. With her latest flight, Whitson increased her U-S record for most time spent in space — to 675 days.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials have begun planning for upgrades at a popular, state-owned campground in northwest Iowa. Jake Schaben of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it’s been decades since there have been major renovations at Gull Point State Park in the Iowa Great Lakes region.”It’s probably been at least 50 years since there have been any real improvements aside from upgrading some rest rooms facilities,” Schaben says. “This is going to focusing on roads and camp pads.” There are 112 campsites at the park, which is near Milford. About half have electrical hook-ups.

Schaben says the upgrades at Gull Point State Park may be similar to what was done at state owned campsites that are about 10 miles away. “Two years ago we finished up with a campground renovation up at the Marble Beach State Recreation Area on Spirit Lake,” Schaben says. “Got a lot of complements on the results we got with that by kind of expanding campsites and full-hook-up amenities and some 50 amp electricity.”

Gull Point State Park is the second most popular park in the state-owned park system. In 2021, one-point-six MILLION people visited the park. The D-N-R will host an open house at the lodge in Gull Point State Park on August 22nd to discuss the proposed campground upgrades with the public.

(Sioux City, Iowa) – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa report a Carroll man, 45-year-old Darwin Robinson, Jr., was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm and possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Robinson pled guilty July 20, 2023, in federal court in Sioux City.

Robinson was previously convicted of cocaine-possession and three domestic abuse assaults which prohibited him from possessing firearms.

At the plea hearing, Robinson admitted that he had these convictions and that he was a regular user of methamphetamine and possessed a .40 caliber handgun. On March 22, 2021, law enforcement stopped the vehicle Robinson was driving and officers seized two small bags of methamphetamine from Robinson and a loaded .40 caliber handgun from the vehicle. Robinson admitted that he planned on selling some or all the methamphetamine that was found.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Robinson remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. On the firearm conviction, Robinson faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and not more than three years of supervised release following any imprisonment. Robinson faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, and three years up to life of supervised release on the possession with intent to distribute conviction.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Carroll, Iowa Police Department, Iowa DCI Criminalistics Laboratory, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The National Weather Service-Des Moines has announced that very warm weather is on the way this week. Afternoon heat index values will likely be over 105 degrees by Wednesday and Thursday. Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon reports with this summer heatwave expected for much of the week, facilities in Cass County have opened their doors to people who need a break from the extreme heat.

Libraries throughout Cass County will be available as cooling stations during their regular operating hours. In Atlantic, the Nishna Valley YMCA at 1100 Maple Street is open until 8:00pm Tuesday thru Thursday and until 6:00pm on Friday.

Kennon said he would like to thank the YMCA and area libraries for providing this important service. ”Stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the heat of the day and check on relatives, neighbors, the elderly and pets. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency…call 9-1-1.”

(Radio Iowa) – Police say a suspect in an assault and kidnapping in central Iowa took his own life in southeast Iowa after being chased by the Iowa State Patrol and other officers. Des Moines Police sent an advisory Sunday afternoon that 31-year-old Joshua Paul Thompson had been involved in a violent domestic incident and a 31-year-old woman had been taken unwillingly in an S-U-V he was driving. Police said he was armed with a handgun.

About two hours later, police announced Thompson had been located in southeast Iowa and, following a police pursuit, he died in western Des Moines County of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The woman has been reunited with her family.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says callers looking for federal benefits are being put on hold and because federal employees are teleworking. And Hinson says as the number of federal employees teleworking increased, says these agencies haven’t reduced space accordingly. “If these federal agencies aren’t going to use this space to work for the American people, they need to give it up. Clearly things aren’t reconciling between federal employees getting back to the office,” Hinson says.

U-S Office of Personnel Management found the shift to telework saved 90 million dollars across federal government, and the departments themselves report productivity increases and higher job satisfaction through telework and hybrid workplaces. On another issues, Hinson, a Republican from Marion, defends her support of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits the Defense Department from paying or reimbursing a service member for expenses related to abortions.

“We need to be focused on having a fighting force. And that’s what my biggest priority is with N-D-A-A,” she says. Hinson says military spending needs to be focused service members readiness and recruitment. The bill passed the House and now goes to the Senate.