Fremont Sheriff Kevin Aistrope, today (Saturday), said that at around 10-a.m. Friday, his deputies were called to Hamburg for a report of a stolen semi and trailer. The caller advised the suspect had fled the scene and was hiding near an abandoned residence on southern Washington Street.

The K9 “Roby” was deployed, and the male was located and arrested without incident. The suspect, 39-year-old Joshua Osborne, of Omaha, Nebraska, was placed under arrest for Operating without Owner’s Consent, Burglary 3rd Degree, Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree, and Interference with Official Acts.

Joshua Osborne

Authorities allege Osborne was driving a semi-tractor near the area of Main Street and Willis Street when his vehicle become disabled in mud. He then allegedly burglarized a nearby semi and then took a second semi without the owner’s consent, causing damage.

Osborne was being held at the Fremont County Jail on $5,000 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent, separate arrests. Saturday morning (April 30) deputies arrested 20-year-old Lucas Robert Swanson, of Stanton. He was charged with driving while suspended and failure to file SR-22 insurance. Swanson was being held on bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, Friday afternoon (April 29), 53-year-old Rene Telesforo Valdivia, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was arrested for possession of marijuana. He also was being held on bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Andrew Lee Edwards

A Des Moines man was arrested early Saturday morning in Mills County following a short pursuit. According to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office a Sergeant attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am for speeding on Interstate 29. The vehicle failed to stop and continued for a short distance on the Interstate before stopping near the 40-mile-marker.

The driver, 39-year-old Andrew Lee Edwards of Des Moines was taken into custody on multiple charges. During the pursuit Edwards threw a bag out of his window, which was recovered and identified as methamphetamine. Edwards then admitted to swallowing a large amount of meth during the pursuit. He was taken to Mercy Hospital by Pacific Junction Rescue and later released and taken to the Mills County Jail. Edwards faces charges of Eluding, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving While Barred, and Obstruction Prosecution.

Edward also had multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest. That included a warrant out of Adel for Harassment 1st Degree. Another warrant out of Benton County, Minnesota was for Probation Violation.

The Mills Count Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Glenwood Police Department, and Pacific Junction Rescue.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 32-year-old Mildred Helenora Douglas of Red Oak on an Adams County Warrant for Failure to Appear. Douglas was arrested on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the 1300 block of North Broadway Street in Red Oak. Douglas was then transported to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and turned over into their custody.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says President Biden’s Homeland Security chief should resign. Hinson says Secretary Alejandro Mayorkis has failed to secure the southern border.

“It’s frustrating to me that I feel like here we are again after a year, we were giving these warnings a year ago about the situations not only at our border communities, for our law enforcement officers not only down in Texas and in places like Iowa who continue to raise the alarm that this crisis has worsened,” Hinson said during a hearing this week in Washington.

In March, US authorities arrested 210,000 migrants attempting to illegally cross the border with Mexico — the highest monthly total in two decades. Hinson, a Republican from Marion who spoke with Iowa reporters today by phone, said the Homeland Security secretary does not have a plan to deal with an expected surge in illegal border crossings after May 23. That’s when the order is lifted that has been sending those caught at the border back to Mexico to await immigration proceedings.

“There has been a huge void in leadership at the Department of Homeland Security,” Hinson said. “When he’s saying that he’s effectively managed the border and we are hearing about these complete failures, not to mention the safety and security risk to our entire country, that to me is a dereliction of duty.”

The Homeland Security secretary has said his agency is setting up temporary facilities along the border to handle more migrants and has proposed a new regulation to speed up deportations. Due to a court ruling, asylum seekers will still be required to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court.

(Radio Iowa)  – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says “urgent” action in congress is necessary to address the lack of competition in the meatpacking industry. The CEOs of the four companies that control 80% of the beef processing in America testified at a House Ag Committee hearing this week. Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, is a member of the committee.

“Today consumers are literally paying more for their beef, producers are getting less for their cattle and yet your four companies net income has reached record highs,” Axne said during the hearing. A Missouri man testified that he’d contemplated suicide because of the prices he’s getting for his cattle. That prompted Axne to recite the phone number for the national suicide hotline.

“The sad part is I’m sitting here at a hearing for our cattle producers, having to put out information like that, because it’s so rough on our producers in Iowa and in other places to get ahead,” Axne said.

The president of the Montana Cattlemen’s Association told Axne concentration in the meatpacking industry has made rural America “a slum.”

(Radio Iowa) – A 14-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run a few blocks from her Des Moines High School.

Des Moines Police say Ema Cardenas was struck by an SUV at about 3:45 Thursday afternoon. School officials say Cardenas was a freshman at East High and had been a student in the Des Moines school system since kindergarten.

Ema Cardenas

Late this morning, police announced they’d located a vehicle about a mile away from the accident and early this afternoon, police said they had arrested 38-year-old Terra Jean Flipping. She’s been charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing serious injury or death.

(Shelby County, Iowa) – Several area fire departments responded to a house fire mid-day Friday (today), at 1622 Peach Road, near Kirkman. Crews from Kirkman, Irwin, Harlan, Defiance, Westphalia and Earling. According to Fire Chief Roger Bissen, it’s believed the fire was electrical in nature, but they will investigate further, on Monday. No one was home when the blaze broke out, and no injuries were reported.

Photos via the Shelby County Emergency Services Association FB page

(Atlantic, Iowa) – For the second year in a row, Cass Health, in Atlantic, is one of the nation’s overall top 20 critical access hospitals as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. Cass Health CEO Brett Altman said “Though the award is called ‘Top 20,’ we understand that for each of the past two years we have actually been in the Top 10 on that list of hospitals. This puts Cass Health in the top 1% of 1,353 critical access hospitals in the country, which is a remarkable accomplishment. What really amazes me is that our team has achieved this status for two years in a row, during an incredibly challenging time for healthcare organizations.”

This esteemed group of hospitals was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2022 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital list, which was released earlier this year. The determining factors for the top hospitals are based on the results of the Hospital Strength Index and its eight performance measures, based solely on data for: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient survey results, cost, charge, and financial efficiency.

Altman says “Our vision is to be the best rural hospital in the country, and each year we are growing closer to that goal. By staying committed to delivering a superior experience to every patient and family, we hope to continue this trend. Not only are we grateful for our incredible staff, but also, we are thankful for our patients. Every time our patients give us top scores on patient surveys it helps us attain recognition such as this.”

The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and an awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, Missouri.