(Radio Iowa) – A 74-year-old year man serving a 75-year sentence for sex-related crimes died in an Iowa prison this week. In 1992, Ronald K. Hendricks was given the maximum sentence for the crimes of second degree sex abuse in a case out of Sac County. Online records indicate Hendricks had a previous felony conviction in Sac County in 1988.

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, Hendricks died Wednesday afternoon in a prison infirmary where he had been housed due to cancer.

The broadcast News at 7:06-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) – A Chicago man caught in Iowa City two years ago with marijuana and a lot of cash has been sentenced to federal prison. Twenty-three-year-old Travon Ambrose pleaded guilty to gun and drug trafficking charges and has been sentenced to five years in prison. Prosecutors say police identified Ambrose as a drug distributor in the Iowa City area in the fall of 2019. During a search of his residence, authorities found 100 grams of pot, a bunch of pills, nearly 12-thousand dollars in cash and a gun.

Last year, Ambrose was again caught with what the U.S. Department of Justice describes as large quantities of marijuana.

(Radio Iowa) – Seven different fundraisers are planned across the state Saturday for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. It is the number one disease that claims the life of babies under the age of one. One of the fundraisers is in Le Mars — where Pam Jeneary serves on the board of directors with the Iowa Association of SIDS. She and her husband Tom lost a child due to SIDS. “About 38 years ago now already. Our son Stevie Michael passed away from SIDS when he was four months and three days,” Jeneary says.

Jeneary has taken on an active role following her son’s death in calling attention to SIDS, including organizing fundraisers to help with SIDS research. January says researchers still don’t know the reasons why some babies die. “At this point, I think there’s just a lot of hypothesis about what is causes SIDS. To my knowledge there hasn’t really been anything specific that is causing it,” Jeneary says.

She says the fundraising goes toward helping scientists and medical professionals trying to better understand the cause and a cure. There have been some steps taken to try and prevent the deaths. “We have since 1995 done ‘back to sleep baby’ — which has reduced the risk of SIDS — putting babies back to sleep on their back, having a fitted sheet on their mattress with no bumper pads, no blankets. They really require that you use a sleep sack,” according to Jeneary. “Those are things that seem like they have helped somewhat.”

Jeneary says statewide, the organization has a goal of raising at least 50-thousand dollars. Nearly two thousand infant deaths nationwide each year can be attributed to SIDS.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that on Tuesday, Aug. 24th, his deputies arrested Anthony Dean Blackwell for OWI/2nd offense, following a traffic stop on Highway 2.  And, there were two arrests on Thursday (8/26):

Aistrope says 53-year-old Charles Dewayne Hulsey, of Hamburg, was arrested on a Fremont County warrant, in connection with an incident that took place Aug. 20th, in Hamburg. He faces charges that include Violation of Probation and Violation of a No Contact Order. And, 22-year-old Triston Michael Miller, of Sidney, was arrested on a valid Fremont County warrant for Operating While Intoxicated 2nd Offense. The charge stems from a one-vehicle accident that occurred August 22nd, west of Sidney. Miller was also cited for Failure to Maintain Control of a Motor Vehicle.

Blackwell

Miller

Hulsey

(Radio Iowa) – Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation say they’re angry and heartbroken about the terror attack at the Kabul airport that killed a dozen U.S. soldiers. Republican Senator Joni Ernst says it was foolish to leave the safety and security of Americans and our allies to the Taliban and it’s time to use the might of the U-S military. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the mission remains the same — to get as many Americans and Afghan allies as possible out of the country by the end of the month.

“This is the fourth president to be involved in Afghanistan,” she said. “President Trump began the withdrawal and everybody believed that’s the right thing to do and we’re going to have to just, you know, deal with how the changes are happening on the ground.”

Axne, who says everyone wishes the withdrawal were going smoother, made her comments before President Biden addressed the country late yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says the Biden Administration must ensure every single American out of Afghanistan before there are more lives lost.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says completing that mission should be the focus right now, but the day will come when questions about this disorganized and disastrous exit will have to be answered. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says that day is now and he says it’s time to initiate a bipartisan congressional investigation of what went wrong in Afghanistan.

Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says the withdrawal has been a colossal failure and President Biden — in her words — has the blood of Americans on his hands.

(Radio Iowa) – A top health official in the Biden Administration is urging more Iowans to get Covid shots. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was Des Moines Thursday, a day after state officials confirmed 42 Iowans had died of Covid in the past four weeks. Becerra says 99 percent of the Americans who are dying of the virus are unvaccinated. “I don’t know if that fact that can amplified more,” Becerra said, “but if you don’t believe what’s going on go to the hospitals, to the ICU rooms or, worse, go to the morgues and see the people who are dying from Covid.”

State officials report just under 49 percent of Iowa residents had been fully vaccinated by the middle of this week. Becerra stopped short of saying businesses should mandate vaccinations for employees, but he said employers should do what they believe is necessary to protect their workforce against COVID-19.

“I would want to see every employer have a safe workplace — for their employees and for their patrons and I believe they should do everything the law permits them to do to make sure we’re all safe,” Becerra said, “because if you’re not safe, I’m not safe.”

Data released this week by the Iowa Department of Public Health shows the number of Covid cases in Iowa has risen to levels not seen since January and the number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has increased 20 percent in the past week. About eight out of 10 of those patients have not been vaccinated.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – UPDATED: In a meeting that lasted just under an hour, Thursday, the Cass County Conference Board, made up of representatives from County Schools, Mayors and Supervisors, approved the appointment of an Assessor to fill a vacancy, and the restructuring of the Assessor’s Office. Board Chair Steve Baier said with regard to restructuring the Assessors Office, there are other services that are better suited to conducting field appraisals.

That includes Eagleview Pictometry, and a contract with Vanguard appraisals. The County has used Vanguard appraisals several times.

The Board voted in a majority, to restructure the Assessor’s Office, by releasing two Field Appraisers (Tom Williams and Rich Tupper), from their contract, and contract with the aforementioned Vanguard to perform those services. And, Baier said the Conference Board had two highly qualified candidates to chose from, with regard to the hiring of an Assessor.

The Board unanimously voted to appoint former Deputy Assessor Mary Anstey to fill the remainder of a six-year term created by the resignation of Brenda Nelson, last May.  Anstey, who works as a Deputy Auditor for the Cass County Auditor’s Office, had previously served as Deputy Assessor from Oct. 1999 to April 2013.

Conference Board Chair Steve Baier said Anstey has agreed to be paid – on a pro-rated basis for the 10 months remaining in the fiscal year – the salary of her predecessor. She will also help to train whomever takes over her position in the Auditor’s Office. And that she would volunteer to help the Auditor’s Office through the next election cycle. She takes over her new title/position on Sept. 1st.

Anstey was given the authority to hire a Deputy Assessor with the approval of the Conference Board.

A spokesman for the Kimballton Fire Department, Thursday evening, said the Power Outage issue in Kimballton has been resolved. The situation began Wednesday morning, leaving some areas of town in a “Brown Out.” According to Public Information Officer Vernon Schwarte, “With a ton of hard work and dedication, and countless hours from City of Kimballton staff, Fire Chief, volunteers, and too many to name, the power issue has been fixed.  In the process we had assistance from Audubon County Emergency Management, NIPCO, MRES, City of Atlantic Utilities, and many more.

“What the issue was in the end was a blown fuse in a transformer that could not be seen, found, and was very difficult to track down due to not acting like a normal fuse issue.” Schwarte said “Basically, pieces of the blown fuse fell into the lower parts of the cabinet and on normal visual and test means, could not be seen.  This  remedy in the end is considered awesome news for the City, as we were  fearing a main transformer issue that would have been weeks or months to get fully taken care of and back up and running.  The result, we are  good to go. ”

He added, “Thank you for your patience and understanding while the process of elimination was taking place.”

(Radio Iowa) – One of two inmates charged with killing two Anamosa prison employees in March has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Thomas Woodard had pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of a prison guard and a nurse, along with kidnapping another prison employee and attempting to kill another inmate.

Sara McFarland, the wife of correctional officer Robert McFarland, was first to deliver a victim impact statement before the sentencing. “On March 23, you took my world, my heart from me…I miss him holding my hand so much,” she said. McFarland says her husband was able to call for help as he was being attacked and died a hero.

“‘The fact that you hit him with a hammer like you could have cared less about him makes me more angry than I have ever been in my life,” she said. “I have never hated anyone like I hate you and, to be quite honest, I hope you rot in hell for what you took from us all.” Cathie McFarland, the slain officer’s mother, says she’s going through the worst nightmare a parent can go through.

“When I wake up, the reality hits me,” she said. “…My baby boy is gone forever because you chose to take his life.” Stephanie Schulte, the mother of prison nurse Lorena Schulte, faced the judge as she read a statement rather than face the man who had killed her daughter. Gretchen Price, one of Schulte’s sister’s, says her baby boy was only 17 days old when Lorena was killed, but her three daughters often spent time with their aunt and every day Price wonders who in the family will be triggered by a memory.

“Weeks of crying on and off all day, nightmares, screaming in the night while they grieve her loss,” she said. “This is our current reality.” The prison employee who was held hostage during the break-out attempt submitted a written statement to the court. Woodard declined to make a statement before his sentencing. He’s scheduled for transfer to a Nebraska prison.