Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports it was a pretty uneventful past week, as far as arrests and incidents are concerned. The Sheriff says 22-year old Jasmina Gusalic, of Des Moines, was a passenger in a pickup near Stuart, who was cited for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Feb. 11th.

Several plastic baggies with marijuana residue inside the vehicle were found on the floorboard in front of her, pipes used for smoking meth were found in her coat pockets. More plastic baggies with suspected marijuana residue were found on the passenger side of the vehicle, and in the woman’s backpack.

Several other pipes and a hypodermic syringe were found in the backpack as well. Gusalic admitted all the paraphernalia belonged to her. She was released from the scene after receiving her citation.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department said that at around 4:10-p.m. Monday, deputies were called to the area of Filmore Street and Illinois Street in Sidney, for a report of a juvenile that had been stuck by a car. Witnesses said a vehicle was eastbound on Filmore Street and turned south on Illinois Street, while two male juveniles were attempting to cross Filmore Street. The vehicle struck one of the juveniles, briefly stopped and then fled the scene to the south.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Monday of 27-year-old Cody Dean Johnson of Red Oak for Domestic Assault 2nd Offense, causing bodily injury. Johnson was arrested at approximately 4:00 p.m. and taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports one arrest after responding to a report of a burglary in Elliott on Monday. At 1:10pm Deputies responded to the call and arrested 35-year-old Cory Ross Smith of Elliott. Smith is charged with Burglary 3rd Degree and was held at the Montgomery County Jail until seen by a Magistrate.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board held their monthly meeting Monday evening in the Parks & Rec Office, at Sunnyside Park. Parks Director Bryant Rasmussen said with the blessing of the Parks Board, they will begin the process of looking for a campground host at the Schildberg Recreation Area Campground. The campground will open in April but the unpaid position would begin in May and run through October. The job offers free camping for person selected.

The host would be responsible for a number of duties, including: making sure campers are registering properly; help with the purchase of firewood; make sure the rules are being followed at the campground; making sure extended-stay campers are keeping their area cleaned-up, and general maintenance of the bathrooms at the bath house. The Board voted to move forward with a job posting that’s been drafted.

Rasmussen said also, a sign with hours for Mollett Park will be posted when the weather permits. The Park is located at the end of 3rd Street Place. It will include raised garden beds and rain barrels to help supplement any water needed from AMU. He said flyers have been posted around town to describe where the gardens will be and how to acquire one for rent. Five other signs are being created for certain sporting activities at Sunnyside Park. The signs will have a scannable QR Code so persons may access instructions on how to play, for instance: Horseshoes, Disc Golf, Bocce ball, the Skate Park, and ladder golf.

In other business, the Atlantic Library has graciously provided eight of their unused, round  plastic recycling bins, which the parks department has painted blue, and will use to collect aluminum cans. They’ll be found at slow-pitch softball games, some of the campground shelters (such as the Camblin Addition and Kiddie Korral), and elsewhere. The recycling canisters would otherwise cost about $70 to $80, according to Rasmussen.

He said also, the Parks and Rec Department is coordinating with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and some businesses, to place Walking Maps in kiosks at the Schildberg Recreations, City Park and Sunnyside Park. Those kiosks will be installed this Spring.

Rasmussen said they’ve coordinated with the Street Department to address some of the high need maintenance areas along the Bull Creek pathway. As things start to thaw, and heat up, they’ll begin addressing at least one area of Bull Creek erosion control.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An operations manager at the Iowa Department of Transportation has been named the agency’s permanent director. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she has appointed Scott Marler, a 22-year veteran of the department who has worked in traffic operations, highway project development and regulatory compliance. He began work on Monday.

Marler succeeds Mark Lowe who was asked to resign by Reynolds in December. Her only reason was that she sought a change in leadership. Marler was the director of the operations division which has oversight of the construction and materials bureau, maintenance, motor vehicle enforcement and the traffic and safety bureau.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year-old Casey Baker, of Indianola, was arrested on a drug charge following a traffic stop for having expired license plates. He was taken into custody at around 1:30-p.m., Monday, in Prescott, after he was found to be in possession of a waxy substance containing THC. Baker was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance (THC Wax) and booked into the Adams County Jail, where he was held on $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — Two police officers in the northern Iowa town of Milford answered an unusual Valentine’s Day 9-1-1 call Friday. The call came from an elderly man around 2:50 a-m. He told the responding officers Keaton Verner and Garth Wolff that he was lonely and wanted someone to talk to. The two officers pulled up chairs and said they would keep him company.

Officer Wolff

Officer Verner

The department posted a picture of the man and officers on Facebook — but then said it was taken down out of respect for the man’s privacy. The post says community policing is key to law enforcement having a good relationship with the citizens. The post encourages everyone to go out in their communities and pay it forward.

(Radio Iowa) — The coronavirus isn’t the only thing from China that’s invading America this winter. An insect expert says people across Iowa and the Midwest are reporting they’re finding droves of half-inch-long stink bugs in their houses. Creighton University Biology Professor Ted Burk says it’s a species of creature we haven’t seen in the U-S before and the critters are plentiful.

“What we’ve been seeing this year, more than we’ve ever seen before, is this new invasive species, the brown marmorated stink bug,” Burk says. “This is the first year we’ve really had lots of widespread comments about them getting into people’s houses.” The bugs don’t really do much but hide in cracks and crevices. They don’t bite but — like a skunk — they do emit a foul smell if disturbed. Burk says this is just the latest of several invasive species of insects that have found their way to Iowa in recent years.

“We’ve got the Asian long-horned beetle, we’ve got the emerald ash borer, we have the Asian multicolored ladybugs that have been invading people’s houses so much in the past few years,” Burk says. “It’s really just a reflection of the fact there’s so much worldwide trade originating in China now that things are being spread all over the world.”

Because of their odor, some people like to avoid trying to swat or capture the stink bugs, however, Burk says they’re resistant to most chemical insecticides. “You can buy little insect vacuums to vacuum them up in your house,” Burk says. “If you go to Amazon, there’s about ten different varieties of insect vacuums which seem to be developed mainly for stink bugs. There’s even one called the ‘Bugzooka’ for collecting them.”

Stink bugs are attracted to water and warmth, which we can use to our advantage. “You just get a tin foil roasting pan or something like that, put an inch or so of soapy water in it and then take a desk lamp and shine it on the pan,” Burk says. “The light will attract the stink bugs and they’ll drown in the soapy water.” He also suggests you focus on the future and work to caulk or seal any cracks and all entrances to avoid an infestation next fall.

There -could- be a threat to agriculture, as Burk says the brown marmorated stink bug feeds on more than 300 different kinds of fruit and vegetable plants.

(Radio Iowa) — A small group of Iowa House members and hunting enthusiasts are debating whether to increase the number of licenses for out-of-state deer hunters. Under current law, six-thousand deer hunting licenses are available for residents of OTHER states.

Representative Dean Fisher, a Republican from Montour, says expanding deer hunting opportunities would be good for Iowa’s economy. “As a landowner, I’ve got deer — including big bucks — running through my barnyard all the time and where I live, it’s just overpopulated,” Fisher says. “Instead of just keeping the number the same, adding to the licenses is what I would favor.”

Fisher’s on a House SUB-committee that’s embracing the idea of offering 15-hundred MORE deer hunting licenses to out-of-staters — and setting aside 500 of those licenses for hunters who’ve signed up with an Iowa-based hunting guide. The Iowa Bow Hunters Association opposes the move. Bob Haney is president of the group.

“What we have in Iowa is unique. It’s known worldwide when you talk about white-tailed deer, the quality of the herd that is managed by the DNR and enjoyed by the residents of Iowa is second-to-none. We’re all for maintaining that same similar kind of structure,” he says. “We also understand people want to come here. There’s a reason they want to come here. They don’t enjoy what we have in their home states.”

Eric Goranson, a LOBBYIST for the Iowa Bow Hunters Association, says Iowa hunters should be the priority — and it’s getting harder and harder for Iowans who live in urban areas to find places to hunt.  “If we don’t take care of them and give them access and keep them in mind during these conversations, our conversations 10-12 years from now are going to be very different,” Goranson says. “It’s going to be: ‘How do we get hunting back in Iowa again?'”

Jim Obradovich, a lobbyist for the Iowa Conservation Alliance, says other hunting-related proposals under consideration could complicate the system even more. “You look at it like one of those Jenga games and you can periodically pull one or two of those pieces out, but sometimes you pull the wrong piece out and the whole thing collapses,” Obradovich says.

There’s a deadline this week for all of these kinds of policy discussions. Most bills must be endorsed by a House or Senate committee by this Friday to stay eligible for consideration.