(Radio Iowa) – Iowans may have seen security camera footage on the T-V news where coordinated “flash mobs” of perhaps a dozen people or more swarm a store, steal armloads of pricey products, then bolt for the exits — all within a matter of seconds. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says we’re seeing a dramatic rise in this brand of organized retail crime and he’s introducing legislation today (Thursday) to target this type of theft ring. “It’s highly organized by underworld people,” Grassley says. “They get sometimes young people, sometimes older people, to go into these big boxes and get the most expensive items they can, and then it’s fenced.”

A federal report says organized retail crime costs retailers some 720-thousand dollars for every billion dollars in sales — a rise of 50-percent since 2015. While the thefts themselves can take a serious bite out of an individual store’s bottom line, Grassley says the large sums of money being generated when the stolen goods are fenced are often going overseas. “When this money comes in, a lot of times it’s laundered back to China,” Grassley says, “and then in China, it pays for fentanyl that comes to Mexico and involves the cartels.”

Grassley is co-sponsoring the bipartisan, bicameral Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which would create an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center to ensure resources and information-sharing will be available across state, federal and private-sector partners. He says the legislation would also set up a coordinated, multi-agency hub and new tools to better target the networks and trends driving organized retail crime.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak have arrested a man for Public Intoxication and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Authorities say 58-year-old Bradley Dean Gary, of Red Oak, at around 8:37-p.m., in the 200 block of N. Broadway Street. Bradley was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Anita, Iowa) [updated] – Two people were injured during a semi tractor-trailer rollover accident this (Thursday) morning, in Cass County. The accident on eastbound I-80 just east of mile marker 66, was reported to the Cass County Communications Center at around 4:23-a.m. The semi was said to be on its side in the north ditch. One female suffered a laceration to her head and a dislocated shoulder. Another occupant of the cab suffered minor injuries. The driver requested to be transported to Cass Health in Atlantic, to be checked out.

Anita Rescue and Cass EMS were dispatched to the scene. Additional information is currently not available.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is suggesting it was a tip that led state agents to investigate whether there was illegal gambling among male athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

The state’s investigation of sports wagering led to misdemeanor charges against several athletes at Iowa and Iowa State and the N-C-A-A sanctions that followed have sidelined players. During a news conference in Des Moines yesterday (Wednesday), Reynolds said no one in state government checked in with her about the investigation.

On August 15th of 2019, it became legal in Iowa to place bets on sporting events, although people originally had to go to one of the 19 state-licensed casinos to register. Since 2021, registration can be done online — but you still must be at least 21 to place sports bets. Reynolds says the gambling by Iowa and Iowa State athletes that’s been revealed is a wake up call.

Under current N-C-A-A rules, college athletes of any age cannot bet on any sport in which the N-C-A-A hosts a championship.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports there were five recent arrests.

Two men from Corning were arrested on separate drug charges:  62-year-old Duane Edmund Higgins was arrested October 6^th, for Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine)/1^st Offense. Higgins was transported to the Adams County Jail and held on $1,000 bond. And, 46-year-old Gene Baucom was arrested October 21^st, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance (Marijuana). Baucom was taken to the Adams County Jail and held on $1,300 cash bond.

Others arrested in Adams County include:

34-year-old Matthew Dalyne Gaede, of Wisconsin, who was arrested October 18^th on an active Adams County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. Gaede was transported to the Adams County Jail and held without bond.

28-year-old Amanda Ruth Gaede, of Corning, was arrested October 18^th for Aiding and Abetting Violating a No Contact Order. Gaede was transported to the Adams County Jail and held without bond.

And, 36-year-old Kevin James Jungers, of Lenox, was arrested October 23^rd for Driving While Barred. Jungers was transported to the Adams County Jail where he was held on $2,000 cash bond or sees the Magistrate.

“Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs, Wednesday evening, said they are attempting to locate a Missing Person. 16-year old Ciara Boyd, a white female, is known to hang out near the American Inn and the Sapp Bros. Travel Center near South 24th Street and I-80 in Council Bluffs.

Ciara Boyd

The teen is 5-feet, 4-inches tall, and weighs about 135-pounds. She has red hair and brown eyes, and is originally from the Kansas City, MO., area.

Ciara was last seen on Oct. 11th in the area of S. 6th Street and 6th Avenue, in Council Bluffs. If you have any information  on her whereabouts, call 911 or Sgt. T. Roberts with the CBPD’s Investigation Division, at 712-890-5212.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says her husband’s lucky to be getting a break through drug to treat his recently diagnosed lung cancer. “He’s been in treatment for about a month,” Reynolds says. “I’m happy to say that the radiation has really eliminated and kicked the pain that was in the spine and so that has been a true blessing. It’s helped his attitude quite a bit to not be in so much pain. He’s on an oral immune therapy drug for the tumor and hopefully, if this works, he won’t have to do chemo.”

Reynolds issued a written statement last month, announcing that her husband had lung cancer. He went to the doctor because of back pain. “We thought he had a ruptured disc, so it was really was kind of a gut punch,” Reynolds says. “He’s not a smoker, never smoked.” Today (Wednesday) is the first time the governor has talked publicly about the diagnosis. She grew emotional during a news conference as she thanked Iowans for their messages of support.

“Every day we get two or three cards in the mail to say that: ‘We’re praying for you and keeping you in our prayers,”‘ Reynolds said. “It’s just another reflection of Iowans and who we are and it matters and it makes a different, so just a heartfelt thank you for that.” Reynolds says she and her husband are grateful and feel lucky to have the medical team at the John Stoddard Center Center in Des Moines and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics who’ve been working on his case.

“We really are very optimistic and he is a strong dude and we’re really feeling the prayers and we’re ready to move through this,” Reynolds said, with a smile. The type of lung cancer Kevin Reynolds has is not considered curable, but with treatment it can go into remission, according to the governor.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report the driver of a 2000 Buick Century was injured this (Wednesday) afternoon, when the vehicle/driver failed to negotiate a curve on Highway 34 eastbound. The car entered a ditch and rolled twice before coming to rest. The accident happened at around 1:35-p.m.

The driver, 23-year-old Donovan Joseph Bridges, of Nodaway, was wearing his seat belt. He exited the vehicle after the crash through the broken rear window. He suffered a laceration over his right eye and was transported by ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston.

The car was a total loss. No citations were issued.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Tuesday, of 42-year-old Daniel Thomas, from Glenwood. Thomas was arrested on a Mills County Warrant. His cash-only bond was set at $5,000.