(Red Oak, Iowa) – A man from Red Oak was arrested early this (Sunday) morning, for Public Intoxication. Red Oak Police report 21-year-old Jacob Christopher Cashatt was arrested in the 800 block of E. Coolbaugh Street at around 2:51-a.m.  Cashatt was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, on a $300 bond.

(Algona, Iowa) – A collision between a car and an SUV Saturday evening, west of Algona, resulted in three people being transported to the hospital. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2012 Ford Edge was traveling south on 90th Avenue at around 7:32-p.m., when the driver failed to stop at the posted intersection with 210th Street.

The SUV was struck by a 2011  Chrysler 300 that was traveling west on 210th. The driver of the SUV, 64-year-old Timothy Coffelt, of Ravenwood, MO, and his passenger, 61-year old Ruth Coffelt, also of Ravenwood, and the driver of the car, 18-year-old Chase Opheim, of Algona, were transported to the hospital in Algona, by Algona EMS. The Coffelt’s were wearing seat belts, but Opheim was not.

The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, Algona Police Dept., Algona EMS & Fire, and Whittemore Fire and Ambulance.

(Brayton, Iowa) – A man on a motorcycle was injured during a crash on eastbound Interstate 80 this (Saturday) morning, in Cass County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 26-year-old Carlos Alberto Espinoza Herrera (address unknown) was on the outside shoulder of I-80, riding a 2012 Honda CBR-250 motorcycle near the 59.6-mile marker (two-miles west of the Brayton/Atlantic Exit) at around 6-a.m., when he merged onto the outside lane.

As he was merging, Herrera’s cycle was struck from behind by an eastbound 2017 GMC Sierra pickup, driven by 36-year-old Shayne C. Songer, of La Vista, Nebraska. Following the collision, the pickup entered the inside lane and struck a 1993 Mack semi driven by 52-year-old James E. Noyes, of Craig, NE.

Herrera was thrown from his motorcycle and came to rest on the outside shoulder of I-80. He was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. His cycle came to rest in the south ditch. The pickup came to rest on the outside shoulder. No other injuries were reported.

Cass EMS, Atlantic Fire and Rescue, Atlantic Police and Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies were among those agencies assisting at the scene. The road was blocked for at least three-hours.  A second accident happened at about the same time, on I-80 westbound, near Stuart, where emergency personnel responded to a vehicle on fire. The incident took place between Exit 93: County Road P28 and Exit 88: County Road P20 (Stuart).

No information is currently available on that situation. Video taken by passing motorists showed heavy black smoke and towering flames coming from a vehicle that was apparently in the median.

Des Moines, Iowa — A judge, on Friday, denied a request by a Des Moines man charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, to have his trial moved to Iowa. The judge also denied Doug Jensen’s request to drop a charge of Obstruction against him.  Jensen will stand trial in Washington, D.C., for his alleged role in the riots.

The court will also allow prosecutors to show the jury publicly available video beyond what was captured by police and security cameras. Jensen’s trial starts Sept. 19th.

Douglas Jensen (2021 Polk County Jail photo)

(Glenwood, Iowa —The Glenwood Resource Center faces state fines for the death of a second resident this year. KCCI says officials with the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals say a staff member failed to notify a doctor when a 62-year-old woman’s heart rate dropped back in May. The woman died soon after.

The center was also cited for failing to implement COVID-19 mitigations when an outbreak infected 90 residents and staff members. Glenwood agreed to pay about $4,900 for both violations.

The center is set to close in 2024.

(Radio Iowa) – As fall approaches, there are already reports of people finding bats in their homes. The Deputy Director of Siouxland Health, Tyler Brock, says bats can be scary to some and they also bring a worry about rabies. “There is an occasional bat that does have rabies, but rabies is an illness it’s very serious — it’s rare to have in humans — but it is very serious. It’s usually fatal when a human being gets rabies if we don’t prevent that,” he says.

Brock says you won’t get rabies by just being in the same room as the bat. “You usually get it from the saliva of another animal. It usually happens through a bite, could happen through a scratch,” he says. ” just a bat flying past you is not an exposure. You’ve got to actually have a bite in most cases again and usually the skin has to be broken in some way shape or form for rabies to be passed.” Brock says if you are bitten it is important to have the animal tested.

“When we test bats and if they come to us alive we do have to euthanize them because the laboratory actually has to look at the brain material,” Brock says. “Not every bat that you find in your house is going to be tested — only bats where there’s a bite there’s a scratch.” He says there is a series of vaccines, and it takes one or two days to get the test results.

“You want to get treatment as soon as possible, and because the rabies testing of that animal doesn’t take that long. You almost always have time to wait for those test results so that we don’t have to do unnecessary shots on a negative animal,” Brock says. Brock says if you think your pet has been exposed to rabies, you should take it to the vet for treatment.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Friday night of 29-year-old Isaias Guerra of Red Oak for violation of probation. Guerra was arrested at 6:45 p.m. in the 1800 block of East Summit Street. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,500 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The only Democrat in Iowa’s congressional delegation says the plan President Biden announced this week to forgive student loan debt is just a temporary solution that doesn’t address the core problem, the soaring cost of higher education. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, of West Des Moines, says the debt cancellation plan is a good start, but more work needs to be done.

“I don’t look at this as a long-term or permanent fix in any way, shape or form,” Axne says, “and if I would have done anything like this, I’d be looking at figuring out how we can make this a better opportunity across the board for everybody by lowering the cost of school, and fixing the student loan interest rate, in general.” Axne says students need to understand their obligations to repay student loan, as well as post-secondary alternatives to four-year institutions, like trade schools and apprenticeship programs. At the same time, she says the high costs of college education must also be addressed.

“Here in Iowa even, we’re Topsy-turvey just like every other state,” she says. “Back in the day, the majority of the college costs at a regents institution–so, you know, our public schools–60% of it would have come from the state financing it, then about 40% from the students. That’s reversed now. So, not only has college gone up, but there’s also a reversal on who’s paying the bulk of it.”

Axne disputes comments from Republicans who say Biden’s plan will increase inflation and taxes. She points to a Goldman-Sachs analysis released Thursday indicating student loan forgiveness will have a modest impact on the national debt, but slightly lower inflation. She says that’s important. “People come to my office all the time,” Axne says. “I hear from realtors that student loan debt is strapping people from buying new homes. When folks buy a property, not only does that help the economy–with, you know, paying for the house to be built and those workers to built it, but it’s all the stuff they buy to put in there–that creates jobs in America for appliances, and things. If they build a family, all this stuff. It helps build our economy.”

Axne cites a U-S Education Department announcement of an income-driver repayment plan, capping monthly student loan repayments at 5% of income. She says the plan ensures that borrowers’ loan balances won’t grow as long as they’re making payments. Under the president’s plan, the Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the federal government, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients.

Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples. The White House says no high-income individual or high-income household — in the top 5% of incomes — will benefit from this action. In addition, the plan also extends the pause on federal student loan repayments one final time through December 31st.

(Villisca, Iowa) – Three people in two separate residences were arrested in Villisca, Thursday and Friday (today), as the result of an investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine. At around 8:15-a.m., Thursday, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a search warrant at 115 N. 4th Avenue, in Villisca. As a result of the warrant, 44-year-old Justin James Smith and 31-year-old Jamie Elizabeth Gentry, both of Villisca, were arrested.

Justin Smith was taken into custody on charges that include two counts of Delivery of Methamphetamine. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $100,000 bond. Jamie Gentry charged with Child Endangerment. Her bond was set at $2,000.

At around 9:45-a.m. today (Friday), Sheriff’s Deputies executed a search warrant at 121 W. 3rd Street in Villisca. Authorities say Bruce Warren Fitzwater was arrested, and charged with four counts of Delivery of Methamphetamine, and one count of Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver. Fitzwater was being held without bond.

A large amount of methamphetamine was seized during the execution of both warrants. The incidents remain under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – State regulators issued a 60-thousand dollar penalty to a sports book for illegally allowing the use of credit cards on its site. Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the penalty involves American Wagering, which does businesses as Caesars Sportsbook. “There was a specific incident in July of 2021, where it was discovered that there were a number of transactions that took place using a credit card. And so it was discovered at that time, a full audit was completed,” Ohorilko says. He says the audit found multiple issues.

“Throughout certain periods in 2020, 2021, prepaid debit cards were purchased using a credit card and a number of those transactions were permitted and in went through,” he says. There were a total of 485 transactions worth 212-thousand dollars — which he says the Racing and Gaming Commission felt was fairly egregious. This follows a similar penalty levied at the last commission meeting against FanDuel for 75-thousand dollars for a two-count violation.

Ohorilko says this is something that has come up with the sports books and there will be some more penalties in the Commission’s future meetings. “And it’s important for the sports books to get a handle on,” he says. In Iowa credit cards cannot be used to wager on sports betting or any form of gambling.” Ohorilko says the companies are working to make corrections so these types of violations. “We’ve heard some positive things from the different operators that have had problems and that they are taking steps to not only correct the action — but to develop procedures to audit these types of things — so that they’re doing their own self checks,” Ohorilko says.

Ohorilko says there are some other penalties — such as license suspensions — the commissioners can levy if the problems don’t get correct. But he says the ultimate goal with any of these violations is to get them back into compliance with the law.