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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
Voters will be heading to the polls Tuesday (tomorrow) to elect new, or re-elect incumbent, school board members. The Daily NonPariel says one of the most hotly-contested school board elections in the area lies in Treynor, where five candidates are on the ballot, with two others running write-in campaigns, vying for three seats. Incumbent Jerry Hempel, the School Board’s President, is joined by Glen Fleming, Shawn Gillespie, Amy Graber, Sally Myers and write-in candidates Kent Boese and Jared Morse. Myers is currently serving on the board after being asked to step in for Dave Paulsen, who moved out of the district boundary. The term of board member Randy Young expires this year.
The district boasts healthy financial numbers and growing enrollment. A new in-house alternative school will keep at-risk students in Treynor instead of being sent elsewhere. Treynor faced controversy this past year, too. The community awaits a decision on the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners’ suspension of Superintendent Kevin Elwood, who remains in his position pending an appeal in Polk County District Court.
The suspension came after the Board of Educational Examiners found Elwood was present when his son Kreighton Elwood was interviewed by law enforcement officials and was aware of “serious criminal offenses” when Kevin Elwood allowed Kreighton Elwood to continue working as a part-time school custodian with unsupervised access to other students.
An administrative law judge said Kevin Elwood committed an ethics violation by prioritizing his parental duties over his responsibilities as superintendent. His son, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to assault, assault causing bodily injury and false imprisonment, which among other consequences caused him to register as a sex offender.
The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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BAYARD, Iowa (AP) – Emergency officials say flash flooding has covered several roadways in central and southern Iowa. Taylor and Ringgold counties were under flash flood warnings early this (Monday) morning, following rainfall estimated at up to 2 inches from passing storms.
The National Weather Service also has issued flood warnings for parts of Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Dallas and Guthrie counties. Late last night, 4.7-inches of rain that fell between 8-and 10-p.m., was recorded in Coon Rapids. Widespread flooding was reported across northern Guthrie County. All paved roads north of Iowa Highway 141 west of Highway 4 to Coon Rapids are closed, with water still rising in northern Bagley, backing-up from Mosquito Creek. Springbrook State Park was evacuated.
The Iowa DOT reported at around 1:30-a.m. Highway 25 was closed 2 mile east of Bayard due to flooding, with a detour route established around Bayard.
No injuries have been reported.
Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say a teenager from Adams County was arrested late Sunday night. 17-year old Trevor Ryan Myers, of Corning, was taken into custody at around 11:25-p.m. in the 300 block of 3rd Avenue, in Villisca. Myers faces Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, charges. He was later released to the custody of a parent.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — More than 200 people gathered this weekend for a motorcycle ride to remember Iowa Army National Guard Spc. Donald Nichols who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the ride was held Saturday to honor Nichols and raise money for charities that help veterans.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Voters in eastern Iowa will decide this week whether to extend a property tax that helps Hawkeye Community College buy instructional equipment. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports voters in the 10 counties the college serves will decide Tuesday whether the property tax should be extended another decade starting in 2018. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay $3.34 per year for the equipment tax.
PALO, Iowa (AP) — A 29-year-old Iowa man was seriously injured when he fell off of a golf cart over the weekend. The Linn County Sheriff’s office says the incident happened around 3:20 p.m. Saturday in the town of Palo, just northwest of Cedar Rapids. Three men were riding in a golf cart before the incident. Jessie Philiph fell off and suffered life-threatening injuries. He was flown to Iowa City for treatment. The two other men in the golf cart were not hurt.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man has been charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that 50-year-old Chung Huynh remained jailed Sunday in lieu of $50,000 bond.
A 58-year old man from Council Bluffs died Sunday afternoon as the result of a motorcycle accident. Bluffs Police say Barry Thompson was driving a 2000 Harley Davidson motorcycle northbound on 35th Street at around 12:30-p.m.,when he lost control of the cycle in the 1800 block, near the Comfort Inn and Suites.
The motorcycle crossed the southbound travel lanes before driving over the curb. Thompson struck a guy wire and was ejected from the motorcycle. He was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Thompson died from his injuries at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs.
The accident remains under investigation. It is not known if speed or impairment
were contributing factors. Anyone who may have witnessed this crash and have not spoken with officers are asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Traffic Unit at 712‐328‐4948.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa man has been charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that 50-year-old Chung Huynh has been charged with two counts of third-degree sexual assault of a minor and one count of child endangerment. He remained jailed Sunday in lieu of $50,000 bond.
Authorities say Huynh performed sexual acts on the girl and showed her pornography on his computer. The girl said Huynh would pay her $40 not to tell anyone after the assaults happened this summer. Police seized two computers when officers searched Huynh’s home on Aug. 20.
An arrest was made Saturday evening in connection with an incident that took place Thursday, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 54-year old Hubert Edward Scherer, of Villisca, was taken into custody in the 600 block of E. 6th Street in Villisca, at around 6:30-p.m.. He was charged with Simple Assault. Scherer was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.
Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident Saturday afternoon, about five-miles northwest of Red Oak. 67-year old Sharon Mae Huddleson, of Stuart, was traveling north on E Avenue from 150th Street at around 2:15-p.m., when she lost control of her vehicle on the loose gravel. Her 2003 Oldsmobile van entered the west ditch, crashed through a fence and came to rest in a corn field. Damage from the accident amounted to $2,300.
COUNCIL BLUFFS — As the Pottawattamie County Jail nears capacity, officials are discussing a $27.6 million renovation. The Omaha World-Herald reports, according to Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker, the prison population at the jail, which has 288 beds, has reached roughly 270 inmates this summer. Of the 288 beds, 40 are set aside for female prisoners and several times this year, there have been more female inmates than available beds, which has led to some inmates being added to work-release programs.
While Danker, who has been Pottawattamie County sheriff for 23 years, said that the prison population rises and falls, the facility’s 2015 population has been much higher than recent years. Danker said a sudden influx of federal prisoners could fill every bed. In 1999 when the jail was built, Pottawattamie County officials agreed to house up to 75 federal prisoners. Currently, the jail houses approximately 40 for the federal government with no room for the other 35 inmates it is contractually obligated to shelter.
To alleviate the congestion, Danker in August proposed a jail and sheriff’s office renovation to the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors. The estimated cost for a 160-bed jail expansion is $25 million, while expansion of the administrative area is estimated at $2.6 million. The Sheriff said those costs are based on today’s estimates of construction costs, with architects estimating costs are rising at 8 percent annually.
Pottawattamie County Attorney Matthew Wilber told the paper there are several reasons the jail is near capacity. Wilber and Danker said housing inmates with mental health issues has become a problem. Danker said there is not enough space at mental health facilities to house or even evaluate inmates with mental health concerns. As troubled inmates wait, they wait in Council Bluffs.
And, as the county starts mental health court, the Fourth Judicial District may be ending drug court, which helped keep drug offenders out of jail. Because of a lack of funding from the state, drug court is slated to end on Oct. 1st. Another reason the jail is near capacity, according to Wilber, is that many people can’t afford to post bail and then must stay in jail until trial. He said most of the time local judges hand out government-mandated bail rates, and for many people, the rates are too high.
Along with starting discussions on a new jail, Danker has said that his staff has grown while office space has not. In 1999, the Sheriff’s Office had 46 employees on the uniform side. That number has grown to 63. Instead of having their own office to conduct investigations, Danker told the paper detectives are all in one room working in tight quarters.