The Cass County K-9 unit consisting of Deputy Kyle Quist and his partner “Vader,” along with Deputies from the Page County Sheriff’s Office and Troopers with the Iowa State Patrol, participated in a lengthy man hunt late Saturday night into early this (Sunday) morning. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the efforts of their deputies, with assistance of the other law enforcement agencies, resulted in the arrest at around 1:45-a.m. today (Sunday), of 23-year old Jeremy Scott Dolph , of Villisca.

Dolph was taken into custody in connection with an incident that had occurred at around 8:50-p.m. Saturday. Dolph faces a felony charge of Willful Injury, Aggravated Domestic Assault, and Violation of a No Contact order. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa athletic director Gary Barta is reiterating his support for football coach Kirk Ferentz, while acknowledging that the Hawkeyes failed to live up to expectations this season. Barta said Saturday that the team’s 7-5 season “isn’t unacceptable,” adding that success at Iowa is measured by championships. But Barta says Iowa has a strong foundation under Ferentz, now in his 16th season as head coach.

Ferentz has five seasons left on the 10-year contract extension he signed on the eve of the 2010 season. It includes a buyout clause of nearly $3 million a year should Iowa decided to fire Ferentz. The Hawkeyes (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten) closed the season with home losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska.

They’ll find out which bowl they’re headed to on Sunday.

One-person was killed during a single-vehicle rollover accident Saturday morning, in Carroll County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 44-year old Kevin J. Steffes, of Templeton, died in the crash northeast of Templeton at around 7:20-a.m.

Officials say Steffes was driving a 2000 Chevy 2500 pickup southbound on Kittyhawk Avenue, just south of 250th Street, when his pickup left the road and entered the west ditch, where it rolled over and came to rest on its passenger side, facing north.

Steffes, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by Templeton Rescue to St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll, where he died.

With Ric Hanson.

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With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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An investigation into illegal narcotics activity and the execution of a search warrant at 2400 north 8th Street in Red Oak late Friday evening, resulted in the arrest of three persons. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 30-year old Charles Adam Bradshaw, of Clarinda, 25-year old Randy Mitchell, of Red Oak, and 24-year old Alyssa Adkisson, of Red Oak, were arrested on a felony Delivery of Methamphetamine, charge.  The trio were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $100,000 cash bond, each.

Their arrests stemmed from a multi-jurisdictional investigation that involved the Montgomery and Fremont County Sheriff’s Offices, and Red Oak Police. During a search of the home at around 4:50-p.m., Friday,  deputies seized over 75 grams of Meth, valued at over $7,500, plus more than 50 grams of marijuana, a sizable amount of cash, multiple firearms, as well as various other narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Saturday) morning, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police report 35-year old Joseph Earl Smith, of Red Oak, was in a vehicle stopped at the corner of east Joy and north 4th Streets in Red Oak, at around 2:15-a.m.  Smith was taken into custody on a valid Taylor County arrest warrant for Failure to Appear in court on a Driving While License Revoked charge. He was also cited for Open Container as a passenger.

Smith was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $1,500 cash bond.

The first shotgun deer season opens today (Saturday), and while the number of deer taken each year has dropped 33-percent since 2006, a D-N-R expert says the prospects for this season remain good. “Deer numbers are definitely down from what they were a few years ago, but there is lots of good hunting available. And because last year we had probably a little bit reduced harvest in some areas, there should be some good hunting opportunity. And with the weather, it will be a great time to be out there,” according to D-N-R wildlife research supervisor, Willie Suchy. He says your success in the deer hunt depends on where you go.

“We’ve got good deer numbers in much of the state where there is good deer habitat. And the best habitat is in southern Iowa and northeast Iowa and parts of western Iowa,” Suchy says. “One change this year would be from northwest Iowa, the first-season shotgun hunters can only shoot antlered deer. That’s a restriction to try and protect that herd up there a little bit.” The state had increased the number of licenses for does or female deer when they wanted to trim the herd, and now have cut antlerless tag quotas in 72 counties.

“Outside northwest Iowa hunters can still shoot does, they just have to kind of think about what’s the best thing to do for where they hunt,” Suchy explains. “We adjust those things annually based on harvest and that’s an important part of what hunters can do as well to help us manage deer, is to report their harvest.” Hunters are required to report taking a deer within 24 hours. Suchy says Iowa deer hunters tend to have some experience. “In general, hunters are reflective of our society. We’ve got a lot of traditional hunters who started when they were young like me, who are in their 50’s and 60’s and 70’s. And we’ve got some newer ones — don’t have a good handle on the younger hunters — but we do a lot to try and encourage hunting,” Suchy says. He says they getting young people involved in hunting is a challenge, the same as it is for other pursuits.

“Having opportunities available seems to be the biggest thing, the thing that keeps hunters from going into the field is they just have so many other things to do and opportunities to spend their time at,” Suchy says. “If its too hard of a thing to get access to hunting or know how to do it, it becomes a bit of a problem.” Whether you are young or old, Suchy says you have to follow the proper precautions when hunting.

Suchy says the biggest thing they emphasize is safety. “Wearing hunter orange is the best first step, and then the second step…you should always know where you are shooting, so you are not shooting at somebody else in the party,” Suchy says. The first shotgun deer season runs through December 10th.

(Radio Iowa)

Voters in Berkeley, California, approved a controversial “sin” tax on sugary soft drinks last month, but Iowans may not realize Iowa is one of about 20 states that already tax soda pop. “You don’t see it unless you pay attention to your grocery bill,” according to John Beghin, an Iowa State University economist. “We don’t have a sales tax on foods in Iowa,” he says, “but the sales tax applies to soft drinks, so in a sense, we have an implicit soda tax in Iowa.”

The state’s six percent sales tax is charged on bottles and cans of soda pop. far less than the “sin” state taxes charged on alcohol and tobacco products purchased in Iowa. Policymakers in Iowa have argued significant increases in the taxes on cigarettes, for example, will help curb smoking. There is now a stigma attached to smoking, because of the cancer risk — making it easy for policymakers to hike taxes by a dollar-per-pack, but Beghin says increasing taxes on high-calorie sodas may increase awareness of the health issues associated with obesity.

“We need to start somewhere signaling to people that the current lifestyle is not that healthy,” Beghin says. “The soda tax may not be the best idea, but maybe a mild reminder you shouldn’t overconsume those products.” Berkeley, California’s “sin” tax on soda is a penny per ounce and it applies to syrups added to coffee as well as soft drinks. Diet cola is not subject to the city’s tax. Iowans, by the way, will consume 136 million gallons of soft drinks this year.

(Radio Iowa)

Area residents have a chance to take home the gold and a piece of history from Treynor Community School’s sports teams. The Daily NonPareil reports more than 400 trophies will be auctioned off on Dec. 9th beginning at 4-p.m.,  at Treynor High School, 102 E. Main St.

According to business teacher Jennifer Travis, the school has hundreds of old trophies that have been in storage for years. In an effort to make them more visible to the public, all past trophies are being photographed and categorized into an electronic digital display, which will be shown on a monitor in the trophy case. Trophies mostly range from 1960 to 2008, though a few from 1930 to 1957 are on auction.