(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain reports its gross profit rose in the just completed fourth quarter by nearly nine percent compared to the previous year. President and C-E-O, Darren Rebelez, says their in-store sales were up, while the fuel gallons remained flat. He says they are starting to see a few changes in what’s been a tough economy as some of the costs brought on by inflation have eased.

The company saw an increase in sales of its private brand products in stores, which Rebelez says is due in part to the impact of inflation and price increases for national brands. For the fiscal year, Casey’s reported net income increased 31-point-five percent to nearly 447 million dollars. The company added 81 new stores in the fiscal year, ending the year with two-thousand-521 stores.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department reports deputies Wednesday night, arrested a man wanted on an active Pottawattamie County warrant. Logan Hastings was arrested at around 10:15-p.m. in the 100 block of Coolbaugh Street, on the warrant for Violation of Probation. Hastings was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 cash-only bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Former Vice President Mike Pence says he’s entering the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential race because he has a different vision for the country and the party than Donald Trump.  “We are here because we know that Iowa was the right place to start our engines for the great American comeback,” Pence said, to cheers. Pence kicked off his campaign over the noon hour Wednesday, with a rally in Ankeny, calling the former president reckless.

“We need leaders who can distinguish between starting fights and finishing them, between the politics of outrage and standing firm.” Pence spent several minutes discussing the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on the day congress confirmed Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Pence, as he’s said before, stresses that he had no authority to reject or overturn the results.

“The American people must know leaders in the Republican Party we will keep our oath to support and defend the constitution even when it is not in our political interests to do so,” Pence said. “Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

Pence served 12 years in the U.S. House and was governor of Indiana when Trump chose him as his 2016 running mate. Pence says he’s incredibly proud of the Trump Administration’s conservative agenda.  “As your vice president, I was proud to stand by President Donald Trump every single day when we made America great again,” Pence said. But Pence has been cautioning Republicans to resist the siren song of populism and return to the roots of the Reagan Revolution, leading with tax cuts and repealing regulations.

“We must elect a new Republican president to chart a course for our nation guided by our timeless principles,” Pence said.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa Senate have removed the lawmaker who’s been their leader for two and a half years and selected a veteran legislator to be Senate Minority Leader. According to a news release, Senate Democrats have unanimously selected Pam Jochum of Dubuque to be Senate Democratic Leader, replacing Zach Wahls of Coralville.

Wahls faced criticism from some his colleagues for his decision to dismiss two long time employees last Friday. Wahls was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2018 and had a national reputation when he arrived due to his statehouse testimony as a teenager against a ban on same-sex marriage. He’s been directly involved in recent efforts to reshape the Iowa Democratic Party and recruit candidates.

Jochum has been a legislator for 30 years. She issued a written statement thanking Wahls for his vision and leadership and describing Senate Democrats as a united team heading into the 2024 election.  Jochum was first elected to the Iowa House in 1992. She’s been a member of the Iowa Senate since 2009 and previously served as Senate President when Democrats held the majority.

(Radio Iowa) – Former Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is now a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s senior staff. Axne is the U-S-D-A’s Senior Advisor for Rural Engagement, Delivery and Prosperity. Axne, a 58 year old Democrat from West Des Moines, served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last November, she lost her campaign for reelection in Iowa’s third congressional district to Republican Zach Nunn of Bondurant.

Axne and Democrat Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque were the first two women from Iowa to serve in the U.S. House after winning their first races for the House in 2018. Axne served on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee for four years and co-chaired the Congressional Rural Caucus. Axne had worked in state government for nine years, serving three different governors, including Tom Vilsack who is now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Axne endorsed Joe Biden just before the 2020 Iowa Caucuses.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic met Wednesday evening. During the public comment portion of the session, NishnaNet owner Scott Bennett spoke about the need for the community to pull together on issues that divide us, and more specifically, the need to support the Police Department, in their efforts to combat incidents of vandalism and other incidents.

Bennett said his daughter’s car was vandalized last week, and there have been other incidents of crime, including a person urinating in front of a convenience store in the downtown area. He said as a result of the increase in incidents, including sign vandalism, his staff has been installing so many security cameras, they can’t even keep them in stock.”I think we just need to have a discussion,” Bennett said. He said also, “I’m just kind of frustrated because I don’t think it’s any one person isn’t doing anything, I think it’s ‘we need to come together as a community to help solve these problems,’ to make the vandalism go away, to make these thefts go away.”

He added, “Businesses are having other customers stuff stolen from behind them.” In the last six-months, he said, he’s installed no less than 80 security cameras within six-blocks of City Hall. There are so many cameras at this point, I’m literally ordering them by the dozen.” He said security cameras don’t stop a crime in progress, they “catch things after the fact.” He said if people and organizations can come together, “Making sure that we’re not working against each other…” things can change. Mayor Pro-Tem Linda Hartkopf said she’s sure that will be a matter of continued discussion, but acknowledged that things won’t change overnight. Bennett said he wanted to make sure the Police Department has the resources it needs to fight such incidents of crime.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a Resolution “Setting the dates for Fourth of July Fireworks Use,” as June 30th through July 4th, from Noon until 11-p.m. each day. They also passed a Resolution “Authorizing and Approving a Loan Agreement and Providing for the issuance of a $90,000 General Obligation Solid Waste Management Note,” with regard to the City’s annual $85,344 fee ($12 per capita) with the Landfill, as stipulated in a 28-E agreement.

The Atlantic City Council acted on passing a Resolution appointing Chelsie Rush, Jess Larsen and Chelsi Huddleson as Sunnyside Pool Management Board Team Leaders, making them eligible for $2,500 in an annual stipend pay, in addition to $15/hour as Pool Co-Managers, for hours worked. And, they approved a Resolution granting compensatory hours to Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue, who has had to assume duties as a Patrol Lieutenant for an extended period of time, due to staffing issues. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee met May 31st, and unanimously endorsed the granting of 158 compensatory hours to Chief Hogue, at his current rate of pay, to be used as either paid time-off or cashed out (with a value of $6,406.90).

The Council passed the third and final reading of an amended ordinance with regard to Special (downtown) Parking Permits, and the first readings of: An ordinance discontinuing the Cable Television Commission, and the Community Promotion Commission, for reasons previously explained. In his report to the Council, City Administrator John Lund said there is a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting next Tuesday to review a site plan for a storage unit, and discuss a proposal to make sure the first floor of downtown buildings is reserved for commercial use, with the possibility of having a conditional use permit for residential use.

He said also he’ll review a natural gas franchise agreement with Alliant Energy, with regard to price fluctuations and the use of funds for when prices drop. Lund will also examine House File 718, with regard to Property Tax Reform.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Senate leaders are calling for three briefings on artificial intelligence this summer — including one briefing that’s classified — and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s told his scheduler to put him down for all three briefings. Grassley says he’s “concerned” about A-I and all of the applications it may have, including its uses in the military and how America’s adversaries may be using it.

“I read about it and it’s really mind-boggling to me,” Grassley says. “I hear that it can be very dangerous and that’s something to take into consideration.” Grassley, a Republican, says he wants to educate himself further on the topic of A-I, learning about its benefits and risks. A-I is working its way into all sorts of industries, from communications to education to manufacturing, and some critics fear it will end up eliminating a significant number of jobs.

“It’s kind of hard for me to buy into that argument,” Grassley says, “because I find a lot of changes in manufacturing and new equipment, new appliances, that I think the advancement of technology actually enhances job creation.” Grassley says he can fall back on the old story about buggy whip manufacturers bemoaning the development of automobiles, and he notes that revolutions in technology often bring accompanying advances in our quality of life.

“You always heard about robots going into factories and losing jobs,” Grassley says, “but you find out that, yeah, a job is lost at a factory if they have a robot, but there’s a lot of jobs created in making the robot and doing research and all that area.” In a letter calling for the briefings, Senate leaders say they need to “deepen our expertise in this pressing topic,” adding that “A-I is already changing our world, and…will have a profound impact on everything from our national security to our classrooms to our workforce, including potentially significant job displacement.”

DES MOINES, IOWA – On Wednesday, June 7, 2023, James Hughes, age 73, was arrested at his residence in Cresco, Iowa, by officers with the Cresco Police Department and agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) on several warrants related to a historical sex abuse investigation.  The arrest was a result of a joint investigation involving the Cresco Police Department, DCI, Howard County Attorney’s Office, and the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa, Statewide Prosecutions Section.

On March 18, 2021, a report was filed with the Cresco Police Department regarding historical sexual abuse that had occurred between Hughes and a juvenile Boy Scout troop member over the course of several years.  After this initial report, the Cresco Police Department requested the Iowa DCI to assist in the investigation.  During the investigation, agents learned of several other instances of historical sexual abuse involving Hughes and other juvenile Boy Scouts who had been in his troop.

James Hughes (booking photo)

Some of those instances spanned more than a decade. As the investigation progressed, the Howard County Attorney’s Office requested that the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa assist with the investigation and prosecution.

As a result of the investigation, Hughes was charged with four counts of Sexual Abuse in the third degree (Class C Felony) and six counts of Lascivious Conduct with a Minor (Serious Misdemeanor), involving five separate victims. Warrants were issued for his arrest, and he was subsequently taken into custody.

Hughes is currently being held at the Howard County Jail on a $46,000 cash/surety bond.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.   

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — June 7, 2023 – East- and westbound West Broadway will be closed Saturday morning, June 10, through early Monday morning, June 12, at Interstate 29 for bridge demolition work. This is the final bridge demolition for the I-29/I-480/West Broadway interchange project. The closure will begin at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, and will remain in place until 5:00 a.m. Monday, June 12, weather permitting. Contractors will be working throughout the duration of the closure; however the noisiest demolition operations will only occur between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.

CRESTON, Iowa – June 7, 2023 – If you are driving on Interstate 80 in Dallas County in the coming weeks you may notice some nighttime construction work taking place on the roadway between U.S. 169 and West Des Moines.

Nighttime ramp closures will occur from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday nights to Friday mornings beginning on Sunday, June 11 to Thursday, June 29, weather permitting. For construction crews working on hot-mix asphalt milling and resurfacing work to get work done they will need to close the I-80 ramps at Dallas County Road R-22 (exit 117), Dallas County Road R-16 (exit 113) and at U.S. 169 (exit 110). Marked detour routes will be in place to assist motorists as the ramp closures occur. Only one ramp location will be worked on at a time.