(Sioux City, Iowa) – A high-speed pursuit resulting from an attempted traffic stop in northwest Iowa ended with the arrest of two people. According to the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, deputies tried to stop a vehicle on Highway 141 a little after 8-a.m., Wednesday. The driver refused to yield and led deputies on a chase along northbound Interstate 29. Officers with the Sergeant Bluff Police Department assisted the Sheriff’s Office, by deploying stop sticks. A Woodbury County Deputy then performed a successful pursuit intervention technique – or, PIT, maneuver. The Iowa State Patrol also assisted during the incident.

The vehicle finally stoped on I-29 near mile marker 142. Two male occupants, who were identified as 34-year-old Shelton Lapointe, and 29-year-old Richard Martinez, were taken into custody. Lapointe, who was the driver, was charged with violating a parole warrant, driving with a barred license, felony eluding, and possession of a controlled substance. Martinez was charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Traffic in the area was temporarily tied-up while both lanes of I-29 north were closed during the incident investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – Today (Friday) is the 35th anniversary of the crash of United flight 232 at the Sioux Gateway Airport. The Mid American Museum of Aviation and Transportation is holding and open house to remember the 112 who died in the crash, the 180 who survived, and the first responders and community members who aided them. Museum board member Pam Mickelson says begin at 10 a-m and will have activities throughout the day. “At 3:45 we’re starting a presentation that doctor Mitch Simmons is going to talk about the communications that went on in the D-C-10 between Captain Alfred “Al” Haynes and the crew members, and how that saved lives. So that’s the focus of his discussion. And then at four o’clock we’re going to have a moment of silence,” she says.

Mickelson says Simmons will talk about research that tells the story through the eyes of flight attendant Susan White and how the crew worked together with the late pilot Al Haynes. She was 26, she hadn’t been on are many flights, so she’s in the back of the plane and Jan Brown is in the front of the plane taking instructions and communicating with Captain Haines and the flight crew,” Mickelson says.

Part of the Flight 232 exhibit in Sioux City. (KSCJ photo)

Mickelson says White is one of the few people who were involved that haven’t retired. She says they still get weekly visitors to the exhibit that was created during the 25th anniversary. Mickelson says it’s an opportunity for a new generation to hear the details of the heroic efforts of those involved in the crash on July 19, 1989.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Elliott was arrested Thursday, in the 900 block of Cass Street, in Griswold. 40-year-old Quintin Perdue was taken into custody at around 3:50-p.m., on an active Pottawattamie County warrant for Violation of Parole. Perdue was transported to the Montgomery County Jail in Red Oak, and held without bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Republican Party leaders say there have been clear signals this week that their Iowa Caucuses will be first-in-the-nation again in 2028. Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann was chosen to deliver the nominating speech for former President Trump and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird was chosen to preside over the V-P’s nomination at the party’s national convention. Bobby Kaufmann, the son of the state party’s chairman, is a senior advisor to Trump’s reelection campaign.

“President Trump has repeatedly told many people that he values Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status,” Kaufmann says. “…He is what kept us first-in-the-nation when other states were coming after us, he stepped in and said, ‘No, we’re going to have Iowa (first).’ And I think him putting us in prominent roles in the first day of the convention just solidifies what he’s already said I’m confident we will have his backing for 2028.”

Steve Scheffler — Iowa’s Republican National Committeeman — says national party rules approved last week keep the Iowa Caucuses first, followed by New Hampshire’s Primary. “When you’re from Iowa, you’ve always got to keep two eyes in the back of your head to make sure that nobody’s trying to take us out,” he says. Nearly 30 percent of the Republican National Committee members are new this year, so Schefler says he and other Iowa G-O-P leaders will be meeting with them to tout the Caucuses.

“Making them understand we play a unique role and there is no reason on God’s green Earth that you should upset the apple cart and start from some other direction,” Scheffler says. Governor Kim Reynolds says having the Iowa Republican Party’s chairman AND Attorney General Brenna Bird in prominent speaking roles this week is a good indicator Iowa’s Caucuses will remain first.

“Just super proud of them and the role they’ve been able to play in the convention and really bringing Iowa just front and center,” Reynolds says. The Democratic National Committee kicked the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses out of the lead-off position in 2024. Some Iowa Democratic Party leaders have said they intend to try to get their Caucuses back in the first voting slot for the 2028 presidential campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa law allows schools to start on August 23rd this year — but the fall semester will begin September 5th in the Rock Valley school district as the community recovers from severe flash flooding that hit in June. In a message posted online, Rock Valley Superintendent Mike Van Voorst says district officials hope returning to classes can bring some normalcy back to students’ lives. School rooms aren’t ready, though, so students in kindergarten, first and second grades will start classes at a Rock Valley church.

Third, fourth and fifth graders will start school in cleaned, sanitized but unfinished classrooms. The State of Iowa is constructing six temporary classrooms that will be used by students in sixth through 12th grades and those older students will rotate back and forth to unfinished spaces in the school building where reconstruction is underway.

The superintendent says while the situation is far from ideal, the plan provides staff with the necessary space to educate students in person.

[updated 5:37-p.m.] (Atlantic, Iowa) – A fire at a home in Atlantic was declared under control about 20-minutes after the first firefighters arrived. The blaze was reported at around 4-p.m. at the home located at 1402 Bryn Mawr Blvd.  Heavy smoke was reported coming from the dwelling when the first firefighters arrived on the scene.

Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel said firefighters entered the south door of home and went downstairs, where the fire was primarily located. He says there was a lot of heavy smoke damage. Ventilation and clean-up operations  wrapped-up at around 5:40-p.m

Cappel says after speaking with the residents, he thinks the cause may have been a candle that was burning in the downstairs area, but a final determination was still being investigated at last report. He said three youth were at home when the fire was first noticed. All were reported to be safe. The home’s owner, Todd Glade and his wife had just arrived at the residence the kids told him about the fire.

AFD was assisted at the scene by Atlantic Police and Cass EMS.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking informal comments on administrative rules for special nonresident deer and turkey licenses. Executive Order 10 (EO10), signed by Governor Reynolds on January 10, 2023, requires all state agencies to identify which administrative rule chapters will be retained or rescinded. The EO10 process includes public engagement with the opportunity for meaningful input.

The Iowa DNR has reviewed the following rule chapter relating to programs administered by the Customer and Employee Services Bureau: 561 Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) Chapter 12 (Special Nonresident Deer and Turkey Licenses). Based on the review, the DNR has revised this chapter to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency and clarity. Additional changes include removing inconsistency on due dates for applications by allowing the coordinator to set dates, removing language about services provided by recipients of special promotional licenses, and removing reference to an electronic lottery system, as outdated.

The public is invited to provide informal comments on the proposed rule changes. The DNR will accept written comments through July 25, 2024. Written comments or questions regarding the proposed rules should be submitted to Denise.Roberg@dnr.iowa.gov. Comments should be made to specific portions of the rules.

After receiving and reviewing informal comments, the DNR will create a draft Regulatory Analysis and draft Notice of Intended Action. The DNR will host a formal public comment period for these drafts, followed by a public hearing, in September 2024.

Versions of the rules, including a “clean” copy and a version showing revisions, can be found on the DNR webpage: https://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/About-DNR/Administrative-Rules.