(Radio Iowa) – The Dickinson County Emergency Management Commission will lift high water speed restrictions on the Iowa Great Lakes area this weekend. Dickinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Ehret says some commissioners wanted to extend the five-mile-an-hour rule another week, but that was overruled.

“There were still concerns about the shorelines that were damaged. There’s also concerns about the economic impact that it’s having on the lakes area and tourism,” Ehert says. “There’s no level that we can set that’s going to please everybody. It’s just not possible.” A report from the Iowa Regents’ Lakeside Lab says more than 70 shorelines have collapsed due to the high water. Tourism officials in the region estimate tourism is down by 40 to 60 percent. Ehert is urging boaters to remain cautious.

Photo via Okoboji Online

“Everybody’s anxious to get out in the lake and have fun but just be careful and then be respectful of the lake shore property owners that had damages,” he says. Ehret says the rule would be reinstated if the area get high amounts of rain that bring the water levels back up.

The speed limit for boaters and jet skiers will end Saturday at 6 a-m.

(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – An Algona woman is accused of stealing $1.8 million in state and federal funds from a state agency in South Dakota. Sixty-eight-year-old Lonna Carroll is charged with two felony counts of aggravated grand theft.

Carroll was an employee of South Dakota’s Department of Social Services who retired in 2013. She’s accused of embezzling money intended for child care services between 2010 and 2013. Carroll was arrested Wednesday in Algona and is awaiting extradition to South Dakota. Her bond has been set at $50,000.

(Kossuth County booking photo)

According to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Carroll’s position within South Dakota’s Department of Social Services let her request payments and then intercept the checks. Jackley says staff in the agency discovered the scheme this past February, more than a decade after Carroll retired.

(Radio Iowa) – One of Spencer’s school buildings won’t be opening this fall due to flood damage and about 500 third, fourth and fifth graders who would have been starting school at Lincoln Elementary next month will attend classes in other buildings in the district. “We’re going to be cozy and tight in our buildings, but we’re going to be OK,” said Spencer Superintendent Terry Hemann.

Third and fourth graders will go to two other elementary buildings in the district. Fifth graders will go to Spencer’s middle school. “That comes after a lot of discussion and a lot of work by a principals to find the space for everyone that we’re moving,” Hemann said.

Classes start August 23 in Spencer. Online registration is underway through August 11.

“Additionally we will have an in-person day this year, which we haven’t done in a while, but we’ll have an in-person registration day on August 8,” Hemann said. “We’ll do that for anybody who needs a device to complete online registration. It’s kind of hard to do that on your cell phone.”

Last week, the head Iowa Department of Education said her agency was rounding up portable classrooms for Spencer and Rock Valley schools. Spencer’s superintendent said his district came up with its plan to shift students to other buildings in the district because there was greater need in Rock Valley schools for portable classrooms

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests and incidents that took place from July 4th through the 16th:

On July 4th, deputies in Mills County arrested 24-year-old Dominik Alexander Wiebusch, for  OWI/1st offense.  He was taken into custody at around 10:40-p.m. on I-29, at mile marker (mm) 28. Bond: $1,000.

July 5th: 50-year-old Lonnie Michael Downs, of Council Bluffs, was arrested near Bunge Ave. & I-29 at around 10:55-p.m., for Driving Under Suspension. Bond: $300.

There were two arrests July 6th in Mills County: 44-year-old Duane Paul Gosley, of Denver, CO., was arrested in the area of 195th Street at around 2:50-a.m., for Attempted Burglary/3rd; Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond: $2,000; and 30-year-old Aimee Elizabeth Ramos, of Pacific Junction, was arrested at around 2:45-a.m. on I-29 (mm 35) for OWI/1st offense. Bond: $1,000.

Mills County deputies arrested 30-year-old Daevon Deshone Sanchez, of Omaha, NE., at the Sarpy County, NE Jail  on July 7th. He was wanted on a warrant for Probation Violation. Bond: $2,000.

On the 8th of July, 26-year-old Ashley Nicole Fitzwater – Homeless – was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond: $10,000.

Two people were arrested July 12th in Mills County: 24-year-old Faith Leeann Clemmons, of Emerson, was arrested at the Pott. County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond: $5,000; and, 44-year-old Sarah Alayne Johnson, of Pacific Junction, was arrested on a warrant for Contempt of court. No Bond.

07-14-2024: 26-year-old Devin Donte Sattizahn, of Plattsmouth, NE was arrested at the Mills  County Jail on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond: $2,000.

7-16-2024: 47-year-old Shannon Don Spangler, Springfield, ME, was arrested at the Pott. County Jail on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear on a charge of Eluding. Bond: $2,000.

07-17-2024: Glen Eugene Gallagher, of Omaha, NE, was arrested in Mills County on a warrant for Violation of Probation – Bond: $2,000.

Incident:

07-12-2024: A woman from Hastings, IA reported a Burglary in the 3rd degree. The incident in the area of 315th St. was reported at around 4:30-p.m.

PAULLINA – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fish kill at Mud Creek near Paullina in O’Brien County.

On July 17, the DNR Field Office in Spencer was notified of dead fish in Mud Creek, south of Paullina. Further investigation revealed Roorda Dairy of Paullina was land applying manure in a field, which entered a blown out tile that discharges to Mud Creek. The amount of manure released is unknown at this time. Dead fish have been observed for several miles in the creek.

The manure release has stopped. DNR staff from the Spencer Field Office and Spirit Lake Fisheries Office are onsite, and the investigation is ongoing.

Downstream water users should avoid using water from Mud Creek.

If you see dead or stressed fish at a lake or river, call the DNR’s 24-hour spill line at 515-725-8694 as soon as possible. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of a fish kill and potentially stop a fish kill in progress.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is not only a delegate, he’s a historian who has written a book about William Jennings Bryan and Hubert Humphrey — Democrats who run for president. Jeff Taylor, a political science professor at Dordt University in Sioux Center, was also a delegate at the G-O-P’s national convention in 2012. “Not only do I get new stories from this one, but the students are probably going to be able to relate to this experience a little more just because it’s happening right now,” Taylor said, with a laugh. “This fall and next year and the following year this is still going to be fresh in their mind.”

Taylor, who has a seat on the convention floor with the rest of the Iowa delegates, says he’s been observing the teleprompter on stage to see how closely speakers follow the script. “Some of the aspects of a highly disciplined, highly regulated, highly disciplined convention where the speakers are supposed to be staying on task,” Taylor says. “…I saw that in 2012 and it’s still the practice. The people who run the convention don’t want surprises, they don’t want any gaffes said from the podium. They want a united front and all that.” Taylor says that message has filtered down to Iowa delegates, too.

“We were encouraged to, especially in speaking to the media, to not to be negative, to not say things that would put our state in a poor light and while I appreciated that encouragement, I don’t think it would happen anyway,” Taylor says. “It seems like in terms of party unity, it’s there.” Taylor says that unity was illustrated when Trump entered the convention arena on Monday night and the crowd cheered, applauded and repeated Trump’s “fight, fight, fight” mantra. “It was the first time that most of us had seen him since the assassination attempt,” Taylor says. “That was an emotional moment, I think, for a lot of us as delegates.”

Taylor has been a state senator since 2021. He’s running for a second term this year and has no opposition on the General Election ballot.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), said a woman from Corning was arrested June 4th, on an active warrant. 22-year-old Ashlyn Pitman was booked into the Adams County Jail and later released.

Disclaimer: “Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations, and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Radio Iowa) – After facing online criticism, John Deere has announced it will no longer sponsor “external social or cultural awareness events” like parades or festivals. Deere’s statement says the company is “always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve.” The farm equipment maker announced it is auditing employee training materials to make sure there are no “socially-motivated messages.”

file photo

The company said it has never had diversity quotas or pronoun identification requirements. The statement comes after a conservative on X, formerly known as Twitter, called on John Deere to dismantle its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment held at two-point-eight percent in June. Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, says there weren’t any big changes during the month. “A slight decrease in the labor force participation rate of two tenths of a point, but that was primarily due to retirements, and as most people know May and June are two pretty big months for people retiring,” she says. Townsend says there were some headwinds with the national economy, along with some layoffs and the natural disasters. “Iowa employers nonetheless added 300 net jobs in June so that was good. We saw the most gains in education and health care which gained 18-hundred jobs in June,” Townsend says. “We always like to see the healthcare industry being able to hire because they have the most need, and have had for a significant period of time even pre-pandemic.” There were some job losses as well.

“Not surprising we saw manufacturing shed about a thousand jobs this month, and that was the most of any other industry. Government lost 12-hundred jobs but that’s usually related to school bus drivers not working in the summer,” she says. Townsend says the manufacturing layoffs will start showing up in the unemployment numbers in the next two months. “We did have some John Deere layoffs in May, a little bit in June, but the larger layoffs were effective more in July and August, So, if they’re going to impact the numbers I would expect we’ll see that we’ll see that in July or August,” Townsend says.

The state unemployment rate has been below three percent since hitting that mark in January. The U-S unemployment rate increased to four-point-one percent in June.