(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say two men were arrested on separate charges, Saturday. A around 1:30-a.m. 44-year-old Brady Gale Richert, of Creston, was arrested at the intersection of Fremont and Elm. Richert was charged with Public Intoxication 1st Offense, Disorderly Conduct-Fighting/Violent Behavior, Harassment 2nd Degree-Threaten Bodily Injury, and Violation of No Contact/Protective Order. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $1,900 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 8:25-a.m., Saturday, Creston Police arrested 25-year-old Clayton Levi Miller, of Des Moines. He was taken into custody at the Creston/Union County LEC. Miller was charged with a Union County Warrant for FTA (Failure To Appear) on an original charge of Possession of Controlled Substance-Marijuana 1st Offense. Miller was booked into the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2024 Iowa Caucuses are now a little less than six months away and the intensity of the G-O-P presidential contest is growing. Two-thousand evangelical Christians heard from six candidates Friday in Des Moines. Former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson interviewed each candidate onstage, with the war in Ukraine as the top topic. Bob Vander Plaats is president and C-E-O of The Family Leader, the group that hosted the event. He urged the crowd to look for an authentic candidate who meets the highest standards.

“God has called us for such a time as this. Pinch yourself! We’re on a front row seat of this. He has us in the crosshairs of it,” Vander Plaats said. Vander Plaats has said it’s time for the G-O-P to turn the page from former President Trump. David Johnson of Grimes, who attended Friday’s Family Leadership Summit, says he’s tired of the way Trump is acting these days. “I was a big Trump supporter for the last two times he ran, but I’m just wearying of his meanness, for lack of a better word,” Johnson says. “He wants to throw anybody under the bus who ever disagrees with him about any aspect of anything.”

Trump is due in Cedar Rapids tomorrow (Tuesday) to tape a program with Sean Hannity that will air on the Fox News Channel. It’s Trump’s first appearance here after complaining last week that Governor Kim Reynolds is maintaining neutrality in the 2024 presidential race — after he set her up to be governor in mid-2017 by naming Terry Branstad U-S ambassador to China. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says some of the Iowans he met this weekend were riled by Trump’s remarks about Reynolds. “I think she’s been a model public servant,” DeSantis said, “and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her I think is way off base on that.”

DeSantis has joined the list of candidates who say they’ll visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties before the Caucuses.

(Radio Iowa) – A ban on most abortions in Iowa is in effect today (Monday). The ban has been in effect since about 2:45 Friday afternoon. That’s when Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill that bans abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around the sixth week of a pregnancy. “Protecting unborn human lives from the atrocity of abortion, a worthy battle and one I will never concede,” Reynolds said in remarks at the bill signing, held on stage before a gathering of 2000 evangelical Christians in Des Moines.

The law includes exceptions for certain medical conditions. Rape victims who become pregnant will have to prove they notified police or a health care provider within 45 days of the attack or they will not be allowed to have an abortion in Iowa. Incest victims will have to have notified a doctor or police within 140 days of the attack that led to their pregnancy. “It’s unquestionable that the act completely prevents the vast majority of patients from accessing abortion at all,” said

Peter Im, a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. A Polk County district court judge has indicated he will issue a ruling, perhaps as early as today (Monday), on whether the law can be enforced while the lawsuit challenging the abortion ban makes its way through the state court system.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic has a lot on their plate for Wednesday’s 5:30-p.m. meeting, at City Hall. Among the action items, is an Order setting the date of a Public Hearing as August 2nd, 2023, to repeal Chapter 24 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, entitled “Parks and Recreation Board,” and discontinue the Parks and Recreation Board. In his agenda notes, City Administrator John Lund said that after a review, the City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee recommended “with all respect due to the Board and the service of its members,” that the Parks Board be dissolved. Their recommendation follows the Committee’s meeting on July 10th, when they reviewed the situation of losing yet another Director for the Parks & Rec Dept, with regard to last month’s resignation of Wyatt Adderton.

On a related note, the City Council, Wednesday, will act on passing a resolution “Creating the Position of Code Enforcement and Animal Control Manager, approving a job description, and setting compensation for FY 2024,” following the Personnel & Finance Committee’s recommendation to re-orient the City’s limited resources towards Code Enforcement and Economic Development. In doing so, the Committee has recommended that the duties of Parks Director be split between the immediate Supervisor, the Public Works Director, and a new position, Parks & Recreation Coordinator, will be a revamped position of the current Assistant Parks and Rec Director. John Lund notes “this will save the City $71,904 and an potential City health care plan enrollee.”

The Committee recommends the following:

• The Parks Coordinator position be set at $50,000, and increase of $4,419.71 for the Assistant Parks Director position.
• Resetting wages for seasonal parks staff to a range of $14-to $17 per hour.
• A promotion for Code Enforcement, Animal Control, and Wastewater Operator Kris Erickson, to Full Department Head (an increase o $4,853.35)
• Adding a second Code Enforcement Officer (Cost to be determined)
• Compensation increase for the Public Works Director to offset increased responsibilities with the Parks Dept. in addition to the three other departments he currently supervises, aligning overall compensation above those he supervises, and for merit for the cost-saving proposal relating to the 2024-2030 Street Improvement Program, an increase of $11,025.00.

The Council will act on passing a resolution “Creating the Position of Parks & Recreation Coordinator,” along with the job description, and setting compensation for FY 2024, and a resolution “Setting Wages for the Atlantic Parks and Recreation, Public Works and Code Enforcement and Animal Control Departments.” You can view the rest of the Council’s agenda here: July 19, 2023 City Council Meeting