The Audubon Police Department today (Wednesday) released a report on recent arrests. On Tuesday, 28-year old Jared Dewayne Joyce of Audubon, was arrested for Attempted Burglary-Third Degree and Trespassing. Joyce was transported to the Audubon County Jail where he was held to see a magistrate.

And on Sunday, police in Audubon arrested 31-year old Donovan Eugene Harris of Boone, for Violation of a No Contact Order. Harris appeared before a magistrate and was released on promise to appear. That same day, 33-year old Joshua Lee Larsen, of Audubon, was arrested for Driving With A Suspended License. Larsen was then released on promise to appear.

Senator Joni Ernst says she’ll “have to give more consideration” to the president’s request that congress approve continued military action against Islamic State militants in the Middle East. “I want to make sure that he is using that authority appropriately in responding to those threats,” Ernst said. Obama made the request for a vote in congress to back the air campaign against the Islamic State last night (Tuesday), during his “State of the Union” address.

Ernst, the first female combat veteran in the U.S. Senate, delivered the Republican response to Obama’s “State of the Union” speech last night and talked in general about terrorist threats. This morning, during a conference call with Iowa reporters, Ernst was asked whether she would vote to authorize the use of U.S. military force against the Islamic State. “I would have to put more consideration into that,” Ernst told reporters. “…I think that if there is an imminent threat out there that certainly congress would rally around the president. I don’t doubt that.”

In early September there were calls back then for congress to vote on whether the U.S. should strike against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria and Ernst, who was a candidate at the time, said Obama hadn’t presented congress and the American people with enough information about the operation. Ernst said four months ago that if she became a senator, she’d review the intelligence reports that members of congress receive and determine whether the U.S. has a “clear objective” in the region.

The president is also asking the new congress to resist passing legislation that would impose additional sanctions against Iran. Ernst says she wants Iran to understand that their nuclear ambitions “are not welcome” and she argues new sanctions would send that message. “I am of the school of thought we need to show Iran that we are serious about this,” Ernst says. “And I would like to see additional pressure coming from congress saying: ‘You know what, Iran? We have delayed, delayed, delayed and we need you to come to plate and we need you to follow up.'” Last week British Prime Minister David Cameron called on U.S. senators to put a halt their talk about additional sanctions against Iraq, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing today (Wednesday) on the issue.

Ernst says she understands negotiations have reached a critical stage, but she says Iran needs to understand there will be “very serious consequences” if they don’t reach a deal soon. “There are others that are of a different school of thought…They just really want to handle this with kid gloves, I understand that and I understand we need to negotiate in good faith,” Ernst says. “But at the same time, we need to let Iran know that their nuclear ambitions are not welcome.”

A bill drafted for Ernst and other senators to consider would reimpose sanctions that were suspended during negotiations if a deal isn’t reached by July 6th and, each month after that, more sanctions would be added.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration says he wants to hire a privately managed care company or set of companies to help run Iowa’s Medicaid program. Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers says more coordinated care would better serve patients and lower costs. The Des Moines Register reports the system could be implemented by the start of 2016.

Branstad’s office projects the state would save more than $50 million in the first six months of the program. Additional information is not available about how those savings would be reached. Rep. Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, is co-chairman of the main legislative committee overseeing health care programs. He says Branstad has the authority to make the change without a vote in the Legislature.

More than 560,000 Iowans are covered under Medicaid.

Small Iowa towns that would benefit from tearing down or sprucing up vacant buildings can get help from the state. Communities with a population of five-thousand or fewer residents can apply for a derelict building grant application through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Scott Flagg is coordinating the project. “The program works with communities that are either looking to deconstruct, remove the building selectively or renovate the building,” Flagg says. “Just recently, we had a project in Glidden that renovated an old building and turned it into a health and wellness center for the local citizens there.”

Flagg says there’s usually at least a dozen Iowa communities that apply to split the funding every year. “We had 13 last year and usually we get around 40 applications submitted each round,” Flagg says. “The committee is able to fund between 13 and 20 projects depending on how much money we have available.”

The deadline to apply is February 27. A committee will select the projects for funding from the Iowa D-N-R, Iowa Society of Solid Waste Operations, Iowa Recycling Association, Iowa Economic Development Authority and Keep Iowa Beautiful. Learn more by visiting www.iowadnr.gov and putting “derelict” in the search window.

(Radio Iowa)

A drug bust last Friday in Creston resulted in the arrest of three men with out-of-state ID’s and others temporarily detained. According to authorities in Union County, Creston Police and Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at around 11:30-p.m. Friday (Jan. 16th) at 1100 N. Spruce, in Creston. Upon entry into the home, officers secured and identified six male subjects and three females.

The search warrant resulted in numerous drug-related items being seized into evidence, including: several containers of marijuana; drug paraphernalia; grinders; scales; packing materials, and U-S currency. Three men were arrested: 19-year old Ian Thomas Morrison, of Creston – who possessed a Nebraska ID; 21-year old Manuel Leandro Rivera, of Creston – who had a Florida ID; and, 21-year old Jason Michael Roberts, of Creston – who had an Illinois ID.

All three men faces a Possession with the Intent to Deliver, charge. Rivera also faces a Drug Paraphernalia Possession charge, while Roberts was also charged with Possession of Marijuana. Additional charges are pending.