Authorities in Fremont County say Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office  conducted a narcotics investigation in eastern Fremont County. As part of the investigation deputies arrested four people early this (Wednesday) morning.

Stacey Budenholzer

Thomas Knipe

Alexia Law

• 53-year old Joules Gould, of Shenandoah, was arrested on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.
• 36-year old Thomas Knipe, of Tabor, was arrested for Delivery of Methamphetamine over 5 grams and Possession of Contraband inside a correctional facility.
• 32-year old Stacey Budenholzer, of Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested for Conspiracy to Deliver Methamphetamine over 5 grams and Possession of Contraband inside a correctional facility.
• And, 25-year old Alexia Law, of Union, Nebraska was arrested for Conspiracy to Deliver Methamphetamine over 5 grams.

Knipe and Budenholzer were being held at the Fremont County Jail on $105,000.00 bond. Law was being held at the Fremont County Jail on $100,000 bond. Deputies were assisted by the Fremont County K9 Unit, and the Southwest Iowa Highway Interdiction Team.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man for Driving While Suspended, late Tuesday night. 33-year old Brent Lee Wagaman, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11-p.m. after being pulled-over at the intersection of N. Broadway and W. Washington Streets. Wagaman was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on a $300 bond.

A debate over funding for K-12 education in the Iowa Senate yesterday (Tuesday) included claims that many schools could be forced to cut their literacy programs. Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, cited the results of a survey that Democratic lawmakers sent to school superintendents. It asked how they would respond if the legislature failed to provide a “decent increase” in school aid.

“Particularly shocking, cut back in literacy programs, 43-percent are telling us they would have to cut back in literacy programs,” Quirmbach said. Democrats, who control the Senate, pushed through a bill that would boost K-12 aid by four-percent for the 2017-18 academic year. Quirmbach said that level of an increase is needed to keep Iowa students from falling behind their peers in other states.

“If we don’t provide adequate funding…43-percent of the districts will actually be cutting back on literacy programs at the time when they should be increasing the literacy programs,” Quirmbach said. Senator Julian Garrett was shocked by Quirmbach’s remarks. The Republican from Indianola said school leaders, if necessary, should be able to find many other areas to make budget cuts.

“They need to spend the money on…a higher priority than teaching kids to read? That just floors me,” Garrett said. “I cannot understand schools saying that reading is not the big priority for us. If that is the basis for this proposal, count me out. I am voting no.” The House and Senate have still not settled on the level of school funding for next year. Tuesday’s debate in the Senate was over K-12 funding for the FOLLOWING school year, starting in the fall of 2017.

(Radio Iowa)

A Council Bluffs man received a suspended sentence and probation for his role in a burglary in Mills County. The Daily NonPareil reports 39-year old Willard E. Frazier, was convicted in Mills County court on Monday of third-degree burglary, a Class D felony.  Fourth District Court Judge James Heckerman sentenced Frazier to five years in prison, all of which was suspended. He placed Frazier on formal probation for two years.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — A Newton jury has convicted a man of helping his mother stab his wife to death in 2013. Jurors handed over the verdict finding 40-year-old Dustin Jefferson guilty of aiding and abetting first-degree murder in the death of his wife. His mother, Ginger Jefferson, is serving life in prison for first-degree murder in the September 2013 attack of 32-year-old Kerry O’Clair Jefferson.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Linn County will soon have to find a new home for thousands of court documents that are being stored in a rented space. The city of Cedar Rapids is working to buy the Hubbard Ice building, where the county stores up to 700,000 court documents, and will likely demolish it to make room for a flood wall. The county spends nearly $50,000 annually to rent the space, but it doesn’t have a choice. State code says the county must keep civil case files for 10 years after settlement and criminal case files for 10 years after a completed sentence.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some Republican House lawmakers are supporting legislation that would create a system for manufacturing, distributing and possessing some forms of medical marijuana in Iowa, though it’s unclear what type of support the bill will get from party leaders. The bill would expand the state’s current law on medical marijuana, which allows some epilepsy patients to use cannabis oil. The new legislation would expand it to include more products and patients, though it would prohibit the smoking of medical marijuana.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified the man who was found inside a fire-damaged Des Moines home after he resisted officers’ rescue attempts. Police announced that 48-year-old Neil Johnston, of Des Moines, died during the incident. Firefighters sent to the home put out the blaze and found Johnston’s body. Investigators say the fire was intentionally started.