The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday. 43-year old Jamie Foote, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center (LEC), on a Union County warrant for Probation Violation related to an original charge of Domestic Abuse Assault. Foote was being held in the Union County Jail to serve the balance of his original sentence.

33-year old Erin Wallace, of Creston, was also arrested at the Union County LEC on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original charge of Eluding. Wallace was being held in the Ringgold County Jail to serve the balance of her original sentence.

Creston Police said also, the Caseys General Store on W. Taylor Street reported Tuesday, that someone passed a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for merchandise, Monday. A Creston resident told Police Tuesday that sometime between 9-p.m. Monday and 7-a.m. Tuesday, someone stole a propane tank from outside his home in the 200 block of N. Oak Street. The loss was estimated at $25. And, Tuesday evening, a Creston resident reported to authorities that sometime between 2-p.m. Monday and Tuesday, someone took a blue and grey tackle box with assorted fishing tackle, a fishing net, Muck fishing boots, and two Baitcast rods and reels. Those items were stolen from a boat parked behind a residence in the 500 block of Wyoming Street. The loss was estimated at $800.

Tests of Iowa students in kindergarten through third grade show nearly 50-thousand of them are below average readers, but requiring summer school for those lagging readers may remain on hold. Iowa Department of Education director Ryan Wise says his agency and schools around the state are committed to addressing the problem. “We know that there is a lot of work ahead and we are focused on ensuring that every single student in Iowa does read well, particularly by the end of third grade so that they’re able to access the more rigorous schoolwork ahead of them and opportunities beyond high school,” Wise says.

Wise outlined his agency’s strategic spending plan for the governor yesterday (Tuesday). It did NOT include money for summer school classes for third graders who cannot read well. By state law, those classes originally were scheduled to begin this next summer, but lawmakers recently rolled the start date back to the summer of 2018. “I think that will certainly be a point of conversation in the legislature of when is the right time to have that requirement in there and then how are schools supported in that effort,” Wise says.

Wise is asking legislators and the governor to set aside five-and-a-half million more state tax dollars to spend on “coaching” and professional development for teachers in the early grades who teach reading. “There is a tremendous sense of urgency both in terms of the percentage of students that aren’t reading proficiently and the gaps that exist between groups of students — students who are English Language Learners, students with different racial and ethnic backgrounds, students with disabilities,” Wise says. “We know that there’s a lot of work ahead.”

Thirty-six percent of the kindergarten through third-grade students who were tested LAST fall failed to reach reading benchmarks. By the spring, four percent of those students had improved literacy skills enough to reach their reading goals.

(Radio Iowa)