DES MOINES – A Polk County judge has temporarily blocked the state’s efforts to revoke the license of a car dealer convicted of a long series of misdemeanors related to his business. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports court records show that in 2022, Dayton Ericson, the owner of Ericson Auto in Ankeny, was convicted of three counts of fraudulent use of a vehicle registration – charges that Ericson says are tied to the fact that he had placed old, expired dealer plates on some of his vehicles.

In October 2023, those convictions led to the Iowa Department of Transportation sending Ericson a notice that it was revoking his dealership license. Ericson filed an appeal, but the DOT’s decision was upheld by an administrative law judge and then by the director of the agency.

Ericson is now seeking judicial review of that decision. Polk County District Court Judge Christopher Kemp recently issued an order that placed the revocation order on hold at least until a hearing on the matter can be held. Refusing to grant such a stay, Kemp ruled, “would place Ericson at significant risk of catastrophic irreparable injury.”

Ericson said that if the DOT has its way, he’ll be put out of business. He acknowledged he has an extensive history of misdemeanor convictions related to vehicle registrations, storage of cars on his residential property in Des Moines, and parking dealership vehicles on city streets. Many of those cases, he said, stem from disputes with neighboring property owners.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she has a couple of names in mind, but is in no hurry to name a new lieutenant governor.  “I want to make sure I take the time and get the right person there,” Reynolds says. “…We want to make sure we take a look at who that might be and what we want them to focus on.” Reynolds spoke with reporters early this (Wednesday) morning, about 17 hours after Adam Gregg resigned as lieutenant governor to take a job in the private sector. “This is a very demanding job and it really requires a lot of sacrifices and so I understand him wanting to spend him wanting to spend more time with his family,” Reynolds says. “That makes a lot of sense and so I absolutely support him in his decision and what he’s going to do.”

The governor says Gregg told her last Friday he had the opportunity to become the next president and C-E-O of the Iowa Bankers Association. Reynolds says she and Gregg have kept a grueling schedule since May of 2017 when she became governor and he became lieutenant governor. “Let’s put this in perspective. That was seven, eight years ago, but his kids were barely in school and Jackson is starting high school — so think about that timeline,” Reynolds says. “I had the good fortune that my kids were grown.”

The governor says she and the now-former lieutenant governor have had a tough seven year stretch. “It’s not been easy,” Reynolds said. “We started with flooding and tornadoes and then we moved into COVID and then we moved into a derecho, then we went back and did a few more tornadoes…and flooding,” Reynolds says. “I mean, it’s 24/7 and non-stop and so I have a lot of respect for somebody that wants to step back and really focus on their family and just opportunities like this do not come up that often and so he just took all of that into account and made a decision for his family and so I appreciate that.”

Former Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg speaking at news conference on May 12, 2021. (RI file photo)

Reynolds was asked if she was surprised Gregg is leaving politics altogether and will not run to succeed her as governor. “There’s always the assumption when you bring in a lieutenant governor they’re going to be ready and willing to take that next step to serve as governor, but there’s never any guarantees that’s going to be the process,” Reynolds says. “And ultimately it’s going to be the people of Iowa who will decide who the next governor is going to be.”

Reynolds has not announced whether she intends to seek reelection in 2026. Reynolds has met with Senate President Amy Sinclair who is now first in the line of succession and would take over as governor if, for some reason, Reynolds is unable to fulfill her duties.

(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand says a recently dismissed University of Iowa employee pocketed nearly a million dollars by using public equipment and public employees for his own business. Brian Busch was the manager of the Department of Physics and Astronomy Machine Shop. “He would have employees handle the work on university-owned machines while on the university’s clock,” Sand says, “but $943,000 worth of payments…ended up in his own bank accounts.” The Machine Shop fixed equipment and made parts for experiments, but the Physics Department also used the expensive tools and equipment in the Machine Shop to fulfill orders from other departments on campus.

“What it fundamentally came down to is at the end of the day Mr. Busch had public employees and public equipment doing work for him, instead of doing work for the university,” Sand says. Busch was placed on administrative leave in 2021 — but was not fired until last Wednesday when the auditor’s office presented its report to University of Iowa officials. Sand says keeping Busch on the university’s payroll for three years wouldn’t have been his choice. And Sand says there were warning signs. In 2019, the university had Busch repay over 35-hundred dollars for work done on campus for his own company.

“They did not do an internal review of conflict of interest policies or heighten review of Busch’s future transactions at the Machine Shop,” Sand says. “Busch had not noted the company, D3T, on the conflict of interest forms that he had been required to fill out with the university.” Sand’s office has been working with a federal agency that’s been investigating the allegations, as well as the Iowa City Police. Under state law, Sand says there are a few months left to sue Busch or file criminal charges in state court — and a couple of years before the federal statute of limitations expires.  “The whistleblowers in this case provided much of the information needed to investigate it, including text messages with Brian Busch that are detailed in our report and photographs,” Sand says. “The report is about 300 pages. This is a big one.”

According to the audit, Busch was having university staff do work for a company called Xometry, but directed Xometry’s payments into his personal bank account and an account linked to his business. The University of Iowa has issued a written statement, saying it is attempting to recoup the wages paid to Busch and two other employees while they were on paid leave. The statement begins by saying the University of Iowa is committed to managing its resources responsibly — and university officials say they requested a state audit and immediately took other steps when they first learned of the allegations against Busch.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday) discussed a request by Mensing Brothers, LLC to have better access to their cattle operation in the area of Lewis Avenue and 150th Street, northeast of Canby. Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman explained a box culvert in the area would be costly.

The landowner said an option would be to upgrade the current Level B (dirt) minimum maintenance road, to the land to a Level A (gravel -highest level of service). He some some sort of improvement to the road/roads is important to his cattle operation.

Supervisor Matt Wedemeyer said an upgrade of the road isn’t likely.

Nick Kauffman said he only gets 10-percent of the property taxes in Adair County, which doesn’t leave him much to maintain Level A roads. The Supervisors said they understood the land owners’ concerns, but took no action during their meeting. In other business, Engineer Kauffman provided his weekly report on Secondary Roads Department activities and maintenance projects.

He said Murphy Construction has about another week or so of clean-up to do on their project, with guard rails installed on the 16th and the road open, by the 20th.

The Adair County Supervisors, Tuesday, approved Township Clerk Wages for Dianna Bower, Jackson Township Clerk, in the amount of $160.

Impacts in Adair, Adams, Bremer, Butler, Clay, Johnson, Polk, and Story counties

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 4, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today (Wednesday) announced that the Agency is investing more than $2.3-million in eight grants to projects in Iowa that promote rural small businesses, industry, public safety, and sanitation. The grants impact (In this area), Adair and Adams Counties.

The investments were made through five different USDA programs.

-The City of Greenfield received a $40,600 grant to purchase a vehicle through the Community Facility Disaster Grant program. This project will provide a law enforcement patrol unit for the city’s law enforcement department.

-The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) received a Water & Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning $30,000 grant to complete a preliminary engineering report for the Adams County City of Prescott’s sewer system. This project will produce, in coordination with professional engineers, a summary of the condition of the city’s wastewater utility and will include alternatives and recommendations for the system to meet water quality compliance requirements.

“From providing capital for essential public services to funding the growth of small businesses, USDA is supporting economic development in rural Iowa,” said Director Greenfield. “Under the leadership of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary Vilsack, USDA is making sure that resources reach the people who need them the most by helping to create jobs, provide water sanitation, and foster industry in rural Iowa.”

Read about the other grants and grant recipient projects, HERE.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday, 9/4), released a lengthy report on arrests conducted from August 1st through the 31st. Most recently (The past week):

• 33-year-old Anthony Michael Bennett, of Harlan, was arrested Saturday (8/31), on an active Shelby County warrant. Bennett was also charged with Interference with Official Acts, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Poss. of a Controlled Substance (PCS). And, 52-year-old Ron Allan Beckel, of Harlan, was arrested on a Shelby County warrant.
• Last Thursday (8/29), 44-year-old Jason Robin Conway Emery, of Shelby, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault.
• On Wednesday (8/28), Shelby County Deputies arrested 39-year-old Troy Matthew Frazier, Jr., of Harlan, for Sexual Abuse – Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, Child Endangerment – Meth Exposure, and Child Endangerment.

You can view all of the other arrests through this link: August Arrest Report