Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A West Des Moines police officer has been killed in a motorcycle crash. Authorities say Officer Shawn Miller was traveling south on Highway 169 after attending a court hearing in Dallas County when he collided with a car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. West Des Moines Police Chief Shaun LaDue said at a news conference that the 47-year-old Miller was married with three children.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed new daily catch limits and a harvest season for commercial turtle trapping. The Des Moines Register reports that the proposal limits the daily catch to 14 snapping turtles, one softshell turtle and three painted turtles. Trappers have been allowed to catch an unlimited amount of turtles year-round. The DNR also proposes a commercial trapping season that begins July 1 and runs through Dec. 31 to protect turtles during their nesting season.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Marshalltown voters have overwhelmingly approved plans to spend $17.5 million on a center for the city’s police and fire departments. The Times-Republican reports voters approved the center Tuesday night, with 65.2 percent supporting the proposal and 34.8 percent opposed. The margin of victory was enough to top a 60 percent threshold required for passage of such tax measures in Iowa. The vote came 15 months after about 65 percent of voters defeated a police-only measure.

YARMOUTH, Iowa (AP) — Environmental specialists and fisheries biologists from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are investigating a second fish kill in a week in southeast Iowa likely caused by aerial spraying of crop fields. A fish kill near the headwaters of Big Creek about a mile west of Yarmouth includes several species of dead and stressed catfish, bullheads, bass, suckers and creek chubs.

Police in West Des Moines are mourning one of their officers who lost his life in a crash Wednesday afternoon, just north of DeSoto. 47-year old Officer Shawn Miller, of West Des Moines, succumbed to injuries he suffered when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car in Dallas County, near the intersection of Highway 169 and Interstate 80. The accident happened at around 1:30-p.m.

The Iowa State Patrol said a car driven by 38-year old Jeanette Keifer, of Stratford, was northbound on Highway 169 and failed to yield in an attempt to turn left onto westbound I-80. Miller, who was traveling south on 169 could not stop his 2008 Harley Davidson cycle in-time, and hit the passenger side of the car. He had attending court proceedings at the Dallas County Courthouse prior to the crash. The hearing dealt with a hit-and-run case.

According to the West Des Moines P-D, Officer Miller had been with the department for 26 years and was set to be promoted to sergeant. He and his wife have three children. The Police Department asks for the community’s support and prayers during this difficult time. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.

With a light agenda, the Atlantic City Council held a shorter than normal meeting Wednesday evening. In his regular report, City Administrator John Lund said residents will be receiving letters this fall from Utility Service Partners, Inc. (USP) with regard to an optional National League of Cities (NLC) warranty for existing Sanitary Sewer lines. Lund reminds residents that the City is only a partner in the program, it is NOT mandatory. Lund says for residents with much older properties (40+ years old), it might make sense to have those lines insured.Individual property owners who elect to sign-up for the warranty service will have to pay for the warranty, which helps to pay the repair cost of unexpected water or sewer line failures from the City right-of-way to your home. Those repairs can typically cost thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. In June of 2015, the City opted to enter into a Marketing agreement with USP, Inc., for water line warranty service. The company pays the City a small royalty each month for each paid warranty contract with residential customers.

In other business, Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones once again reminded young motorcyclists not to be doing stunts (like wheelies) and speeding, in town. Jones was blunt about the dangers those types of stunts and speed can do motorcyclists, and the dangers they pose to the public. He said he’s had complaints from the public about the cycles racing through town at a high rate of speed, and if a crash happens, he said “I don’t want our policemen picking their brains up off the street and put ’em in a bag and then have to call their parents and say here’s your son, or here’s your daughter.” He said if they want to race, do it outside of Atlantic. The Mayor said also he received a call from a member of the Atlantic Cemetery Board asking if “We needed extra [burial] plots because of the bikes running up and down Main Street?”

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green said if they catch motorcyclists driving recklessly through town, they can lose their license on the spot and be subject to a hefty fine. On another note, Jones said also, he would like any resident of Atlantic who wants to fill an At Large vacancy on the City Council, to turn in their names and preferably a resume to the City Clerk, by no later than August 15th. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee will decide on Aug. 16th, whether to make a recommendation to the full Council on the 17th, the name of someone to fill the seat left open by the resignation of Bob Cord.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 39-year old Jaime Castillo Gomez, of Mexico City, MX, was sentenced today (Wednesday) to serve 14-years in prison for his role in the trafficking of meth in western Iowa. Senior United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner also ordered Gomez to serve a five year term of supervised release, to follow his imprisonment.

On February 26th, 2016, Castillo Gomez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, which was the result of an investigation by law enforcement of methamphetamine trafficking that occurred in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area for over a one-year time period. Beginning at least as early as November of 2014, and continuing through September of 2015, Castillo Gomez conspired with multiple other individuals to distribute at least 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine in the Southern District of Iowa and elsewhere.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Greater Omaha Safe Streets Task Force and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday (today), the former manager of the Fremont County Landfill was arrested on felony Ongoing Criminal Conduct and 2nd Degree Theft charges, following a State Auditor’s report that alleged 31-year old Dusty VanRenan spent more than $39,000 improperly. Van Renan turned himself-in and has since posted bond amounting to $2,500.

The charges were the result of a special investigation of the Fremont County Sanitary Landfill Commission which found the improper use of thousands of dollars of the organization’s funds. State Auditor Mary Mosiman said her office found irregularities in spending by VanRenan.  She says they found a little more than 39-thousand dollars of money that was not properly spent — including around 79-hundred dollars that was from the improper use of the commission’s fuel card, and there were some improper disbursements to VanRenan.

Dusty VanRenan

Mosiman says VanRenan was the manager from March of 2014 through September 30th, 2015, and during that time he also failed to do some of the required paperwork for a loan with the D-N-R, and that cost the organization money. “Since the commission failed to meet various milestones and reporting requirements — they have to repay the forgivable loan — which I believe was 20-thousand dollars,” Mosiman explains. “And then a little over 26-hundred dollars was unsupported disbursements and we didn’t have enough documentation to be able to tell if they purchases for the operation of the landfill, or if they were personal in nature.”

The commission is made up of representatives from the county and the cities of Farragut, Hamburg, Imogene, Randolph, Riverton, Sidney, Tabor, and Thurman. Mosiman says commissioners raised concern after noticing the amount of gas being bought went up after VanRenan took over. She says they did an analysis of the time before during and after VanRenan took over and found the amount of money spent on gas went up significantly.

The increase came at a time when gas prices were dropping. Other issues found in the audit included undeposited fees for dumping at the landfill, and the organization paid sales tax on items purchased when that was not required. Mosiman reported some of the payments for sale of recycled pallets were deposited to the former manager’s personal bank account rather than the commission’s bank account. “The way the agreement was set up fifty percent of those proceeds (from the pallet sales) went to the company and fifty percent went to the commission, but they didn’t go to the commission,” Mosiman says. Mosiman says commissioners had questions for VanRenan on the lack of funding in the recycling program.

“The proceeds were going to his bank account so it didn’t appear to be worthwhile for the commission to maintain the recycling portion of the landfill,” Mosiman says. “But had he deposited the money into the commission’s bank account versus his own bank account, things could have been different.” Further investigation found one of the people who owned the recycling company handling the material also had a ten percent interest in a recycling company VanRenan started in Nebraska. Mosiman made several recommendations to the commission for improving their oversight of the organization’s finances.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in their investigation by the Fremont County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa State Auditor’s Office.

(Radio IA/Fremont County S/O Press Release)

Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta said Wednesday afternoon, that Work Release prisoner who failed to return from Tuesday from his place of employment to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility, has been apprehended. 30-year old Michael Joseph Frazier, who had been listed as escaped, returned to the facility at around 1:30-p.m. Wednesday, and was transported to the Polk County Jail by the Fifth District Warrant Team.

Frazier was transferred to Work Release June 22nd. He was serving a 15-year sentence out of Warren County for 3rd degree kidnapping and possession of a firearm as a felon.

DOC file photo of Michael Frazier.

The Harlan Police Department reports a Shelby County warrant was issued Monday, after officers were called to Westridge Acres Trailer Court for a subject who had entered a home at that location and allegedly removed items from that residence.  67-year old Duane Straight, of Harlan, was arrested on the warrant and was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with Burglary 3^rd degree.

Authorities said also, on July 28th, 30-year old Eugene Cardine, of Harlan, was taken into custody when officers were called to investigate an open 911 line with a possible domestic situation.  Cardine was arrested and taken to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault for allegedly striking a Harlan woman. That same day, 31-year old Robert Sommer, of Kirkman, was taken into custody when officers were called to the Myrtue Memorial Emergency Department for a female patient who may have been abused. Sommer was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault.

And, on July 27th, Harlan Police arrested 20-year old Shawn Schaben, of Earling, after officers were called to investigate an attempt to buy alcohol by a person under legal age.  Schaben met with officers at the Harlan Police Department where he was charged with attempting to purchase alcohol and use of a driver’s license by underage person to obtain alcohol.  Schaben was cited and released.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors has approved an investigation into a cyberattack that compromised about 3,700 county files last month. The Sioux City Journal reports that the board voted unanimously Tuesday to work with Cleveland-based law firm BakerHostetler, which conducts data security incident response investigations.

Human resources director Ed Gilliland says the source of the cyberattack July 20 was ransomware that was delivered through an email. Ransomware is software that locks files on a computer and demands a payment for their release. Gilliland says nothing was lost because the Woodbury County Information Communication Committee backs up files every night. Emails requesting ransom for the files have been deleted.

Gilliland says the investigation will help determine which specific files were targeted and whether there will be any long-term consequences.