(Radio Iowa) – A wanted Ohio man was arrested in southeast Iowa this week while trying to escape a manhunt in a neighboring state. The Albia Police Department received reports of a suspicious man near Albia High School. The man, later identified as 46-year-old Victor Ferris, left the area and was later arrested by law enforcement in the Albia town square. Authorities discovered Ferris had an active arrest warrant in Peoria, Illinois, for allegedly stealing an SUV with a three-year-old boy still inside the vehicle on September 4th.

Albia Police Chief Jacob Miller says Ferris attempted to train hop to Des Moines to escape, but was spotted by a BNSF employee while the train was in Albia. Ferris jumped off the train and was later seen near the high school. Ferris is currently in the Monroe County Jail. He faces additional charges of trespassing, interference with official acts, and malicious prosecution for his alleged actions in Albia.

Illinois prosecutors say there are plans to extradite Ferris. The boy inside of the stolen vehicle was later found unharmed at a gas station and returned to his family.

ATLANTIC, IOWA — Officials with Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) say they recently welcomed Allie Strauss to serve in a newly created position as Building Permits Technician. According to the organization, the role of Building Permits Tech had become vital to SWIPCO, in order to continue to provide high quality service to the public and its member communities as more cities utilize SWIPCO for building permits, rental inspections, and code enforcement.

The overall goal of the position is to allow inspectors to spend more time in the field while providing administrative support to city hall staff who are typically stretched thin. Adopting and enforcing modern building codes is becoming more common in Iowa as some funding and grant programs require it and communities in general look to protect and maintain their building stock.

Allie Strauss (Swipco photo)

Strauss carries experience from her previous role as an insurance quote specialist supervisor. She said “I’ve always been kind of a jack-of-all trades and I enjoy home repair projects. I also really enjoy research, and I felt this role would allow me to bring those things together.” Strauss said she found out about the position through social media and the ability to work in a hybrid environment was something that interested her. She said she had worked exclusively from home for three years and thought this would be a good change.

Allie resides in Elliott with her husband Trinton and their two daughters Austyn and Ana. In her free time Allie enjoys golf, bowling, hunting, reading, and working on home projects.

SWIPCO is an equal opportunity employer, provider, and lender.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Shelby County, Tuesday (Sept. 17), voted to appoint Carmen Fielding as the County’s new Veterans Affairs Coordinator. Fielding succeeds Gene Cavenaugh, who retired, effective Sept 5th. Cavenaugh was recognized by the Board for his more than 50-years of service to Shelby County, beginning in 1972 when he was a Sheriff’s Deputy, and later on as Sheriff. Cavenaugh served as Veterans Affairs Director until September 5^th, 2024.

In other businesses, the Shelby County Supervisors approved adding a parcel in the county that’s expected to increase the valuation, due to construction due to the TIF tax collection governed by the Iowa Code. The additional funds will offset new construction and maintenance of the County’s secondary roads system.

The supervisors also voted to abate taxes for the EMS building in Harlan, small parcels in the City of Panama, and the removal of a house in Harlan.

And, Shelby County Engineer Chris Fredericksen reported the dry weather we’ve been having is speeding up the construction of the Elk Horn Bridge project.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday, Sept. 18th), received a report from Adair County Ag Extension’s Kerry Aistrope, with regard to the Rising Star Intern Program.

Aistrope said the program benefits counties and communities.

She said the interns work during the months of June and July, in areas like conservation, community/economic development; tourism promotion and other projects, that benefit citizens in the county. Aistrope said if the Supervisors have something in mind for their interns to work on, they should let her know. That might even include storm recovery efforts. The interns are paid $4,500 for their work. Aistrope said she would like their pay to be a collaborative endeavor between the County and Ag Extension. According to Aistrope, to her knowledge, the Rising Star Internship program has never been offered in Adair County.

The Board of Supervisors also heard from Rob and Tony Mensing, with regard to access to their cattle operation property at Lewis Avenue and 150^th Street, northeast of Canby, which has a low-water crossing. Rob Mensing said he wanted clarify comments he made during the Board’s meeting on Sept. 4^th, and other information.

He said they are investing in their project to benefit Adair County, and get as much as they can out of the land.

Supervisor John Twombly said he was still not in favor of changing the three-quarters of a mile road from Level B (Dirt) to Level A (gravel), due to the costs associated with its construction and maintenance. Twombly said in his 16-years on the Board, to his knowledge, they have never changed a road to a Level A. He said would support a culvert (which would typically cost around $200,000), though. Even then, it would be some 2-to 3-years before work on the project could begin. No decision on the road was made during the meeting. Discussions on a possible solution to the landowner’s issues will continue.

In other business, Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman reported on Secondary Roads Department activities and maintenance efforts.

(Radio Iowa) – A $53-million project south of Ames is part of an effort to reach targets in Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The Water Pollution Control Facility handles around six million gallons of wastewater daily from Ames, Iowa State University and the town of Kelley. John Dunn, director of Water and Pollution Control for Ames, says upgrades over the next decade aim to reduce nitrogen discharge by two-thirds and phosphorus by three-quarters. “It’s a mix of physical and biological processes,” Dunn says. “It’s really what happens in nature. We’re just forcing it to happen on an accelerated scale.”

During Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Ames Mayor John Haila said the upgrades will increase treatment capacity, which will support residential and industrial growth. Haila says the main goal is to cut down on nutrients entering the South Skunk River. Haila says, “So this is our effort to help reduce that while also meeting the goals of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.” A complex series of tanks remove grit, grease and other gunk before the water is released into the river.

Other large wastewater facilities in the state are required to hit similar targets as part of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It’s the state’s roadmap to curb nitrogen and phosphorus in Iowa waterways and the Gulf of Mexico.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Davenport man was sentenced Monday (Sept. 16) to 25 years (300 months) in federal prison for possessing a distribution quantity of methamphetamine and a possessing a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking.

According to public court documents, law enforcement witnessed Roy Albert Phillips, 35, recklessly driving and attempted a traffic stop. Phillips did not stop, ran multiple stop signs, and drove more than 50 miles per hour in a 25 mile-per-hour-zone. Phillips eventually struck a pole and fled on foot. Officers observed Phillips drop a backpack while fleeing, which was later found to contain a loaded handgun and approximately one pound of methamphetamine. Officers searched Phillips’ phone and located messages indicative of Phillips trafficking pound quantities of methamphetamine and carrying the gun related to his drug trafficking activities.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Phillips will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Bettendorf Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Davenport Police Department, and Scott County Sheriff’s Office.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday evening. At around 5-p.m., 40-year-old Curtis Lee Lamasters, of Creston, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Interference with Official Acts. He was also taken into custody on a Union County warrant for domestic abuse assault-1st offense. Lamasters was being held without bond in the Union County jail.

And at around 7:10 p.m., Tuesday, Police in Creston arrested 67-year-old Vicki Jo Abell, of Indianola, following a traffic stop. Abell was charged with Operating While Under the Influence and Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine/1st Offense. She later posted a $2,000 cash or approved surety bond, and was released.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows that while Vice President Kamala Harris has made a significant dent in former President Donald Trump’s lead in Iowa ahead of the 2024 presidential election, more Iowans still favor Trump on issues like inflation, immigration and U.S. international relations. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Iowa Poll results published Tuesday (Sept. 17) found 58% of likely voters responded that they believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on “keeping America secure,” and 50% responded they believed he would do better on “bringing about real change” than Harris at 46%. Trump was also favored by a percentage point over Harris as the better candidate on “winning the respect of world leaders” and “caring about people like you.”

Harris was chosen as the better candidate by 47% of poll respondents on “being more trustworthy” than Trump, and 46% of likely voters said they believed the vice president would do a better job of “successfully unifying the country.” Trump was the choice of 45% on trustworthiness and 39% on unifying the country.

The poll also found a majority of likely Iowa voters believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on the issues of inflation, immigration, relations with China, the wars between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, as well as on housing prices. The only issue Iowa voters favored Harris on in the most recent poll was abortion, with 53% saying Harris would do a better job and 42% supporting Trump as the best choice to tackle the issue.

The largest margin between the candidates was on inflation, with 57% choosing Trump as the better candidate for addressing the issue compared to 41% for Harris. Though the poll found that the former president still has a lead in his race against Harris,  J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co. that conducted the poll, said “the race has tightened significantly.” Part of the shift comes from increased engagement in the election, with 81% of Iowa poll takers saying they will definitely vote in the general election, an increase from 76% in June. Compared to the last poll, there was a 10 percentage point increase in Iowans younger than age 45 who said they were likely voters, and an 8-point increase among women voters — both demographics that the poll identified as more likely to support Harris.

The results seem to reflect what some Iowa Democratic leaders have predicted about Harris’ impact on the race. But Republican leaders disputed the poll results showing a positive shift for Democrats ahead of the Nov. 5 election. The Iowa Poll was conducted from Sept. 8-11 with 811 Iowans — 656 who identified as likely voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points with likely voters, and a 3.4 percentage points margin of error for questions asked of all Iowans.