(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak – assisted by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies – responded late Tuesday night to 305 E. Nuckols Street, for a reported physical assault that was taking place. When officers arrived, the tenants of the unit refused to let law enforcement into their residence. As police were making entry, one of the tenants attempted to leave out the rear of the building. Officers made contact through the back door with other tenants. Police executed a search warrant on the unit due to illegal items that were seen. Two men were subsequently taken into custody:

36-year-old Jason Rolfe Aherns, of Red Oak, was arrested on a valid Adams County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine-3rd Offense (A Class-D Felony), and Domestic Abuse Assault, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Simple misdemeanors). He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.

28-year-old Dylan Elwood Taylor, of Red Oak, was arrested for Control of a Firearm/Offensive Weapon by a Felon (Class-D Felony), and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $5,000.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa [KCCI-TV]— The body of a 47-year-old California man was recovered from an Iowa lake a day after an abandoned boat was located near Honey Creek State Park.

According to the Appanoose County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources received a report of the abandoned boat on Rathbun Lake shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday. When the boat was located, officials found two dogs and personal property, but no occupant.

Authorities learned the boat’s occupant was last seen fishing on the south side of Rathbun Lake around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The man’s body was recovered from the lake at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, in approximately 25 feet of water. Officials say the man was visiting family and friends in Iowa and was an avid fisherman at Rathbun Lake. The man’s name is not being released by authorities at this time.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston say no one was injured during a collision Tuesday afternoon between two SUV’s. Authorities say a 2014 Chevy Equinox driven by 17-year-old Zoey Vandevender, of Creston, was stopped at stop sign located at the 4-way stop intersection, of Elm and Montgomery Streets in Creston, facing west.

The teen began to turn left (southbound) onto Elm Street, when her vehicle was struck by another 2014 Chevy Equinox. The driver of that SUV, 89-year-old Mary McDonald, of Creston, failed to stop as she was traveling south on Elm Street. Her vehicle hit Vandevender’s SUV in the middle of the intersection, causing minor damage to the front end of both vehicles. Both vehicles were driven away from the scene, with damage estimated by police to be around $3,000 altogether.

The accident report says while McDonald ran a stop sign, no citations were issued.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird used her prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention to tout former President Donald Trump’s approach to crime-related issues, but she began with her own biography.  “A few years ago, I was a local prosecutor, locking up bad guys, but in 2022 I ran for Attorney General and beat the incumbent Democrat who was first elected when I was just two years old,” Bird said, to laughter and applause.

Bird says she was elected because Iowans want a judicial system that protects them, not the criminals. “Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have made life miserable for law enforcement,” Bird said. “They treat police like criminals and criminals like victims.” Bird focused on Vice President Harris, a former local prosecutor who was California’s attorney general for six years.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 16, 2024. (Photo from Bird’s staff.)

“Democrats like Harris use words like ‘reimagine’ the police,” Bird said. “…The Democratic Party is the party of defunding the police. They said it, they mean it and they can’t wiggle out of it.” Bird says Trump has repeatedly shown his support for law enforcement and will put criminals in jail where they belong. “The radical left believes in handouts, not handcuffs,” Bird said.

The Biden campaign points to recent data showing violent crime is at a 50 year low and the number of murders in America declined 13 percent between 2022 and 2023. Bird is the only statewide elected official who endorsed Trump before the Iowa Caucuses and Trump has predicted she’ll be Iowa’s governor some day.

(Iowa News Service) – AARP Iowa is on a road trip, taking knowledge to family caregivers wherever they are and helping them learn more about the resources that may be available to them. It is part of the association’s larger effort to educate people about caregiving in Iowa.

AARP Iowa data show the state’s 330,000 unpaid family caregivers provide $310 million of care every year in the state, which is valued at more than $5 billion. Brad Anderson, state director for AARP Iowa, said caregivers are busy and often do not know what to expect or where to get information. “For example, they need to know, ‘How do I get in touch with the Area Agency on Aging?’ They need to know, ‘How does Medicare work?’ They need to know, ‘Is my loved one on the right prescription drug program?'” Anderson outlined.

AARP is traveling the state from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River in a big red RV to distribute information. Anderson noted they are making stops at grocery stores, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies; the most likely places to run across people who have just inherited caregiving duties.

There are other, more ‘hands-on’ things caregivers need to know but Anderson added since most people fall into the role, there is no real formal training and they have to learn their new role on the fly.

“How do I feed my loved one? How do I care for a wound? Maybe how do I even lift this person up and help them into bed?” Anderson explained. “These are all things that sometimes happen, literally, overnight.”

The informational tour is scheduled to last into August.