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Audubon woman arrested in connection with Jan. 18th hit-and-run incident

News

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Police in Audubon says tips from the public lead investigators to arrest a woman authorities were looking for, in connection with a Jan. 18th hit-and-run incident near the Ace Hardware Store, in Audubon. 27- year old Janae Nicole Anderson of Audubon, was arrested Wednesday. Anderson was charged with Failure to Maintain Control, Striking an Unattended Vehicle, and Failure to Provide Proof Of Insurance. She was released from custody on promise to appear. During the incident which led to her arrest, police says sometime during the evening hours of Jan. 18th, an dark navy blue vehicle struck a parked car in front of the hardware store, causing over $5000 damage.

Trial continues in Bluffs’ man’s sex abuse case

News

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Testimony from the alleged victim took up most of the proceedings during the first day of the sexual abuse trial Thursday, of John Osborn of Council Bluffs. The 47-year old is charged with four counts of third-degree sexual abuse for alleged acts with a 14-year-old girl. The alleged victim played softball and was good friends with Osborn’s daughter. The Daily NonPareil reports in his opening statement Dan McGinn with the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office described a relationship between Osborn and the alleged victim that started with a conversation at a softball game about whether the teenager was pretty. The pair started texting and having phone conversations, which quickly escalated to sexual in nature.

On the night of July 16-17, the girl stayed at the Osborn home to hang out with Osborn’s daughter. The 14-year-old said she was there to celebrate Osborn’s daughter making a select softball team. The teen testified that after Osborn’s wife had gone to bed, around midnight the daughter was asleep and Osborn told the teenager to make up her bed. The alleged victim said Osborn followed and pushed her up against a wall and kissed her, fulfilling a wish of his they’d discussed in a text. The two then engaged in four separate sex acts, the teen said. She said before and after each act, Osborn checked to make sure his daughter was still asleep.

In his opening statements, Defense attorney Jordan Glaser argued that John Osborn went to sleep at 11 p.m. on the night in question, joining his wife, who was already in bed. The defense said the two young girls went to bed around 11:45 p.m., with the daughter’s friend falling asleep quickly, while the daughter stayed up, tending to a new puppy and watching Netflix, until 3 a.m.

Glaser said testimony from Osborn’s wife and daughter will show Osborn was in bed by 11 p.m. and that the friend didn’t leave the bedroom, corroborating the defense’s assertion that no sexual acts happened that night. The defense attorney then admitted that Osborn had committed reprehensible acts communicating via text and phone about sexual topics with the alleged victim.

The girl’s mother testified that she found out about the relationship when she was looking at a photo on the victim’s phone and a text message came from Osborn, with a link to a love song. The first day of trial included the testimony of Council Bluffs Police Department detectives Chris Anderson and Mike Roberts, Nosimilo Dube with Child Protective Services, the victim’s aunt and the victim’s mother’s boss.

The trial is expected to resume this (Friday) morning.

KJAN listening area weather forecast: Fri., 2/6/2015

Weather

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

(updated 4-a.m. 2/6/15 – NWS/Des Moines)

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 39. South wind 8 to 13 mph.
Tonight: Areas of fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 27. South southwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
Saturday: Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 43. South southwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Saturday Night: Patchy fog after 7pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. West wind 6 to 8 mph.
Sunday: Areas of fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 42. West northwest wind 7 to 11 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 35.

A dispute over fire dept. control leads to 7 Glenwood firefighter resignations

News

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Seven members of the Glenwood Fire and Rescue Department resigned Tuesday after a dispute over how the department is run, though the chief says the department still has enough members to fulfill its duties. According to the Daily NonPareil,  the resignations occurred following a meeting on Monday of the Glenwood Fire Association. Fire Chief Butch Fidler told the paper that the Association’s members, who are volunteers, were upset with how city administration chose the department’s leadership.

Fidler said two-years ago, the city passed an ordinance to be able to appoint a fire chief instead of having a vote for one. The mass departure of staff was the result of an issue over the department’s self-governance, according to Fidler, who oversees the operations of the emergency management services. He said the members who resigned were trying to create a position to oversee that and exclude him.

After the resignations, there are 12 volunteers in the department. However, Fidler has already received three applications from individuals interested in joining the department. Glenwood provides mutual aid to Pacific Junction, Silver City, Malvern and Lewis Township. Fidler said despite the resignations, the department is operating normally.

C.B. T-J teacher arrested again after addtional sex abuse charges filed

News

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A Thomas Jefferson High School teacher charged earlier this month with sexual abuse for an alleged relationship with a student faces new accusations. The Daily NonPareil reports 29-year old Jeff Daugherty,of Council Bluffs, was arrested Wednesday on warrants for sexual exploitation by a school employee and lascivious acts with a minor, according to the Council Bluffs Police Department and court records.

Daugherty, who taught math at the school, was initially arrested on Jan. 8th for alleged acts with a 14-year-old student. According to an arrest affidavit, a second victim came forward came forward shortly after his arrest. The school conducted an investigation and turned the matter over to police. The second victim, now 18 years old, was 17 at the time of the alleged acts. She told detectives that she and Daugherty stayed after school in his classroom often in April of 2014.

On one occasion, she said she exposed herself to him after being asked to do so. On multiple occasions, Daugherty allegedly asked the girl to perform sex acts on him, and she complied. The arrest affidavit notes the victim told police she was not forced to engage in sex acts with the teacher.

The sexual exploitation charge is a Class D felony and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The lascivious acts charge is a serious misdemeanor. Daugherty resigned from the school district at a special Council Bluffs school board meeting Tuesday. Court records indicate he is currently is free on a $10,000 bond.

Legalizing prizes for fantasy sports league champs

News, Sports

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Iowans who participate in fantasy sports leagues could legally accept any amount of prize money for winning if a bill under consideration in the legislature becomes state law. Iowa is one of a handful of states where it is illegal for someone to collect more than 50 dollars if the real professional athletes they’ve assembled as a fantasy squad have the best combined statistics. John Cacciatore is a lobbyist for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. He says it’s a game of skill, just like bowling leagues or cribbage tournaments in Iowa where significant prize money can be awarded to the winners.

“You pick players from real time statistics and real time activities to put your teams together,” Cacciatore says. “…It requires research and skill to put those teams together.” But the state-licensed casinos are pressing hard against that concept, urging lawmakers to set daily wagering limits and forbid anyone under the age of 21 from winning one of the daily fantasy league prizes. Mark Beltrame  is a lobbyist for Scientific Games, a company that develops products for the gambling industry.

“There are certainly aspects of participating in this, particularly on a daily basis…without any limitations — that certainly sounds like, perhaps, another activity,” Beltrame says. Brian Carter, a retired Methodist minister, says when money’s involved, it’s gambling and the state should forbid it. “I had a lot of people as I was in ministry having sexual addictions and I’m not comparing fantasy (sports) game players with them, but I’m saying they found that their problem was the internet. That compounded their problem,” Carter says. “And I think when we’re starting to talk about fantasy game playing and opening it up, we’re going to have problems.”

The lobbyist for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association shoots back at those who contend it’s gambling. “There’s a difference between gambling and wagering on the outcome of a game, you know, who will win between the Bears and the Packers versus providing an entry fee to compete with other folks who pick their teams and compete against each other to win that contest,” Cacciatore says. Under current Iowa law, fantasy sports league participants with a “bona fide social relationship” can win prizes of no more than 50-dollars a day.

The N-F-L’s “Perfect Challenge” fantasy game has a one-MILLION dollar prize and, if an Iowan were to win, it would be illegal for them to collect that prize. A bill that would let Iowans accept any level of cash prizes for being the champion of a fantasy sports league easily cleared the Senate State Government Committee this week on a 13 to one vote. A subcommittee in the Iowa House has also signed off on the bill.

(Radio Iowa)

Murder charge filed in death of Sloan man

News

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Woodbury County officials filed a first-degree murder charge Thursday in the death of Sloan man on January 9th. Twenty-nine-year-old Timothy Rodger Schroeder is charged in the shooting death of Dustin Taylor Wilder. The body of Wilder, who was 29, was found at his home in Sloan by a dog sitter. Court documents state that Schroeder and his wife Amanda accompanied Wilder to his home after leaving a bar in Sloan.

Court information says Amanda Schroeder told investigators that she and another man, Dustin Duncan, overheard her husband say he wanted to commit a robbery and do something big or kill someone before Wilder was found dead. Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew says investigators are still hoping to find an important piece of evidence in the case. “The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who would come across a tri-fold black billfold, it could be anywhere in the area from Sloan to Sioux City to South Sioux (City). Anything with identification that would come back to the victim,” Drew says.

Schroeder is also charged with going armed with intent and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Drew says Schroeder has been previously convicted of felonies twice and was arrested late January 9th on a parole violation. “He has been the focus of the investigation, and the community has not been at any risk because he was in custody within hours,” Drew says.

No one else has been charged in the case at this time. Schroeder is being held in the Woodbury County Jail on a 320-thousand dollar bond.

(Radio Iowa)

Area high school basketball scores from Thu., Feb. 5th 2015

Sports

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

BOYS BASKETBALL

Western Iowa:

  • A-H-S-T-W 77, Riverside 34
  • Audubon 39, Griswold 37
  • IKM-Manning 74, Tri-Center 62
  • Treynor 71, Logan-Magnolia 41
  • Underwood 48, Missouri Valley 37

Others:

  • Mount Ayr 58, Clarinda 57
  • Nodaway Valley 63, Southeast Warren 18
  • Sidney 54, Stanton 50
  • West Harrison 53, Charter Oak-Ute 44

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Western Iowa:

  • A-H-S-T-W 46, Riverside 35
  • Audubon 53, Griswold 38
  • IKM-Manning 65, Tri-Center 42
  • Logan-Magnolia 60, Treynor 53
  • Underwood 50, Missouri Valley 45

Others:

  • Charter Oak-Ute 64, West Harrison 29
  • Clarinda 53, Mount Ayr 35
  • Nodaway Valley 58, Southeast Warren 55
  • Stanton 50, Sidney 39

Iowa routs injury-plagued Michigan 72-54

Sports

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Jarrod Uthoff had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Iowa scored the final 12 points of the first half en route to a 72-54 victory over Michigan Thursday night. The Wolverines, playing without injured guards Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton, did not score for the final 6:58 of the half, and the Hawkeyes (14-8, 5-4 Big Ten) led 31-21 at halftime. Mike Gesell finished with 14 points for Iowa, and Aaron White added 13.

Aubrey Dawkins led Michigan with 16 points, but the Wolverines (13-10, 6-5) continue to be plagued by extended scoring droughts. They were held without a point in overtime in a loss at Michigan State on Sunday, and they never really threatened Iowa after the Hawkeyes built a comfortable lead.

It ended up being Michigan’s most lopsided home loss since Dec. 28, 2010, when Purdue beat the Wolverines 80-57 in Ann Arbor.

Iowa women’s field hockey players file gender bias complaint

Sports

February 6th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Four members of the Iowa women’s field hockey team have filed a federal gender bias complaint over the firing of their coach. As first reported by ESPN on Thursday, players Natalie Cafone, Chandler Ackers, Jessy Silfer and Dani Hemeon filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education last week. They allege the firing of coach Tracey Griesbaum is part of a pattern in which strong female coaches have faced discrimination and been fired.

Athletic director Gary Barta fired Griesbaum in August, after an investigation into allegations of verbal abuse by former players. The university has defended the firing, saying Barta took action to protect players. But Griesbaum’s supporters say she’s done nothing wrong and is the victim of a double standard.

University officials have repeatedly rejected gender bias claims.