The Adams County Sheriff’s office reports the arrest of a Nodaway man following a traffic accident early Tuesday morning. Officials say 19-year-old Johnathan Locke, of Nodaway, was taken into custody, after an investigation into the crash. Locke was traveling eastbound near 2107 Corning Carl Road at around 12:20-a.m. Tuesday, when he swerved to miss a deer. The vehicle entered a ditch and hit a driveway before it vaulted into the air and hit a utility pole. The pole fell into the north ditch and set it on fire.  Locke and a passenger in the vehicle, Hannah Cross, of Corning, suffered minor injuries during the crash. 

Locke was picked up later in the day Tuesday, on an Adams County warrant. He was charged with driving while suspended, public intoxication, minor in possession, and interference with official acts.

A school superintendent in northwest Iowa is responding to media reports that he rejected the showing of a documentary on bullying to students. Sioux City Schools Superintendent Paul Gausman says the movie, which is titled “Bully,” cannot be shown in any schools right now. “Truthfully, at this time, the district cannot show the film in our schools as the film is not yet ready for school based release,” Gausman said. “When the film becomes available, we will make the appropriate decisions related to how we might infuse the film into the very progressive activities we have already placed in our schools.” 

Parts of the documentary were filmed in a Sioux City elementary school. The Motion Picture Association of America has given the film an “R” rating for foul language, upsetting supporters of the project who believe it will prevent the film from being shown to students to demonstrate the impact of bullying. Gausman says parental involvement is important in teaching children about bullying — which goes beyond whatever decision is made on the R-rated documentary. “We must have parent engagement to watch a film with that rating,” Gausman said. “Similarly, the solutions for bullying in the American school system must also include parental engagement and community engagement as we enact any programs, curriculum or even documentaries as a solution for the challenges that face the American schools related to bullying.” 

The Sioux City School District has partnered with the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention for 12 years in efforts to stop bullying and harassment in public schools.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A bill that would remove the phrase “mental retardation” from most state laws has passed the Iowa Legislature and now will go to Gov. Terry Branstad. The House unanimously approved the bill Tuesday. The Senate had earlier passed the bill, also unanimously.  Branstad has indicated his support for the change. The move is part of a national effort to encourage governments and individuals to stop using the term.
     Activists say the term “mental retardation” can be hurtful to people who have a variety of disabilities.
 
     In Iowa, the phrase “intellectual disability” will be used instead.

A Harlan teen arrested last Summer on drug charges is in trouble with the law again. According to court records, 18-year old Brett Scott Wilke faces numerous felony drug charges and an aggravated misdemeanor drug charge, after he was arrested following an ongoing Harlan Police Department investigation into his alleged activities.

Wilke faces a felony charge of Ongoing Criminal Conduct, three felony charges of delivery of a controlled substance, and an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance in a structure. If convicted of the felony and aggravated misdemeanor charges, he faces up to 42 years in jail, with additional fines totaling $17,500.

According to Harlan Police reports, Wilke allegedly sold marijuana to a confidential informant on three separate occasions in January and February. The Harlan Tribune reports Wilke allegedly sold a baggie of a green leafy substance that field tested positive for marijuana to the informant. The amount of each sale was 3.8, 4.2 and 5.4 grams. One of the sales was within 1,000 feet of a school. Wilke was taken into custody following a traffic stop February 23^rd in Harlan. He was released on a $15,000 bond and ordered to appear in court for his Preliminary Hearing on March 15^th.

Wilke was also arrested on May 30^th, 2011, on Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charges. Wilke was 17 at the time. His case was handled by Juvenile Court Services.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a Nebraska man was arrested Tuesday morning on numerous charges in the northwestern part of the County, following a manhunt. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Dwayne Riche told KJAN News 28-year old Louis Enrique Cruz-Guzman, of Bellevue, NE, was taken into custody at around 11:37-a.m. after being flushed out of an embankment near a creek by a Pott. County K-9 unit about 6-miles north-northeast of Council Bluffs. Sgt. Riche says the incident began when authorities received word at around 7:50-a.m., that a man matching Cruz-Guzman’s description was on the property of the Hazel-Dell Township Cemetery at about 250^th and Juniper Road. At around 10:15-a.m., deputies were called to L-34 and Badger Avenue for a report the same subject was walking toward Weston Avenue. 

A property owner in the area, Brian Driver, saw Cruz-Guzman walking on his property carrying a claw hammer Driver believed came from a shed or outbuilding on his property.  When Driver confronted the man and said he was going to call the Sheriff’s Office, Cruz-Guzman took off on foot through a corn field headed toward a wooded creek line. Moments later, Phil Cock, who was on an ATV fixing fences, saw the suspect running toward the creek in the vicinity of Juniper Road and L-34. 

A deputy who responded to the scene hopped on the ATV with Cock and together the men began a search for Cruz-Guzman. At that same time, authorities received another report the same man allegedly stole a bicycle from a female residents’ backyard, and was trying to get away. The suspect abandoned the bike and once again took off on foot. Numerous agencies responded to conduct a search for the man, including the Iowa State Patrol and a Pott. County K-9 unit.  Area schools were notified about the incident and placed on “lock-down,” as a security measure. As the K-9 “Francisco,” and his handler, Deputy Brian Miller, began walking the creek line, the suspect heard the team approaching and surrendered to the State Patrol near the 14.5-mile marker of Interstate 80. Cruz-Guzman was wearing only his boxer shorts, as his shoes, pants and shirt were frozen and discarded in the water. 

Cruz-Guzman was arrested on a warrant out of Boone County, Iowa, for Probation Revocation and Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Deliver. He was also charged in Pottawattamie County, with Burglary in the 3^rd Degree…2 counts of Trespassing…Interference with Official Acts and Theft in the 5^th Degree. He was being held this (Wednesday) morning in the Pott. County Jail on $10,000 bond.