EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AP) – A northern Iowa community will hold a special election to fill a City Council seat after the man who was elected to the position refused to serve. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the Eagle Grove City Council last week agreed to hold an election March 3 after Gary Lalor Jr. declined to take the position. Lalor filed to run for the seat but then missed a deadline to remove his name from the ballot after deciding he didn’t want to join the council. Eagle Grove is a city of 3,400, about 20 miles northeast of Fort Dodge.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports officers investigating reported suspicious activity Thursday night, arrested a man on a felony drug charge. Police were called to the area of the 1200 block of S. 16th Street at around 8:45-p.m. The suspect, 47-year old Timothy Clayton McCollum, of Coin, turned himself-in to the Clarinda Police Department without incident. He was arrested for felony possession of methamphetamine, and later released after posting a $5,000 bond.

Reports concerning the incident have been submitted to the office of Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review regarding the filing of formal charges.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year old Johnathan Thomas Gendregske, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Thursday evening on drug charges. He was taken into custody at around 5:12-p.m. at 380th Street and Highway 34. Gendregske faces charges that include: Possession of a Controlled Substance; Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia; Operating a Non-registered vehicle; Failure to Provide proof of financial liability (insurance), and Open container. His bond at the Mills County Jail was set at $1,300.

The Mills County K9 Unit, Thursday, attempted to conduct a traffic stop near Highway 34 and Hilman Road, but the driver of the vehicle refused to yield. The SUV driven by 46-year old Todd Kristen Jensen, of Council Bluffs, took law enforcement on a high speed pursuit (90 miles per hour) through Glenwood.

Todd Jensen (Mills County booking photo)

During the chase, Jensen lost control of the vehicle, and crashed into a residential garage. He was taken into custody and transported to the Mills County Jail. Jensen faces three felony charge, include Eluding. He was also charged with: Possession of a Controlled Substance; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; Interference with Official Acts; Driving Under Suspension; Reckless Driving; three counts each of speeding, and Failure to Obey a Stop Sign and Yield the right-of-Way; Failure to Maintain or Use Seat Belts; Improper Use of Lanes; Fraudulent Use of Registration; Operating a Non-registered vehicle, and on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Escape from Custody. His bond on the Escape charge was set at $5,000.

Mills County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted during the incident, by Glenwood Police and the Iowa State Patrol.

(Radio Iowa) — President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law and two women who are part of Trump’s 2020 campaign team held events in Sioux City and Des Moines yesterday (Thursday). Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, is a senior digital consultant to the president’s re-election campaign and she’s headlining events aimed at women voters. “When you look at things he’s done, that is helping working mom, working families all across this country,” Lara Trump said in Sioux City.

Senior campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp and the campaign’s national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany spoke as well. Shelley Stabe (STAYB, rhymes with Abe) from Merrill was in the crowd. “How can you not be energized after listening to a group of women like and knowing that we’re going to win in a landslide in November?” she asked. Republicans are aiming to spur turn-out for their caucuses next month. Stephanie Audino of Sioux City says she’s set on caucusing for Trump on February 3rd and voting for him on November 3rd. “With the impeachment issue, we are so mad,” she says. “The impeachment issue is causing us to burn for Trump and we will be at the polls.”

President Trump has scheduled a rally in Des Moines on January 30th.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes)

(Radio Iowa) — More snow is piling up and Iowans are being reminded to clear a path for their letter carriers, or they may not get any mail. U-S Postal Service spokeswoman Kristi Anderson says carriers will make every effort to deliver the mail in virtually all weather conditions, but they need a hand from homeowners. “Make sure that they’re shoveling their sidewalks, their steps, their porch, and if they have a drive-up box, if they shovel around that at least six feet on each side,” Anderson says. “That would allow the carrier to pull up to the box without having to exit or back up when they’re trying to leave.”

Anderson says one side-effect of the winter weather is that some deliveries will be delayed. “Just to keep in mind, too, that as it does get dark earlier, if they could leave their light on, that helps our carriers and can prevent slips, trips and falls as well,” she says. Many letter carriers in Iowa are now using headlamps over their stocking caps to help them see for late afternoon and evening deliveries. Anderson says carriers make every effort to deliver to an entire route, but several factors can often make that tricky. “Especially in the far outlying areas that are going to be a little more difficult,” Anderson says, “but they will make every attempt to try and get to them either by their vehicle or if they can get out and walk and make it safely, then they will do that.”

Carriers on walking routes especially are instructed not to take risks and to skip deliveries to houses where they can’t safely make their way to the mailbox.

Sheriff’s officials in Taylor County report one-person was injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident Thursday, southwest of Lenox. Authorities say deputies responded to the scene in the 2800 block of 130th Street (J20), where a 2002 Ford F-150 driven by 60-year old Ricky Scott, of Lenox, was on its side in the north ditch. The sheriff’s office says Scott had swerved to miss a canine on the roadway. His pickup went of control before leaving the road and crashing into the ditch.

Scott was transported by LifeNet helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. The pickup was considered a total loss. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office was assisted on scene by Taylor County EMS and Lenox Fire. The accident remains under investigation with assistance from the Iowa State Patrol.