SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A 37-year-old Missouri man is charged with kidnapping the 4-year-old daughter of a woman whose body was found on a hillside in southwest Missouri.
Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, of Noel, was charged Tuesday. He is not in custody. The body of 25-year-old Jessica McCormack, of Noel, was found July 29. Investigators believe she was stuffed into a suitcase that rolled down a hill after being thrown from a moving vehicle.

Her three children, ages 4 years to 6 months, were missing until a woman in Des Moines, Iowa, told authorities Mahemed brought them to her home Aug. 5 but left three days later.
The 4-year-old’s father told authorities Mahemed didn’t have consent to take the children to Iowa. Prosecutors say Mahemed is the 2-year-old’s father. The 6-month-old’s paternity has not been determined.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has blocked Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller from joining 21 states and six large cities in a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy easing restrictions on coal-fired power plants. Miller says he sought approval from the governor in June but Reynolds, a Republican and Donald Trump supporter, declined.
Miller, a Democrat, reached an agreement with Reynolds in May requiring him to get her consent before joining such lawsuits. In exchange, Reynolds vetoed a bill lawmakers passed that weakened the attorney general’s powers.

Trump has replaced an Obama administration plan that required states to cut emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants with a rule relaxing the state restrictions. The federal lawsuit claims the Trump rule violates the federal Clean Air Act.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Nebraska was arrested on robbery and other charges following a carjacking with shots fired, Tuesday, evening. 30-year old Justine Baker, of Omaha, was transported to the Douglas County, NE. jail and held on charges that include Robbery in the 1st degree, Eluding while participating in a felony, Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, Theft in the 2nd degree, and Theft in the 5th Degree – related to the theft of gasoline. An unidentified adult male also allegedly involved in the incident was being sought by law enforcement.

Authorities say at around 6:12-p.m., Tuesday, Pottawattamie County deputies were dispatched to the area of I-29 and I-680 near the Mormon Bridge for a carjacking with shots fired. The vehicle reported stolen was a white GMC pickup. The pickup was taken by a white male and white female. A deputy was in the area and located the vehicle southbound on I-29 near the 57-mile marker. The deputy observed the pickup at speeds in excess of 100 mph. The pickup continued southbound on I-29 and travelled into Omaha on I-480. The Omaha Police Department located the pickup near 13th Street and Cass Street. One adult female identified as Justine Baker, was detained. The adult male was not located.

The preliminary investigation indicates that Baker and the unidentified male drove off in a 1992 Chevy truck without pay for gas from the DeSoto Bend Mini Mart. One of the owners located the vehicle on 145th Street near I-680. The owner blocked the road with his pickup. The male driver rammed the truck that was blocking the road, before firing shots. The male and Baker got into the truck blocking the road and fled. The 1992 Chevy truck that was left at 145th Street and I-680 was a stolen vehicle from Saunders County, Nebraska. At this point, a deputy located the vehicle southbound on I-29 and it continued into Omaha, NE.

The investigation into the identity of the male is ongoing.

Officials with the City of Avoca say two, counterfeit $100 bills were recently been presented at local businesses. Local merchants are asked to report any suspicious bills to the police department.

Officials with the Omaha Foundation have issued a reminder to non-profit organizations in Cass and Audubon Counties, that you have until Sept. 1st to apply for separate grant funds in each respective county. Applications are currently being accepted online for the fall grant cycle with $27,230 available to support Cass County nonprofit organizations and community projects, and $41,515 available to support Audubon County nonprofit organizations and community projects. .

Full application details, a fact sheet, and a link to the application form can be found online by selecting Cass (or Audubon) County, under County Listing at www.swiowafoundations.org. Applications will only be accepted through the online system. Only those organizations providing services in Cass and Audubon Counties are eligible to apply IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTIES. They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) Public Charity or a fiscally sponsored project. Requests for general operating support will not be considered.

Please contact Stacey Goodman at 800-794-3458 or stacey@omahafoundation.org or Tess Houser at tess@omahafoundation.org with application-related questions. All completed grant applications will be considered at the October Board meeting, with applicants being notified of funding decisions by the end of October.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports a Shelby County man was arrested Tuesday on a Polk County warrant for Driving While Barred.

Stockwell

24-year old Bill Louis Stockwell, of Elk Horn, was arrested while walking along the road approximately two-miles southeast of Clarinda. Stockwell was transported to the Page County Jail awaiting transfer to Polk County as he was unable to post the $2,000 cash-only bond.

Also arrested August 13th in Page County, was 55-year old Ben G. Franks, who reported his address as homeless. Franks was arrested at Pioneer Park, located approximately 6.5 miles east of Shenandoah, off Highway 2.

Franks

Franks was arrested for OWI 1st Offense. He was transported to the Page County Jail and later released on bond, pending further court proceedings.

On Monday, Page County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 59-year old David Allen Mulkins, of Clarinda, for OWI 2nd Offense. Mulkins was arrested during a traffic stop on a vehicle he was operating southeast of Clarinda. He was transported to the Page County Jail and later released on bond, pending future court proceedings.

Mulkins

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 2-year-old child died in Des Moines after ingesting a woman’s prescription medications. A Des Moines police news release says 38-year-old Amanda Leonard-Helum was arrested Tuesday in Waterloo on a warrant for child endangerment causing death. She was taken to Polk County Jail and remained there Wednesday, pending $25,000 bail.

Police say Leonard-Helum, of Waterloo, was trying to adopt the little boy, who was a child of her former boyfriend. She’d driven herself and the boy to Des Moines from Waterloo on June 26.
She learned after they arrived that the child had swallowed some of her medications. Police say she decided to monitor him rather than seek medical care. He died overnight. Toxicology reports indicate he died of an overdose of her medicines.

(KNOD – Harlan) Three men were sentenced Monday and Tuesday in connection with the January murder of 38-year-old Council Bluffs man Adam Angeroth. 20 year old Nicholas Haner of Harlan, 21 year old Liam Stec of Omaha and 25 year old Ryan McDonald of Glenwood were each sentenced to 50 years in prison by Fourth Judicial District Judge Michael Hooper, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder charges. Haner and Stec were sentenced Tuesday, while McDonald appeared in court Monday.

Angeroth was found dead in his apartment at 35 N. First Street on Jan. 24. No one had seen him for several days. An autopsy revealed signs of blunt force trauma and knife wounds to Angeroth’s body. According to court records, Haner thought that Angeroth had him arrested on Jan. 18, which, according to Pottawattamie County District Attorney Matt Wilber, was unfounded. The trio was initially charged with first-degree murder, a Class A felony that is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison, but the charges were amended to accommodate plea deals that the state, the defendants and the victim’s family were all amenable to, according to Wilber.

Wilber, along with investigators who worked the case, believed that Haner was the ringleader of the group. The fact that Haner received the same sentence as his co-defendants didn’t sit well with Wilber. All three men are required to serve at least 70 percent of the 50-year terms — a minimum of 35 years — before they will be eligible for release or parole. The fourth and final defendant in the case is Xavier Smith-Catchings, of Omaha. Smith-Catchings was 15 at the time the murder occurred, and is now 16. He will be tried as an adult. Wilber said he expects a resolution to that case to be forthcoming, but is unsure when.