Five people were recently arrested on separate charges in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 37-year-old Peter James Zelenka, of Omaha, was arrested today (Monday) at around 12:30-a.m. on I-29. Zelenka was charged with: Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS); Poss. of drug paraphernalia; Poss./Control of an Offensive Weapon in a controlled substance Violation, and, on a warrant for Failure to Appear on a PCS charge. His bond was set at $2,300.

This past Saturday (July 31), 31-year-old Christopher Lee McDaniel, of Pacific Junction, was arrested at 290th Street/Highway 34 in Mills County, for Driving While Barred, and Presenting a False ID to law enforcement/public official. Bond was set at $2,000.

Friday evening, 38-year-old Jessica Gonzalez Herrera, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody at the Nebraska Prison, on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Bond was set at $10,000. At around 12:05-a.m., Friday, 46-year-old Nicole Renae Greene, of Rock Port, MO., was arrested in Mills County on a Fugitive from Justice warrant. She was being held without bond.

And, on July 28th, 19-year-old Rosella Raeann Weaver, a transient, was arrested at the Woodbury County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Unauthorized Use of a Credit Card. Her bond was set at $2,000.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Ohio was injured during a single-vehicle accident Thursday night. 60-year-old Bruce Kohler, of North Canton, OH, was driving a 2008 Ford northbound on the Interstate 29 on-ramp from Bunge Road at around 10:30-p.m., when his vehicle drove off the right side of the road and struck a light pole on the east side of the highway. Authorities say Kohler was suspected of being impaired by alcohol. He was transported by Silver City Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital.

And, no injuries were reported following an accident Saturday afternoon, in Mills County. Officials say a 2004 Buick driven by 45-year-old Jesse Hemsworth, of Glenwood, and a 2021 Ford driven by 19-year-old Ethan Fisher, of Pacific Junction, were both traveling west on Bunge Road at around 1:30-p.m., when Fisher slowed to turn left, onto 195th Street. Hemsworth didn’t realize Fisher was turning, and was unable to avoid the rear-end collision. The impact caused damage to the rear rack on the Ford, and suspension damage to the Buick.

(Radio Iowa) – Proposed changes in how the military investigates serious crimes are now included in a larger bill senators will vote on in the coming weeks, but Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she’s worried the plan will be scaled back as the bill works its way through congress. “I’m really on pins and needles right now because we know that the reform has been long overdue,” Ernst says.

Earlier this year, Ernst endorsed a plan to no longer have military commanders oversee sexual assault investigations. The plan also calls for all felony cases involving members of the military to be handled by trained military investigators, outside of the chain of command. Those provisions are now included in a military spending bill that has cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee. Ernst is a member of the panel. “The House and the Senate will have our versions of the Defense Authorization Act and then they come together in a conference committee before the end of the year,” Ernst says. “Hopefully it stays in through both the House and the Senate.”

For years, Pentagon leaders resisted changes in how criminal cases are handled in the military’s justice system — but President Biden and the secretary of defense have recently said they support having independent special prosecutors in the military investigate sex crimes. “But the bill we have, it removes all serious crimes from the chain of command, so it would include crimes like murder, child pornography,” Ernst says, “so we think it’s really important that we include all serious crimes.”

Ernst says commanders would still oversee investigations that are directly related to military service, like allegations of dereliction of duty or being AWOL) — absent without leave. In 2013, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley signed onto New York Senator Kristin Gillibrand’s bill to remove felony investigations from the military chain of command. Ernst, a sexual assault survivor, endorsed the proposal this year. A recent Pentagon report found thousands of soldiers are sexually assaulted each year, but few file reports and only 350 cases led to an alleged perpetrator being prosecuted in the military justice system.

Two people arrested last week on separate charges in Adair County, were subsequently cited and released. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports on July 25th, 38-year-old Tim Lee Roy Wambold, Jr., of Fontanelle, was issued a summons to appear on charges of Theft in the 2nd Degree and Trepass/1st offense. Law enforcement and fire/rescue were requested for a person stuck in a field, needing a lift assist. Upon arrival an Adair County Deputy located Wambold, Jr., sitting on an ATV that was stuck in a ditch. The field owner was determined to be the victim of the Trespass. They told authorities they wanted to press charges for the offense. After the ATV was removed from the field, it was discovered the machine was listed as stolen out of Washita County, Oklahoma. Wambold, Jr., claimed he purchased the vehicle from a man in Bridgewater about two-years ago.

And, 26-year-old Taylor Marie Turnbull was arrested at around 12:50-a.m. Friday, following a traffic stop for speeding on Highway 92 in Adair County. An investigation resulted in the determination the woman was Operating While Intoxicated. Her initial breath test registered over .08%. A follow-up test registered .159% Breath Alcohol Content. Turnbull was issued a citation and released.

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District report online student registration is now available for the upcoming school year. In case you didn’t receive notification by e-mail, the District will “continue to utilize the “rollover” online registration process with JMC. If your student(s) attended ACSD last school year (2020-21) and were still in attendance on the last day of school, you need to follow (the steps below) to verify registration information and pay student fees. Student fees need to be paid by Friday, October 8, 2021.

• Students who are new to the school district and are planning to enroll for the 2021-22 school year will need to contact each student’s school office to make an appointment to begin the enrollment process.
• If you don’t have access to the internet/online, please feel free to stop at your child’s school. The office will be more than happy to assist you in any way. Should you have any questions regarding school registration or the payment of school fees, please contact the respective school your child will likely attend, at the numbers mentioned below.

For more information please visit: https://www.atlanticiaschools.org/registration

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Saturday, of 57-year-old James Vincent White, from Clarinda. White was taken into custody in Clarinda, during a disturbance at a business where the Sheriff’s Office was assisting the Clarinda Police Department. He was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $300 bond, pending further court proceedings.

Page County S/O photo

DES MOINES – Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a package of congressional appropriations bills for the upcoming fiscal year that contained $10,196,672 in direct investments for projects across Iowa’s Third Congressional District. Congresswoman Cindy Axne worked to secure funding for nine different projects across central and southwest Iowa, to support local priorities ranging from facilities upgrades and construction to expansion of child care services and affordable housing options. Among the nine projects advanced by the House last week from Iowa’s Third Congressional District is:

• $1,000,000 to begin expansion of the Stanton Child Resource Center in Stanton, Iowa.
• $904,336 to expand affordable housing options in Council Bluffs, by supporting construction of more than 75 affordable units at the South End Housing Development Program.
• $725,336 to expand programming and add facilities at the Ringgold Child Care Center in Mount Ayr.
• $600,000 to repair and upgrade components at the Creston City Waterworks in Creston, Iowa.

Other projects in the bill include:

• $3,267,000 to repair glycol storage tanks at the Des Moines International Airport, supporting a planned expansion of de-icing capabilities at the airport.
• $1,600,000 to replace the bridge on County Highway R57 over the North River in Warren County, Iowa.
• $1,000,000 to extend and connect sewer systems in the City of Johnston, Iowa.
• $1,000,000 to support construction of the Raccoon River East Pedestrian Bridge, which will connect Raccoon River Park on the north side of the Raccoon River in West Des Moines to Walnut Woods State Park.
• $100,000 to purchase dental equipment to improve low-income dental services offered by Primary Health Care, Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa.

Earlier this year, Rep. Axne solicited input from community members across central and southwest Iowa to identify funding opportunities that would qualify for inclusion in this year’s funding bills. Only state, local, and certain non-profit entities were eligible to request or receive funding, and the requests made by Rep. Axne were certified to have both community support and demonstrable need in the area where the funding would be allocated. As a part of its annual process of setting funding levels in the federal budget, the U.S. House advanced legislation that will apply to the 2022 fiscal year, which begins October 1st.

The bills now head to the U.S. Senate for potential amendment and approval. Axne says  “While there is a long way to go before the funding for these projects become law, I’m going to continue pushing to ensure these direct taxpayer investments come back to Iowa to help complete the projects that our taxpayers will benefit from for years to come. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to recognize the value of these investments, and move swiftly to approve these and other investments in time to prevent a government shutdown at the end of September.”

The bills include funding that would support Iowa communities through the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, Labor, Education, Commerce, Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, and more. More information on that legislation can be found here.