Police in Creston report two men were arrested Wednesday on separate drug charges. 31-year-old Adam Cross, of Creston, was arrested at his home at around 2-p.m., on Union County warrants for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd offense, Burglary in the 3rd Degree (Motor Vehicle), and Operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. His bond at the Union County Jail was set at $9,000, with an additional hold for Adair County.

And, at around 11:45-p.m., Wednesday, 24-year-old Keegan WIlliams (no address given), was arrested for Theft in the 3rd Degree, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond at the Union County Jail was set at $2,300.

If you’re a property owner, you were likely shocked and angered by the increase in your property assessment that came out earlier this month. Atlantic’s City Administrator John Lund, Wednesday, said an assessment is not the final say in the amount of property taxes you will eventually end-up paying.

Speaking during a meeting of the Atlantic City Council, Lund says if you’re property assessment went up anywhere from 10-to 30-percent, there’s no limit to how far the rollback can dive, in order to reconcile the fair value. Once the rollback is established, the County Auditor applies the taxable values. Lund will receive that data, and he along with the Council will discuss the tax levies. That process won’t even start until December.

Police in Red Oak investigating a non-injury accident Wednesday night, arrested the driver on an OWI charge. Authorities say officers responding at around 11:41-p.m. to the 1400 block of E. Coolbaugh Street, found a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander on its top, in the middle of the road. They determined the driver, 26-year-old Aspen Renee Riley, of Red Oak, was traveling east, when she become distracted and struck a legally parked 2011 Cadillac SRX Premium, owned by Morgan Dausel. Both vehicles sustained damage to the left front headlight assembly. The airbags deployed on the SUV.

Riley was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $14,000 altogether.

Two people were arrested Wednesday night in Red Oak. Authorities say 29-year-old Kody James Syverson, of Stanton, and 29-year-old Olivia Margaret Kruse, of Red Oak, were each charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. They were taken into custody at around 10:30-p.m. in the 1600 block of Summit Street, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where the pair was being held without bond, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – A new security director will be installed in the Iowa Department of Corrections in response to the March 23rd attack by inmates at the Anamosa State Penitentiary that killed two staff members. In addition to the internal investigation underway, Governor Kim Reynolds says an external investigation is planned. “We’ll address any issues the investigations may reveal and we’ll do what’s necessary to protect our people. Nothing is more important than that,” Reynolds says. “Changes may require additional investment, something that I am fully committed to doing, and this includes making sure that the department and its facilities are adequately staffed.”

Reynolds says 93 percent of full-time positions in the prison system are currently filled. Hiring is underway to fill another five percent, but there is no money in the current year’s budget to cover the remaining two percent of positions. House Republicans are preparing a budget plan that would provide nearly 20-and-a-half million more dollars to the Department of Corrections. Representative Ross Wilburn, a Democrat from Ames, says 20 million seems like a lot, but it doesn’t adequately address the security situation exposed by the attacks at Anamosa. “This entire budget is one that’s been woefully underfunded,” Wilburn says.

Republican Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake defends the plan. “We have gotten this budget to the point where maybe it’s not 100% optimal,” Worthan says, “but it’s getting dang close.” Worthan says there is no way to eliminate 100 percent of the risk of working in a prison. “Unfortunately, people are trying to make political hay out of that tragedy. Anamosa is approved for 311 positions; 288 are filled as of the last pay period and 15 are in the process of hiring,” Worthan says. “Anamosa, by any stretch of the imagination, was not understaffed.”

Representative Chris Hall, a Democrat from Sioux City, says the Anamosa incident highlights the dire need for more staff and better security in an overcrowded prison system. “To say that we are playing politics is unfortunate and I would just say it seems to be a two-way street,” Hall says, “so we should all be careful of what we are saying when we point the finger if we have not looked at ourselves directly in the mirror first.”

In January, Governor Reynolds recommended a five million dollar increase in the state prison system budget, for salaries and staffing. Last month, Senate Republicans said they had settled on a four million dollar increase.

(Radio Iowa) – Uber Eats, Door Dash and other services that deliver food would be allowed to deliver beer, wine and liquor from a restaurant, grocery store and other retailer if a bill that’s cleared the House becomes law. Under current state law, bottles of alcohol may only be delivered by people employed by the retailer and that person must be driving a vehicle owned by the store or restaurant when making the delivery. Representative Mike Sexton of Rockwell City says most restaurants and grocery stores that sell wine, beer and alcohol just don’t have enough employees to make home deliveries.

“We’re working through the end of Covid, I hope, if it helps people from staying out of a grocery store, if it helps with an employee shortage that we have in the state of Iowa,” Sexton says. “These are some of the little things we do that I think we make life better for Iowans and, ultimately, that’s the reason why we’re here.”

The legislation requires delivery services and retailers to have written agreements in order to allow a third-party to deliver alcohol. Those agreements, listing names and addresses of the businesses and the delivery services involved, would have to be submitted electronically to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division. “We were doing Zoom calls with people in California and all over the place in order to make sure we got this right,” Sexton says.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. A year ago, Governor Reynolds temporarily allowed restaurants and bars to sell carry-out cocktails as part of her public health emergency proclamation. Then, last summer, Iowa became the first state in the country to pass a law making to-go cocktails legal.