(Radio Iowa) – Nearly 630 Iowa soldiers who have been deployed to the Middle East for the past 10 months are returning home. The soldiers returning to Iowa include a group of about 110 men and women from Davenport, 130 from both Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, and 250 from Waterloo. The Iowa Army National Guard is hosting modified community welcome home ceremonies for the soldiers, who are from the 1st Battalion “Ironman” 133rd Infantry Regiment. Due to health concerns associated with the pandemic, the ceremonies will not be open to the public, but they will be live-streamed for the public to view.

The first welcome home event will be held in Waterloo tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon. Others will take place in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Dubuque before a second ceremony is held in Waterloo on April 13th.

The Ironman Battalion supported Operation Spartan Shield in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. According to the Iowa Army National Guard, this was the fifth federal mobilization for the Ironman Battalion since 2000, including a nearly 22-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Sept. 2005 through Aug. 2007.

The Creston Police Department reports a local man was arrested Monday night on a Union County warrant. 30-year-old Alex Cunningham, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 9:45-p.m., on a warrant for Failure to Serve Court Ordered Jail Sentence, on the original charge of Violation of Protection Order. Cunningham was being held in the Union County Jail until the balance of his sentence is served.

An accident involving an ATV in northern Iowa’s Winnebago County, Monday night, claimed one life and resulted in injuries to another person. The Iowa State Patrol says a 2021 Can-Am ATV wad traveling through a field west of Forest City at around 10:10-p.m., when the vehicle went off of a terrace and began to roll. An occupant in the vehicle was ejected and died at the scene. He was identified as 49-year-old John Eugene West, of Forest City. The second occupant, 23-year-old Terence Jacob West, also of Forest City, suffered non-life threatening injuries. He was flown by LifeNet helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Mason City.  Neither man was wearing a seat belt.

The Patrol said it wasn’t immediately clear who was driving the ATV. The accident remains under investigation.

Perry, Iowa – April 6, 2021 – Alliant Energy and the city of Perry have reached an agreement to install a 1-megawatt solar facility on a 7-acre site on the western edge of the city. On April 5, a lease for the project was approved during the City Council Meeting. Sven Peterson, City Administrator for the City of Perry, says “The City of Perry looks forward to hosting a solar energy project in our community,” said . “Our collaboration with Alliant Energy on this facility will provide financial, environmental and educational benefits to the city and area residents.”

By hosting the solar facility, the City of Perry will receive significant revenue from lease payments for 25 years. The city will also obtain renewable energy credits from the project to offset their greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions and help them progress toward their sustainability goals. Mason Adams, Alliant Energy key account manager, says “We are excited to partner with the city of Perry to support the community and bring more clean energy to our customers. This is the first Alliant Energy® Customer Hosted Renewables solar facility in the state of Iowa. This project is a win-win that will benefit the local economy and the environment for many years to come. It represents our vision to provide a clean energy future for our customers and the communities we serve.”

The solar facility will be located on a remediated brownfield site that the city of Perry has worked to put a renewable energy project on for several years. Alliant Energy will oversee construction of the solar facility and will own, operate and maintain it. There are no upfront, financing or other costs to the city of Perry. It is expected to be operational by mid-2022.

(Radio Iowa) – The man wanted for last week’s murder of a Mason City man was arrested on Monday afternoon after a standoff with authorities in Algona. The Mason City Police Department says at around 4 o’clock, 38-year-old Benjamin Gonzalez was taken into custody on a first-degree murder warrant.

Benjamin B. Gonzalez

He’s accused of the shooting death last Wednesday night of 36-year-old Michael Creviston in the area of 3rd Northwest and North Jefferson. Gonzalez is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond pending an initial court date. If convicted of first-degree murder, Gonzalez would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the opportunity for parole.

Police are still seeking more information about the case, and if you have information, you are asked to contact the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636.