(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department says no injuries were reported after two vehicles collided at an uncontrolled intersection Monday afternoon. The accident happened at around 4:20-p.m. at the intersection of Maple & Page Streets. a 2014 Dodge van driven by 22-year-old Kelby Aaron Durnin, of Fairbank, was traveling west across Page Street and having the right-of-way, proceeded through the intersection.

The van was struck broadside by a 2013 Chevy Impala traveling north on Maple Street, and driven by 20-year-old Skye Marie Davis, of Harlan, who had the responsibility to yield. Davis told Police she didn’t see any signs at the intersection, and when she proceeded, didn’t see the van until it was too late to avoid a collision.

Damages amounted to $5,000. No citations had been issued as of the time of the report.

(Radio Iowa) – Mike Franken, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, says Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is engaging in double-speak when explaining his no vote on capping insulin prices. Grassley says his vote was not about insulin, but about Democrats ignoring Senate budget rules.

“The short of it is: Did you vote for it or did you not vote for it? You didn’t vote for it so just admit it,” Franken says. “…There’s 240,000 Iowans that this affects.” Grassley says the senate should pass a bipartisan package that would include a limit on insulin prices. This weekend’s Senate vote to cap insulin prices at 35 dollars a month failed, as it needed 10 Republican senators to pass.

Franken says Grassley played politics when he had the chance to cap the sky high prices Americans are paying for insulin. “Why did you vote no?” Franken asked. “You voted no because that’s what Mitch McConnell wanted you to do.” During this weekend’s Senate debate on the package of health and energy proposals, Grassley criticized the bill’s tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. Franken says he hears from voters who want to buy electric vehicles — and have access to charging stations.

“We talk about the mayoral race in New York City of 100 years ago when the biggest issue was the removal of horse manure and four years later it was pedestrians getting hit by cars,” Franken says. “We talk about when smart phones came into existence in 2007 and everybody has one today,” Franken says. Franken says the technology is shifting to electric vehicles — and Iowa is in a position to benefit as more electric vehicles take to the road because of the state’s power generating capacity.

(Radio Iowa) – Dubuque Police say a former Clarke University student has been arrested after making a threat that prompted the closure of Clarke’s Dubuque campus earlier today (Monday). Just before 8 a.m., Clarke University announced the campus was closed due to an active social media threat. Police have arrested 23-year-old Rashaud Colbert in a southwestern suburb of Chicago. He’s been charged with a threat of terrorism, a felony.

The Clarke University campus reopened shortly before noon. Clarke is a private Catholic college with an enrollment of about 12-hundred students and more than 320 professors and staff.

(Radio Iowa) – Federal officials say a southwest Iowa manufacturer has agreed to pay a half a million dollar settlement after a whistleblower claimed the company failed to properly test parts it made for military contractors. W-D-C Acquisitions in Creston, known by its trade name Wellman Dynamics, makes aluminum and magnesium metal castings. A news release from the U.S. Justice Department says Wellman Dynamics parts have been used in the military’s Apache, Osprey and Black Hawk helicopters.

The federal government alleged that between 2014 and 2021, the company did not conduct required strength and quality tests of its parts and falsely certified that tests had been performed. Wellman employee Bradley Keller is the whistleblower who sued the company on behalf of the United States. He’ll be paid 90-thousand dollars. The Justice Department says the claims resolved by the settlement remain allegations and there has been no determination of liability.

Wellman Dynamics has been in business for a century and has about 350 employees at its facility in Creston. A Michigan-based private equity fund known as T-R-M Equity bought Wellman on July 29th. In a news release, Wellman’s new owner indicated very significant investments have been made recently to modernize the facility in Creston.

(By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jerry Jimenez, Navy Office of Community Outreach)

GREAT LAKES, Ill. – Sailors are some of the most highly-trained people on the planet, according to Navy officials, and this training requires highly-dedicated instructors. At Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), this obligation falls upon hard-charging Navy professionals who train and mentor the Navy’s future warfighters.

Petty Officer 1st Class Madeline Binter, a native of Atlantic, Iowa, plays an important role as an instructor at NETC, providing the fleet with sailors who possess the basic technical knowledge and skills necessary for naval service. “I enjoy being able to play a role in the development of sailors,” said Binter. “It gives me a chance to really prepare them and help paint a picture of what is to come next after Great Lakes. It also gives me the chance to mentor more sailors that will spread all over the fleet.”

Petty Officer 1st Class Madeline Binter (Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Joy,
Navy Office of Community Outreach)

Instructors are experts in the subject matter they teach, and they provide cutting-edge technical training that transforms civilians into mission-ready sailors. Binter, a 2012 Exira-EHK High School graduate, joined the Navy seven years ago.

(Read the complete Navy Press release, HERE)