(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman, today (Tuesday), updated the Board of Supervisors on reimbursement for damages sustained to County infrastructure stemming from the May 21st tornado. He reported on damage to the Conservation Department/Hacklebarney Woods County Park near Villisca, and Communications equipment (More specifically, the tower that was destroyed near Villisca).

Beginning with the Conservation Department damage report, Hamman said Hacklebarney sustained roughly $304,000 worth of damages from the tornado.

Hamman wanted to point out and send a “Thank you” to all those who volunteered to clean-up the park after the tornado tore through the area. He specifically mentioned Team Rubicon.

Brian Hamman said the loss to the Communications infrastructure amounted to over $1.2-million dollars, the majority of which was related to the Communications Tower.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman address the BOS 9-10-24

The Board approved a bid from Motorola in the amount of $1,082, 980, for replacement of the communication tower. A Resolution establishing a County Compensation Board failed to pass after there was no second and discussion on parliamentary procedure. The Board set Tuesday, Oct. 1st, at 8:45-a.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on the Vacating of all of the unimproved Walnut Street as described in the Amended plat of the unincorporated Town of Hawthorne.

They also discussed establishing a policy with regard to Public Comments during Board meetings. There currently is no, written policy in-place for the placement of comments on the agenda. Those comments presently follow the reading of previous meeting minutes, and are limited to two-minutes for any item not already on the agenda. The Board agreed to put the matter on next week’s agenda for discussion and possible approval.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department says there were 12 arrests that took place between August 28th and Sept. 7th (Some of which we have previously reported). Most recently…

There were two arrests last Saturday (Sept. 7th), in Atlantic: 20-year-old Sabastian Hernandez, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication; and, 40-year-old Jesse Borden, of Atlantic, was arrested for Going Armed with Intent.

There were also two arrests on Sept. 5th, in Atlantic: 36-year-old Jesica Mayo, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation; and, 62-year-old Craig Lang, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

Atlantic Police arrested three-people on Sept. 1st: 28-year-old G Love Kovac, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intoxication, Disorderly Conduct and Interference with Official Acts.; 27-year-old Weneity Seker, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense; and, 33-year-old Samantha Werhli, of Atlantic, was arrested for False Report of an Indictable Offense, & Public Intox.

On Aug. 30th, APD Officers arrested 43-year-old Nicole Anaya, of Atlantic, for Driving while license denied or revoked. On the 29th, 53-year-old Thomas Strathman, of Atchison, KS, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, and 19-year-old Efrain Sandiego, of Atlantic, was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order.

And, on August 28th, 57-year-old Rex McDermott, of Elk Horn, was arrested on a Montgomery County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Each of the aforementioned individuals were taken into custody, transported to the Cass County Jail, and booked-in. As of Sept. 9th, only G Love Kovac remained in the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic Police Department reports also, three people were cited for Shoplifting (Theft in the 5th Degree), between August 28th & Sept. 6th: 35-yearold Trevor Boyer, of Cumberland; 41-year-old Amy Carman, of Atlantic; and 23-year-old Tyler Julich, of Atlantic. In addition, 34-year-old Alyssa Nash, of Atlantic, was cited for Assault causing bodily injury.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 24-year-old Kayden Lee Witt, of Creston, was arrested Monday evening at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, for Lascivious Acts With Child-Life Special Sentence. Witt was being held in the Union County Jail without bond until seen by a Magistrate. Monday night, Creston Police arrested 39-year-old Jackie Lee Marler, of Creston, for Driving Barred. Marler was transported to the Union County Jail and later posted a $2,000 bond

At around 1:35-a.m. today (Tuesday), Creston Police arrested 22-year-old Jasmine Kimberly Louise Stow, of Creston, for Child Endangerment. Stow was transported to the Union County Jail and later posted a $2,000 bond.

(Anita, Iowa) – The CAM School District’s Board of Education, Monday night, tabled approval of a Daycare Agreement. Superintendent Paul Croghan..

The daycare is part of the former north elementary building. Following a Public Hearing, the CAM School Board approved an extension of Bus route times from 60-minutes to as much as 75-minutes, to bring the District into compliance with bus route times, when the shuttle bus is factored-in.

The routes times are 60-minutes without a waiver for an Elementary student, Croghan said, and 75-minutes for a high student, but that can be extended.

The Board approved an amended agreement with SitelogIQ (Sight Logic), with regard to District facilities and a $22.5-million bond referendum that will be on the Nov. 5th General Election ballot.

The Board reviewed the website information with regard to the bond issue and decided to update the site to reflect new information about the measure. The District, Monday, posted on it’s Facebook page, information about the attendance policy.

Superintendent Croghan said also, he wishes everyone a safe harvest, and to be aware of what’s going on on the roads, with regard to slow moving equipment, and, that school districts are safe this harvest season.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission recently released a report that says the Iowa horse racing industry needs to make some changes to keep the system viable. Iowa Thoroughbred Association president Jon Moss says he appreciates the study and wants to have more discussion on it. “Definitely needs to be more follow up, in depth follow up, whereby industry stakeholders can kind of really drill down a little bit more into some of the different areas that were brought forward and the questions that were asked to try and see if there’s a way to pull some of that information out a little bit better,” he says.

Moss says he hasn’t felt that the industry is declining. “I felt as though horse racing in Iowa is doing pretty darn good. Iowa breeds are actually winning, not only here in Iowa, but across the country, and they’re doing exceptionally well,” Moss says. The report says horse racing has not kept up as other forms of gambling have developed and its product is not of a high interest to the public. Moss says he sees good attendance at the races.

“Come out on a Friday or Saturday night and compare the amount of people we have on the track apron and how many people are sitting in any one of the retail outlets for sports wagering,” Moss says. “There’s no comparison this place. They’re getting thousands of people to come out, participate and enjoy racing.” Moss says he doesn’t have exact figures, but from what he has seen, people came out during the pandemic looking for entertainment and have kept coming. “It’s kind of continued to carry through. I think it almost like, it almost forced people to reengage with activities that they may not have thought about before. And they came back out to the races, and a number of people found out, Hey, this is, this is easy. It’s family friendly. You can get out there pretty easily,” Moss says.

Moss says he looks forward to more discussions on these issues. Tom Lepic is the president of the Iowa Quarterhorse Association, and says he is glad state regulators got an outside look at the industry. “I welcome anytime anybody tries to help our industry. And it’s a tough industry, and it’s always changing. It’s getting more and more expensive for everybody. It’s getting more and more competitive everywhere,” Lepic says. Lepic says there has already been work underway to improve after the Racing and Gaming Commission had conducted some internal studies. “One of the big items that they talked about was the starters per race, and that, again, was a concern of Iowa Racing and Gaming the last two years. So we’ve worked hard at that, Lepic says.

He says the increase in starters has made a difference in betting. “Our handle quarter horses alone, from 2022 to 2023 went up over 50 percent from over four million to over six million (dollars), and that came from our starters per race and running a few more races because we had more horses,” he says. Lepic says every industry evolves and horse racing is no different.

The Chair of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, Daryl Olsen, says they plan to have some discussions about the study with all those involved to see how they can move forward. Olsen says he is confident those involved in the industry are willing to look at all the options to make things better.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests over the past week. Deputies arrested 38-year-old Carl Daniel, of Bedford, Sunday, on charges that include: Possession of Methamphetamine/3rd Offense; Intent to Deliver Meth; Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia, and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. Daniel was being held without bond in the Adams County Jail, pending an appearance before a Magistrate.

On Saturday, Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 40-year-old Ryan Nelson, of Neola, following an incident at the Casey’s General Store. Nelson was charged with Harassment in the 3rd Degree, and Driving While Suspended. Nelson was also arrested on an active warrant from Montgomery County, for Probation Violation. He was booked into the Adams County Jail and later posted bond.

And, on Sept. 2nd at around 4:30-p.m. Deputies in Adams County conducted a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Sycamore Avenue. Upon further investigation, including the deployment of K9 “Midge,” a probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted, which resulted in the recovery of 59-grams of methamphetamine. The driver of the vehicle, 44-year-old Michael Webster, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving While Suspended, Poss. of drug paraphernalia, Poss. of Meth/3rd offense (A Class-D Felony), Intent to deliver at least 5 grams but not more than 50-kilograms of meth (A Class-B Felony), and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp (Class-D Felony).

“Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two people were seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident Monday night, in Red Oak. The Red Oak Police Department reports the Montgomery County Communication Center received a call about the crash at around 8-p.m., Monday. Upon arrival, Red Oak Police located a vehicle that had struck a bridge support in the 300 block of S. Broadway Street. Two people were trapped in the vehicle. They were extricated by Red Oak Fire and Rescue before being flown to Omaha, due to the extent of their injuries.

Authorities say the driver of the vehicle was identified as 64-year-old Rocky Lee Lukehart, of Red Oak. His passenger was identified as 64-year-old Tammy Rae Lukehart. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Fire & Rescue, Montgomery County 911, and the Sheriff’s Office.