Des Moines, Iowa — A man who served more time than any other Iowan as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War died this weekend. Naval aviator Larry Spencer was 82. Commander Spencer grew up in Earlham. He joined the Navy in 1963.

During a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam, Spencer was captured. He spent nearly seven years as a prisoner.

Larry Spencer

During his Naval service, Commander Spencer was awarded many military honors including: two Silver Stars, Legion of Merit with Combat “V”, four Bronze Stars, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with six strike flights, two Purple Hearts and the Prisoner of War Medal. He was a member and past officer of the Military Officers Assn. of America and Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Funeral services for Larry Spencer will be held next Tuesday at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. Read his full obituary HERE.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two separate arrests took place early Saturday morning. At around 2:14-a.m., 36-year-old Dulce Estrella Pantoja, of Lenox, was arrested on an Assault charge. She was cited and released from the scene. And, and around 5:43-a.m., 18-year-old Colby Wayne Burg, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. He was later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Emerson, Iowa) – A traffic stop east of Emerson at around 1:25-a.m. today (Monday), in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of three people on drug and/or other charges. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports Deputies stopped a vehicle on Highway 34 and Boxelder Avenue. During an investigation, 60-year-old John Henry Doyle, of Omaha, on a felony warrant for domestic assault a felony warrant for theft. Doyle was being held in the Montgomery County Jail while awaiting extradition to Nebraska.

Deputies also arrested 51-year-old Buffie Lynn Kackley, of Omaha, for Unlawful Possession of Prescription pills, a serious misdemeanor. Her bond was set at $1,000. And, 29-year-old Jesse Robert Schleip, of Red Oak, was arrested during the same traffic stop, for Possession with the Intent to Deliver/Methamphetamine, a Class-B Felony. His bond was set at $50,000.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted by Red Oak Police and the Montgomery County Communications Center.

(Radio Iowa) – The stock market has seen dramatic downturns in the last few weeks. Clarion financial planner, Jim Tausz says there are a lot of factors involved — but one stands out. “We are seeing a lot of inflation. Inflation is the biggest thing happening right now. And that is caused by food prices and gas prices, which by the way, aren’t even in the basic information that you get from the government saying, you know, what inflation factor is,”Tausz says. He says the inflation figure is much higher with those things included.”We probably have inflation in the neighborhood of anywhere between 13 and 15 percent.. Stocks don’t like that. We’re gonna see a continued downtrend, because we’re seeing interest rates also go up,” he explains.

Tausz says increasing gas production would be a big help. “The two big things that would really change things and turn things around really fast — one of them without a doubt is you got to open up production, gas and oil production,” He says. “you have to do it because we’ve got to take care of also the Western world, and I’m talking about NATO.” He says we’ve got to – in his opinion – get inflation under control. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to try and do that — and he says interest rates will come back down eventually. But it could take some time. “And I think we’re going to see this for some time to come,” Tausz says.

He says one strategy would have been to get out of the stock market and put funds in insured money markets in your brokerage account. Then get back in when things turn around — the old buy low, sell high strategy.

Elkhart, Iowa — A Catholic priest has resigned, soon after he was reinstated at the Saint Mary Holy Cross parish in Elkhart. The diocese had suspended Father Jim Kirby in 2020 for making inappropriate comments about a Simpson College student. Kirby was a part-time track coach there. He is no longer affiliated with Simpson College. The diocese had reinstated Kirby in April, saying he had completed a rehabilitation program.

The parish announced the resignation of Father Kirby in a newsletter Sunday. The statement read in-part: “Fr. Jim Kirby tendered his resignation as pastor of St. Mary-Holy Cross, Elkhart, Iowa. The Diocese looks to fill this position; however, at this time no other priests are available to serve as pastor. I ask for your prayers for Fr. Kirby and the parish.”

(Nevada, Iowa) — Two former city officials in Story County have allegedly committed fraud. According to the Story County Sheriff’s Office, former McCallsburg Mayor Chris Erickson and former City Clerk Jennifer Heithoff are charged with felonious misconduct in office, a class D felony; fraudulent practice, a class D felony; and tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor. The investigation showed Erickson owed a total of $2,138.03 for water utility bills during a period between September of 2017 through July of 2019. During that time, Heithoff allegedly adjusted Erickson’s account giving the appearance of the balance being paid.

“Subsequent to Heithoff resigning, this amount was zeroed out,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “Erickson was the only city official known to have access to the billing software during this time.” The investigation also revealed Heithoff was claiming over twice the amount of hours she was authorized to work. She provided no documentation to the city. Heithoff also claimed fraudulent mileage reimbursements. Erickson signed Heithoff’s payroll and mileage reimbursement checks, the Sheriff’s Office said.