The Iowa Department of Corrections reports a prisoner at the Ft. Des Moines Work Release Facility (WRF) failed to return to the facility today (Friday) from his place of employment, and was listed as escaped. 39-year old Ronnie Lamare Johnson was transferred to Work Release on Aug.18th, 2016. He was serving a 10-year sentence for two counts of 2nd Degree Robbery out of Polk County.

Johnson is a black male, 6-feet tall, 278-pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. If you have seen him or know where he is, contact the Des Moines Police Department of Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Ronnie L. Johnson

Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta said Friday, a man serving a 10-year sentence for Burglary in the 2nd Degree out of Pottawattamie County, has died in prison. 40-year old Christopher Carl Cretin, an inmate assigned to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center Hospice Care Unit, died Wednesday, September 15th. Cretin died of natural causes due to chronic renal failure. His prison sentence began on October 1st, 2014.

A woman from Exira was transported to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital by Audubon Rescue, following an accident this (Friday) morning, on a one-lane bridge. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened at around 8:50-a.m. on 250th Street, west of Highway 71. It occurred when vehicles driven by 31-year old Bethany Jean Johnston, and 75-year old Karen Kaye Olsen, both of Exira, were approaching a one-lane bridge from opposite directions.

Johnston was already on the bridge, driving a 1997 Toyota, Olsen was approaching it in her 2000 Ford. Authorities say because the bridge approach has an incline, neither driver could see the other and the vehicles sideswiped each other.

Olsen was transported to the hospital following the collision. Damage from the mishap amounted to $5,500.

(12-p.m. News)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 54-year old Kelly Marie Erickson, of Massena, turned herself in at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday, on charges that include felony Possession of Methamphetamine 3rd/Subsequent offense; Possession of Tramadol without Prescription; Prohibited Acts; and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Erickson was released later that day on $5,000 bond.

On Thursday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 24-year old Drew Ashton Gagnon, and 22-year old Heidi Lynn Murphy, both of Sac City, on District Court warrants for Probation Violation. They were taken to the Cass County Jail and  released today (Friday), on their own recognizance.

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees will hold several closed sessions next week to interview candidates for the hospital’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The meetings will be held at various locations in Atlantic on Sept. 19th,20th, 22nd and 23rd.

Pat Markham, former CEO of the Cass County Health System, is currently serving in an interim role as CEO. She was selected by the Board to help run the facilities after Todd Hudspeth was terminated earlier this year when he agreed to an Alford Plea with regard to a check forgery case in Buena Vista County.

ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) – South Dakota authorities have confirmed that a body recovered from the Missouri River was that of a missing Iowa college student.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that the medical examiner’s office in Sioux Falls says the body was that of 23-year-old Tom Patterson. He disappeared in the water around 5 p.m. Sept. 4th near a beach about four miles southwest of Elk Point, SD.

Authorities have said witnesses reported that Patterson was trying to help some companions swim from the Nebraska shoreline back to South Dakota when he was swept away by the current.

Patterson was from Frostburg, Maryland, and was a student at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University’s president intends to propose a two-tier tuition structure that would impose a higher rate for juniors and seniors than the rate for freshman and sophomores at the Ames school. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports President Steven Leath mentioned the plan Wednesday during his 2016 Presidential Address. He described it as a “reasonable approach that reflects the higher costs associated with more advanced and increasingly specialized coursework, learning opportunities, personalized instruction, smaller classes that you get as you proceed through your undergraduate education.”

Leath says state funding has not increased at a rate comparable to the university’s enrollment growth. He provided few specifics from his plan, which he said he will submit to the Board of Regents for consideration.