The Creston Police Department reports the arrest early Thursday afternoon, of 31-year-old Devon Taylor Keller. The Creston man was taken into custody at the Union County Courthouse on a Union County warrant for Violation of Probation, related to a No Contact/Protective Order. Keller was being held without bond at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, pending an appearance before the Judge.

(Radio Iowa) – The owner of an iconic downtown grocery store in southwest Iowa says he -will- rebuild after fire gutted Mulholland’s Grocery in Malvern just over a month ago. Firefighters from more than two dozen communities battled the blaze December 10th. Though an investigation into the fire’s cause is still underway, Tom Mulholland says the store will return, though it may take a year. “The insurance investigators and state fire marshal are waiting for some more information,” said Mulholland. “It’s extremely frustrating for myself and then the neighbors who have to wait through this.”

Mulholland says reconstruction won’t be able to get underway until the investigation is complete.”We can’t set any type of a timeframe,” he said. “Of course, with construction issues being the way they are thanks to COVID, I’m sure that’s going to delay things also, but that’s why we wanted to try to hit the ground running and get some ideas running, and talk to people to get ideas into the works.” Mulholland says he’s not ready to retire and reopening the store is what’s best for the community. “Malvern needs some sort of grocery store here,” Mulholland says. “People have really realized how much it depended upon over the past few weeks, and I’ve heard so many comments. It’s going to secure the future of our community, and allow for the continued growth that Malvern has seen over the past many years.”

Mulholland adds he’s amazed by the support coming from within and far beyond the community. “I worked in Omaha for over 20 years before I bought the store,” he said. “I heard from so many customers there. I’ve heard from people from all over the country that have been customers, or came from Malvern, you know, just have some ties to my business or my community in some way. We’ve received donations from all over.”

Malvern Bank and the Malvern Area Betterment Association still have an official donation account for those affected by the fire. Donations can be dropped off at Malvern Bank, with reference to the Go Fund Malvern account, or through the Go_Fund_Malvern account on Venmo.

Police in Red Oak report a woman was arrested at around 4:15-p.m. Thursday, for Interference with Official Acts. 50-year-old Sally Mae Petersen was taken into custody at the intersection of Oak and Broadway Streets. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is proposing a way to trigger CORPORATE income tax cuts. The governor did not mention cutting taxes for corporations during her Condition of the State address earlier this week, but her plan is included in a budget report submitted to lawmakers. If Iowa corporations pay more than 700 million dollars in state income taxes this year, Reynolds proposes lowering the top corporate income tax rate next year.

Democrats like House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst says it’s a break for only the most profitable corporations. “That would not help small businesses across the state,” Konfrst says, “but would, once again, be giving tax breaks to her biggest donors and big corporations in the state instead of focusing on middle income Iowans who need tax cuts the most.”

In December, a key Senate Republican working on tax policy said before lawmakers would lower the corporate income tax rate, corporations would have to sign off on reduced or eliminated tax CREDITS that — in some cases — erase a corporation’s entire state tax bill. And House Speaker Pat Grassley has said House Republicans are focused on personal income tax cuts this year.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the Supreme Court’s ruling that blocks federal Covid vaccine requirements in large businesses is a major victory for Iowans and their personal freedoms. During an interview with Radio Iowa BEFORE the ruling was announced, Reynolds called the vaccine mandate arbitrary. “We’re going to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated. I’m not in favor of a mandate,” Reynolds says. “…It doesn’t stop people from getting it, especially the new variant or transmitting it. You know, that’s been demonstrated.”

Reynolds says it was ridiculous for the Biden Administration to try to make businesses be the enforcer to get workers vaccinated or tested once a week. President Biden says if you’re UN-vaccinated, you are 17 times more likely to get hospitalized if you get Covid — and it’s now up to individual employers to make their workplaces safe as possible during the pandemic. It’s unclear what’s next in the Iowa legislature where a group of House Republicans had been crafting a bill to ban vaccine mandates in Iowa businesses.

Reynolds says policymakers have to be really careful not to penalize businesses that are requiring all employees to be vaccinated. “It’s a balance,” Reynolds says. “These are individual, private companies and so we have to make sure that we’re not overstepping in the same manner that we’re criticizing, you know, the federal government for doing — for overstepping.” The Supreme Court has allowed a separate federal vaccination requirement for health care workers to remain in force. Reynolds calls that a disappointment.

The Iowa Hospital Association’s president and C-E-O says vaccines are an important tool to combat Covid-19, but the vaccine mandate has the potential to create additional staffing issues in health care settings.