(Audubon, Iowa) – A man from Exira was sentenced to prison last week, in Audubon County District Court. According to online court documents, 45-year-old Mark A. Smith agreed to a plea deal that resulted in his being sentenced May 9, 2023 to 10-years in prison, with credit for time served. Smith was charged with Felony 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse in connection with an incident that occurred March 3,2021.

Smith had previously been cited into court last Decemeber, on two counts Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, and two counts Sex Abuse in the 2nd Degree, on September 22, 2022. In October, 2022, four-counts of Lascivious Acts with a child that allegedly took place in Sept., 2020, were dismissed by the court.

In addition to his prison sentence, Smith was ordered to pay a fine of $1,370, but that was suspended by the court. He must register on the State’s Sex Offender Registry, submit a DNA sample for the record, and pay a civil penalty.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports two separate arrests took place, Friday. 39-year-old Trisha Jae Johnston, of Creston, was arrested at her residence, Friday evening. Johnston was charged with Driving while Barred. She was taken to the Creston Union County LEC, cited and released.

And, at around 12:35-a.m., Friday, Creston Police arrested 21-year-old Jacob Stover Rushing, of Creston, at the intersection of Wyoming and Highway 34. Rushing was charged with OWI 1st offense. He was taken to the Union County Jail, and later released on a $1, 000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – National Bike to Work Week starts today (Monday) and the sudden proliferation of electric bikes, e-scooters and even e-skateboards is bringing a new series of risks and challenges — as well as benefits. Cara Hamann, director of training and education at the Injury Prevention Research Center, based at the University of Iowa, says motorists can be surprised when one of these so-called “micro mobility devices” darts into their path on a city street. “When you get on these things, you can go pretty fast. People aren’t used to seeing someone like on a human-powered scooter or skateboard go that fast,” Hamann says, “and so there’s a lot of times misperception by the drivers of how fast people are going on these small devices, and that mismatch can lead to collisions.”

While plenty of people ride traditional bicycles for the exercise, many of the e-bikes also require you to pedal in order to move, just not as much. “There is one class of e-bike, Class Two, where it has a throttle that you don’t have to pedal, but the majority of what you see, you do have to pedal, so you’re getting at least some physical activity,” Hamann says. “The other biggest benefit is using something like an e-bike instead of a car, you have environmental benefits of less emissions.”

Plus, the smaller, personal electric vehicles can help to relieve traffic congestion, while gas-powered vehicles sitting in traffic emit even more pollution. In most communities, this micro mobility technology has advanced faster than ordinances have been passed, so e-scooters may not need a license plate, nor do the riders need to be licensed to take them on the road. In some Iowa cities, e-bikes are readily available for rent on downtown street corners. “Especially with things like e-scooters, there’s been major loopholes in city code. You’ll have e-scooter companies just drop a fleet of e-scooters in a city overnight,” Hamann says, “and there isn’t any policy against it and so all of a sudden, you have these scooters all over the place.”

Electric bike

Dockless e-scooters can be rented for minutes at a time and then left anywhere, so the next renter has to use a smartphone app to find it. That leads to the devices being dropped on sidewalks, creating clutter and a hazard. Plus, some e-scooter users may choose to zip down a sidewalk, darting between pedestrians, which can also be problematic. “People riding them on the sidewalk is a major concern because they can travel pretty fast. On an e-scooter, you can get up to 30 miles per hour, something that really should be ridden on the road, not on the sidewalk,” Hamann says. “That kind of speed mismatch between someone walking and someone on an e-scooter can lead to major injuries if there is a collision.”

While micro mobility devices can be positive additions to our transportation system, Hamann says we need to hone in on safety and policy, and she adds, drivers need to pay attention and be patient in sharing the road.

(Radio Iowa) – State Patrol Troopers who look for illegal drugs on the interstates that crisscross Iowa say our state is no longer just a drive through area on the way to larger cities. Captain Nathan Andrews says the amount of drugs they’ve seen indicate the drugs are now being stored here for distribution. “Hundreds of pounds of meth, coke, fentanyl coming to Des Moines to be harbored in Des Moines,” Andrews says. “So it’s becoming what we always call like a hub city,” he says.

He says they have never seen that before in Des Moines and Iowa in general. “Some suspicions on that might be the borders are pretty porous right now. So they’re bringing in whatever they can get in while they can before that gets locked down or something changes down there, and it’s got to go somewhere,” he says. “So let’s get it in the United States, let’s harbor it up everywhere we can harbor wherever we have organization that can handle it. That could be one reason.” Andrews says the pandemic saw enforcement slowed down and that freed up a lot of movement for criminals, which could be another reason the drugs are being stored in Iowa.

Drugs seized ISP photo

Trooper Ryan Zenor works with the Patrol’s drug dogs and says they routinely see hundreds of pounds of drugs in one stop. “Twenty years ago, and we’re seeing this to walk up, get probable cause and search a car and find 40 to 50 kilos of methamphetamine, cocaine and suitcases in a trunk was unheard of. We would find compartments electronic compartment, and you may find one or two pounds. And that was an absolute huge seizure back in the day,” Zenor says. He says they track the quantity and dollar value of the drugs they seize on the interstates. “Just in 2022 we had 665 pounds of marijuana, one-point-five million (dollars). Cocaine 442 pounds 15-point-five million street value. Methamphetamine 241 pounds six-point-three million street value,” Zenor says.

He says the really alarming number is the seixure of 11-and-a-half pounds of fentanyl. Zenor says that doesn’t seem like a lot when you look at the other drug amounts, but it’s more dangerous. “Just a little dangerous scuff is lethal to us,” he says. Zenor says federal officials did some figuring on the impact after a big fentanyl seizure over in Omaha last year. “They did some studies on if five pounds of fentanyl was airborne, it would take out the population of Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota in one shot. That’s how lethal it is. If you could actually get fentanyl airborne, it would take out all populations of Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota,” Zenor says.

The two say they continue to see large amounts of drugs coming across the state this year. The Troopers made their presentation ruing the recent meeting of the state Transportation Commission.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A 19-year-old female from Bellevue, NE., was seriously injured during a single-vehicle accident this (Sunday) morning, in Council Bluffs. Authorities say Emergency crews from Council Bluffs responded to the area of Harry Langdon Blvd. and Highway 92, a little before 6:30-a.m. Sunday, upon learning of the accident. The woman was identified Monday as Ayana Denny.

Police says a red Ford Focus had left the roadway and Denny was pinned inside. The woman had to be extricated from the vehicle by the Council Bluffs Fire Department. She was transported to the hospital for treatment of life threatening injuries.

An initial investigation indicated car was traveling north bound on Wabash Ave / Harry Langdon, crossed Highway 92, and went out of control before exiting the roadway and striking a power pole guide wire. The vehicle came to rest about 500 feet from the intersection, in the 3300 block of Harry Langdon Blvd.

Officials say speed and failure to wear a seatbelt are believed to be major contributing factors in this crash. The roadway was shut down for approximately 2 ½ hrs while the scene was investigated and the power pole was fixed by Mid America Energy.

The crash is being investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Special Operations Traffic Unit.