Month: November 2025

By Kayla James

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    BAXTER, Iowa (KCCI) — Three former Baxter city officials have been named in a state audit that shows over $90,000 of improper, unreported, or uncollected disbursements and utility bills.

The audit, released Thursday morning by the Iowa State Auditor’s Office, says more money may have been improperly dispersed, but city records were not maintained well enough to determine that.

One of those named is ex-Baxter police Chief William Daggett, who, until Thursday, was working as police chief and interim city administrator in Mitchellville. City officials in Mitchellville confirmed to KCCI that Daggett resigned Thursday morning.

The Baxter investigation claims Daggett collected over $51,000 in improper payroll costs and compensation time payments. Former City Clerk Katie Wilson and former EMS Coordinator Randi Gliem are also named in the audit.

KCCI learned Wilson is Elkhart’s city administrator and reached out to the city. The mayor informed KCCI that the city is aware of the State Auditor’s report that was released today and that, at this time, the city has no comment on the matter regarding the city of Baxter, IA.

Known improper disbursements totaling $75,000 include:

$51,275.62 of improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments, respectively, paid to Daggett $3,509.55 of improper payroll costs and excess comp time payments, respectively, paid to Wilson $1,461.09 of improper payroll costs and excess vacation balance payout, respectively, paid to Gliem $1,776.99 of improper payroll to EMS volunteers $4,050 of improper payments to a former Water Affidavit Operator $10,475.05 of improper disbursements to vendors and cash withdrawals $2,037.66 of improper purchases made with the city’s VISA credit card, late fees, and interest $487.77 of improper disbursements to vendors for police department operations. The report, which you can read here, has been filed with authorities including the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Jasper County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

Mayor Doug Bishop provided the following statement to KCCI: “This is an ongoing criminal investigation being handled by the Auditor, DCI and County Attorney’s office. We will defer all questions to them. The City of Baxter will have no further comments at this time.”

Baxter City Administrator Lucas Battani declined to comment on the investigation.

KCCI did reach out to the Jasper County Attorney’s office and was told the county attorney was not in. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation tells KCCI it is aware of the auditor report, but cannot comment on active investigations.

Mitchellville is also the subject of an audit that was requested by the former city administrator, who was later fired over alleged personnel issues.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged the audit in a news release Thursday morning but said, due to the ongoing investigation and related legal considerations, officials would not provide any additional information or comments.

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By Anahita Jafary

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    MANTECA, California (KCRA) — Roxanne Helus, a daycare owner in Manteca, has been charged with second-degree murder after 5-month-old Christian Olvera died in her care, allegedly while she was intoxicated, as Christian’s family seeks justice for the infant.

“On Monday, we had to bury Christian, and I think that was the hardest part and knowing that it’s it’s the end,” said Janessa Valdivia, Christian’s cousin.

Today, Helus walked into court with a straight face.

“What we saw today was that this defendant got taken into custody on a charge of second degree murder and this is just a tragedy. It was completely avoidable. Cristian Olvera was a young infant that didn’t have a chance to start his life,” San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Morgan Hendley said.

Christian’s family came to court together, wearing matching shirts with his photo on them.

“I don’t think anybody is ever looking forward to this moment, but this is a moment that we have to live in and this is something that we’re just praying that, you know, we’ll get justice for baby Christian,” Valdivia said.

Helus’s attorney, Eugene Kilbride, spoke for her in court and afterwards.

“You know what? It’s really going to come down to the elements of second degree murder. There’s a willful element and, based on what I know, I just don’t see that there was willful conduct. I know it’s a terrible and tragic incident and I do want to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family,” Kilbride said.

For now, Christian’s family says this feels like a step towards justice. “

We are making sure that everybody is aware of the situation that whether it’s Roxanne Helus or somebody else, that you are making sure who is watching your child,” Valdivia said.

Helus’s next court date will be Dec. 4 at 8:30 a.m. for a further arraignment. KCRA Investigates found two previous complaints against Helus to be true, including providing care without a license in 2023 and allowing other adults to watch children in her care in 2024.

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By Vanessa Gongora

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    TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Celebration of Life was held Thursday night to honor the four University of Arizona students that were tragically killed last month while crossing Tucson streets.

On Oct. 26, Peter Wanjohi was hit and later died while crossing Kino Parkway.

Then on Oct. 30, Sophia Troetel, Josiah Santos and Katya Castillo-Mendoza were hit while crossing at Euclid and 2nd. Troetel and Santos died that night. Castillo-Mendoza was taken off life support the morning of Nov. 1.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA) and other organizations the victims were a part of helped set up the event.

Wanjohi, Troetel, Santos and Castillo-Mendoza each made their mark on so many lives and it showed — as tears fell with each memory and story that was shared.

You can hear the the heartbreak in Santos’ mom’s voice as she was giving her speech, not only about her son, but also Troetel and Castillo-Mendoza.

“Josiah and Sophia didn’t just live, they did life. They sang, they dreamed, they loved, they created” she said. “And in doing that, they changed all of us. And Katya, her compassion, her friendship, her laughter carried that same spark. Together they remind us that even when life feels unbearably fragile, life is absolutely eternal.”

Santos and Troetel were a couple and they were a perfect match, according to their friends and family.

Drizella Sandoval Diaz was a friend of Troetel’s from work. She said she’ll never forget when she first met Santos last year at Troetel’s birthday party.

“He had a shirt on and it said Sophia’s number one fan and it had pictures of her all over and I think it was the funniest and most like ‘them’ thing to do,” Sandoval Diaz said.

She describes Troetel as someone who was bubbly and just a bright light.

“She was the sun. She was brightness. I never saw her angry. When I did, she had a smile on her face and that was just so her,” Sandoval Diaz said.

Ryan Fisher, has known Wanjohi since elementary school where they played soccer together in Nebraska and says this is a big loss.

“He was a great competitor. He was always one of the best players on the field. But also as a friend, he had the biggest smile always and that’s what everyone was saying about him. He’s always smiling, never in a bad mood,” Fisher said.

About 500 candles glistened throughout the evening as each person spoke and as they watched a slideshow of great memories that will forever be cherished.

People even took the time to write messages on each of their banners, many saying, you will be missed.

It was also revealed that Wanjohi and Castillo-Mendoza’s organs were donated.

Wanjohi’s family was unable to make the vigil because his services are this weekend.

ASUA student body president Adriana Grijalva says the athletic director has really shown up to honor the four Wildcats.

“All the football players will be wearing all four of their initials at Saturday’s homecoming game, but one thing we were able to get for Peter is his last name dedicated into a soccer jersey for his family,” Grijalva said.

In the face of unimaginable loss, the Wildcat family came together — not just to mourn, but to celebrate lives that will never be forgotten.

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By Ayron Lewallen

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    AUBURN, Alabama (WVTM) — It was a scary moment at Auburn University when students and faculty got multiple AU Alerts on Thursday. Three separate notifications were sent out alerting students to an active shooter on campus, a tornado warning and hazardous waste spill. A statement from the university blames a technical error for the confusion these notifications caused.

Some students told WVTM 13 they were in class when they got notifications from AU Alert telling them to take shelter. Some said they ran out of their classrooms to get to a safe place.

The alert sent to students said there was an active shooter on campus and told them it was not a drill. They were told to report to a safe place and wait for further instructions and to remember to barricade themselves, hide or fight.

One student said he was in class, looked around and saw everyone on their phones. He said there was confusion about whether they should leave the classroom or stay put. That’s when the professor made the decision and they ran.

Some students say they got multiple alerts — some even after the all clear came — and students said that’s concerning.

“Once you got out the classroom, you kind of realized people weren’t taking it that seriously or people were just confused,” Auburn University student Tripp Hedden said. “People were calling their moms. They were doing that kind of stuff. It was all strange. And then [the university’s] response to it was a little — it kind of left you wanting more because it was more like, ‘Oh, just a mistake,’ when people could have maybe kind of freaked out about that. It’s a big deal when you say there’s a shooter on campus.”

With the three different notifications sent out to students and faculty, with some saying they got all of them and others saying they only got one or two, that just created more confusion on the Plains. Even though the alerts were fake, AU student George Simmons hopes people will take them seriously next time one is sent out.

“This might have been the first major false alert,” he said. “I think all the alerts are pretty serious about if there’s a gas leak somewhere to alert the students, but this is probably the first event that this happened. I still have good faith in the alert system. It might have just been one mistake that’s probably handled, but I think we should everyone should still take it very seriously.”

A statement from Auburn’s website said the university is actively working to resolve the issue to keep this from happening again. The statement goes on to say it apologizes for any confusion. We’re told there was no threat to the campus or to the community and the alerts were triggered unintentionally.

WVTM 13 saw a meme floating around campus of a tornado holding two guns, making light of the situation. Gavin Bord even joked and said he thought it was a cat running across someone’s keyboard.

“It was scary at first when we got the first one, but then when all the rest of them came in, we figured it was probably just something going wrong,” he said. “I was just [in bowling class]. I really didn’t think that it was anything because it said there’s a tornado, and in the sky, there was no clouds.”

Students said some professors cancelled classes while others still had to go to their classes after they got the all clear.

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By Lisa Crane

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    TALLADEGA COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — Children in Talladega County were told to crawl under a train after getting off the school bus to get home on Wednesday.

It happened at a train track crossing Diamond Lane in Mardisville, where six kids usually get off at the stop and the parents park nearby to pick them up.

On Wednesday, a train was blocking the road.

Parents assumed they’d have to wait for the train to move before the kids got off the bus, but they were let off.

One of the children’s fathers described the moment he saw the kids crawling out from underneath the train.

“I seen kids pop up from under the train, I’m like, ‘I know y’all ain’t coming up from under that train.’ And they were like, ‘He told us to do it.’ So I’m like, ‘Who is he?’ And he popped up like in between, you know, like ‘I’m sorry. I told them, go up under the train and everything’,” Leon Estelle said.

The kids said the person who told them to do it was the train conductor.

Willie Bell Fuller said she was mortified when she saw her 6-year-old granddaughter under the train car.

“And what if that train had moved, and that thing would’ve killed my kids. That would have been real bad and real ugly,” she said.

Estelle’s two children crawled under that train car. He works for a rail line and said any railroad employee should know better than to instruct children to do something that dangerous.

“It can be just slack roll and not even, you know, for any reason, any kind of movement, any one of them could’ve been killed or hurt. That’s never OK going up under a train; that is a serious problem.”

A parent shared a text, saying it is from the school district to parents of Sycamore and Winterboro students. It said the bus driver has been placed on administrative leave and the district is committed to ensuring all transportation staff meet the highest safety standards.

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