The Glenwood Police Department reports three arrests took place over the past week. On Sunday, 34-year-old Keegan Rooney, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/2nd Offense (Bond $2,000). Last Thursday, 28-year-old Frida Guerrero, of Glenwood, was arrested for OWI/1st offense (Bond $1,000). And, on Nov. 24th, 24-year-old Dylan Harris, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation. His bond was set at $5,000.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic has a short agenda for their first meeting in December, this Wednesday (12/1). The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m. in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall, and will include discussion and action on:

• A Resolution approving the CY (Calendar Year) 2022 budget for Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU),
• and, a required nutrient reduction study (NRS) with Snyder & Associates for the wastewater treatment plant.

City Administrator John Lund says AMU is an entity of the City, but they are governed by their own oversight board (Atlantic’s Utility Board of Trustees). In accordance with the Code of Iowa, the City must approve their budget, in order for it go into effect. The City traditionally passes the AMU budget without issue, because there is oversight by the Trustees. And, with regard to the NRS, the City of Atlantic was granted an amended National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDS) permit for the wastewater treatment plant. The permit requires a report that evaluates the feasibility and reasonableness of reducing the quantity of phosphorus the City discharges into the East Nishnabotna River.

The permit for the City’s Plant to continue operations requires a nutrient reduction strategy (NRS) for phosphorus to be turned in to the Iowa DNR by August 1, 2022. John Lund says Wastewater Superintendent Tim Snyder is developing several strategies to improve the City’s numbers, using the technology it currently has in-place. Crews with the plant have attended EPA webinars in an effort to learn new ideas and processes for optimizing nutrient reduction in the discharged water. A proposal for a nutrient reduction study by Snyder and Associates has a lump sum fee of $19,750. Development of alternatives for nutrient reduction compliance will be an hourly fee, Lund says, but the estimated will be $9,600, for a combined cost of $29,350.

Lund says that “may seem like a lot, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the consequences of a poorly prepared report. He notes, if approved, this would be the second NRS conducted by Snyder and Associates. The original study was approved by the Council in July, 2014, at a cost of $9,700.

Police in Red Oak say no injuries were reported following an accident Thursday evening, at the intersection of Highway 34 and N. Eastern Avenue. Officers found a 2017 Chevy Traverse driven by 29-year-old Trisha M. Gomez, of Stanton, was traveling west on Highway 34 at around 5:22-p.m., and was slowing down for the vehicle ahead of her, that was slowing down to make a left turn onto N. Eastern Avenue. When Gomez’ SUV slowed, it was struck from behind by a 2009 Ford F-150 pickup registered to Seipold Farms, and driven by 53-year-old Rodney L. Seipold, of Hastings (IA).

Seipold admitted to Police that he was not paying attention. Damages from the collision amounted to $26,000. Seipold was cited for Following too closely and Violation of a his restricted license.

(Updated) Officials with the Creston Police Department say four Creston residents reported vehicle break-in’s and/or incidents of vandalism. On Saturday, a woman in the 300 block of N. Walnut Street in Creston told authorities her vehicle had been rammed by another vehicle multiple times. Damage was estimated at $800. A man reported Saturday, that his vehicle was stolen from near a bar-and-grill establishment. The damaged vehicle was later recovered. And, another resident reported Saturday, his vehicle was damaged while it was parked in the 300 block of N. Walnut Street. The damage was estimated at $1,000.

On the 24th, a man residing in the 300 block of N. Walnut Street reported that sometime around midnight, someone broke into his wife’s vehicle. He advised also, a Leatherman tool valued at $50 was missing.

Creston Police said also, 42-year-old Julio Cesar Villalpando Castro, of Creston, was arrested late Saturday night on two counts of Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree, Stalking-Violation of a Court Order, Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order, and Theft in the 2nd Degree -Motor Vehicle. Villalpando Castro was being held in the Union County Jail on $14,300 cash only Bond.

(Radio Iowa) -State regulators have approved a financing plan that will eventually lead to a replacement boat for the Casino Queen in Marquette. Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilko says a 46 million dollar financing plan was approved for the parent company to buy two boats in Louisiana.  “The long-term plan would be for Casino Queen to purchase those riverboats, operate those casinos in Louisiana, but move one to Marquette and replace that boat. So it would be a larger boat, maybe a little newer,” Ohorilko explains. He says the new boat is a good thing for Marquette. “Just having the ability to have something larger, fresher, is definitely good for that market,” he says.

All facilities were on riverboats when the state approved casino gambling — and the Casino Queen is one of three that remain. The Ameristar is in Council Bluffs, and it has a hotel and restaurants at that location. The Lakeside Casino in Osceola has the same type of setup, and it is a barge.

The Casino Queen (Iowagamingassociation.org photo)

The Racing and Gaming Commission approved the financing plan at their November meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans have answered their phones to hear a distant caller claiming to be with Microsoft and offering to “fix” our computers. A new survey finds the extent to which those tech support scams are reaching us — and ripping some of us off. Mary Jo Schrade, with the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, says three in five of us have received those calls, and one in six lost money on them. Schrade says, “Tech scammers are targeting everyone, even the most active technology users like Millennials and Gen Z.”The con artists are using sophisticated schemes that have evolved from cold calls to more of them using fake pop-up ads and fraudulent websites. “Scammers are fast-moving and innovative,” Schrade says, “so when someone encounters a pop-up that asks them to call a phone number or click on a link to resolve an issue, it’s important to be wary and use caution.”

Microsoft gets 65-hundred complaints every month from people reporting they were victims of a tech support scam in which scammers use the company’s name to lure victims into paying for unnecessary or harmful “services.” Many thousands more are going unreported. “Report the scam on the Microsoft website,” she says. “The more reports we receive, the better we get at fighting these scammers. Remember, we will never proactively contact you asking for your financial or personal information.”

While you might think young people would be more tech savvy, the survey found one out of ten Millennials and one out of ten Gen Zers who encountered a scam fell for it — and lost money.

On the web: www.microsoft.com/reportascam

(Clearfield, Iowa) – A fire at a large egg production plant in Taylor County over the weekend caused heavy damage to the facility, but there were no reports of injuries. The blaze at the 136,600-square foot Hen Haven egg plant in Clearfield, was reported at around 7:30-a.m. Saturday.

Law enforcement and at firefighters from at least six area departments and surrounding counties responded to the blaze at 1641 Yellowstone Avenue. Smoke that billowed from the facility was visible for miles.

To date, there’s been no word on what caused the fire, or a dollar amount of the loss. Additional information is expected to be released later this week.