The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests and one accident. At around 4:50-a.m. Monday (12/6), Deputies arrested 26-year-old Jericho Cash Clements, on an out-of-state warrant. Clements was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

Sunday, Mills County Deputies arrested 28-year-old Kevin Uriel Soliz, of Omaha, for Theft in the 2nd Degree. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop on I-29. Bond was set at $5,000. And, 40-year-old Anthony Joseph Quandt, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held in the Mills County Jail without bond.

Last Friday, 21-year-old Tyler Blake Miller, of Omaha, was arrested in Douglas County, NE, for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $5,000.

Authorities say no injuries were reported, after a 2013 Accura driven by 53-year-old Barbara Buenning, of Council Bluffs, struck a 2019 Freightliner semi driven by 55-year-old John Downwy, of Midwest City, OK. The accident happened as Buenning was exiting southbound I-29 and was on the ramp leading to U-S Highway 34 westbound. The semi was traveling west on the highway in the far right lane.

Officials say Buenning failed to yield from the stop sign, and pulled onto the highway before colliding with the truck. Minor damage occurred to both vehicles.

Police in Creston say an accident early this (Tuesday) afternoon, caused a total of $9,000 damage, but no one was hurt. The accident happened at around 1:15-p.m. at Elm and Howard Streets. Officials say a 2013 Dodge Dart driven by 27-year-old Blade Allen Fox, of Clearfield, was stopped at the stop sign heading east on Howard Street.

A 2006 GMC Envoy SUV driven by 22-year-old Brielle Alexandra Shoeman, of West Des Moines, was traveling south on Elm and approaching the intersection with no stop or yield sign for her direction of travel. When Fox’ vehicle pulled out in front of her, Shoeman’s SUV struck the car.

Authorities say Blade Fox failed to yield, but no citations were issued.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department, Tuesday, reported two recent arrests and three non-injury accidents. Last Friday (Dec. 3), Harlan Police arrested 36-year-old David Allen Coenen, of Harlan, following a traffic stop. He was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Stolen Property. And, on Dec. 1st, 28-year-old Jacob Patrick Sweeney, of Audubon, was arrested following  a traffic stop. He was charged with Driving While Barred.

Harlan Police said, as far as the accidents are concerned:

On Monday, Dec. 6th, a 2020 GMC Yukon driven by Robert Hoogensen was traveling east on Baldwin Street, when it was struck by a 2010 Nissan Murano, driven by Jaci Ganserner, who was traveling south on 8th Street. Both drivers are from Harlan. Both vehicles were disabled in the collision.

On Dec. 3rd, a parked 2016 Chrysler 200 registered to Leah Schmidt, of Harlan, was struck by a 2004 Ford Explorer, driven by Andrew Hanson, of Harlan. The accident happened as Hanson was backing out of a parking stall on the west side of the Dollar General Store. Both vehicles sustained minor damage.

And, on Dec. 2nd, a legally parked 2020 Buick Envision registered to Carrie Greve, of Elk Horn, was struck by a 1993 Dodge Dakota, driven by Doris Towne, of Harlan. The accident happened as Towne was leaving a parking stall and turned too tight, causing her pickup to sideswipe the Buick. Authorities say Towne left the scene not knowing she hit the Buick.

(Radio Iowa) – The Democrats’ Build Back Better plan promises sweeping prescription drug reform, something Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has unsuccessfully tried to accomplish in the Senate for years. Grassley, a Republican, was asked if that issue alone is enough for him to support the near-two-trillion dollar bill. “Absolutely not,” Grassley says. “It’s going to hurt innovation — which my bill doesn’t — and it doesn’t have any of the reforms in that my bill had in to Medicare Part D.”

Backers of Build Back Better are hoping to pass the measure before Christmas. The White House says the plan would lower prescription drug costs by letting Medicare negotiate prices, but Grassley remains unconvinced. Grassley says, “Taxpayers are going to continue to pay a great deal of the cost of what we call the catastrophic portions of Part D Medicare.”

One example backers of the legislation use is insulin. Under the Democrats’ plan, insulin prices for seniors would be capped at 35-dollars a month — while some diabetics are now facing costs of up to 700-dollars a month for the medication. Grassley says his bill, the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2020, would save taxpayers 95-billion dollars, reduce out-of-pocket spending by 72-billion and cut premiums by one-billion.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig has released a video to announce he will seek reelection in 2022. “Agriculture benefits all Iowans. That’s why we’re looking ahead to ensure that the future is bright for the next generation of Iowans who choose to go into agriculture,” Naig said. “We’ve worked to expand markets for Iowa farmers and our rural communities, working to meet the food and renewable fuel needs of consumers here and around the world.”

Naig, who is a Republican, grew up on a farm in the northwest corner of the state, near Cylinder. In March of 2018, Ag Secretary Bill Northey resigned to take a U-S-D-A job and Governor Reynolds appointed Naig to serve as secretary of agriculture. In November of 2018, Naig was a full four-year term as the state’s top agriculture official. “Agriculture is the backbone of our state and our economy,” Naig says. “I’ll continue to stand up for Iowa’s hard working farm families and ag communities.”

Naig is Iowa’s 15th secretary of agriculture. In 2018, Naig finished three percent ahead of his Democratic challenger. No Democrat has formally announced they intend to challenge Naig in 2022.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – More than $289,000 in 50 percent cost-share grants have recently been awarded to 115 of Iowa’s rural fire departments to aid their efforts in protecting Iowan’s and their property from wildfires.  The grants offer valuable funding assistance for wildfire suppression, personal protective and communications equipment.

Locally, among the fire departments receiving 2021 VFA grants, is: Adair, Anita, Charter Oak, Clarinda, Creston, De Soto, Elk Horn, Farragut, Glenwood, Grant, Griswold, Harlan, Lenox, Little Sioux, Logan, Menlo, Mondamin, Onawa, Persia, Shenandoah, Stuart, Walnut and Yale.

The grants are made possible through Iowa DNR Forestry, in cooperation with US Forest Service – State and Private Forestry. Gail Kantak, fire supervisor with DNR Forestry, reminds all fire departments of the importance of submitting Wildland Fire Reports whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled wildland fire. Wildland fire reporting forms are available at www.iowadnr.gov/fire. Departments returning these reports receive priority points when the Volunteer Fire Assistance grant applications are scored. These wildland fire reports are compiled locally and nationally and are reported to Congress.

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department, report the arrest on Monday, of a woman from Nebraska. 41-year-old Chastity Auman, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Her cash or surety bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Education’s annual report on the 2020-2021 school year for public schools showed a drop of nearly six-thousand students. Department of Education analyst, Jay Pennington, says it is the first drop in enrollment in about ten years. “The largest decreases were in the preschool and kindergarten grades. My guess is that due to some of the unknowns going into the 20-21 school year — that parents opted to keep their kids at home,” Pennington says.

Pennington says they are working on the numbers and do expect an increase in enrollment for the current year. “I think the real question is how many of the six-thousand or so of the students that we lost actually come back for the 2021-22 school year,” he says. Pennington says while there were losses — the enrollment pattern stayed the same as it has been the last several years. That pattern sees about one-third of districts — mostly in the larger urban areas — gaining students. “At the same time we are also seeing two-thirds of districts declining in enrollment. And those typically are the more rural parts of the state,” according to Pennington. “so, even though there was a decrease of a sizable number of students — it sort of followed the typical third to two-thirds pattern.”

The Ed Department’s report showed some positives for students. “For the Class of 2020, we saw a nice increase in the average A-C-T score, which is exciting, unfortunately, we also had fewer students taking that A-C-T in the year. We saw an increase in graduation rate,” he says. He says there are some negatives in the report’s numbers as well. “We saw a sort of an across-the-board decrease in mathematic achievement in the most recent report. At the same time we also saw sort of a mixed bag in terms of some increases in English language, arts — which includes reading and writing — with some grade levels going up and other grade levels going down,” Pennington says.

Other numbers from the report showed the state’s total per-pupil expense in the 2019-20 school year was up 56 dollars from 10-thousand-738 the year before. The number of minority students dropped slightly from 26-point-one percent to 25-point-seven percent.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), voted to bring back to the table, the matter of vacating a 40-foot wide, 145-year-old section of road known as 570^th Street, north of Boston Road in Brighton Township/northwestern Cass County, that is in the State of Iowa Right-Of-Way, under Interstate 80. Afterward, they voted to approve a Resolution closing and vacating the road. Board Chair Steve Baier read the proposed Resolution, prior to the Board’s vote:

(The intent of this road closure is to vacate all of 570^th Street contained in the State of Iowa right-of-way for Interstate 80.)

The Resolution further stipulates….

(The remaining roadway segments of 570th north of Boston and south of the Cass/Shelby County line will remain a Class A roadway and Cass County Bridge #460 will remain a priority; and in the event a bridge inspection recommends a posting under a legal 80-thousand pound load, remedial steps to alleviate the deficiency will be taken and be a priority.)

The order to vacate the road is contingent upon one thing…

(The execution of a cooperative agreement fora bridge removal mitigation program between the County and Iowa DOT.)

In other business, the Board discussed but took no action at this time, on the establishment of an abatement plan for industrial or commercial property improvements for specified classes of property in the non-incorporated area of Cass County.

They approved an allowance of $40 per month, for use of a personal cell phone for County business. Their action applies to the following individuals: Info Tech Sean Berens; custodian Dan Proehl; Secondary Roads: shop foreman Curtis Holste; Operators III Ethan Miller and Leo Beschorner; working foremen David Christensen, Andrew Steffen and Scott Holaday; yardman Mark Knudsen; assistant to engineer Rich Hansen; engineer Trent Wolken; Engineering technician Christian Kinzie; Treasurer Tracey Marshall; Sheriff civil deputy Spencer Walton.

The Board discussed financing options for loan notes of six, eight or ten years.  After due discussion, the consensus was to proceed with the six-year option.  Action will be taken at next session.  And, the Board postponed action on approving a construction permit for a 1,280 head of deep bedded beef cattle confinement building for A-to-Z Feeders owned by Alan Zellmer. The structure would be an addition to an existing confinement building, and would bring the total number of beef cattle head to 2,180. The application calls for it to be located in Section 9 of Washington Township. The proposal will be published in the Atlantic News Telegraph for review. The public will have until Dec. 17^th to voice or submit written objection. A public hearing is NOT required. The Board must score the Zellmer’s application via the Master Matrix and submit its recommendation to the Iowa DNR no later than Jan. 3, 2022. More formal action on the matter is expected to take place Dec. 21^st.

And, Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reported a Post-Election Audit Report (confirm election equipment accurately counted the votes on 11/30/2021 Atlantic Run-off Election).  Audit was conducted on Dec. 6.  Hand count was same as machine count.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen reports, due to the chance of winter weather around the corner, the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department will begin closing all the Sunnyside (Park) Roads Friday morning, December 10, 2021.

He says “The closed roads do not mean then end of fun at Sunnyside Park. Stay tuned for all the winter recreation available and other updates on our Facebook page.”