Atlantic Municipal Utilities reports power is out to an estimated 300-400 households and/or businesses in town. The Cass County Communications Center and courthouse radio building were running on an emergency generator.

The Cass County Comm. Center/Emergency Management reports traffic lights are out around downtown Atlantic. Please avoid driving in this area. If you must travel, drive with caution. AMU crews are working as quickly as possible to restore power, but there is still lightning and rain in Atlantic, which is making the situation more hazardous. Please be patient.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Wednesday of a Red Oak man on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, a simple misdemeanor.  At 5:45pm officers arrested 21-year-old Shae Daniel Lewis of Red Oak in the 1200 block of East Summit Street.  He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on no bond until seen by a magistrate.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
830 PM CDT THU AUG 11 2016
..TIME… …EVENT… …CITY LOCATION… …LAT.LON…
..DATE… ….MAG…. ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. …SOURCE….
..REMARKS..
0808 PM TSTM WND GST 2 WNW ATLANTIC 08/11/2016 M59 MPH CASS IA AWOS REPORTED AT the Atlantic Airport.

Huge tree down south of the intersection of 7th & Olive just before 8-p.m. Thursday, blocked the southbound lane. (Ric Hanson photo)

I-80 westbound east of exit 60 (62 mile marker) one lane is blocked due to a electronic message sign on the interstate! (Update 9-p.m.: the sign has been pushed out of the traveled portion of the road)

0805 PM TSTM WND DMG BAYARD 08/11/2016 GUTHRIE IA EMERGENCY MNGR POWER LINES DOWN IN TOWN. 4 TO 6 IN LIMBS DOWN IN TOWN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0846 PM TSTM WND DMG ADEL
08/11/2016 DALLAS IA EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
THROUGHOUT DALLAS COUNTY. CITIES AFFECTED
INCLUDE ADEL, DALLAS CENTER, REDFIELD, AND
DEXTER. TREE LIMB ON EM’S ROOF. TIME
ESTIMATED FROM WHEN STORM HIT ADEL.

Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns said Thursday, one person had filed papers to run in the November 8th Cass County General Election. Jody Lorence filed her papers for a single seat on the Cass County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees, in the NorthWest District. The seat is currently held by John Molgaard.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for a fatal hit-and-run in western Iowa. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports 44-year-old Tracy Peniska, of Omaha, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony count of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and a misdemeanor count of obstruction.

Peniska was given the jail sentence for the obstruction count. He got two years’ probation for the felony count, but faces up to five years in prison if his deferred judgment on that count is revoked. Police say Peniska hit and killed 29-year-old pedestrian Brett Jensen on March 9. Police say Peniska reported his car stolen to Omaha police later that night, but soon admitted he made up the stolen-car story.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The city with Iowa’s highest African-American population has settled lawsuits against white police officers who roughed up black residents, including a 13-year-old girl who was handcuffed after yelling at a passing officer to “slow down.” Videos obtained by The Associated Press in two of the cases show questionable uses of force by Waterloo officers.

In one, an officer slams 17-year-old Malcolm Anderson face-first into a sidewalk outside a hospital and leaves him handcuffed and injured on the ground. In another, the same officer points his stun gun at a crowd of black residents before using it to shock 31-year-old Justin Jones, who’d been helping police break up a party.

The city’s insurer will pay $170,000 to settle the Jones and Anderson cases. The amount going to the girl’s family hasn’t been released.

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) – Mitchell County supervisors have decided to heed a request from the city of Osage to remove a road sign warning of “Suicidal Deer.”  The sign there and one north of St. Ansgar were meant to be attention-getters for motorists navigating areas with high deer populations. But in addition to attention, the signs gained criticism from some people who thought the signs made light of mental illness and brought up sad memories for those who lost someone to suicide.

Osage Mayor Steve Cooper had asked for the sign in his city of 3,600 people to be removed, so at its Aug. 2 meeting the board decided to replace the “Suicidal Deer” sign in Osage with a sign carrying a more conventional warning. The other sign won’t be changed.

Members of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa are getting some special training to be able to handle horses and other large animals who get into trouble. The A-R-L’s animal intervention welfare coordinator, Scott Wilson, says they received a 66-hundred dollar grant from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to purchase equipment and go through the training.

“One of the common things you’ll see around the country is horses will get stuck in ponds, or they will get into a swimming pool and not be able to get back out. Or they’ll fall into a shallow well. So, a big part of the training will be utilizing a sling and A-frame to actually hoist the horse of these situations and back onto solid ground,” Wilson explains. It might seem like you could offer the horse a carrot and coax them out of trouble. Wilson says it’s not that simple.

He says this is done when the horse absolutely won’t come out on their own. Wilson says horses don’t do well on ramps or stairs and that’s how they can get stuck in a swimming pool. Those trained for the A-R-L’s equine rescue team will have the skills to rescue horses and other large animals during disasters or emergencies. “It doesn’t happen very often,” Wilson says,”but the problem is horses are actually very fragile creatures sometimes. And when the need arises, it requires an immediate response. So — even if it only happens once every couple of years — having the equipment on hand like this and the training will give us the possibility of actually saving the horse’s life. While a delay of several hours waiting for something to be figured out could cost the horse’s life.”

The training also teachers the rescuers how to be safe. “Horses can be very unpredictable and when they get scared you’ve got over a thousand pounds of scared animal trying to get away. So, you’ve really have know what you are doing both with the horses and the equipment to minimize any sort of risk,” Wilson says. He says they hope to be able to help other agencies if they are ever faced with a horse rescue or the rescue of another large animal.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of 29-year old Samantha Jo Scybert on a felony charge of Possession Methamphetamine 3rd/Subsequent Offense (D Felony). Scybert, who’s from Atlantic, was taken to the Cass County Jail and was later released on $5,000 bond.

The Sheriff’s Office says on Tuesday, 43-year old John Stratton Eichelberger, of Atlantic, turned himself in on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Violation of Protective Order. Eichelberger was booked at the Cass County Jail and released on $300 bond.

And on Wednesday, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies took into custody 27-year old Damion Bryan Selders, of Atlantic, on a court order to begin serving a sentence. Selders remains in custody at the Cass County Jail until transport to Iowa Medical and Classification Center.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a Shelby County man was arrested Tuesday evening on a warrant for Probation Violation. 27-year old Jonathan Anthony Montoya, of Earling, was taken into custody following a traffic stop in Walnut. Montoya was also charged with Driving While License Revoked. He was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Wednesday afternoon, a Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested a man from Illinois, for being a Fugitive From Justice. 29-year old Raymond Portner, of Crystal Lake, IL., was arrested following a traffic stop for speeding and another moving violation. A records check indicated he was wanted out of Clay County, Missouri. Portner was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail.

And, a pursuit Wednesday afternoon, resulted in a crash and the arrest of a Shenandoah man. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says 34-year old Brian Joseph Freemont, of Shenandoah, was charged with Eluding and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Authorities say a deputy in the median of Interstate 29 at mile marker 57, noticed a gold Ford Taurus drive by with no plates or in-transit tags. The vehicle also had extremely dark window tint.

As he turned his cruiser around to conduct a traffic stop, the Taurus sped up and ultimately rear-ended a Chevy Equinox. The collision disabled the car. The driver, identified as Freemont was arrested on the aggravated eluding charge. A female passenger in the vehicle, 30-year old Starr Selene Walker, of Winnebago, NE., was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Two glass pipes containing a white residue were taken into evidence.