The Harlan Community School District’s board of education held a public hearing regarding the Merrill Field Project, Monday. During their regular meeting, no comments were heard from the public on the project. Superintendent Justin Wagner told the board about some changes that have been made on the Merrill Field design. The plan going forward is to remove the bleachers in front of the concession stand on the west side and to use boards from those bleachers to fix the elementary bleachers on the northwest side.

The track, which will be completely redone, will feature a safety lane from end-zone to end-zone on each side of the football field and the cyclone logo will be in the middle of the field. Originally, the plan was to have the word cyclones written out on the field but those have been removed to save money. In all, Merrill Field will lose about 300 seats. The final plans and design will be made at the next Harlan Community School board meeting Monday, January 20^th.

In other business, the board approved the audit report. Superintendent Wagner says there are a few things Board members should be aware of as a result of the audit. The first is the district’s levy is very low ,at  $11.74 per thousand dollars valuation. He said the average for the state is right around $14.50.  The financial solvency ratio for the district which measures the financial health of the District, is 29.1-percent. Experts recommend an average of 8-to 12- percent. Wagner said also, the district’s unspent authority again is $8.1 million, which he says is “Very good.”. Last year’s AEA average was $1.9 million. The District’s expenditures are higher than revenues. Wagner says that’s because they have to spend down their cash reserve levy. Wagner said “Some people will look at it and say we are spending more than we are taking it in, that’s because we have to spend that cash reserve levy down to get underneath that 20 percent.” Wagner said also, the district operated within its certified budget.

The Harlan Community School board approved the audit. Superintendent Wagner then showed the board results of a recent survey handed out to students, parents and the community. The first question on the survey dealt with when the district should start school. The survey showed 64 percent of students want the same schedule currently as well as 26 percent of the teachers and 34 percent of the community. Wagner said there is a push from the state to take the start date of school districts out of local control but the survey shows the majority in the Harlan Community district would like to keep it the same. One other topic from the survey was drinking and drugs.

Wagner said the vast majority of respondents thought the District could do more to combat underage drinking and drug use. The survey showed over 50 percent of the staff and students while 43 percent of the community believes the school district can do more. The same question was asked for drug use and the results were similar. Wagner said the administration is already discussing the issue and more information will come at a later school board meeting.

(Joe McCall/KNOD)

Two people escaped injury following an accident Monday morning, in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials report a vehicle driven by Kimberly Dawn Freeman, of Auburn, NE., was traveling east on Highway 34 west of Red Oak at around 9:45-a.m., when the car drifted onto the shoulder of the road. Freeman over corrected, causing the 1996 Geo Prizm to fishtail into the path of a westbound vehicle driven by Ronald Deane McGrew, of Emerson.

McGrew tried to avoid a head-on collision, but his vehicle struck Freeman’s car, sending it into the north ditch. McGrew’s vehicle came to rest on the shoulder of the road. Authorities say Freeman was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

Damage from the crash amounted to $3,600.

The number of Americans who have health coverage under the Affordable Care Act continues to grow, but a new analysis finds that, especially in rural states, there are many who still can’t gain access to affordable insurance. All states were given the option to expand their Medicaid programs, but many did not, and according to Jon Bailey, director of the rural public policy program at the Center for Rural Affairs, those were mostly states with large rural populations.

“Then the converse is true for states that have a higher portion of their population in urban areas. They’re more likely to have expanded Medicaid,” Bailey said. “So if you live in a rural area, in a state that has a high rural population, it’s less likely that you’ll get the benefits of the Medicaid expansion.”

In Iowa, the Medicaid program is being expanded this year, increasing eligibility to those who earn up to 100 percent of the poverty level, or about $11,500 a year.

In rural states where there was no expansion there’s a significant coverage gap of low-income workers who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to receive tax credits under the new heath insurance marketplaces. Bailey said that coverage gap, percentage-wise, is about as large as the group of people whose policies didn’t comply with the ACA, where action was taken to let them keep what they had.

“Congress introduced bills. The president came up with a plan to solve the problem for a year,” he said. “That group of people is almost equal to the people in this coverage gap who have no insurance options at all, and really very few people are talking about how to resolve those people’s problems.”

Nationally, nearly 1.8 million rural and small-city residents are in the coverage gap.

(Iowa News Service)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A trial has been delayed again for a Council Bluffs doctor charged with sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl. The Daily Nonpareil says lead prosecutor Denise Timmins had asked for a continuance because of a scheduling conflict with the Jan. 14 trial date for Dr. Dennis Jones. The original trial date was Aug. 13. The new trial date is May 6.

Jones is accused of inappropriately touching the girl outside of his pediatrics practice. Jones’ attorney Mike Winter has said Jones is not guilty.  Court documents say investigators have found child pornography on at least one computer and several more digital devices owned by Jones.

w/ Ric Hanson

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• 3 lbs. lean ground beef
• 2 – 15 oz. cans Italian-style tomato sauce
• 2 – 4 oz. cans (drained weight) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1/2 cup sliced pitted ripe olives (optional)
• 2 to 3 cups (8 to 12 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 – 10 oz. packages (10 biscuits each) refrigerated biscuits

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In an extra large skillet, cook ground beef until brown, stirring to break up meat.  Drain off fat.  Stir in tomato sauce, mushrooms, and , if desired, olives.  Heat through.  Divide mixture between two, 2 quart rectangular baking dishes.  Sprinkle with cheese.

2.  Flatten each biscuit with your hands.  Arrange the biscuits on top of cheese.  Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden.  Makes 10 servings.

w/ Ric Hanson

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CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa hospital says it’s reviewing its security policy after a person committed suicide in one of its restrooms.  Officials at Cherokee Regional Medical Center say the incident happened Sunday evening. Additional information has not been released.

Cherokee Regional CEO John Comstock tells the Sioux City Journal that the person was not a patient and did not have contact with staff or other patients.  Comstock also says officials have found no fault with the hospital’s security policy, but they’re considering small changes. He didn’t say what those changes may be.

Police in Red Oak arrested two men overnight Monday into early this (Tuesday) morning. 32-year old Joshua Edward Mastin, of Red Oak, was arrested at 1-a.m. on a valid Page County warrant. Mastin was taken into custody in the 700 block of N. Broadway Street. He was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $7,500 bond.

And, at around 10:15-p.m. Monday, officers with the Red Oak P-D arrested 44-year old Danny Jo Lane, of Red Oak, on an active Montgomery County warrant for Probation Violation. Lane was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $5,000 bond.