On this Memorial Day, Monday, May 31st, several area communities are planning to hold activities, including:

• The Atlantic Memorial Day Service at the Atlantic Cemetery Field of Glory will include a cannon fired by members of The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – Camp #23 at 10 am. There will be a speaker, placement of wreaths, Atlantic Color Guard and SUVCW (Rifle Squad “Fall In”) and an Honor the Dead flyover at approximately 11 am.
• Adair Memorial Day Service will be held at 10 am at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier at Sunnyhill Cemetery in Adair. Volunteers are welcome to help take down the flags today, at 4 pm.
• Anita Memorial Day Service will be held at 10:30 am at the Anita Evergreen Cemetery. All Legion members wanting to participate should be at the Legion Hall by 9 am. Sponsored by the Anita American Legion Post #210. The service at Caring Acres will be held at 9:30 am. Bleachers will not be provided, all those attending will need to bring their own chairs.
• Anita Congregational UCC’s Annual Memorial Day Dinner will be held from 11 am – 1 pm. They are celebrating 150 years! They will be serving ham balls, cheesy potatoes, corn, green beans, dinner roll, drinks and desserts. Cost is $12 for adults, $6 for kids and kids 4 and under are $4. Carry-outs: Lynn Stephenson – 249-2392; Tim Miller – 250-0307; Eric Miller – 250-0121. Public is welcome!
• Newtown Avoca Historical Society Ice Cream Social will be held from 1-4 pm at Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum (504 N. Elm St.). Enjoy free ice cream while you check out their NEW Quilt display and Silent Auction Fundraiser for Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum. Museum hours: Memorial Day and weekends 1-4 pm.
• Brayton American Legion Post #350 Memorial Day Services will start at the East Nishnabotna river bridge east of Brayton at 10 am. Services will also be at Oakfield Cemetery, Bowen Cemetery and Oak Hill Cemetery.
• The Exira Lions are having a Memorial Day breakfast at the Exira Community Center from 8 am to 1 pm. Serving pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee. Free will offering. We will be open for in house dining.
• Griswold Memorial Day Service will be held 10:30 am at the Griswold Cemetery Circle of Flags. Featured speaker: Lieutenant Colonel Bill Backhaus. Handicap accessible parking available. In case of rain, services will be held at the Griswold Community Building. Sponsored by the American Legion Post #508.
• Lewis Volunteer Fire Department Memorial Day Breakfast: Serving Pancakes and Sausage. Drive Thru Orders Available for your Free Will donation, from 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
• the Red Oak Scouts BSA, the Montgomery County Court of Honor, and the Montgomery County Family YMCA’s Togetherhood Committee will be placing American flags throughout the Evergreen Cemetery and at the graves of respected veterans. Service projects are designed to make a meaningful impact while being rewarding and convenient There’s no need to register, just bring face mask coverings to wear to practice safe social distancing practices, gloves, walking shoes or hiking boots, hat, and water down to the Evergreen Cemetery and come with family or friends to place flags around headstones.
• The Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Court of Honor will be placing large American memorial flags along the walkways throughout the cemetery starting at 6 a.m. And the Red Oak Scouts BSA will be placing small flags around the cemetery by the grave sites of our Veterans at 6:30 a.m. Both projects will need people to take down the flags at 4 p.m. as well. The beautiful Evergreen Cemetery is located at 1900 North 8th Street in Red Oak, Iowa and the meeting place for this project will be at the front of the cemetery. If inclement weather comes in later the flags may need to be taken down early.
• Prescott United Church Disciples’ Memorial Day Dinner (405 6th Ave, Prescott, IA), Quilt Bazaar and Bake Sale, 11-a.m. until 1-p.m; Menu includes Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, green bean casserole and dessert. Dining room will be open and you can also call ahead and take out 515-669-5375. Adults $8 with Kids 5-12 $4 and under 5 FREE.

Police in Des Moines say a man was arrested Sunday, after wielding a machete and allegedly lighting an apartment on fire. KCCI reports authorities said it happened at the apartments located at 1100 E. Seneca. The call came in as a domestic dispute. The caller told the dispatcher that the man was armed with a machete.

Police say he then set the apartment on fire. Officers evacuated the people who live there. No one was injured in the incident. The man, who was not immediately identified, was being charged with domestic assault with a weapon, and two counts of first-degree arson.

(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds helped search Sunday for a missing boy who was last seen late Thursday morning in Montezuma. Sunday was Xavior Harrelson’s 11th birthday. About 375 volunteers and 125 law enforcement officers searched areas within a mile of the boy’s home and in rural areas around Montezuma.

Mitch Mortvedt of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spoke with K-C-R-G T-V. “We covered a lot of area, a lot of territory,” he said. “We couldn’t be more appreciative of the people that did show up.” Mortvedt says this is classified as a missing child case — NOT a kidnapping.

Xavior Harrelson

Searchers have gone door-to-door in Montezuma and dive teams have searched Diamond Lake which is about a mile west of Montezuma.

FORT MADISON – The Iowa Department of Corrections, Sunday, said 87-year-old Robert Overstreet Sr., an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, died Friday evening due to natural causes. Overstreet had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 2nd Degree from Scott County. His sentence began on April 8, 1971.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Sunday evening, released a report on arrests and citations issued over the past week. At around 3:40-a.m. Saturday (May 29), 29-year-old Madeline M. Simmons, of Des Moines, was cited and later released for OWI/1st offense, following  a traffic stop.

Friday night, 40-year-old David Junior Richman, of Des Moines, was transferred from Adair County to meet with Des Moines Police, under a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault with bodily injury, an aggravated misdemeanor that comes without bond.

On May 25th, 36-year-old Derik Wayne Bud Pickrell, of West Des Moines, was arrested at the Polk County Jail, on an Adair County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault while impeding the flow of air/blood, and Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000.

At around 3:30-p.m. on May 24th, 32-year-old Evan James Wilber, of Bay City, Michigan, was arrested on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Trespass causing damage greater than $300, with regard to an incident that took place at a property in the 29-hundred block of Delta Avenue, in rural Bridgewater. Wilber was released that same afternoon on a $100 cash bond.

And, at around 4:50-a.m. on May 23rd, 22-year-old Will Donald Gordon, of Creston, was cited and released at the scene, for OWI/1st offense, after he was pulled over for erratic driving and speeding.