Griswold School District Superintendent Dave Henrichs reports the district’s spending authority has beaten 2016 financial projections. Spending Authority is the amount a district has the “right” to spend, but it does not mean it intends to do so. Four-years ago, Hendrichs said, it looked as though the District would have a substantial negative balance by 2020.

In other business, Henrichs said the Board approved Video Streaming Compensation for Teachers who have overseen the Communications Arts program, which includes live streaming of events. The grant has expired, and the Board agreed to compensate those teachers $25 per hour for their after-hours work. The Board also approved the 2020-21 Certified Enrollment Report, which Henrichs says shows the number of kids residing in the District, is 452 (down 5 from last year). The other enrollment number is called “Beds” (Basic Educational Data Survey).

Henrichs said they predicted the number would be around 15. Henrichs said also, the Board approved the offering of an Early Retirement package.

And, the Griswold School Board, Monday, approved the purchase and installation of a 12-foot by 18-foot roll-up flag that would be displayed

The flag was ordered today [Today]. They hope to have it installed by the start of the winter sports season.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped by more than one percent in September. Iowa Workforce Development reports the September rate is four-point-seven percent — down from six percent in August. It is the fifth consecutive month the state unemployment rate has dropped since peaking at 11 percent in April during the height of the pandemic. The number of unemployed Iowans is estimated at 111-thousand-400 lower than that April peak.

Leisure and hospitality gained the most jobs in September at 41-hundred — and Workforce Development says those were predominantly jobs at eating and drinking establishments. I-W-D says there are 64-thousand job openings across the state.

Law enforcement agencies across the country (including the Cass County Sheriff’s Office), have issued warnings with regard to schemes aimed at playing on emotions for the “Blue Lives Matter” movement. The schemes involve telemarketers who often target elderly donors. The callers claim to be from a variety of generic and similar-sounding alias organizations, such as The Police Officers Support Association, the National Emergency Responders Coalition and the National Coalition for Police & Troopers.

Many donors say they believed they were supporting a charity that helps local officers. But none of the money being raised actually goes to police departments, according to government records. Instead, their contributions end up with a super PAC, Law Enforcement for a Safer America, which has ties to a controversial union and spends the majority of its money on its own operating costs.

At least seven local police departments from around the country and a state attorney general have issued “scam alerts” and other notices about these fundraising efforts, warning residents in their communities as recently as this summer that they have no affiliation with this group.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests. At around 3:35-a.m. Tuesday (today), 48-year old Michael Dean Craig, of Lorimor, was arrested in Lorimor, for public intoxication. Craig was being held in the Union County Jail on $300 bond. Monday evening, 20-year old Marissa Kay Waigand, of Afton, was arrested in Afton for possession of paraphernalia. Waigand was being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail on $300 bond. And, Sunday evening, 63-year old Kevin Edward Connelly, of Lorimor, was arrested in Lorimor for Trespass. Connelly was released from the Union County Jail after pleading guilty to the charge.

A woman from Creston reported to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Monday afternoon, that sometime over the weekend, someone entered her storage unit in Creston and took $160 worth of Little Debbie products.

A new program aimed at helping persons with delinquent fines square their accounts away, was recently set into place in Audubon County. Acting Audubon County Attorney Brenna Bird says the new program makes paying what you much easier and less burdensome on your wallet. Bird says “The Judicial Branch allows the County Attorney’s Office to enter into payment plans with folks.” She says it’s a win-win for everyone. It benefits taxpayers, victims of crimes, the people who owe money, and Audubon County. The County, she says, gets 28% of the money that comes in, which is applied to the County’s fund set-up to help those operations.

The 28% does NOT reduce the money paid to victims. She said “Victims always get paid first. The first dollar right off the top.” There’s no discount to what they receive just because there’s a collections program.The court system handles a variety of offenses and fines, including traffic citations, expired license, restitution following a criminal offense conviction and court-appointed  attorney fees. Bird says getting those debts paid-off is important to keeping or getting your driver’s license.

Bird says they understand it’s very difficult for people to get their lives back together after they are arrested for drugs, OWI or other offenses. A lot of the cases they see are drug related. This program, she says, offers a way to for those persons to get back on track.

All you have to do is call the Audubon County Attorney’s Office at 712-563-2202 and let their staff research your case. They’ll call you back with an equitable solution to paying your fine(s) to the Clerk of Court. You can also e-mail them at audcoatty@auduboncountyia.gov.

Please note, you cannot have someone call for you, as the information they need and provide is personal and confidential.