Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a 15-year old female faces charges of Theft in the 4th Degree, for possession of stolen property. The unidentified teen was arrested Monday night, following an incident in the Treynor area, whereby clothing was stolen from a residence.

Authorities say 28-year old Shialea Kay Cozad was arrested late Monday morning, after being transported from the Mills County Jail to Pott. County.  Cozad was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender. Saturday night,  43-year old Matthew Michael Handsaker was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a call about a disturbance in rural Honey Creek. Also arrested at the same scene, was 35-year old Ronnie Milburn Pyland. He was taken into custody on two-counts of Child Endangerment with substantial risk, Domestic abuse assault and OWI/1st offense.

Friday night, 22-year old Blake Barnum was arrested following an investigation into an unknown injury accident in Underwood. Barnum was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance – Marijuana/1st offense.  Friday evening, 62-year old Mark Robert Richardson was arrested for OWI/1st offense, after his vehicle was found in a ditch southeast of Council Bluffs, near Pioneer Trail and Wabash Avenue.

Friday afternoon, 42-year old Robert William Brokman was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse, on a State of Iowa warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense.  None of the persons mentioned remained in the Pott. County Jail, as of this (Tuesday) morning.

The Griswold School Board met Monday evening in a regular session. Ryan Askeland, who was a new addition to the Board, after having won the election in November, was sworn-in. There were no changes in officers from last year, with Aaron Houser re-elected as President and Don Smith was re-elected Vice President. The Board did not act on the appointment of a Board Secretary. Superintendent Dave Henrichs told KJAN the Board will vote on that at a later time. He added that long-time Board Secretary Nancy Taylor has submitted her resignation, effective the end of June, 2020, when she will retire. Taylor has served the District for about 38-years. Henrichs said her departure is “Bitter sweet,” because of the guidance she has provided him, and because soon she can enjoy time for herself.

Henrichs said the reorganized Board accepted two other resignations and approved one new hire. He said Head Football Coach Andy Everett and Assistant High School Football Coach Jeff Schoening submitted their resignations. And, the Board hired Marlia Mundorf as a High School Special Education Teacher, 2^nd Semester, due to an resignation the District received earlier in the year.

And, the Board agreed to hold a joint meeting with the Lenox School Board 6-p.m. Feb. 5^th, in Lenox. Henrichs said there are multi-purpose reasons for the meeting. One part is for the two boards to collectively complete his evaluation. Anothe part is to determine whether or not the districts want to continue the Superintendent sharing agreement, and if so, to discuss Henrichs’ contract. Both the sharing agreement and contract expire at the end of June, 2020.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A new trial date has been scheduled for two men accused of stabbing to death a man in Cedar Rapids. Drew Blahnik, 32, and Drew Wagner, 34, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other crimes in the slaying of 31-year-old Christopher Bagley. He went missing from his home in Walker in December 2018. Investigators found his body buried in the backyard of a Cedar Rapids home in March.

Investigators have said Blahnik has confessed to stabbing Bagley in retaliation for his robbery of a large-scale marijuana trafficker. The trial had been set to begin Feb. 3, court records say. The new date is July 6.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Darby McLaren, and Chief Deputy Jon Westering, paid tribute today (Tuesday), to long-time Cass County physician, Dr. Keith Swanson, and his wife Berniece, for Swanson’s many years of service.

Berniece Swanson (left), and Dr. Keith Swanson; (in the back: Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren & Chief Deputy Jon Westering) – Ric Hanson photo

Board Chair Steve Baier read a Resolution recognizing Swanson’s care for so many people, and to inmates at the Cass County Jail. The Resolution said Dr. Swanson retired from professional practice, has provided valuable and innovative care for residents of Cass County and the surrounding area…50-years [in Cass Co.], 60-years total. For the past 15-years, he’s provided medical care for persons being held in the Cass County, at little or no expense to the tax payers in Cass County, and furthermore, Dr. Swanson rendered such service with no expectation of reward or personal gain of any kind.”

Baier went on to say “We, the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff and Jail Administrator of Cass County, publicly recognize Keith Swanson, M.D. For his donation of professional service, and on behalf of the citizens of Cass County, we offer our heartfelt thanks for his civic-minded actions benefiting not only his patients, but the entire community.” Chief Deputy Westering also acknowledged Berniece Swanson for the time she’s sacrificed, and others. He said Dr. Swanson provided a counseling service to the inmates, as well, and that was deeply appreciated. He thanked Swanson’s family, too, for all they have done.

Dr. Swanson accepted a framed certificate of appreciation from Steve Baier, and thanked the Board, Sheriff and Chief Deputy. He said “It’s been my privilege to serve the people of the County and I hope some of those prisoners out with what I had to say to ’em.” In other business, the Supervisors tabled the appointment of a Town Clerk for Brighton Township, as no person was available to accept the post.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Public Health is part of an ovarian cancer study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Doctor Mary Charlton at the University of Iowa says they are trying to find out why women don’t go to a gynecologic oncologist for treatment. “The guidelines says that the survival and other outcomes are much better when women are operated on by these specialist providers,” Charlton says. “So, we are trying to figure out what are some barriers and what are some things we might be able to do better.”

Charlton says one issue maybe access to the specialists. “That’s a big part of it — we only have six in the whole state of Iowa — and five of them are here in Iowa City. So they are not geographically distributed very well,” she says. “But the ones that I have talked to here believed that between the six of them they do have the capacity to treat all of our ovarian cancer patients in Iowa.”  She says that isn’t the only issue and they want to find out more. “Is it that rural patients don’t know that they should go? Is it that they can’t –they have some transportation barriers, lodging barriers — things like and so they just really need to be treated closer to home. We are looking into is it possible for some of the hospitals to work closer together. Can we do a little bit more outreach?,” Charlton says.

She says the study involves a lot of interviews. “We’ve already been talking with O-B-G-Y-N’s around the state and some hospital administrators to get their perception of what’s happening,” according to Charlton. “We’ve talked to some of the gynecologic oncologists and then also through the Iowa Cancer Registry, where I am the associate director, we are also interviewing survivors of ovarian cancer to ask them about their experience and any barriers to receiving care.”

Charlton says the study will take one year to complete. She says they will spend part of the time figuring out what the problems are and then trying to figure out what they can do to make things easier for patients. Charlton says it is the eighth most common cancer in Iowa and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women. “So definitely nowhere near the numbers like breast cancer. But it’s a lot more deadly than breast cancer,” Charlton explains. “Where you have almost I think a 90 percent five-year survival rate for breast cancer — you have a less than 50 percent five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer patients.”

Charlton says there are no effective screening or early detection tools for ovarian cancer. Given the lack of prevention and early detection, effective treatment has emerged as an evidence-based mechanism for reducing ovarian cancer deaths.

MEAD, Neb. (AP) —  Authorities say an Iowa man was killed when the pickup truck he was riding in went out of control on an icy highway in eastern Nebraska. Authorities say Jose Rodas died Friday after the pickup collided with an oncoming sport utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 77, about 1.75 miles north of Mead. Rodas lived in Sioux City, Iowa. The pickup driver, Nicolas Leon, of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, was taken to a Wahoo hospital. Another passenger, Anevol Hernandez, of Sioux City, Iowa, was treated for minor injuries. The SUV driver was identified as Kristen Kusik, of Lincoln. Kusik was taken to an Omaha hospital.