The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Thursday night of a woman on an assault charge. 24-year old Candi Marie Duncan, of Pacific Junction, was arrested for Assault Causing Bodily Injury and Assault Causing Bodily Injury. Her bond at the Mills County Jail was set at $2,000.

Iowa homeowners who have tulips, daffodils, newly-planted trees and other tender plants poking up in their yards will need to get busy this (Friday) afternoon to save them. Meteorologist Craig Cogil, at the National Weather Service, says a Freeze Warning is posted for a wide portion of Iowa, roughly from Highway 20 south. “We’re going to see temperatures drop well below freezing overnight across the entire state,” Cogil says. “We are concerned about some of the trees and vegetation across the southern half to two-thirds of the state that have seen growth and are susceptible to freezing temperatures.”

Many areas of the state may see temperatures dip into the low-to-mid-20s tonight and into tomorrow morning. Homeowners will need to act to keep their plants from being nipped or possibly killed by the overnight cold snap. “Individuals in those situations, obviously, if you have smaller plants, cover them up, that helps out,” Cogil says. “People that have orchards will have mitigation techniques they use. The main thing is to get them covered up.”

We’re a couple of weeks into spring now but Cogil says this isn’t an unusual situation. “Some years, especially if you look back at 2012, had an extremely warm March, everything was ahead as far as growing was concerned,” Cogil says. “We saw that a little bit in March where temperatures were warm and things are maybe a little bit ahead of normal, but this is not entirely unusual.”

Some areas of northern Iowa are seeing flurries fly this morning and while it’ll be a cold weekend, Cogil predicts the sparse snow won’t accumulate.

(Radio Iowa)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says defendants facing drug charges must be told that they’ll lose their driving privileges for six months if they plead guilty. The court ruled Friday that defendants also have a right to know the amount of mandatory surcharges they’ll be required to pay on top of their fines. Those declarations came in an appeal filed by Kevin Fisher, who pleaded guilty to possessing a small amount of marijuana in Iowa City in 2013.

As part of a plea agreement, he agreed to plead guilty, spend two days in jail and pay a $315 fine.  He wasn’t told that his plea would also result in the automatic suspension of his drivers’ license for 180 days, or that he’d have to pay an additional $245 in surcharges.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Thursday night of a man wanted on an outstanding warrant. 36-year old Nathan Ray Johnson, of Audubon, was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/3rd offense and Violation of a Protection Order. The charges stem from an investigation into an incident that allegedly occurred at a residence in Hamlin on April 3rd. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted in making the arrest.

Johnson was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Emergency Management officials in Shelby County have upgraded the field/grassland Fire Danger rating to “High” this weekend. EMA Operations Officer Jason Wickizer says there will also be a chance of “Red Flag” Conditions.  He urges people to be mindful of drying conditions, wind and abundant dead vegetation.

Authorities therefore are asking anyone who plans to conduct controlled burns to contact their local fire chief, first. Be sure and call 755-2124 also, with the location of your burn, so dispatchers can gather logistical data.  Burns should be conducted with fire chief approval during the late evening or early morning hours only, when winds are usually reduced.

The Griswold School Board, Thursday evening, spent a considerable amount of time during their special meeting, trying to figure out how they were going to cut $500,000 from the budget, in light of declining enrollment and other factors. Superintendent Dana Kunze said the choices weren’t easy to make, and nothing is final, yet.

He said they’ve targeted some things that action will likely be taken on during the next regular board meeting, but no action was taken Thursday night. He said basically, the Board looked at making cuts throughout the school system, and all departments. They weren’t isolated to any one area in particular. The biggest area of savings is $127,000 from the proposed sharing of a superintendent with two other districts.

Inevitably, Kunze says, the people left over will have more responsibilities, and some programs or services may not be as prominent as they once were. He says they probably fell a little bit short of their $500,000 goal, but the totals aren’t yet crunched from the meeting.

Griswold School Board members contemplate areas to be affected by a budget cut.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a Sioux City woman who approached her husband for a kiss instead bit and tore his lower lip. Court records say 59-year-old Carol Smith is charged with felony willful injury.  The documents say the incident occurred in the couple’s Sioux City home on May 24 last year. Police say Smith’s husband required plastic surgery and say his psychologist reports that the man now suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder. Smith’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 15.

A Creston resident reported an incident of theft, Thursday morning. Creston Police said a resident in the 100 block of S. Jarvis Street, reported a red, three-person canoe with a live well, was stolen from her property sometime between April 5th and 6th. The loss was estimated at $500.

And, a City of Creston employee reported Thursday, that sometime during the overnight hours of April 5th, someone drove into the northeast corner of fencing at the Bill Sears Baseball Fields (in the area of Clark and Chestnut Streets). The incident caused an estimated $2,500 damage.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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