Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers is issuing a reminder to residents of his community, with regard to the City’s Snow Ordinance. Brothers says “With the chance of accumulating snowfall to occur in Clarinda later this weekend the Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the emergency snow ordinance.”

He says “The ordinance states that; no person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two (2) inches or more. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $15.00 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fees in order for the vehicle to be released.”

The National Weather Service is predicting a 90-percent chance of snow Saturday afternoon in the Clarinda area, and a 60-percent chance Saturday night.

Representatives of non-profit agencies and organizations in Shelby County have received more than $33,200 in grants from the Shelby County Community Foundation. SCCF Chair Gene Gross, said with his most recent round of grants, the Shelby County Community Foundation has distributed nearly $1.4 million in grants and scholarships over the last 14 years.

Recipients of the grants include:
City of Defiance – $2500 – for use at the Defiance Walking Park
City of Elk Horn – $2000 – to renovate or retrofit the old fire station to convert into Fitness
Center
City of Harlan – $2000 – Fire Department Heavy Rescue unit
Concerned, Inc – $2000 – Purchase and install surveillance equipment and access control
For main facility doors
Country Care Center Corp. – $1500 – Add 2 automatic door opening systems to front and rear
Entrances
Danish Mill Corporation – $2500 – Site prep, foundation-laying, lighting, fencing to move
And restore historic scale model of a Danish Village
Friends of Harlan City Parks – $6,010 – Replace unsafe playground equipment that was
Removed from Jaycees Swimming Pool Park
Harlan Little League – $5000 – Construct concrete walkways between fields, build new
Backstops and renovate restrooms
Irwin Fire Department – $800 – IV fluids warmer for ambulance
People for Earling – $2000 – Two new signs with lighting and landscaping
Shelby County Community Outreach – $2000 – refrigerator and small kitchen appliances
For use at fundraisers
Shelby County Conservation Board – $1500 – provide a boat dock
Shelby County Historical Society – $2500 – Funding to create a storage and preservation
Facility by remodeling a portion of the current building
West Central Community Action – $900 – freezer for food pantry

With Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A prosecutor has amended charges against a Sioux City couple for the death of their 2-month-old son. The Sioux City Journal reports that 27-year-old Michael Williams and 24-year-old Rebekah Williams-McCarthy now are both charged with child endangerment resulting in the death of a child, child endangerment resulting in bodily injury of a child and three counts of neglect of a dependent person. The baby, Leonard Williams, was taken to an emergency room on April 29. An autopsy showed that he died of malnutrition and dehydration.

His father originally was charged only with neglect and had pleaded not guilty. The charge of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury is new for Rebekah Williams-McCarthy. She, too, has pleaded not guilty.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Firefighters from Anita and Wiota responded to a reported structure fire early this (Thursday) morning. Anita Fire Chief Josh Peach says the call about the fire at 409 Chestnut Street was dispatched at around 1:40-a.m.

Peach says when they arrived the structure, a small outbuilding, was already fully engulfed in flames and the flames were in danger of spreading to a nearby garage with a vehicle inside. Firefighters were able to knock down the flames before they spread, though. Another vehicle parked nearby, was “scorched”, according to Peach.

The fire, he said, appears to have been electrical in nature. No injuries were reported. Crews from Anita were on the scene for about 90-minutes. The approximately 12-foot by 12-foot outbuilding was declared a total loss, along with a walk behind mower, a work bench and air compressor that were stored inside.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest early this (Thursday) morning of a southwest Iowa man on drug charges. 22-year old Michael Ryan Weeden, of Shenandoah, was taken into custody at around 4:40-a.m. following a traffic stop at the intersection of north Broadway and west Corning Streets, in Red Oak.

Weeden was charged with Possession of drug paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) – Some residents of Carroll are annoyed when they look into a neighbor’s backyard and see a corncrib that’s been turned into a gazebo. Allen Nieland lives near the property, and he told Des Moines television station KCCI that the corncrib would look nice on an acreage or a farm, but it just doesn’t fit the character of his subdivision. The corncrib is the see-through type with a metal roof.

Nieland says he’s started a petition to have the corncrib removed. But city officials say the corncrib meets zoning and building codes and is legal because it’s being used for outdoor entertainment, not to store or dry corn.

Another neighbor, Brad Kirsch, says the corncrib is better to look at “than junk cars or an old boat.”

A 63-year old Oakland man is set to stand trial next week for murder, following numerous delays in bringing his case before a jury. Online court records show a pre-trial conference for Robert Arthur Reynolds will begin 9:30-a.m. Monday (Nov. 17th), in Pottawattamie County District Court. His trial is set for 9:30-a.m., Tuesday.

Reynolds faces a felony, 1st degree murder charge, in connection with the April 8th fatal shooting in his home, of 64-year-old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey, from rural Cass County. He’s pleaded not guilty to the charge. First-degree murder is a Class A felony and carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A criminal complaint says Reynolds acknowledged shooting Kinkade-Dorsey after an argument. Last week, Reynolds’ attorney filed a request by Reynolds to confront any and all witnesses to the shooting.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – As a blast of wintry weather hits the Midwest, Union Pacific Railroad is reminding motorists to use caution at rail crossings during slick, cold-weather conditions.

The Omaha-based railroad says that with blowing and drifting snow, it could be difficult for motorists to see where crossing surfaces are located. When possible, motorists should use overpasses or underpasses to get to the other sides of railroad tracks.

The railroad also warns that those driving too fast for slick conditions could slide into the path or the side of a moving train at a crossing. It can take a mile or more for a moving train to come to a stop.