During Friday’s Iowa-Nebraska football game, the American Red Cross will honor two men, one from each state, who went above and beyond in the face of crisis. Red Cross spokeswoman Kara Kelly says the Iowan who’s being singled out for recognition as a “citizen hero” is 18-year-old Austin Benson of Winterset, a senior at Winterset High School. “Austin acted with great bravery when his friend was thrown from her horse,” Kelly says. “The horse rolled on top of her and the saddlehorn punctured her leg. It ended up being very critical injuries. Austin applied pressure to the wound and kept her awake while waiting for the ambulance. According the medical professionals, he reallys saved her life.”

The honoree from Nebraska is Gene Willers, the president of the Midwest Bank Branch in Pilger, a town that was forever changed on June 16th. “You may remember, there was a very large tornado that went through that town this summer,” Kelly says. “Gene put eight people in the bank safe. It only locks from the outside so he locked them inside and then went into the basement. The bank was in fact destroyed but luckily, everybody survived.”

Benson and Willers will be honored during the Hawkeye-Cornhusker game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. “We have a great presentation that will happen during halftime at Friday’s game,” Kelly says. “We have two videos that will show their stories. They’ll also have their names engraved on the Hy-Vee Heroes game trophy and then they’ll receive honorary plates from both athletic directors. It’s really a wonderful tribute to these two men.”

Benson, Willers and members of their families will be guests of the Hawkeyes and the Huskers at the game and will participate in a variety of special pregame activities. Fans of both schools were invited to nominate residents of Iowa and Nebraska who have performed extraordinary acts of heroism and service in their communities. Staff and volunteers from the Red Cross selected the winners.

(Radio Iowa)

An SUV reported stolen late Monday afternoon in Montgomery County was recovered about 3-hours later, in Nebraska. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was notified at around 7:33-p.m. by officials with the Nebraska State Patrol, that authorities in Nebraska has located a 2003 Ford Escape that had been reported stolen in Iowa at around 4:30-p.m., Monday.

The SUV was found on Highway 75 in Douglas County, NE., and the owner (Richard McAlpin), was informed of its locating. An investigation into the incident was on-going.

The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain announced Monday an inadvertent accounting error that caused them to miss paying more than 31-million dollars in tax during a 31-month period.
Casey’s chief financial officer, Bill Walljasper, talked about the issue during a conference call with reporters.”The error pertained to excise taxes owed since January 1st of 2012 on ethanol the company purchased separately, and then blended with gasoline. Commonly known as splash blending,” Walljasper explained. He says a tax credit for splash blending expired and was not updated in the company’s accounting process.

“This credit of 45 cents per gallon of ethanol more than offset the excise tax of 18-point-four cents per gallon,” Walljasper says. “Casey’s was correctly accounting for the excise tax on form 720, and the credit up to the point in time when the blending credit expired on December 31st, 2011.” Walljasper says the company immediately reported the failure to pay the proper taxes once it was discovered.

“The aggregate impact of the unrecorded excise taxes from period of January 1st of 2012 through July 31st of 2014 — including accrued interest — is approximately 31-point-five million. During over that period, the impact on Casey’s fully diluted share is approximately four-and-a-half cents in each of the affected quarters,” Walljasper says.

Casey’s has paid the I-R-S paid 30-point-four-million dollars in taxes due, along with one-point-one million dollars in interest to resolve the issue. Casey’s Chairman and C-E-O Robert Myers, says the company is modifying its information technology system to be sure something like this does not happen again. “The company does not believe that there has been a default of the note promise agreements relating to our outstanding senior notes. Additionally, our long-term growth plans remain intact,” Myers says. “Moreover, this does not impact our financial goals. As such, we remain committed to achieving our 2015 goals, including the margin on our fuel gallons sold.”

The fiscal year goals for Casey’s include increasing same-store fuel gallons sold by one percent with an average margin of 15point-three cents per gallon; increasing same-store grocery & other merchandise sales by five-point-three percent, with an average margin of 32-point-one percent; increasing same-store prepared food & fountain sales nine-point-five percent with an average margin of 60-percent, and building or acquiring 72 to 108 stores and replacing 25 existing locations.

“We want to emphasize that Casey’s business remains fundamentally strong as evidenced by our October same store sales numbers,” according to Myers. Casey’s operates roughly 18-hundred stores, with three of them here in Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has resigned after serving as the Pentagon chief since early 2013 when he succeeded Leon Panetta. Hagel is a former Republican U-S Senator from Nebraska. Iowa Republican Congressman, Steve King, says Hagel and the president appear to have been at odds over handling military policy in the middle east. “Chuck Hagel might have spoken out a little too boldly about what we needed to do beef up our forces against ISIS. And it doesn’t fit very well with the president’s no boots on the ground promise,”King says. “And it doesn’t fit so well with the deconstruction of the U-S military, the weakening of the military that the president has pushed so hard for.”

King says it looks like there is a significant disagreement at the root of Hagel’s resignation. Hagel was the third person to serve as President Obama’s defense secretary following Robert Gates and Panetta. King says there has been a pattern of politics in defense briefings since President Obama took office, going back to some staffers who were holdovers from the Bush administration.

“They would be sitting there briefing us and it changed dramatically one president to the next. Same faces of the briefers, it became political responses instead of tactical and factual classified briefing. And that is very troubling if you are going to push your military into a political operation,” according to King. Hagel has agreed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate. King made his comments during an appearance on K-S-C-J radio in Sioux City.

(Radio Iowa)

A corn crib that’s caused some controversy in the western Iowa town of Carroll is being put to good use. The corn crib was being used by a couple in town as a backyard gazebo. Several neighbors have complained about the wire and metal structure, calling it an eyesore. Monday evening, Carroll residents were being challenged to fill the corn crib with canned food to be donated to the local Food Bank. Summer Parrott helped organize the food donation drive.

“Carroll is community where we help our neighbors and I really just wanted to bring everything together so we could focus on something positive during the holiday season,” Parrott said. A Girl Scout group that Parrott teaches will help collect the donations. Parrott said she was bothered by the negativity that seemed to be swirling around the community over the gazebo issue. “When I first read the news story about what was going on with the gazebo, I just immediately thought this is such a first world issue,” Parrott said. “There are so many bigger things to be worried about within the community, let alone the world, that we don’t need to keep perpetuating all of the negativity going back and forth.”

Parrott said the owners of the corn crib/gazebo, Jeff and Cindy Heuton, were quick to agree to the food drive idea when she approached them about the idea of filling the structure with canned goods.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources say the Smithfield Farmland plant in Denison reported a small spill Monday, at around 1:15-p.m. About 50 gallons of process wastewater from the plan flowed into a storm drain, which empties into the Boyer River after a small fire in the electrical room at 11
a.m. Plant operators shut down the power and pumps to prevent further potential damage.

The power outage caused the spillage of untreated wastewater. The DNR says it will follow up with the facility.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has pardoned two turkeys as part of a Thanksgiving tradition. Branstad read an official proclamation for the pardon of the birds, named Cranberry and Cinnamon, at Terrace Hill. Officials say the turkeys, from a farm near Ellsworth, will now live at Living History Farms in Urbandale instead of possibly becoming cold cuts.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Boy Scout troop has restored a barn-like structure used for many years as a nativity scene in Webster City. The structure was built as part of an Eagle Scout project by Brandon Hayes in 1989. Local organizations contributed to the 25-year-old project, which cost about $800.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Even as costs decline, many Iowa residents are having trouble paying their heating bills. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says Midwest consumers could see their bills decrease up to 38 percent depending on the fuel used to heat their homes. But many Iowa residents are still struggling based on notices provided to the state’s utilities board through Nov. 1. About 16,000 homes across the state didn’t have heat when cold temperatures hit the state last week.

CHURDAN, Iowa (AP) — A bottled water advisory has been issued for the city of Churdan in Greene County. The state Department of Natural Resources says the advisory was issued due to a loss of water pressure from a leaky valve. The city lost pressure for about a half hour. Officials say there is a high level of nitrites in the water supply. Boiling could be unsafe because it concentrates the nitrites in the water. Bottled water should be used for drinking, tooth washing, food preparation and other similar uses.

A Cass County man was arrested Friday on eluding, and other charges. The Sheriff’s Department reports 21-year old Zachariah Vincel Flathers, of Anita, faces Eluding, Public Intoxication, and Interference with Official Acts, charges. Flathers was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on $1,000 bond.

And on Sunday, deputies in Cass County arrested 33-year old Jacob Allen Cochran, of Red Oak, on charges of Driving While Barred, two charges of Driving While Revoked, and three charges of Driving Under Suspension. Cochran was taken to the Cass County Jail. He was later served with a Sheriff’s Office warrant for Eluding, Driving While Barred, two charges of Driving While Revoked, and two charges of Driving Under Suspension. Cochran remains held at the Cass County Jail on $9,000 bond.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa man accused of sexually abusing his wife and forcing her to terminate pregnancies has pleaded not guilty to charges. The Sioux City Journal reports the 54-year-old man entered the written plea Monday in Buena Vista County District Court. He is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, five counts of forced consent to termination of human pregnancy, two counts of assault while participating in a felony and one count of tampering with a witness.

The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the woman’s privacy. Police say the man forced his wife between October 2012 and April 2014 to take pills that resulted in the termination of two pregnancies. The woman told police her husband threatened her with a machete during sexual assaults.

The Atlantic Police Dept. reports the arrest on Friday of Aaron Macias, of Atlantic. The 27-year old was taken into custody on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear for his arraignment. Macias was booked into the Cass County Jail.