OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Utility officials say a Nebraska nuclear plant is operating at full power again after a brief outage last month.  The Omaha Public Power District said Tuesday that Fort Calhoun resumed generating electricity on March 19 – two days after a problem on the non-nuclear side of the plant during maintenance triggered the shutdown.   It reached full power on March 21st.

This is the second time Fort Calhoun went offline briefly since it restarted in December after a prolonged outage. Fort Calhoun, which sits about 20 miles north of Omaha, had been off line from April 2011 until December. It initially shut down for routine maintenance, but significant flooding in 2011, a small fire and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed for more than two years.

The Harlan City Council, Tuesday, received an update on the Blue Zone initiative. During a regular board meeting, Margie Schenck, Chairperson for the Blue Zones Project, said the project is moving forward, as personal pledges are nearing the 820 minimum with 796 totals recorded as of the end of February.

The Blue Zone initiative was started two years ago when Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield started the process to select communities in Iowa as Blue Zones. The city of Harlan was chosen as a demonstration site on the second round of the selection process in October 2012. Schenck says several entities in the city are working towards becoming certified for Blue Zones.

“There are six different areas but each represent work in different areas. One is schools as both elementary schools are working towards certification. We have two groceries stores, Hy-Vee and Fareway working towards certification. We are working with three restaurants and hoping for a fourth. At the beginning of the process, they (Wellmark) identified twenty different worksites they thought would be a good match for certification for Blue Zones. We are actively working with twelve.”

She also mentioned Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan has been certified. Schenck said this project is something she believes will benefit the city of Harlan long term. “We want to look at our community five years from now, ten years from now. Even fifty years from now to see that the efforts we made now have allowed Harlan to become a community where people can thrive.”

The deadline for the city of Harlan to be certified as a whole is July 31st. If you would like more information on the Blue Zones initiative contact Margie Schenck at 712-755-3547 or log on to www.bluezones.com.

And, during his report to the Council, Harlan Mayor Gene Gettys noted the “Today in America” video has been finalized and a schedule will be released soon on when you can watch the 5 minute segment on national television.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Officials with the Western Iowa Pioneer Cemetery Association appeared before the Shelby County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, to speak with regard to a pioneer cemetery. Chairman Ron Chamberlain spoke to the board as the association was looking for the supervisors to help gain entrance to the Doyle Cemetery located in Grove Township in Rural Shelby County. The Doyle Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery which falls under a different category.

“Pioneer Cemetery means a cemetery where there have been 12 or fewer burials in the last fifty years. Each county board of supervisors may adopt an ordinance assuming jurisdictions and control of pioneer cemeteries in the county. The board shall exercise the powers and duties to township trustees related to the maintenance and repair of the cemeteries in the county. Except the board shall not certify a tax levy but instead maintenance and repair of all cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the county including pioneer cemeteries shall be paid from the general fund. The maintenance and improvement program pioneer cemeteries may include restoration and management of native grasses and wild flowers.”

Currently the entrance to the Doyle Cemetery is only open between the months of September to April due to the ground around the cemetery is farmed by the landowner. The discussion focused around who was responsible for the maintenance and access to the Cemetery. The Supervisors agreed that the trustees of the townships are responsible for pioneer cemeteries and landowners would need to agree to allow access to develop a pathway to the cemeteries. Ron Chamberlain, Chairman of WIPCA said the trustees have not been doing their job.  “Because I would say in the last 100 years, 5 years the cemetery has been mowed by the trustees. They are not taking care of it.”

County Attorney Marcus Gross said it would be up to the trustees to report to the landowner about establishing a road.  “I think what would probably happen is the trustees would notify the surrounding landowner to cease and desist from farming it so that it could be re-established. That’s just off thought on that. I don’t think just by moving the fence it did not make it not a cemetery. I think it’s still a cemetery.”

Supervisor Steve Kenkel said he would like to see a sit down with all parties involved to get something resolved.  “I would like to see us get together with the trustees and I personally would help with that and see if we can get some kind of access. There is realistically only a couple of landlords that can probably or could give us access. I am not saying build a road. What I am talking about is putting a small strip of ground, seeded down, access off another road where you can get in there and don’t destroy it after a rain. It’s not perfectly what we want but it is somewhere in the middle. Is that a goal we can work on? WIPCA Members agreed.”

No timetable on when a joint meeting will occur was established and more information will come out at a later date.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Police in Lenox report the arrest on Tuesday afternoon, of a local woman on an assault charge. Officers were called to the Casey’s General Store in Lenox at around 4:35-p.m., with regard to a disturbance.

Elizabeth Villanueva (Lenox P-D photo)

Following an investigation,  29-year old Elizabeth Villanueva, of Lenox, was located at her home and arrested on a charge of simple assault.  The woman was transported to the Taylor County Jail.

w/ Ric Hanson

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A friend says a prominent Des Moines developer found dead in Guthrie County days after leaving federal prison, had borrowed his car to check in with a parole officer and never returned. Neil Henderson of Waukee said Tuesday that his lifelong friend, Bob Knapp, stayed overnight at his house last week after being released from prison in Duluth, Minn.

Knapp was sentenced to 41 months behind bars after being convicted of violating the Clean Air Act for mishandling the disposal of asbestos from a landmark Des Moines building he renovated. Henderson says Knapp borrowed his Honda Accord to check in with his parole officer the next morning, and never returned.

A farmer found Knapp’s body in the backseat of the burned out vehicle in Guthrie County, on Sunday. Police are investigating the death.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are launching an effort to reduce fatal crashes on Iowa’s secondary rural roads.  The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau announced the effort, which began Tuesday and continues through Sept. 30th, 2015.  The program will focus on rural secondary roads in Fremont, Allamakee, Marion, Webster and Palo Alto counties. Those counties agreed to participate after an analysis of 10 years of crash data and seat belt compliance rates.

Participating counties will take a three-tier approach including enforcement of traffic laws, especially the seat belt law, education about traffic laws and low-cost safety improvements in the participating counties.  The safety bureau says 72 percent of fatal crashes in 2012 were on secondary rural roads. Those roads make up 79 percent of Iowa’s total roadways.

Iowa had 317 traffic fatalities in 2013.

A truck driver from Des Moines was injured when the semi he was driving rolled over off of Interstate 80 in Adair County, Tuesday afternoon. The Iowa State Patrol says 47-year old Martin Spooner, who was wearing his seat belt,  was transported to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines by Stuart Rescue. A report on his condition was not released.

The accident happened when the 2013 Volvo semi Spooner was driving left eastbound I-80 at around 2:20-p.m.  The semi, registered to Decker Trucking out of Ft. Dodge,  entered the south ditch and rolled over, coming to rest on its top.

The accident remains under investigation.

A public hearing will be held this evening in Atlantic, with regard to the amending of the Fiscal Year 2014 City Budget. The hearing will take place as part of a regular meeting of the Atlantic City Council that begins at 5:30-p.m. in the Senior Citizen’s Center, next door to the City Hall/Police Department building. City Administrator Doug Harris says the total amendment amounts to $6-million 177-thousand 990-dollars.

Harris says the “Lion’s share of the amendment is due to the multi-year nature of the numerous bond-funded capital improvement projects” the City has undertaken over the past few years. The Amendments include: $134,500 for Public Safety; $6,000 for Public Works; $8,000 for Culture and Recreation; $9,750 for Community and Economic Development; $15,650 for General Government; $3, 937,000 for Capital Projects; $287,000 for Business Type/Enterprise (Storm Water/Wastewater-related); and $1,780,000 for Transfer Outs, which involve the movement of bond funds into the appropriate Capital Improvement Fund.

In other business, the Council will act on approving a Change Order amounting to $48,241, for a contract between Precision Concrete Services (PCS) and the City of Atlantic. The change order adds the reconstruction of 17th Street west of Redwood Drive, and replacement of a sanitary sewer on Maple Street between 9th and 10th Streets. The Council will also act on authorizing the City Administrator and/or Mayor to request bids for Improvements to the Storm Drainage System in the Alley between Linn and Oak Streets, by 3rd Street.

It’s hoped that modifications to the intake and flow of the storm drains in that area will reduce the risk of flooding to the area near the Akin Building Center and Nishna Valley Credit Union on 2nd Street.

A whirlpool forms following heavy rain on April 14th, 2012, near the NVCU on 2nd Street. (Ric Hanson archive photo)

The Council will also hear a report on a proposed Commercial and Residential Tax Exemption Program.