Police in Council Bluffs say the driver of a Mazda faces a 1st offense OWI charge following an accident on Interstate 29 over the weekend. The Daily NonPareil reports the driver, 22-year old Elizabeth E. Cox, and her passenger, 22-year old Nathanael Long, both of Council Bluffs, were injured during the crash that happened at about the 55-mile marker of I-29 at around 3:30-a.m., Saturday.

Police in Council Bluffs say a dispute between a father and son over a cellphone bill escalated into gunfire Saturday afternoon. According to the Daily NonPareil the incident happened at around 3-p.m. in an alley outside a residence at 16th and High Streets. Sgt. Chad Meyers told the paper 28-year old Jonathan F. McDowell and his father were arguing when the father allegedly came at his son with a clenched fist, and the son, feeling threatened, pulled out a .45-calber handgun before firing a single round into the ground.

A neighbor called police, who arrived to find the father had fled the scene.Meyers said McDowell legally owned the gun and had a concealed carry permit. Officers cited the 28-year-old for unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits.

A couple of local groups have stepped forward to offer their labor and funds to construct a horseshoe pit at Sunnyside Park in Atlantic, as one of many activities designed for those 55 and older, looking for outdoor fun. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring spoke to the Parks Board Monday evening about the potential uses for a 63-by 100-foot area south of the new Maintenance Building on the park grounds. Herring said the Trevor Fredericksen Foundation and Dean Orstad family have agreed to make the horseshoe area a reality.

Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring talks about the proposed Senior Activities Area at Sunnyside Park.

The Board approved Herring moving forward with plans for a Senior Activities Area at Sunnyside, which will include getting the costs for engineering grading the site in preparation for use. Herring said there is money set aside in the budget specifically for Senior Activities, and with the two groups agreeing to provide the labor and expertise for the horseshoe throwing pit, there shouldn’t be any extra costs involved.

In other business, the Parks and Rec Board approved the 2014 Summer Recreation Program, which includes men’s slow pitch softball and the possibility of merging that with a group from Marne, and swimming pool fees along with the hiring of an on-site manager for the pool. Herring proposed opening the pool on Memorial Day weekend (the day after school closes) and closing it the day before school begins. In the past, the pool was open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The hours of operation would also be reduced,  from 1-to 6-pm, which is a change from last years hours of 1-to 8-pm, due to a lack of demand for the later hours. Options will be available for those groups wishing to hold parties at the pool outside normal hours of operation, such as from 6-to 8-pm.

Rates for the pool would be $4 per day for persons 12 years of age and up, and $3 for ages 3 to 11. Under three would be admitted free. There would also be a reduction in the price of a family pass from $105 per season to $90, and the single adult fee would go from $70 to $60 for the season. Herring also proposed, and the board agreed, to cut the number of life guards from 11 to 8, and eliminate the concession stand workers, with the idea being to save money by giving the lifeguards longer shifts or more hours, and rotating some of them into the concession stand operations when the number of persons in attendance at the pool is less.

The Board also agreed to raise the fee for youth tennis by $5, but the swim teams fees would remain the same. The Special Recreation Playground program would be eliminated because the YMCA currently offers that service.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, tabled action on a request by Cass County Public Health Tobbaco Prevention Coordinator Karla Akers, for the implementation of a policy to make tobacco free the skate park portion of Sunnyside Park.Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring said the skate park should not be “singled out,” as an area of bad influence for kids, just because there are persons who are of legal age smoking there.

Akers said she doesn’t see the skate park as a “bad area,” but it is an area where kids can go to remain tobacco free or away from tobacco influences. Last month, the Atlantic City Council voted against passage of an ordinance with would have made the entire park tobacco free, because the laws already in-place with the Smoke Free Air Act were not being followed, with regard to signage in the park, and, they were of the opinion that it is not the City’s responsibility to send a message to kids not to smoke or use tobacco. The Park Board feels the same way.

It was obvious during the meeting there is still a great deal of confusion among the Park Board about what the Smoke Free Air Act covers as far as outdoor venues. Akers suggested she could bring in a representative from the Iowa Department of Public Health to clarify the law, but Board member Charlene Beane said the Parks Board has heard from the City Council and the Park Board has stated its position, and its time to let it rest for a while.

Beane said “To make it any more of a big deal than it’s already been made…is just making a mountain out of a mole hill.” Herring said he wanted to get more information from the National Parks Board with regard to tobacco policies in city parks. The Board agreed to hold-off on any further discussion until more information is available on ways to proceed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The value of crops fell last year as corn and soybeans prices declined from record highs the year before. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in an annual report the value of 2013 field crops fell 9.8 percent to nearly $167 billion from $185 billion in 2012. The 2012 drought reduced the corn and soybean harvest and drove prices to record highs which resulted in increased crop value.

Friday’s report says the average price of corn for 2012 was $6.89 per bushel and the value of the crop that year was $74.3 billion. Last year’s average price was $4.50 and the overall value fell to $62.7 billion.  Top crop producers last year were Illinois with crops valued at $16 billion, Iowa at $15.9 billion, and Nebraska at nearly $12 billion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants to help more Iowa residents participate in national service programs. Branstad on Monday said he had signed an executive order to create the Governor’s Council on National Service in Iowa. That group will make recommendations on how to expand opportunities to participate in national service programs, like AmeriCorps. It will also look for ways to increase volunteer opportunities in the state.

Among the goals set out for the Council is trying to develop new public-private partnerships to support service in Iowa. The group will provide preliminary recommendations to the governor this summer and a final report by Feb. 1, 2015. Branstad says the state benefits when citizens “take the initiative and engage in their communities.”

A farm auction held over the weekend in Shelby County over 700 spectators. The land auction of Edwin “Bud” Skalla was held at the St. Mary’s Parish Center in Portsmouth on Saturday morning. The 858 acres of farmland, which was separated into 5 tracts, was purchased for a total of $7.8 million. The tracts were separated between Shelby and Harrison County. Other personal items were also auctioned for a total of $17,000. The money from the auctions will be donated to 13 southwest Iowa catholic churches.

The 92 year old Skalla had bequeathed the land to the churches along with another tract of 292 that was given to St. Mary Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Portsmouth. The portion of land given to Portsmouth was not part of the auction on Saturday. Those churches benefiting in Shelby County are St. Michael’s in Harlan, St. Peter’s in Defiance, St. Joseph’s in Earling, and St. Boniface in Westphalia, St. Mary’s in Portsmouth and St. Mary’s in Panama.

In Harrison County, St. Patrick’s Church in Missouri Valley, St. Anne’s Church in Logan, St. Patrick’s in Dunlap and Sacred Heart in Woodbine. In addition, St. Patrick’s in Neola, St. Rose of Lima in Denison and St. Patrick’s in Council Bluffs are also beneficiaries.

(KNOD/Harlan)

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday) released a report on arrests made over the past week. On Saturday, 36-year old Melvin Benny Jurey, of Sidney, was arrested for Felony Assault and Domestic Abuse Assault. And, 26-year old Charles Franklin Liles, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Public Intoxication.

Last Wednesday (Feb. 12th), 24-year old Leanna Mae Jackson and 23-year old Sherika Shana Shelly, both of Omaha, and 23-year old Kamisha Kay Childs, of Raytown, MO., were arrested in Fremont County for Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

On Tuesday (Feb. 11th), 36-year old Roger Eugene Straw,of Red Oak, was arrested for Violation of a Protection Order, and on Feb. 4th, 32-year old Christopher Charles Bowers, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Reckless use of Fire and Trespassing.

A thin glaze of ice covered by heavy, wet snow caught some motorists off-guard this morning in western Iowa. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was transported to the hospital following a rollover accident at around 7:30-a.m. on Interstate 29 northbound at the I-80 split. And, an injury accident was reported in Council Bluffs, but no further details are currently available on either accident.  Other, minor accident occurred in some area counties.