The Harlan Police Department today (Monday) released a report on recent arrests and incidents. On Dec, 10th, 56-year old Roger Elam, of Omaha, was arrested on a Trespassing charge, after officers responded to assist Medivac Ambulance crews. Elam told officers he was living in the 1400 block of 7th Street, but following an investigation, it was determined he was living there without permission of the property owners.

And on Dec. 7th, officers with the Harlan P-D received reports numerous, separate residential theft reports. Among the items taken was an X-Box and Playstation, numerous pieces of conduit and an exhaust system, and cigarettes. Officials urge residents to lock their houses and cars, and most importantly, if you see or hear anything suspicious, call the Harlan Police Dept. at 755-5151.

Plans are being unveiled for a national veterans cemetery to be built just south of Omaha that would offer plots to veterans in both Nebraska and Iowa. Will Ackerman, a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs, says the cemetery would be large enough to initially accommodate more than 55-hundred graves.

Ackerman says, “This is good news for veterans because the VA is very interested in providing not only health care and other benefits when they’re alive but also honoring them through the national cemetery when they have passed away.” There is already an Iowa Veterans Cemetery located just south of Interstate 80 in Dallas County which opened in 2008. Ackerman says that facility near Van Meter is state-owned while the new facility near Omaha would be federally-owned and operated.

“The site is a 230-acre parcel in Sarpy County,” Ackerman says. “The only other national VA cemetery is at Fort McPherson here in Nebraska. This is different from the state cemeteries. These are national VA cemeteries by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.” A meeting is planned to discuss the new cemetery tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1 P-M at the Homewood Suites in downtown Omaha.

(Radio Iowa)

The second shotgun deer season is underway and the Iowa D-N-R’s testing effort for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is also ongoing. D-N-R wildlife biologist, Willie Suchy, says the disease monitoring involves taking tissue samples. “So, if our hunters encounter some D-N-R people who are trying to collect samples, we encourage you to cooperate. We are trying to do a good job of surveillance,” Suchy says. The D-N-R has tested some 47-thousand deer since 2002.

“So far we haven’t detected any C-W-D in wild animals,” Suchy says. The only cases of C-W-D discovered in Iowa have been in captive deer in Wapello, Davis, Pottawattamie and Cerro Gordo counties. Suchy says they are keeping an eye on the deer in that area. Suchy says all the tests in those areas so far have been negative. The other testing effort concentrates on portions of northeast Iowa near Wisconsin and Illinois. C-W-D has been found in Wisconsin and Illinois.

The Iowa D-N-R’s website provides information about C-W-D and other information on infectious disease at: www.iowadnr.gov

(Radio Iowa)

Montgomery County Emergency Manager Brian Hamman says members of the Midwest Regional Dive Team were called to assist Poweshiek County authorities at Lake Ponderosa for a recovery of a man that fell through the ice Saturday evening. The dive team left this (Monday) morning.

The unidentified man was riding an all-terrain vehicle on Lake Ponderosa when ice broke and he fell into the lake.  Divers and searchers have unsuccessfully tried to locate the man since he went into the icy water on the northeast side of the lake located near Montezuma around 6 p.m. Saturday. A search went on until about 2 a.m. Sunday when it was called off because equipment kept freezing. The search continued Sunday afternoon but ended just after 6 p.m.

Efforts to find the man were suspended indefinitely because it became too dangerous for divers.   Montezuma Fire Chief Chris Widmer says divers, plunging into 37-degree water, were unable to find the man whose name is expected to be released later today (Monday).

w/ Ric Hanson

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(Updated 8:20-a.m.) — A house that was completely engulfed in flames early this (Monday) morning southeast of Massena is a total loss, but no one was injured.  Massena Fire Chief Brad Lank told KJAN News a man who was the lone occupant of a home at 70082 760th Street, got out safely and went to a neighbor’s home down the road to call for help.

Photo courtesy Cass Co. Emergency Mgmt. Coordinator Mike Kennon,

The fire was reported at 6:06-a.m.  Crews from Massena, Anita, Cumberland and Corning responded to the scene.

Lank says the home was out of propane for heating so an electric space heater was being used, and the device was the apparent cause of the blaze.

Crews were still on the scene at 8-a.m. conducting “mop up” activities, and were expected to remain there for about another hour.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The CAM School District’s Board of Education will meet this (Monday) evening at the high school, in Anita. On their agenda, is several action items pertaining to the CAM Multi-purpose building. Those matters include: approving a change order for an additional $6,505; Accepting the Engineer’s Certification of Completion; Adopting a Resolution accepting the work; and approval of a sub-final and final pay request to Jensen Builders.

In other business, the CAM School Board will: Review their Capital Projects list; Act on open enrollment applications and an Early Retirement Policy; Make a request to the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) for Drop Out Prevention, and act on a modification of the School Calendar.

The meeting begins at 6:30-p.m. in the CAM High School Media Center.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials at MidAmerican Energy Co. and the state of Iowa are set to make a major announcement regarding a new wind energy development.  Gov. Terry Branstad is expected to discuss the project at his morning news conference Monday and release further details with company officials at a 1 p.m. news conference to be held at the Siemens Energy wind blade factory near Fort Madison.

In August MidAmerican Energy received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board for a $1.9 billion project to install hundreds of wind turbines by the end of 2015.  More than 448 turbines are to be installed in Grundy, Madison, Marshall, O’Brien, and Webster counties.

MidAmerican, Iowa’s largest energy company began building wind turbines in 2004, and it currently has more than 1,200 wind turbines in Iowa.

The Griswold School District’s Board of Education is slated to meet this (Monday) evening, beginning at 5:45. On their agenda is: A presentation by officials with Estes Construction with regard to new and existing projects; The appointment of members to SIAC (The School Improvement Advisory Committee), and the first reading of a 400- and numerous 900-series Board Policies.

The meeting takes place in the Central Office Board Room at the Griswold Middle School/High School Building.