CLICK the link below to see Saturday tee times for the Tournament of Champions at the Atlantic Golf  and Country Club.  Our coverage begins at 8:30 am.

http://tpp.ghin.com/Club/Scoring/Pairings.aspx?id=3269

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of kidnapping a Council Bluffs woman last year has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Bryan Bey, of Crescent, yelled expletives at Fourth District Court Judge Kathleen Kilnoski during the Friday sentencing. The 40-year-old also yelled that prosecutors planted evidence and coerced witnesses.

The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports a jury convicted Bey in May of first- and second-degree kidnapping in the beating and abduction of Tabitha Proplesch in May 2012. She was rescued after the vehicle that Bey was transporting her in ran out of gas.

Bey represented himself during the trial. A public defender assigned for the sentencing attempted motions for a new trial, but Kilnoski denied them. She did merge Bey’s two counts into one.

Police in Stuart late this (Friday) afternoon released details about an attempted armed robbery that occurred prior to the robbery of a motel in Cass County. Officials says at around 10:10-p.m. Thursday, an armed robbery was reported at the AmericInn located in the 400 block of SW 8th Street in Stuart. Two black males entered the business brandishing a handgun and demanded money from a female clerk at the hotel. The suspects left without any money.

The same suspects were allegedly involved in the armed robbery of the America’s Best Value Inn located just south of I-80 in Cass County, about 90 minutes later.  The suspects allegedly involved in the second robbery got away with an undetermined amounts of cash. Their spree ended just after midnight, Friday, near the intersection of I-80/680, after they crashed a vehicle they allegedly stole from an Omaha car rental agency during a high speed pursuit near Crescent.

The State Patrol says the vehicle reached speeds up to 130-miles per hour during the pursuit.  Both suspects, identified as brothers 38-year old Courtney and 24-year old Remo Bennett, of Omaha, were injured in the crash. Remo Bennett, who was a passenger in the car, was partially ejected from the vehicle and was listed in critical condition at Alegent Creighton University Medical Center.  Courtney Bennett was listed in stable condition at Alegent Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs.

Courtney Bennett was wanted on warrants out of Mills County for 1st degree theft, and is a suspect in several area burglaries. According to reports, he’s been in and out of prison several times since 1994. Twice it was for theft by receiving stolen property, another time it was for being a felon in possession of a gun. He spent close to 10 years in Nebraska prisons and had been released last December. Both men will be taken into custody once they are released from their respective hospitals.

There’s no shortage of things to do this weekend, here in Cass County.

AtlanticFest, “A Celebration of Great People in a Great Place” will be held all day, Saturday (Aug. 10th). It begins at 7-a.m. with a Hy-Vee Pancake Breakfast in the City Park, followed by a road race (2-mile, 5-mile run & walk), at 8-a.m.  At that same time, a free tractor ride will take place, rain or shine, beginning at 1st and Poplar Streets. Then at 10, there’s a Pet Show, Car and Motorcycle Show, and at 12:30, the youth and adult divisions Pedal Pulls. At 1:30-p.m. Saturday, there will be a Car Crush with a military tank in the parking lot at 3rd and Walnut Streets. All day long there will be kid’s games in the City Park, and much more. For a full schedule of events, go to the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce’ website at www.atlanticiowa.com.

Also being held Saturday, is the Cass County Conservation Board’s “Breakfast with the Birds” program. It takes place at in the Camblin Addition Shelter at Sunnyside Park, beginning at 9-a.m., and features Kay Neumann, rehabilitator and Executive Director of SOAR (Save Our Avian Resources). She’ll show and discuss several of her permanently injured birds and may have fully recovered bird to release back into the wild. Free will donations will be accepted at the event.

And, the Nishna Valley Trails group will host a Kids Bike Ride beginning at 10-a.m. Saturday, at the Schildberg Recreation Area’s west parking lot. Kids will ride according to age groups. The ride is free, and is co-sponsored by Cass County Conservation, Howard’s Clothing, Fareway, and the West Side Diner, in Atlantic. For more information, call Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning at 712-769-2372.

If loud and powerful motors don’t bother you, then you might want to head to Harrison County this weekend, where two different tractor pulls will take place Saturday. The first event takes place in Persia at 1-p.m., Saturday. Tickets sell for $7, with pit passes going for $10. Mike Olson, member of the Persia Fire Department, says they expect to have great participation this year. He says they’re expecting a great crowed and hoping for 70-to 80 tractor pull hooks and about the same number during the garden tractor pull.

The tractors and garden tractors will be performing at the same time on alternate tracks down at the Persia ball diamond. And what would a tractor pull event be without food? Olson says Hussy’s BBQ will serve pulled pork sandwiches. In addition, there will be  hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos.

If a tractor pull isn’t really your thing, Persia will have several other events going on throughout the day. Olson says they’ll have mixed league end of the year softball tournament taking place  all day. There will  also be pig pasture bingo. Tickets are available today (Friday) for $5 a ticket, with the winner getting $300 and good neighbor winning $50. Olsen says there will also be  duck races Saturday. Purchase a duck for $5 a duck. He says they hope to sell 50 of the plastic ducks, with the winner receiving half the money. That event will take place after the tractor pull.

The softball tournament begins at 10am Saturday morning. All proceeds from the Persia Tractor Pull go towards the Persia Fire Department to their equipment fund. Persia isn’t the only one sporting the big engines this weekend.

The Thunder in the Valley Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull will be held later on Saturday afternoon in Dunlap. That event features some of the biggest machines around with Super Farm, Unlimited and Diesel Super Stock and 4-by-4 stock pickups. The Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull will serve food inside their food stand along with a beer garden, and a DJ will entertain with music before and after the event.

Couples can get in for $25, single tickets are $15 and kids 12 and under are will be admitted for $5. The Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull is in memory of Jason Hoffman who passed away near Dunlap last year in a car accident. A new announcer stand has been built in memory of Jason with his likeness on the back of it. The Dunlap Outlaw Tractor Pull starts at 4-pm Saturday. For more information on the Thunder in the Valley, visit www.outlawpulling.com

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

w/ Ric Hanson

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A man from Stanton escaped injury after the car he was driving smashed into the Casey’s General Store in Essex, Thursday morning. According to the Shenandoah Police Department (which covered the accident), just before 11-a.m., 82-year old Homer Hammers, of Stanton, was pulling into a parking slot in front of the store, when he accidently stepped on the gas instead of the brake. His car crashed through the front entrance of the convenience store.

In his report, the investigating officer recommended Hammers driving skills and knowledge be re-evaluated in order for him to retain his driving privileges.

Police in Red Oak report a Stanton man was arrested this (Friday) morning on numerous charges following a traffic stop for speeding. 22-year old David Joseph Byers was pulled over a little after 4-a.m. A check of his driver’s license indicated it was suspended. In addition, Byers’ vehicle had license plates that did not belong to that vehicle. A further investigation revealed the vehicle’s registration was expired.

Byers was charged with Driving While Suspended, Operation without Registration, Improper use of Registration and Speeding. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $566 bond.

In other news, the Red Oak P-D reports the arrested Thursday night, of 37-year old Rachel Charise Kathleen Hadden, from Red Oak. Hadden was taken into custody on a warrant for 5^th degree theft. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $500 cash bond. And, 40-year old Tom Oren Murphy, of Essex, was arrested Thursday in Red Oak, for Driving While Suspended and having no insurance. Murphy was being held on $1,132 bond.