Two accidents have been investigated so far this week, in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Office says at around 7:20 p.m., Tuesday, deputies responded to a report of an accident on Olive Street. A 2007 Pontiac G6 owned and driven by 17-year old Haley Jo Lockard, of Atlantic, was southbound on Olive Street when she lost control of the vehicle and struck the front end of an oncoming 2016 Ford F150 pickup. The pickup was owned and driven by 50-year old Todd Paul Sadler, of Mapleton. No injuries were reported. Damage to Lockard’s vehicle is estimated at $5,000; damage to Sadler’s vehicle is estimated at $10,000. Lockard was cited with Failure to Maintain Control.

And at around 8:35-a.m. today (Wednesday), deputies responded to a report of a two-vehicle accident at Memphis Road and 700th Street. A vehicle driven by 68-year old Gary Steffens, of Wiota, was struck by a vehicle operated by 38-year old Travis Lee Armstrong, of Cumberland. Both vehicles then entered the northwest ditch. No injuries were reported. Damages to the vehicles is not immediately available. Upon investigation, Armstrong was arrested for OWI 1st Offense and Driving While Revoked. He remains held at the Cass County Jail on $2,000 bond.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is reporting three arrests took place over the past couple of weeks. On Tuesday (Jan. 2nd), 27-year old Justin Tyler Jacobs, of Atlantic, was arrested on Atlantic Police Department warrants for Harassment 3rd Degree and Interference with Official Acts, as well as two District Court warrants for Probation Violation. Jacobs was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $2,600 bond.

On Dec. 27th, Deputies arrested 39-year old James Robert Fulk, of Atlantic, on felony charges of Theft 1st Degree and Theft 2nd Degree. Fulk was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $15,000 bond.

And, on December 21st, 29-year old Charlie Bennett Hadfield, of Exira, was arrested on Cass County charges of OWI 2nd Offense and Driving While Barred. Hadfield was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $4,000 bond.

(Corrects earlier posting which indicated Murray was in Union County)

A Clarke County man who assaulted Guthrie County Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Gries on Nov. 26th, 2017, pled guilty to a felony possession of a controlled substance charge/3rd offense, and a misdemeanor charge of Assault on a Peace Officer. According to court records, a judge sentenced 36-year old Michael Cole Joint, of Murray, to five-years in prison on the possession charge, and two-years for Assault charge.

The judge also revoked Joint’s probation from an unrelated felony charge.The previous incident was a felony weapons possession offense, which carries a five-year prison sentence. Joint will serve the twelve-years concurrently in a state institution.

Joint assaulted Deputy Gries at the Kum and Go parking lot in Casey on November 26th. Authorities said following the incident, that Gries was attempting to detain Joint on an unrelated matter when Joint resisted arrest.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Tuesday of 40-year-old Nancy Beth Williams of Audubon for OWI First Offense- Methamphetamine. The arrest occurred at 8:30pm and was the result of an investigation into an incident on Highway 71 in the area of 130th Street on September 15th, 2017. Williams posted $1,000 bond and was released. She will appear before the magistrate on January 4th at 9:00am.

The Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) is holding a town hall informational meeting for Lewis residents, on Tuesday January 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lewis Activity Center. Officials say the purpose of the town hall meeting is to discuss the housing rehab application process with city officials and residents, in the target area. Staff will help any residents who would like to apply that evening fill out the application and give them examples of supporting documentation needed. Community Development Director Dan Lee said “We really wanted to have a face to face with as many of the potential applicants as possible, walk them through the application and explain the process of the program once they are income qualified. So many homeowners struggle to understand what we need, why we need it, etc. There is a lot of back and forth via the mail, telephone calls, and fax. We hope to eliminate that and expedite the entire process by helping them in the beginning.”

Lewis received a housing community development block grant to assist low to moderate income homeowners within a set target area in 2017. The grant is for $238,242 to repair six homes within the set target area. Each approved home is eligible for up to $24,999 in repairs. Lee said “This amount of money allowed per home through this program allows us to do much more than with our other forgivable loan programs. We may do a roof, siding, windows, etc.”

Community Development Block Grants are awarded annually by the Iowa Economic Development Authority with funding from the department of Housing and Urban Development. SWIPCO is a council of government serving the eight counties of southwest Iowa with public transportation, community development, and housing. SWIPCO is an equal opportunity employer, provider, and lender.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office wants to make everyone aware of a new scam that just surfaced in the area. A resident advised they received a call from a company by the name of Northpoint Recovery. The representative of the company identified himself as Alex Martins and he was attempting to collect a debt. He requested a credit card payment over the phone and stated that if the debt was not settled over the phone that a courier was going to stop by the person’s residence to have some papers signed. He stated that if the courier showed up that the debt would grow by several hundred dollars.

Officials say it’s interesting to note with this scam, that the individual had a lot of personal information, including phone numbers, addresses, and debt history. The number that called was restricted but a voicemail that was left gave a number to call back of 1-866-711-1349. Upon searching this number on the internet it does come up as a scam with numerous other names used other than Alex Martins. Fortunately, the citizen checked into it, and did not become a victim.

Authorities encourage everyone to check into any such inquiries fully before providing any sort of payment, and to avoid making any sort of payment over the phone if at all possible. If you are questioning the legitimacy of the call then hang up and call the company directly. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says they are always happy to assist you if you think that you are being scammed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The estimated Powerball jackpot has climbed to $460 million, making it the nation’s 10th largest lottery prize. Players have until Wednesday night to spend $2 for a chance at the big prize, awarded to anyone matching five white balls drawn from one drum and a red Powerball drawn from another. The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million. It’s the biggest Powerball jackpot since a $758.7 million prize won last August.

The $460 million prize refers to the annuity option, paid over 29 years. The cash prize would be $291 million, which would be trimmed further by taxes. Lottery players also can vie for another giant prize, as the Mega Millions game now offers a grand prize of $418 million. The next drawing for that game is Friday.