The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Board has announced the hiring of former Atlantic High School Principal Roger Herring, as the City’s new Parks & Recreation Director. Herring will succeed Travis Garrett, who announced in March his resignation, effective June 23rd.

Herring had announced his resignation from the Atlantic Community School District back in February of last year (2010). He’d served the district for more than 20-years.

The Audubon Police Department is warning computer users to avoid a internet security program which will actually put your computer and potentially your financial information, at risk. Officials say an Audubon resident recently experienced a case of fraud, when she downloaded a “Windows 7 Recovery” program, which she thought was real.

The program ended-up serving as a means for a “Trojan Horse” virus to be introduced into her computer. The program appeared on her screen and indicated she needed to download the program to speed-up her computer’s performance.

When downloaded, the program creates connection problems and may disrupt a computer’s hard drive performance if not dealt with soon enough. Officials say the download also requires the user to buy the program by way of a credit or debit card, which can put the user’s financial information at risk.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled in a case involving a Council Bluffs man who was sentenced to life in prison for trying to kill a “snitch.”

The case dates back to late 2009 when David Maddox and two other men were driving near the Missouri River, north of council Bluffs. Maddox and the man in the back seat dragged the victim in this case down to the river bank. The two men beat the man who they accused of being a “snitch” to cops and took what the victim had in his pockets, then threw him in the river.

The victim, who had been an informant for the police, rode the river’s current and eventually got out of the river and walked nearly two miles in sub-freezing temperatures to a Council Bluffs convenience store for help. Maddox was convicted of first degree robbery, attempted murder and first degree kidnapping.

He appealed, saying there wasn’t enought evidence to convict him on the kidnapping charge. The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed the kidnapping conviction, but decided Maddox was guilty of third degree rather than first degree kidnapping. First degree kidnapping carries a life prison sentence; while the maximum sentence for third degree kidnapping is 10 years.

Maddox did not appeal his attempted murder or robbery convictions. When Maddox and his accomplice in this case were arrested in December of 2009, they were tracked to a house in Omaha. A nearby school and King Science Center in Omaha were locked down while the arrests were made.

(O.Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), approved a $10,000 funding request from  representatives of the Cumberland Public Library, to help with a renovation project. Library Board President Vicky Anstey appeared before the board to ask for the funds which she says will address some safety issues in the front part of the building. She said there concerns over lightening and sagging shelves. The money would be used to replace paneling and move some of the shelving to another room.

Anstey said the board has been working for a few years to expand the library, because of their increasing patron base. The City of Cumberland, she says has cooperated with that goal, by contributing space previously used as a city garage, and funds for the project.

She says the children’s and open meeting areas are being moved to a back section of the library, and they’ve had a good working relationship with other entities to make the project successful.

She says the $10,000 will help finish the project, which is expected to cost $50- to 55-thousand dollars altogether. The Library has already received a $35,000 grant, a $10,000 private gift, and in-kind services for the project. Board Member Carolyn Hartmann said the City of Cumberland also set aside some funds from a recent event. She says the money came from the City’s 125^th Anniversary Celebration.

The nearly complete renovation includes the only handicapped-accessible public restroom in the City.

In other business, the Board of Supervisors approved the funding of sidewalk repair on the county’s portion of the Atlantic City Park. Engineer Ken Coffman told the board their share of the work and engineering costs amounts a little more than $5,495. The City of Atlantic will pick up the remaining cost of the $27,000 project.

Coffman said work on the sidewalk project won’t likely begin until AFTER the AtlanticFest Celebration and Ragbrai event. It was hoped it would be finished before those events took place, but the contractor, Betts and Beer Construction, is busy working on the Iowa Western Community College renovation project, and won’t likely be completed in-time for the City Park project.

Alex Rutledge

Tia Cohrs

Atlantic Police today (Wednesday) released more information about the arrest Sunday of an Atlantic couple on drug and other charges. Police Chief Steve Green said warrants for 18-year old Alex John Rutledge and 19-year old Tia Cohrs were issued following an investigation into a report an 11-year old boy was being treated at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, for an overdose or adverse reaction to the use of an illegal narcotic. 

Green says after a search warrant was executed, it was determined Rutledge and Cohrs allegedly distributed the illegal narcotics to the child inside the Cohrs residence.

The pair face numerous charges, including Possession of a Controlled Substance, Felony Distribution of an illegal substance to a person under the age of 18, and Gathering where Controlled Substances (marijuana) are unlawfully used.

Rutledge and Cohrs were brought to the Cass County Jail, they were being held on $30,500 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on June 2^nd.

AMES, Iowa – May 25, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking information from anyone who may have conducted business with the following individual or businesses and has similar complaints to those investigated by the department. 
 
James (Jim) F. Austin, 66, of Greene, Iowa, was arrested Friday, May 13, 2011, by officers with the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Office Motor Vehicle Enforcement and Butler County Sheriff’s Office. 
 
Austin, a former licensed Iowa automobile dealer, once operated the used car dealerships known as Austin Auto Center at 702 N. First St. in Greene and The ClassicConnection at the same address, and now operates JSA Classics in Greene.
 
This arrest stemmed from complaints received by the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement regarding business practices and motor vehicle transactions conducted by JSA Classics.
 
Austin was charged with one count of Class D felony theft by deception, two counts of aggravated misdemeanor fraudulent practice, and one serious misdemeanor for false application for a motor vehicle title.
 
Members from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol’s Vehicle Theft Unit assisted in the Iowa DOT’s investigation leading up to the arrest. Austin was taken to the Butler County Jail and later released.  
 
Anyone with information concerning the business practices of any of these dealerships is encouraged to contact the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement at 866-906-4636 or via e-mail at invmve@dot.iowa.gov.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Strong thunderstorms rolled across Iowa, Tuesday, bringing strong winds, hail and heavy rain.

The National Weather Service says wind gusts of 60 mph were reported Tuesday afternoon near Jamaica in Guthrie County, where a grain bin and a shed were damaged. In central Iowa, power lines are down in Woodward. In Grimes, trees were snapped and a front porch was damaged.

Earlier Tuesday, storms dumped heavy rain in eastern Nebraska. In Omaha, up to a 1/2 inch fell around noon. In Atlantic, we received one-quarter of an inch of rain Tuesday, from about 1:30 to 2:15-p.m. The rain came down in sheets and was accompanied by brief, gusty winds. Overnight, through 5-a.m., we picked up an additional .97”, for a total of 1.22.”

Forecasters say a strong and slow-moving system is affecting the Midwest, and will continue to do so until tonight (Wednesday). A Wind Advisory will be in effect from 4-p.m. today through 4-a.m. Thursday, for Cass, Adair, Adams, Guthrie, Dallas, Madison, Taylor, Ringgold & Union Counties. Winds of 15-to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 45 can be expected in the Advisory area.

In addition, a Flood Advisory is in effect for the Missouri River affecting Douglas and Sarpy Counties in Nebraska, and Pottawattamie County, in Iowa until Monday morning….and, a Flood Warning is in effect for the Missouri River in Mills and Fremont Counties through at least Saturday morning.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Boy Scout council that serves eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and the corner of South Dakota has chosen a new top executive. The Mid-America Council says Eric Magendantz will become the council’s top professional on July 1. He will replace Lloyd Roitstein who is retiring after 40 years with the council.

Magendantz has led the Chester County Council in West Chester, Penn., since 2007. He has been with the Boy Scouts of America since 1993 and has also held jobs in Florida, Maine, Connecticut and Delaware.

The Mid-America Council serves 31,000 youth in 58 counties in the three states, and it is supported by nearly 8,000 volunteers.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says two Elk Horn residents were arrested on drug charges Monday afternoon, following the execution of a search warrant at 2107 Washington Street, in Elk Horn.

22-year old’s Gregory Frazer and Lucas Spangler face aggravated or serious misdemeanor charges of Prohibited Acts, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and a felony charge of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance.

During a search of the men’s residence, authorities took into evidence material used to manufacture a controlled substance. Frazer and Spangler were brought to the Shelby County Jail and later released after posting $5,000 bond, each.

The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Board will hold a special meeting today at Noon to announce the hiring of a new Parks & Rec Director. The person named will succeed Travis Garrett, who announced in March his resignation, effective June 23rd.

Today’s meeting takes place at the City Hall in Atlantic.