The Atlantic Police Department says no injuries were reported following an accident Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Atlantic Shopping Plaza. Officials say a vehicle driven by Lori Burgduff, of Shenandoah, was traveling south in the parking lot near the Pizza Ranch restaurant, when a legally parked car driven by Stephen Bartel, of Castana, backed out of the parking stall,  and was hit by Burgduff’s vehicle. The damage amounted to $2,800. No citations were issued.

An Atlantic man who was stabbed during an altercation on January 28th, was arrested Wednesday on drug charges. The Atlantic Police Department reports 43-year old Robert Leslie was taken into custody on warrants for Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine – 3rd offense, and on three counts of Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. Leslie was booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic P-D reports also the arrest on Wednesday, of 56-year old Terry Calhoun, of Atlantic, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense, and 24-year old Justin Cooley, of Atlantic, on  a Cass County warrant for violating his probation. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

If you don’t already have plans for dinner this (Thursday) evening, consider attending the Cass County 4-H Endowment committee’s annual 4-H Endowment Pancake Supper. The supper takes place from 5- to 7-pm at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic. Chris Cakes will be dishing up fresh pancakes, 4-H members serve juice, coffee and more.  Supporters can enjoy all you can eat pancakes for $6. Proceeds from the 4-H Pancake Supper directly benefit Cass County.

The money raised goes to the Cass County 4-H Endowment, a fund to defray the 4-H Program Development Fee, support scholarships to send Cass County 4-H’ers to camps and conferences, start up dollars for programs like Clover Kids.

The Program Development Fee is 30 dollars, and that goes to the support the overall state program.  The Cass County Extension Council chose not to pass that expense on to the individual 4-H’er and families, although many counties have.  Instead, the Cass County Extension Council and the 4-H Endowment Committee pick up this expense.

Susan M. Oliver, county youth coordinator, says “Eventually, the goal is to have the Endowment pay for the fee entirely,but they cannot do that without a great deal of support from the community.  That is why we continue this annual pancake supper.”

There is also a silent auction during the supper.  Each of the 15 clubs in Cass County plan to donate an item, as well as some additional friends of 4-H.   For more information on the Pancake Supper, Endowment or 4-H contact Susan M. Oliver, Cass County Youth Coordinator, at 243-1132 or xcass@iastate.edu.

A new report on county-by-county health in Iowa shows Cass County is ranked 92^ndout of 99 in overall health.

Counties shown in white are among the top 25 healthiest in Iowa; Those shown in gray rank 26th-50th; Those in a light shade of green rank 51st-74th, and those counties shown in dark green rank 75th to 99th, or least healthiest.

The findings are in the “2013 County Health Rankings” study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The study compares the health of counties in every state across the nation, measured by overall health and factors that influence health. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, Sioux County ranked highest in overall health outcomes; Johnson County was ranked highest for all factors that influence health.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, Shelby County ranked highest on the list, in 23^rd place, followed by Guthrie County in 34^th, and Adair County, which was ranked 49^th. On the upper end of the rankings, Audubon County placed 72^nd, Pottawattamie County 88^th, Cass County 92^nd, Montgomery County ranked 94^th, and Adams County was near the bottom of the list, in 97^th place.

More specifically, Cass County has a higher rate of mortality/premature deaths than the statewide average. We also are higher in the number of obese residents as compared to the statewide average, but lower in excessive drinking and sexually transmitted diseases. Conversely, Cass County was higher than the statewide average, in the areas of teen births, and motor vehicle fatalities. Twelve percent of the residents in Cass County do not have medical insurance, which is slightly more than the statewide average, and there is a higher number of children living in poverty, than across the state.

The County Health Rankings were compiled taking into account a wide range of health factors, including healthy behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. For a county-by-county breakdown of the factors and rankings, go to www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/iowa/2013/rankings/outcomes/overall/by-rank

An environmental group used the first day of Spring Wednesday to push for more federal funding to help purchase private land to protect it from development. Amelia Schoeneman of Environment Iowa spoke at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines, calling for full funding of the federal “Land and Water Conservation Fund . Mark Ackelson, president of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, says the fund does more than preserve land. He said “The Land and Water Conservation Fund also funds wetland protection and restoration in Iowa.

The foundation in the process of buying land in the Loess Hills, and in central Iowa’s Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Ackelson says they are currently working on buying 840 acres at the Smith Refuge. Ackelson says “In the Loess Hills the National Parks Service identified 12 special landscape areas that constitute roughly a hundred thousand acres total. And those 12 sites are distributed along the seven counties along the Loess Hills in western Iowa.”

The cost of Iowa farmland was recently reported at an all-time high, but Ackelson says the cost of buying private land for conservation varies widely. He says they find a lot of landowners “Have a lot of conservation in their heart. And many times they are willing to donate as least a part of the value. That helps them offset some of the taxes that they may have due, but it also helps them perpetuate their family legacy as well.” So, he says “This really is a partnership.”

Ackelson says the federal money is paired with state money and private donations to make the land purchases. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has introduced a bill to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Schoeneman urged Senator Chuck Grassley to do the same. Congress is expected to vote on funding levels for the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as the National Parks budget this week as a part of the 2014 fiscal year budget.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

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(updates w/suspect’s name released)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County have released additional details about a pursuit that ended in a crash early this (Thursday) morning. According to the sheriff’s report, at around 1:45-a.m., a broadcast was put out over the radio that Council Bluffs Police were looking for a stolen, red Monte Carlo, from the Lakewood Villa area. Officers with the Bluff’s P-D observed the vehicle traveling westbound on Veterans Memorial Highway (VMH) as it entered Omaha.

A Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy entered Council Bluffs to assist the P-D in a search for the car, with the deputy positioning his vehicle at VMH and 35th Street. When the stolen car approached and passed the deputies’ position, the deputy took off in pursuit, having taken over the chase from authorities in Omaha. The Deputy pursued the car eastbound on the VMH at speeds reaching 100-miles per hour.

As he was approaching South 24th Street, the deputy saw an Iowa State Patrol cruiser traveling westbound. The driver of the stolen car attempted to jump the center median at 90-mph, which caused him to lose control of the vehicle. The car went airborne and landed on its top. It then slid down the roadway and into the south ditch before coming to rest.

The suspect, 30-year old Chadwick Rowland, of Pacific Junction, was taken into custody and transported to Mercy Hospital to be checked for injuries. He was treated at the hospital and released to law enforcement. Rowland was being held in the Pott. County Jail on $70,000 bond, 20-thousand of which was for warrants issued for his arrest out of Douglas County, Nebraska.

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Authorities in Pottawattamie County are on the lookout for a man who robbed the Centris Federal Credit Union in Council Bluffs Wednesday afternoon. According to Council Bluffs Police, a white male subject wearing a light colored sweatshirt, ball cap and gloves entered the credit union at 2825 Avenue G at around 2:30-p.m.  The man approached a teller and asked to cash a check. Instead of handing her the check, he gave the woman a handwritten note demanding money. He claimed he was armed with a .38-caliber handgun and would use it unless she failed to comply. No weapon was ever shown during the robbery, however.

After the teller handed over an undetermined amount of cash, the robber fled on foot. He was described as being about 6-feet tall, with a slim build (Officials say he weighed about 160 pounds). An investigation into the crime continues. If you have any information about the incident, call  Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.