The National Weather Service in Omaha, and Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency say the Fire Weather category will remain in the VERY HIGH category today (Friday). Windy and warm conditions are expected. Southerly surface winds may gust up to 25-35 mph at times this afternoon. Officials say if you do burn today, to watch the fire closely as it can spread very rapidly.

Montgomery County Emergency Manager Brian Hamman says all controlled burns in Montgomery County should be reported to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-5107. Hamman says a burn ban is not expected at this time, but if dry conditions continue into the spring, another burn ban such as the one which last summer for 94 days, could be placed into effect.

w/ Ric Hanson

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An Atlantic man was arrested Thursday afternoon, on a theft charge. The Atlantic Police Department reports 24-year old Joseph Fredericksen was arrested for 5th degree theft in connection with an alleged incident at Wal-Mart. Fredericksen was booked into the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

The Walnut City Council spent a good deal of time Thursday evening discussing ways to keep the community a viable tourist attraction, by means of the Streetscape Program. City Clerk Terry Abell, says the goal is to have an attractive downtown for visitors and residents alike. She says they’re talking about having the merchants get together with the City to determine what is best for the future of the downtown area, which she says “Is a positive thing.”

Terry says there a “Lots of ideas,” and that’s it will be something that’s “A work in progress for a while.” She says “Everybody wants to maintain the antique ambiance of the community, and not jeopardize the integrity of what they’ve worked so hard to accomplish. The goal of course, is to have “A nice looking downtown.” Walnut bills itself as “Iowa’s Antique City.”

In other business, the Walnut City Council approved the Fire Department’s recommendation to reappoint Justen Tooley as Fire Chief, for a third, consecutive two-year term. Following a public hearing, the Council also adopted a resolution approving a loan agreement and bond purchase for $1.06-million in General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2013, and authorized early redemption of outstanding bonds. Along with that, Terry Abell says they approved a motion to amend the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget by $217,000.

She says most of that had to do with the refunding of the State Revolving Fund – SRF – loan, that has to be paid-off, but was not in the original budget. She says they weren’t extending the budget in any specific area to compensate for the refunding of the loan.

w/ Chris Parks

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The annual report from the state Ombudsman shows the office received almost 45-hundred complaints in 2012, around the same amount as 2011. Ombudsman, Ruth Cooperider, found that just over three-thousand of the complaints fell under the jurisdiction of her office.
She says “Probably about a third of those would dealing with matters concerning the correctional system, whether it’s prisons or jails or community-based facilities. Because we do have jurisdiction to investigate complaints regarding those facilities, so we do get contacts from offenders or inmates.”

Second on the list for common complaints are human services concerns. “The wide range of issues dealing with child support, public assistance programs, Medicaid, just anything dealing with human services programs,” Cooperider says. Cooperider says complaints about local and county governments rounds out the top three when it comes to the type of complaints they receive. About half of the complaints don’t move ahead to be investigated. “It’s not necessarily that we don’t think they have merit, but under our statute we do have the ability to refer people maybe to an existing process,” Cooperider says. “For instance, if an inmate has a grieveable issue and they have not filed a grievance on that issue, we typically will refer them to that grievance process to try and seek a remedy there first. And if they are still not satisfied, they can come back to us.”

Cooperider says her annual report includes eight steps for people to resolve their own complaints before calling her office. She says that’s sometimes called “coaching” in the ombudsman community, where they give tips and information on where to go and how to present the issue. “And I think in some ways we are doing a services to them in how to negotiate government, not only on that issue, but in the future,” according to Cooperider.

You can see the Ombudsman’s 2012 Annual Report online at: www.legis.iowa.gov/Ombudsman. You can call the Ombudsman’s office with a compliant at:1-888-426-6283.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic says the facility’s west entrance and parking lot (along 10^th Street) will be closing Monday, April 8th, as demolition begins on the old patient wings.  Patients and visitors are asked to use the north atrium or east parking lots and entrances. CCMH CEO Pat Markham says “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it is important we take every precaution to keep our patients, visitors and staff safe during the demolition.” The area is expected to be closed for about four to six weeks.

(8-a.m. News)

Officials with Prudential Financial report a Red Oak eighth-grader will be recognized this (Friday) afternoon, as one of Iowa’s top two youth volunteers for 2013. Samantha Dilocker of Red Oak, Iowa, a student at the Red Oak Middle School, will be presented with an engraved silver medallion, as part of the “Prudential Spirit of Community Awards” program.

Samantha is being honored for initiating an annual auction of baked goods and crafts at her local Elks Lodge that has raised more than $14,000 over the past six years for a local food pantry, a scholarship fund, a community toy drive and a child with cancer.

As a State Honoree, Samantha also will receive $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where she will join other State Honorees from across the country for several days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 of the 102 State Honorees will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2013.

She will receive her silver medallion during an awards presentation in the Red Oak Middle School’s 3^rd floor auditorium, beginning at around 2:55-p.m. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), represent the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.

Two State Honorees-one middle and one high school student-plus a select number of Distinguished Finalists from each state and the District of Columbia were selected based on criteria such as personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth. For more information on Samantha and her volunteering, click here: http://bit.ly/Xf5sRp

One person was injured when a motorcycle and car collided on Atlantic’s west side, Thursday afternoon. According to dispatch reports, the accident at 2nd Street and Sunnyside lane (near the Wastewater Treatment Plant), happened at around 1:45-p.m.  The driver of the motorcycle was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries. He was said to be conscious and talking when authorities arrived on the scene.

No other details are immediately available. The Iowa State Patrol assisted at the scene with the accident investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say nearly 7 percent of Iowa is no longer in drought.    The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says in a report issued Thursday that conditions have returned to normal in a swath of southeast Iowa. The U.S. Drought Monitor map from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows the drought conditions are worse to the northwest, culminating in extreme drought in portions of northwest Iowa.

The drought center says that a year ago nearly 61 percent of Iowa had no drought.  March rain in Iowa was a drop or two higher than the historical normal of 2.15 inches. It was the fourth consecutive month for higher-than-normal rainfall in the state.