The week of April 14^th through the 20^th is “National 911 Telecommunicator Week,” an opportunity to recognize and thank those persons who spend a great deal of their time answering emergency calls at communications centers across the country.

Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert was manning the 9-1-1 Center Saturday morning, in Atlantic. (Ric Hanson/photo)

Cass County 911 Director Rob Koppert says the dispatchers in the Comm Center receive a variety of calls. They include emergency and calls from land-lines and cell phones, along with non-emergency, administrative-type calls. After hours, those same 9-1-1 operators answer calls for the Atlantic Police Department and Sheriff’s Office. Those calls are coordinated with the various law enforcement and fire/rescue departments within the county. Koppert says 9-1-1 operators, especially those in Cass County, have years of experience, which allows them to deal with many types of stressful situations.

He says “It really takes a special person to do this job. You have to have a ‘thick skin’ because you’re dealing with every type of person out there in every type of stressful situation.” Many times, callers’ emotions are high, they scream and yell, or don’t know where they are at, because of the prevalence of cellular technology. Koppert says dispatchers have to know how to handle those calls, “Without getting involved emotionally or personally involved,” and so the stress doesn’t affect how they handle their job. He says all of the dispatchers in Cass County have served for five-years or longer, which is phenomenal, because the typical turnover in the business is every two- to three-years. Some of the dispatchers in the County have served for as many as 16-years.

The main thing to keep in mind if you are calling for help, according to Koppert, is to try and remain calm, and answer the dispatcher’s questions, without providing a gamut of information from the moment your call is answered. He says the dispatchers are trained to ask questions in a certain order, which will enable them to send the appropriate, closest help to the scene. The first question is “Where is the situation located?” Koppert says that’s a key component of any call, because that’s where the help is going to go. That’s especially true if you are calling on a cell phone, because there are times when your cell will not indicate where you are. They will also want to know who is involved, and as much detail as possible, in the order their questions are asked. They will also ask for your callback number, especially if it’s a cell phone.

The technology he says is constantly changing, and will eventually allow cell phone users to send text messages with regard to emergencies, and even pictures at the scene. It’s known as “Next Generation 9-1-1.”  He says those newer technologies will require the County to hire additional staff for its 9-1-1 Center. Between now and July, a total of three new dispatchers will have been hired to handle the call volume, bringing the number of dispatchers in the County, to six. Koppert says Cass County has “Some of the best operators” in the State of Iowa, and he’s thankful for their work, along with those persons at State Radio, near Lewis. He says if you know a dispatcher, “Tell them ‘Thank you, and give them a pat on the back, because they really, really deserve it.”

Officials with the Walnut Fire Department say they will be hosting a benefit for Gene Eblen at 5-p.m.  Saturday, May 11th ,  at the Walnut American Legion Hall.

Gene Eblen

Gene has been a member of the Walnut Volunteer Fire Department for 33 years, and is recently a double amputee due to complications with diabetes. He will require extensive physical therapy, and will require a complete remodeling of his home to accommodate for these life changes.

The benefit aims to help raise funds for the home remodeling and addition that Gene will require. There will be a dinner starting at 5. Followed by an auction. All donations are welcome, and 100% of the proceeds will go to help Gene.

If you would like to donate or have questions,  contact  Donnie Bauerkemper (712) 784-3665, Brett Petersen (712) 784-3771, Darrell Stamp (712) 789-0869, or Angie Mitchell (712) 307-0025.

The latest local and area news (podcast) from KJAN News Director, Ric Hanson…

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No injuries were reported following two separate accidents Friday, in Montgomery County. An accident occurring at 2nd and Oak Streets in Red Oak at around 3:40-p.m., happened when a car driven by 16-year old Erica Sherman, of Red Oak, rear-ended a pickup being driven by 16-year old Kendra Hardy, also of Red Oak.  According to Red Oak Police, the pickup was traveling westbound on Oak Street and had stopped at the intersection with 2nd, and intending to make a left turn. Sherman didn’t notice the truck had come to a compete stop. The resulting collision caused $3,400 damage altogether, with the 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Sherman sustaining the brunt of the damage. No citations were issued.

Earlier in the day, Friday, an accident occurred that involved a 2009 Chevy Cobalt driven by 17-year old Cheryl Hallcock, of Elliott. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says the teen was traveling north on County Road M-63 at around 7:45-a.m, when several deer entered the road. When the teen took evasive action in an effort to miss the animals, she lost control of the car, which entered the west ditch, crashed through a field fence, and became stuck in an alfalfa field owned by Judy Sandin.

Damage from the mishap was estimated at $3,000 altogether. No citations were issued.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating recent incidents of copper theft. Three such incidents this past week resulted in combined $32,000 loss. Authorities say thieves took copper from a business and two empty houses. The theft were reported on Thursday. Glenco Electric reported copper tubing from two air-conditioning units, valued at $10,000, stolen from the 500 block of 10th Street sometime between Wednesday and Thursday. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reported copper wire and line, valued at $12,000, stolen from a vacant home in the 2800 block of Avenue E sometime between April 5 and Thursday. And, officials say Jean Edwards, of Council Bluffs, reported copper wire and pipe, valued at $10,000, stolen from a vacant home in the 2600 block of Eighth Avenue sometime between Wednesday and Thursday.

Back on April 1st, we told you that authorities in Council Bluffs were asking residents to keep an eye out for unusual activity in areas where homes or businesses are vacant or foreclosed, as those are the types of places where thieves target air conditioning units for their copper tubing, and the thefts are happening in broad daylight. Officials had said 34 air conditioning units were reported to have been damaged or stolen, most of them in a concentrated area, since January 1st.

No arrests have been made in connection with any of the incidents.

A district court judge Friday, sentenced a Glenwood man to life in prison for the 2011 death of his infant son. According to The Daily NonPareil, Judge Mark Eveloff handed down the life sentence against 36-year old Jason Curtis, and ruled out the possibility of parole. Curtis was convicted on a charge of 1st degree murder connected to the death of his 5-month-old son, Jackson Curtis, who died July 14, 2011, as a result of head injuries. The jury decided  the boy’s injuries were inflicted by his father. Their verdict was reached in February.

Sheriff’s officials in Fremont County say a Shenandoah woman has been indicted for the “Theft of funds of the United States by a bank employee.” The charge against 39-year old Tiffany Ann Stanley stems from an investigation into a robbery at the Great Western Bank in Riverton, on November 17th, 2012. The indictment handed down in U-S Federal Court for the Southern District of Iowa on March 27th, lists the amount of the theft at $25,716.40. Stanley  was arrested and later released, with orders to appear in court for her trial on June 10th.

The Omaha branch of the FBI assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office in conducting the investigation.

Democrats in the Iowa Senate have voted to hire 13 new state employees to inspect large livestock facilities and they warn that without them federal inspectors may step in. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants large-scale confinements inspected once every five years and the E-P-A is in discussions with the state over how many state inspectors it would take to do the job. Senator Dennis Black, a Democrat from Grinnell, says retaining jurisdiction at the state level is important.

“EPA barks once and then they bite and that was advised to me in a phone call. Whether it was intimidation, whether it was fact, anything else — I could care less,” Black says. “Bottom line is the EPA claims to have drawn the line in the sand and stated: ‘Iowa you will clean up your act. You will see to it that your waters are cleaner.'” Republican Governor Terry Branstad and Republicans in the Iowa House want to hire five new inspectors rather than 13.

This is one of hundreds of budget decisions that must be resolved before the 2013 legislative session concludes.

(Radio Iowa)

A key Republican Party insider expects three Iowa G-O-P office holders who’ve been mentioned as potential candidates for the U.S. Senate to decide against running. Doug Gross, a former chief of staff for Republican Governor Terry Branstad, talked politics during an appearance on this weekend’s “Iowa Press” program on Iowa Public Television. “I do not expect Steve King to run,” Gross says. “I know he was here last week indicating that he’s analyzing it and usually when I’ve worked with politicians over the years, when they’re analyzing something, they’re usually trying to figure out how not to do it — because usually their gut tells them when they’re going to do it.”

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey have confirmed they’re considering a run for the U.S. Senate, too, but Gross doesn’t think either will. “So I don’t think we know who the candidate’s going to be right now,” Gross says. Democratic Senator Tom Harkin announced in late January that he will not seek re-election in 2014. In early February, Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley announced he would run for the seat. “It’s the first time it’s been open in decades. It’ll be hotly competitive, very competitive in an off-year when Republicans have a very good chance of winning. I think we’ll have a good candidate, I just can’t tell you who it’s going to be yet,” Gross said, with a laugh. “…There are more people eligible to run for senate than those who happen to hold a particular office at a particular time.”

Gross ran for governor in 2002, losing to Democrat Tom Vilsack. His advice to whomever decides to run: be prepared to work hard. “Particularly as a Republican, you need to go to every county. I mean, it isn’t just Chuck Grassley’s schtick. As a Republican, you’ve got votes in every county and you need to go to every county and it’s a big state, so you really have to work it hard, so one thing I am concerned about is I’d like to see our candidates come forward this summer, no later than this summer because people need to get to know them it they’re going to have a good shot at winning,” Gross said. “One of the mistakes I think I made back in 2002 was getting in too late.”

Gross formally announced his candidacy on March 4th of that year, just three months before the primary. Gross went on to narrowly win the primary with nearly 36 percent. Bob Vander Plaats — in the first of his three runs for governor — got just over 32 percent and former state Representative Steve Sukup got nearly 32 percent. Vilsack lost in November to Democrat Tom Vilsack.

(Radio Iowa)