Cass County Assessor Brenda Nelson has announced the Assessor’s Office will be closed next Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 15th and 16th), for continuing education. If you have any business to conduct at the Assessor’s Office next week, you may do so on Monday, Thursday or Friday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Another judge has recused himself from handling the case of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who is charged in the drowning of a handcuffed Iowa man. The Kansas City Star reports Morgan County Circuit Judge Stan Moore announced the decision Monday without explanation during a hearing for Anthony Piercy. Moore is the third judge to recuse himself, an action that will delay the case.

Piercy was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Brandon Ellingson, an Arizona State University student from suburban Des Moines. The 20-year-old went into the water in 2014 as Piercy was transporting him from the Lake of the Ozarks on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. Witnesses have said that Ellingson was wearing an improperly secured life jacket that slipped off.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) – Court documents show a Perry woman and her teenage daughter died from repeated blows with a machete. The Des Moines Register reports criminal complaints filed against 25-year old Carlos Marlo Hernandez-Ventura, who is suspected in the killings, show his 34-year-old girlfriend, Lourdes Flor De Leake, and her 14-year-old daughter, Melany Elizabeth Barraza, died after suffering numerous cuts with a machete. A 78-year-old man injured in the Oct. 29 attack, Juan Jimenez Tejeda, also suffered machete cuts.

Police charged Hernandez-Ventura with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after he knocked on the door of the police station in Morrison, Illinois, and sought help for a hand injury. A hearing for Hernandez-Ventura is set for Nov. 10.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office is reporting several, recent arrests. On Monday, 39-year old John James Ring, of Underwood, was arrested on a warrant out of Council Bluffs, for Probation Violation. Sunday night, a Pott. County deputy arrested 32-year old Edwin Caceres, Jr., of Fremont, NE., for OWI/1st offense. Caceres was also cited for failure to dim his headlights.

Sunday afternoon, 22-year old Raistlin Scott Rodenburg, and 23-year old Colton John Hildredth, both of Council Bluffs, were arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, following a traffic stop for speeding. Hildreth was given a citation, and released, while Rodenburg was arrested for Driving While Revoked.

Early Sunday morning, 30-year old Joseph James Ausdemore, of Minden, was arrested following a traffic stop in Underwood. Ausdemore was charged with OWI/2nd offense. 44-year old Patrick C. Endriss, of Missouri Valley, was arrested Nov. 4th following a traffic stop, and charged with OWI/2nd offense. A Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) put his Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) at .241, or three times the legal limit for intoxication. Endriss was also cited for Improper Use of Lanes.

Also arrested Nov. 4th, was 31-year old Lori Ann Morgan, of Council Bluffs. She was taken into custody on a Council Bluffs P-D warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree. And, 66-year old Franklin Dean Jensen, of Neola, was arrested for OWI/2nd Offense, and Driving While Revoked. His arrest followed a traffic stop at Noon on Nov. 4th, along Interstate 80 in Pottawattamie County.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will act on two funding requests during their regular meeting Wednesday morning, in Atlantic. The Board will hear a request for $500 for the 10th Annual National Crime Victims’ Rights week gala set for April 11th, 2017. The County is one of nine counties in 4th Judicial District expected to participate in the event and related funding. The Board will also hear an annual report from the County Library Association, and request for Fiscal Year 2018 funding. In January, the Board granted the Library Association $600 more per year, per library, beginning with the 2017 Fiscal Year that began in July.

The Board will also discuss amending the Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal Area Ordinance. Their meeting begins at 8:30-a.m. in the boardroom at the Cass County Courthouse.