Cass County Emergency Management, local fire departments and law enforcement are urging all citizens to use caution when burning outdoors. A combination of warm temperatures, low humidity and breezy conditions has created a high fire hazard potential for Cass County. Crop residue, grasses and brush may also provide plenty of fuel for widespread fires.

Anyone conducting a controlled burn is encouraged to report that burn to the Cass County Communications Center at 712-243-2204 and their local fire chief. Reporting controlled burns helps avoid dispatching fire departments and law enforcement unnecessarily. False calls are an inconvenience for volunteer responders and puts personnel and equipment at risk.

A public hearing will be held Monday night (March 16th) in Atlantic, with regard to the proposed 2015-16 Certified Budget for the Atlantic Community School District. The District’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget, which amounts to $6,512,112, is $226,089 more than last year’s (FY2015) budget (of $6,286,023). The school district’s levy will increase from $14.91-per thousand dollars valuation in FY2015 to $15.22-per thousand, for FY 2016.

During the hearing, which begins at 7:30-p.m. in the High School Media Center, the School Board will allow patrons of the district to speak briefly for or against the budget. Later on in the meeting, the Board will take action on approving the FY 2016 budget, along with: the first readings of a couple of Board Polices; the 2015-16 Fee Schedule; and Summer 2015 Capital Projects.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board will act on approving Volunteer Coaches, any resignations to come before them, and ratifying the Non-Certified Employees’ 2015-16 Tentative Agreement.

Prior to adjourning for the evening, the Board will hold a closed session to perform an informal evaluation of Superintendent, Dr. Michael Amstein.

Two people were arrested on drug charges early this (Thursday) morning, in Creston. According to the Creston P-D, 22-year old’s Ely Will, of Creston, and Austin Hancock, of Bedford, were arrested at around 12:20-a.m., following a traffic stop on Highway 34. Both men were charged with Possession of Marijuana. Will faces an additional, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, charge. Both men were later released from the Union County Jail, after posting $1,000 bonds.

A member of the City Council in Avoca has resigned. The Daily NonPareil reports Councilman Fred Miller resigned during a meeting held Tuesday (March 10th). When asked why he resigned, Miller told the paper his reasons were personal, but he declined to elaborate.

A jury in Pottawattamie County, Wednesday, convicted a Nebraska man on a second-degree robbery charge after he threatened to inject a woman with a syringe supposedly containing HIV infected blood if she didn’t give him money. 34-year old Jeshua Divis, of Omaha, is likely to spend at least the next seven years of his life in prison. The Daily NonPareil reports Sentencing is scheduled for May 11.

According to court documents, at around 10 a.m. on Nov. 28th of last year at Ameristar Casino, Divis sat next to the woman at a slot machine. He showed her a syringe, threatening to inject her with its contents, and demanded money. The woman said Divis also showed her a note on his phone demanding money and stating that he had accomplices. The woman didn’t have any money, and the two eventually got up and left, walking near each other for a moment. The woman said she tried to take a picture of Divis.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 26-year-old man has pleaded guilty to helping a man flee Sioux City hours after he shot a police officer. The Sioux City Journal reports Ingmar Hernandez of South Sioux City was accused of driving Jamal Dean out of Sioux City after he shot officer Kevin McCormick during a traffic stop in 2013.  Hernandez pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by obstructing or interfering with governmental functions. He is the sixth of eight people to plead guilty in helping Dean escape Sioux City.

Twenty-three-year-old Dean was arrested in Texas and has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the shooting.