Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report the arrest Monday afternoon of a Brayton man. 18-year old Zachary Paul Kliefoth was taken into custody at around 10-p.m. following a traffic stop on Main Street, in Exira. He’s been charged with OWI/1st offense.

Kliefoth was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released on his own recognizance. A passenger in the vehicle, 17-year old Matthew Peppers, of Exira, was cited for Minor in Possession. His charge was referred to Juvenile Court.

In an update to our stories late Monday night and early this (Tuesday) morning, police in Harlan have added more information to a report filed by the Iowa State Patrol. The H-PD says at around 10:15-p.m., Monday, an officer clocked a 2008 Honda CRV as 51-mph in a 25mph zone, as the car was traveling southbound on 7th Street near Chatburn Avenue. The vehicle left the road and went south through open lots, fields, ditches and other terrain.

The suspect’s vehicle eventually made it into Southwest Avenue and then onto Linden Road at a high rate of speed. During the pursuit, the Honda was clocked at 110-miles per hour. About 4.5-miles south of Harlan, while on U-S Highway 59, the vehicle left the road and entered a field, where it crashed. The driver, 43-year old Kenneth Duane Kokemiller, of Perry, was taken into custody at the scene and transported to Myrtue Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and the released to the custody of authorities. Scanner reports at the time of his arrested indicated the man was acting aggressively toward the officer, and was being held at gunpoint until backup could arrive.

An investigation determined the Honda has been stolen from Story County. Kokemiller was being held in the Shelby County Jail for Possession of Stolen Property, and numerous traffic violations. Harlan Police were assisted during the incident by deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and troopers with the Iowa State Patrol.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have a rather light schedule for their meeting 8:30-a.m. Wednesday, in Atlantic. On their agenda, is the appointment of more than 28 persons to serve on the Condemnation in Eminent Domain board. The one-year term will end Dec. 31st, 2015.

The Board is also scheduled to receive a quarterly report from the Conservation Department’s Micah Lee, as well as regular reports from the County Engineer, and County Mental Health/General Assistance Director.

Firefighters from Logan were called to the scene of a residential fire this (Tuesday) morning. The Logan-Herald Observer reported at 9-a.m., the fire at a home on Rice Avenue apparently started in an outdoor wood stove and spread to the house.

Several departments from around the area also responded to the scene. Additional details are currently not available.

Governor Branstad has said he’ll push again in 2015 for legislation that would somehow speed up broadband service and expand its reach in Iowa. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal says last year’s attempt to promote broadband access in Iowa got bogged down on details that won’t be an obstacle in 2015. “It was a fairly complex piece of legislation and about three-quarters of what was in it has been dealt with by the feds,” Gronstal says, “so it’s a paired down set of issues.” However, Gronstal admits the fight between cell phone companies that want to put up new towers and cities that have zoning issues will be a sticking point again this year.

“Cities had legitimate concerns that a cell phone company shouldn’t be able to just be able to pick and choose any place they want to, to put up a cell tower,” Gronstal says, “and the cell phone companies had a legitimate concern that sometimes it is very difficult to get cities to quickly approve locations for these cell towers.”

Another other stumbling block for last year’s bill was a disagreement over what kind of incentive to provide companies that expand broadband service and whether it should be limited to companies agreeing to extend broadband into areas that did not have the service already. A proposal called the “Connect Every Iowan” bill that came up for a vote in the Iowa House failed to pass, partly because of disagreements over whether it would achieve the goal of connecting any Iowan to broadband.

In August, Governor Branstad said the goal should be to “Connect Every Acre” since modern farming techniques now require a connection to the internet, but broadband access is sparse in rural Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hear several more Fiscal Year 2016 funding requests during their meeting Wednesday morning, in Greenfield. The meeting begins at 9-a.m. According to their agenda, the requests will come from: Success 4 Kids (along with a Preparedness Grant); The Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG); The Adair County Auditor; Home Care; and the RC&D.

Afterward, the Board will hold a budget work session. The Board previously heard budget requests from other departments, on Monday.