The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of a Glenwood woman on arson and child endangerment charges. 36-year old Angie Dabney was taken into custody at around 3:50-p.m. at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on charges of 1st degree arson and Child Endangerment. Her bond was set at $25,000. A preliminary hearing in her case was set for July 16th.

The Mills County Attorney’s office has said the charges stem from an incident whereby Dabney allegedly asked her children to light a trash can on fire at a relative’s home in Pacific Junction. After one of the children lit the fire, Dabney took off. The flames were quickly extinguished and no one was injured. Four children were in the home at the time, three were under the age of 12.

The Mills County Sheriff’s office also reports the arrest Tuesday afternoon of  29-year old Christopher Raul Raudales, of Bellevue, NE. The man was taken into custody on a warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, authorities in Mills County say no injuries were reported following a rollover accident early this (Wednesday) morning. Amy Parker, of Malvern, was driving a 2014 Ford eastbound on Cary Avenue at around 4:45-a.m., and failed to slow down enough as she approached the stop sign with 340th Street. Her car slid across the road and into a ditch before rolling over onto its top.

The Iowa Board of Mortuary Science has reinstated a suspended Council Bluffs funeral director’s license. In its ruling made public today (Wednesday), the Board found the license of David L. Rogness should be reinstated because enough time has passed since he last practiced mortuary science, and that monitoring and supervision of his practices will satisfy and protect the public interest. The board granted a probationary funeral director’s license to Rogness under the condition that he be supervised for at least a year. He will remain on probation for 18-months under the terms of a consent order agreed to in April, 2000.The Board also requires him to complete 20 hours of continuing education beyond that which is required for his license reactivation.

In January 2000, the Board had initiated formal disciplinary proceedings again Rogness for knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue or fraudulent representations while practicing as a funeral director, by misrepresenting the funeral services he actually provided.

In November 1999, Rogness admitted to a state investigator that one-year prior, he used a rental casket for a burial and that he lied to the family of a deceased person, who had been promised a new casket. Rogness’ license was suspended by the Board in March, 2000, but the charges were settled through a consent order in April of that year, and he was authorized to apply for reinstatement in July 2000. He chose to do so and reactivate his license nearly 14 years later.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Tuesday, approved a recommendation from Middle School Principal Josh Rasmussen, for the hiring of a Family and Consumer Science Instructor. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said the position will finally be filled after a year-long search.

Carolyn Russell (from her Linked-In profile)

Amstein says Rassmussen recommended the hiring of Carolyn Russell, from Minnetonka, MN. She’s fully-endorsed in Family and Consumer Science. Rasmmussen said Russell has started FCS programs from scratch in other schools, and will be helping Atlantic’s fledgling program get off the ground. That includes getting the students lab time in areas such as cooking and sewing.

Every 6th, 7th and 8th grader will be required to take the class and related labs. Russell has an impressive resume. She has years of experience, including working for General Mills, being a Culinary Specialist. She has an MBA in marketing from Indiana Wesleyan University, a BA from Iowa State University in Vocational Family and Consumer Science, and a Bachelor of Science degree in General Food Science from the University of Illinois.

Rasmussen said Russell saw the Atlantic School District’s website, and liked what she saw. On her way to Atlantic from Minnesota last week, Russell ran into trouble, in the form of Mother Nature. He says she was caught in the massive hail storm near Adair. Her car was a mess, but Russell still made it into town and accepted the position.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board renewed Superintendent Amstein’s contract for the 2014-15 school year. The contract calls for a two-percent negotiated increase in pay, and for a payment of $25,000 upon retirement, to a health insurance plan.

The Board also received and approved a resignation from para-educator Michelle McLaren who was hired for another position within the district but had not turned in her resignation from her current position. And, the Board approved the first reading of a new policy with regard to Honorary Diplomas. Superintendent Amstein said there was a request made to the Board for that, and since there was none in-place, that topic is up for discussion and possible action. He said it’s a “Good opportunity to award those individuals, who for one reason or another, may not have been able to complete their high school education, but certainly have made [documented] contributions to the school district itself or to the community.”