The trial for a former Harlan Community High School teacher accused of the sexual abuse of a teenager, is set to begin Tuesday morning at the Shelby County Courthouse, in Harlan. 73-year old Lee Gordon Nelson, of Harlan faces sexual exploitation by a school employee and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse charges. If convicted of the charges, Nelson could face a maximum 7 year prison sentence and fines of $7,500.

Nelson was arrested on July 23rd 2013, following an investigation by the Harlan Police Department, Division of Criminal Investigation and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported in May 2013, that a 17-year old female and her parents had contacted police and reported Nelson had been saying rude and inappropriate things to the victim as well as touching her inappropriately since October, 2012.

At the time, Nelson was employed by the Harlan Community School District as a mentor. The Harlan PD requested the DCI’s assistance in June, 2013. The report from the DCI stated between October 2012 and April 2013, Nelson allegedly committed assault by touching the female victim who Nelson was mentoring with intent to commit sexual abuse and engaged in a pattern or scheme of conduct to engage in sexual conduct with the victim.

Nelson was employed with the Harlan Community School District for 35 years before resigning from his mentoring position on April 22nd, 2013.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Firefighters have been battling flames and the cold at an apartment complex in north Sioux City.  The fire was reported a little before 7 a.m. Monday at the Glen Oaks Apartments. There’s no word yet on any injuries.

The complex’s gym has been opened to provide shelter for residents, and city buses have been taken to the site to provide warming stations for firefighters. The National Weather Service says the Sioux City temperature around 6 a.m. was 12 below zero with a wind chill of 26 below.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest early this (Monday) morning of a Cass County man on drug charges. 45-year old Kenneth Dale Schooling, of Griswold, was taken into custody at around 2:30 a.m. in the 200 block of east Nuckols Street, on a Possession of Methamphetamine charge. Schooling was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $1,000 bond.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly economic index for nine Midwestern and Plains states has dropped slightly but still suggests growth over the next three to six months. The overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index fell to 57.4 in February from 57.7 in January.

Looking six months ahead, the business confidence portion of the overall index also dropped last month. It hit a still strong 59.7 from January’s 62.2. The survey results from supply managers are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth, while a score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.