The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports the arrest Wednesday, of 24-year old Kiel Martin Brittain, of Clarinda. Brittain was taken into custody at around 8:15-p.m., on warrants out of Page and Taylor Counties. Brittain was brought to the Page County Jail, posted a $600 bond, and was ordered to appear in court at a later date, in both counties.

The Harlan Police Department today (Friday), released a report on arrests made over the past couple of weeks. The most recent arrests came November 8th, when officers investigated a reported assault. Officials say 24-year old Kurtis Kobold and 23-year old Brooke Scheffler, both of Harlan, allegedly assaulted Kimmy Kobold, of Harlan. When officers arrived at the residence in the 1300 block of 6th Street on November 8th, they found Brooke Scheffler at the bottom of the stairs, suffering from injuries that were allegedly caused by Kurtis Kobold. He was subsequently arrested on charges of assault causing injury, and domestic abuse assault. Scheffler was transported to Myrtue Medical Center to be treated for her injuries. She was arrested afterward, on a charge of domestic abuse assault.

On November 7th, Police in Harlan arrested 22-year old Brittni Finken, of Harlan, on a charge of Domestic Abuse, after she allegedly struck her sister, Danielle Finken, several times. The incident reportedly happened at a residence in the 1300 block of Durant Street.

And, on November 6th, 47-year old Randall Schwery, of Earling, was arrested by Harlan Police on a charge of Interference with Official Acts, after he was apparently passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle, and became resistant when asked by officers to exit the vehicle.

The Iowa Museum Association has announced the names of the Board of Directors who will lead the organization in 2013-14. Leading the organization for the next two years will be:  Angela Stanford, Danish Immigrant Museum, Elkhorn, who will serve as President. And, among the Board members from western Iowa, is Tina Popson, with the Hitchcock Nature Center and Saundra Leininger, with French Icarian Colony.

The Iowa Museum Association is a statewide organization, serving a constituency that includes art centers and museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, historic sites, historical societies, living history sites, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, and zoos.

The mission of the Iowa Museum Association is to provide quality training and development to Iowa museum professionals and volunteers, advocate for support of Iowa’s museums, and build a strong community of museums and museum supporters in Iowa.

Another major economic development announcement from Google is expected this (Friday) afternoon, the second one in Iowa this week. The internet search engine giant is powered by eight data centers, including one in Council Bluffs. Google’s already invested 600-million dollars in that facility and the new announcement is expected to be detailing an expansion of the center in southwest Iowa.

Earlier this week, Google announced it will pump 75-million dollars into a wind farm in central Iowa near the town of Rippey. Given its acres of computer servers, the company uses a significant amount of power, so officials want to invest in renewable forms of energy that cause less pollution.

Today’s announcement is expected at 3:30 PM.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad says Iowa will continue to work on a state-based health insurance exchange to comply with the federal health care law, but he’s leaving open the possibility that the state may default to a federal program.  The Republican governor sent a letter Friday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius saying the state doesn’t have the information needed to decide.

The federal government had set a Friday deadline for states to declare whether they will build their own marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can shop for health insurance. The deadline has since moved to Dec. 14th.

Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht says the governor wants to avoid a federally run exchange, but unanswered questions about the cost of a state exchange may leave him no choice.