Officials with the Cass County Memorial Hospital Foundation said Monday, that they have raised over $280,000 for the Cass County Health System Healing Garden. The funds come from generous gifts made by individuals, families, foundations and businesses.  The foundation says they are currently at 93-percent of their campaign goal of reaching $300,000.

CCMH Healing Garden (Cass. Co. Health System photo)

The Healing Garden is adjacent to the hospital cafeteria, and opened July 31, 2012.

CCMH Foundation Director Dawn Marnin said in a press release, that “It is so rewarding to see so many patients, visitors and staff enjoying the garden at all hours of the day.”  Marnin says she’s “Received countless comments about how relaxing and beneficial just a few minutes in the garden can be, (and) it’s a joy to know (it is) having such a positive impact.”

Marnin says there is still time to have a donor recognition paver or plaque installed this fall, but only for a limited time.  Donor recognition gifts are available for $250 and up.  To sponsor an area of the garden or purchase a paver in honor or memory of someone special in your life, contact the CCMH Foundation office soon.  While the opportunity to donate and have a paver or plaque installed, is only available until October 10th. Marnin says gifts of all sizes are appreciated.

For more information, go to www.casshealth.org.,   or contact Dawn Marnin, CCMH Foundation Director 712-243-7409.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Monday, a Douglas County, NE., man was sentenced Friday to one and a-half years in prison for failing to register with the sex offender registry. United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner handed down the 18-month prison sentence to 42-year old Richard Elliot Hansen. Gritzner also ordered Hansen to serve a five-year term of supervised release following incarceration.

On May 3rd, 2012, Hansen entered a guilty plea to failing to register with the Pottawattamie County, Sheriff’s Office, as required when he began employment in Council Bluffs. Law enforcement determined in November of 2011 that Hansen had been employed at a Council Bluffs business for approximately two months without registering with the Sheriff’s Office as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Marshal’s Service, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A Judge in Pottawattamie County, Friday, sentenced a Council Bluffs man to more than three and one-half years in prison, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Monday evening, that the sentence was handed down against 39-year old Lawrence Anthony Cipolla, from Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner. The judge sentenced Cipolla to 45-months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered Cipolla to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Cipolla remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

On March 28, 2012, Cipolla was charged in a two-count Superseding Indictment with being a felon in possession of a firearm and distribution of less than five grams of methamphetamine. Cipolla entered his plea of guilty to the firearms charge on June 28, 2012. The firearms charge arose from the July 21, 2011 sale of a .44 caliber revolver by Cipolla to a confidential informant.

The case was investigated by the SouthWest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Firefighters from Harlan and Shelby were called to the scene of a truck fire at around 630th and Ironwood Road this (Monday) afternoon. The incident took place at around 3:34-p.m. The truck, which was fully engulfed in flames, was said to be in a partially combined field about three-miles west of the Harlan Municipal Airport. The fire had also begun to spread to the field. No injuries were reported.

No injuries have been reported after a pickup truck rear-ended a school bus this (Monday) afternoon. The accident, which was reported at around 3:40-p.m., took place on 550th Street (Highway 48), a little over two-miles north of Griswold. No other details are currently available, but again there are no reports of injuries.