An Atlantic woman has turned herself-in to authorities, on a drug charge. The Atlantic Police Department reports 24-year old Tara Woodard was wanted on a Cass County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance. The woman was booked into the Cass County Jail, on Tuesday.

The A-PD reports also, 28-year old Andrew Sudmann, of Atlantic, was arrested Tuesday for Driving While Barred. He was booked into the Cass County Jail and held, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

A new trial in the case of a Lewis man charged with the sexual abuse of a minor will be held in less than three months. A jury trial for 52-year old Roger Ericksen will take place in Cass County District Court, at 9:30-a.m., December 11th.

Ericksen stands accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year old female who lived in his home as a foster child. The assaults allegedly occurred over a period of two-months during the Summer of 2011. He was formally charged on December 13^th, 2011.

Fourth District Court Judge Kathleen Kilnoski declared a mistrial August 30th, after a jury deadlocked in their decision on whether or not to convict Ericksen on 46-counts of 3rd degree sexual abuse, two-counts of lascivious conduct with a minor, and two- counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. The trial last month lasted just two-days. Ericksen remains in the Cass County Jail on $250,000 bond.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have approved the plans for a bridge replacement project on Lansing Road. Auditor Dale Sunderman said the bridge, on a Farm-to-Market Road, is over the East Nishnabotna River. The bridge is located about 2 ½ miles southwest of Atlantic, near the old Walnut Grove Research Farm. Engineer Charles Marker had signed-off on the project, but the forms needed to be approved by the Board, before being submitted to the Iowa Dept. of Transportation.

Once the plans are submitted to the DOT, the bids will go out for the project, and work will begin, but that isn’t likely to happen until later this year or sometime next year. In other business, Sunderman said he will publish in the various County newspapers, information about the voting precincts for the November 6^th General Election, which are essentially the same as they were during the Primary, except there will be numerous versions of the ballots. He says the number of precincts…13…will stay the same, but there will be 16 ballots styles because Townships are combined with cities in some cases.

Edna and Victoria Townships on the east side of the County, for instance, will combined, thereby eliminating the need for voters in Edna Township to travel to the west side of the County. They will instead, be voting in Massena. Some of the changes are due to State and Senatorial district changes, along with Supervisor district changes.