The Cass County Extension Service reminds area residents that free tax preparation services will be available in southwest Iowa for low and moderate income families as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program.  For more information, or to make an appointment, call the Cass County Extension Office in Atlantic at 712-243-1132, any time after January 18th.   Other tax sites will also be available in Logan, Harlan, Malvern, Red Oak, Clarinda and Shenandoah.

Services will be provided by IRS trained and certified local volunteers who utilize the Tax Wise software to complete returns.  Only Basic Federal, Iowa and nearby state returns will be processed.  Most returns will be electronically filed and to speed up the refund process participants are encouraged to have a savings or bank account, although it is not required.  Taxpayers can have refunds deposited into more than one account and also purchase Series I US Savings Bonds.

The program is open to Iowa residents in Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Rural Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, and Page Counties.  Participants should have low to moderate income below 200% of poverty.  For example, yearly income should be less than $37,060 for a family of 3, less than $44,700 for a family of 4, less than $52,340 for a family of 5, etc.

In rural southwest Iowa the VITA program is a joint effort of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Iowan’s for Social and Economic Development.  The program is financial supported by the Internal Revenue Service and the Iowa Department of Human Services.  For more information about the program contact Mary Beth Kaufman, ISU Extension Program Specialist and VITA Coordinator at 712-755-3104.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said today (Wednesday), a Harlan man was killed Tuesday evening after falling from a tree stand while hunting deer in Monona County. 21-year old Corey Custer was coming out of his tree stand at approximately 7-p.m. Tuesday, when he fell approximately 18-23 feet while bow hunting for deer southeast of Onawa. Custer suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Atlantic Board of Education heard an update Tuesday night from the District Technology Coordinator Roger Warne, with regard to the new ICN (Iowa Communications Network) classroom at the high school. Superintendent MIke Amstein says Warne talked about running a fiber optic line that would complete the fiber optic system connecting the district’s buildings. He says along those lines, the Board approved of Warne negotiating with a vendor for the line, and placing the project out for bid.”)
Currently, the district runs a wireless system between the Atlantic High School and Middle School. And, while that’s ok in the short term, Amstein says the data demands of the high school limits what they can do in transfer data between the schools. He says the current amount of data they can work with, about 25 megabytes with the ICN, causes problems when combined with their wireless network.  Amstein said also, the Board approved on the second reading, a policy pertaining to the use of video cameras on school premises, and discussed the relocation of the Hospital School. Amstein says they had been looking at two sites, but have narrowed that down to one.

The City of Shelby will be getting some extra law enforcement help from Shelby County, through the addition of a part-time Sheriff’s Deputy. The hiring of a deputy was approved last week by the County’s Board of Supervisors. Once hired, the individual will increase protection to the City of Shelby, provide more District Court security, and assisting with the transporting of mental health patients and criminals. The Sheriff’s Office received 11 applications for the position. The next step begins on Friday, with a State required written test for those applicants. Shelby County Sheriff Mark Hervey says he spoke with the Shelby City Council for several months about the need to add a part-time deputy.

Hervey says they City has asked for additional patrols within the City. He says his deputies  currently put in 4-hours per week in addition to the 24-hour coverage. The extra hours are accomplished by those deputies putting in overtime. Hervey says the added patrol in the area is because Shelby has had more calls for law enforcement. The Sheriff says if the applicants who test on Friday score a certain percentage on the written exam, they will perform the agility test that same day, as well. If the applicant passes both the written and physical exam, the top three candidates will be interviewed by Hervey and the Chief Deputy Sheriff. Two finalists will be picked and sent to Des Moines for psychological testing. 

Hervey says as the Sheriff, he does feel added pressure to hire the right candidate for deputy sheriff. He says “Being the deputy sheriff for Shelby County is a great responsibility,” and they always look for the best candidate. Hervey says if they pick a candidate who is not certified by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, that candidate has to go to Des Moines for several more weeks of training, so it’s quite a process.”  The Sheriff says out of the 11 applicants, two are certified through the Iowa Law Enforcement academy, and will not have to take the written or physical tests. The person ultimately selected for the position will be required to reside in Shelby. The County will split the wages and benefits paid to that individual, subject to wage and benefit increases, with the City of Shelby, and will postpone replacing an existing vehicle until next year.

(Joel McCall/KNOD – Harlan)