Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds today (Friday), announced that they will hold ten more town hall meetings focusing on their education blueprint on October 24th, 25th and 26th. The announcement brings the total number of education transformation town hall meetings to 17, with more to be announced in the coming days.
In southwest Iowa, town hall meetings open to the public will be held on:

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
11 a.m.          In the auditorium at the Mt. Ayr High School
1:30 p.m.      In the  Bedford Community High School
3 p.m.            In the Commons area at the Clarinda High School
5:30 p.m.      At The Wilson Preforming Arts Center in Red Oak.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
9 a.m.            At the Creston High School
11 a.m.          In the Auditorium at the Nodaway Valley High School in  Greenfield.
For more information, please visit www.governor.iowa.gov

(Atlantic) — CARF International has announced that CASS Incorporated, in Atlantic, has been accredited for the maximum accreditation period of three years for its community services in supported living, enrichment and employment for persons with disabilities.  CASS Incorporated has been fully accredited with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities since 1983. 

The accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to over one thousand CARF standards across all areas of operations.  An organization receiving a three year accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. 

Founded in 1966, CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of persons served around the world. 

Three juveniles who allegedly vandalized a shelter house in the Bayard City Park last week reportedly posed for pictures following the incident. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department, the incident took place October 4^th.

Officials say the three juveniles were observed playing on top of the shelter house. When a witness demanded the youth get down from the roof, they refused to comply, and then posed for pictures. The youth claimed they had a right to be on the roof, because it was a public park.

The juveniles allegedly ripped newly installed shingles off the shelter house roof. Charges are currently pending.

(Denison) — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says the thwarted terror plot against Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States shows terrorists are bold enough to think they can strike again on American soil.

“We have a very dangerous time in the United States that we’re looking at and part of that problem, unfortunately, is that President Obama has sent signals of weakness across the world and those signals have not been lost on foreign dictators like the dictator that’s in Iran and so now they’re so bold that they think they can have assassination plots in the United States,” Bachmann says. “That has to end.” Bachmann, who is in the midst of her third term in congress, is a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

“I know how to be tough on the terrorists. That’s exactly what we’ve got to do,” Bachmann said in Denison. “…I’ll tell the terrorists across the world that, ‘Not in our country, you don’t.'” Bachmann made stops in Denison and Sioux City Thursday. She is campaigning this afternoon (Friday) in Sioux Center, Rock Rapids and Estherville.

(Radio Iowa)