A public hearing will be held this evening in Greenfield, with regard to an Adair County redistricting plan. Members of the Adair County Temporary Redistricting Committee are set to meet at 7-p.m. in the Adair County Boardroom at the courthouse in Greenfield, to discuss the redistricting plan, which became a requirement following the results of the 2010 census, which showed a population shift in Iowa.

An economic development group in southwest Iowa has received a grant from the U-S Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. Senator Tom Harkin late last week announced that four Iowa regional planning commissions and councils of government received a total of $243,000 in grants to update their comprehensive economic development strategies. The grants cover Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Page, and Shelby counties.

SWIPCO – the Southwest Iowa Planning Council — based in Atlantic, will receive $60,000 from the U-S DOC. The grants will establish an economic development planning framework, process and strategy that supports private capital investment and job creation in local communities in Iowa.

Harkin says the grants “Will help to initiate private and public investment to help develop new jobs and give a needed boost to local communities.“ He says also “Strong development strategies are imperative to increasing job and career opportunities across the state.”

Authorities in Carroll County have arrested a man in a neighboring county, in connection with a couple of burglaries in Coon Rapids. According to reports, Coon Rapids Police arrested 34-year old Jack Daniel Pearce, last Monday (August 22^nd), on two-counts of felony burglary in the second degree. The Cooper man was taken into custody for allegedly breaking into the Coon Rapids Pharmacy on two separate occasions over the past 13-months. If convicted, Pearce faces five years imprisonment for each count and $5,000 fine for each charge. Pearce posted a $1,000 bond and was released from custody, with orders to appear in court for his preliminary hearing, on September 1^st.

Pearce is suspected of breaking into the pharmacy through the back door, in July 2010, and again in February of this year. Once inside, he allegedly stole large amounts of prescription drugs and narcotics. Court records show Pearce has an extensive criminal record involving illegal drug possession. A search warrant executed at Pearce’ residence led to his arrest following a traffic stop just east of Cooper, Monday evening.

Officials say the burglaries in Coon Rapids were identical to several other area pharmacy break-ins that have taken place over the past year. Similar burglaries have occurred in Manning, Guthrie Center, Jefferson, Ogden, and Dayton. No arrests have been made in connection with those incidents.

The Iowa State Patrol says a 52-year-old man from Allen, Nebraska died Sunday, after the motorcycle he was driving ran into a guard rail along a road in northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County. Patrick Hirschman, who was found in a ditch following the collision, died from his injuries at the Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars. The accident happened at around 5:40-p.m., Sunday.

The Patrol says Hirschman was traveling south on Iowa Highway 12, when his 2000 Harley Davidson cycle went out of control. The report did not indicate if Hirschman was wearing a helmet.