Officials with the Creston Police Department report one arrest and two incidents of vandalism occurred late last week. At around 6:35-p.m. Friday, 58-year-old James Chandler Sash, of Creston, was arrested at his residence, on a Union County warrant for Indecent Exposure – a Serious Misdemeanor. Sash was brought to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

Last Thursday (11/17), two men, one from Minnesota, the other from Shenandoah, reported to Creston Police, that the back windows of their trucks was broken out. The steering column in the vehicle from Minnesota, was broken. The incident happened while the vehicles were parked at the Quality Inn, in Creston. Nothing was reported missing in either case. The damage was estimated at $500 and $300 respectively.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Cass County will begin their meeting Tuesday at 9-a.m., with a Public Hearing. The hearing is with regard to a proposed amendment to Zoning, changing McCunn Specialty Firearms, LLC from a Business District to Light Industrial, for the purpose of assembling firearms.

That’s Zoning Administrator Rich Hansen, who spoke during the Supervisor’s meeting on Oct. 25th. At the time, Hanson said letters would be going out to nearby landowners with regard to the proposed zoning change.

In other business, the Board will hear from Wendy Mueller, Executive Director of West Central Community Action. They’ll act on approving a Resolution to approve bids for two bridge projects, and an application for Family Farm Eligibility. The Cass County Supervisors meet, as always, in their Board Room inside the Cass County Courthouse, in Atlantic.

The meeting will be broadcast on Zoom, through a link found HERE.

(Atlantic, Iowa) The Director of the Atlantic Public Library provided an Annual Report to the City Council, last Wednesday. Michelle Andersen updated the Council on the Library’s mission statement from over the past year, and set a new strategic plan. The Mission Statement, she said, sets the framework for talking about the services offered by the Library, last year.

Another part of their Mission Statement, is connecting people to resources, which you would probably think of as traditional library services .

While still not at pre-Covid levels, Andersen said they are on the way back to what the use was before Covid. One of the more interesting resources the Atlantic and other affiliated libraries in Cass County have utilized over the past year, is the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Atlantic Public Library (Kathy Somers, photo, via www.atlantic.lib.ia.us)

When the child gets their 5^th birthday book through the program, they are invited and encouraged to get their very own library card. On another note, Michelle Andersen said they received a grant in the form or a Public Library Collaboration Award, from the Network of the National Library of Medicine to use for mental health resources. The collaboration was between the libraries of Cass County and Healthy Cass County to accomplish three goals.

The other part was buying mental health resources shared across Cass County, and mental health programming.

During the fiscal year 2022, there were over 38,000 visits to the library, and 300 programs attended by 3,595 people. Revenues were funded approximately 86% from the City, with the rest through various other sources, including grants. Andersen pointed out the “Fees do not run a library. Fees are a part,” that help them recoup some of the cost of what it takes to do things associated with their programs and necessities.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa/KJAN) – The holiday travel season is upon us. Americans will be making their way over the river and through the woods…to see distant – and not so distant relatives, by plane, train and automobile. If you’re traveling on the road to make your destination, be advised law enforcement agencies across the State will be watching to ensure drivers obey the rules of the road, and making it there and back, safely. Last year in Iowa, 11 people lost their lives on the State’s roads between November 15^th and the 28^th, which is the holiday traveling time-frame. State Patrol Trooper Ryan Devault with District 3 in Council Bluffs , says to-date, there have been 302 fatalities statewide since the beginning of the year.

Devault says seat-belts save lives. Since the beginning of the year also, 27 traffic-related deaths have occurred in the nine-county region Post 3 covers south of I-80 in southwest Iowa. That’s one more than the number of fatalities that occurred last year. The Iowa State Patrol, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB), and other law enforcement agencies across the State, are working together to keep the Thanksgiving travel tradition alive, but reminding motorists of some simple tips.

The number of reckless, impatient and aggressive drivers have been increasing since the COVID virus began to wane and more motorists take to the road. Trooper Devault says over 90 crashes involve some sort of bad driver behavior, such as weaving in-and-out of traffic, tailgating and brake-checking other drivers.

Inattentive driving is another factor in many crashes. There are number of things that can make a driver want to take their eyes off the road, including conversations with people inside your vehicle. Devault offers this piece of advice…

And, of course, if your holiday plans involve an alcoholic beverage or two, don’t drive impaired.

In 2020, one-person was killed every 45-minutes in a drunk or impaired driver crash on the nation’s roads.