Officials with the Southwest Iowa Foundation report the Audubon and Cass County Community Foundations are happy to announce that applications are now being accepted from organizations providing separate charitable services in Audubon and Cass County, respectively. As part of this spring grant cycle, approximately $90,000 is available to support nonprofit organizations and community projects in each County. The deadline to apply for funds through the online application process is February 1, 2021.

Beginning December 15th, application details, a fact sheet, and a link to the application form can be found online by selecting your respective County Listing at www.swiowafoundations.org. Applications will only be accepted through the online system. Made possible through the State of Iowa County Endowment Fund Program, this cycle of grants is funded by a percentage of the state’s commercial gaming tax revenue, which is distributed annually to participating community foundations associated with counties without a state-issued gaming license. Only organizations providing services in Audubon and/or Cass County are eligible to apply. They must be able to demonstrate broad community/county support and be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity, a local municipality, or a fiscally sponsored project.

Both the Cass and Audubon County Community Foundations aim to improve the quality of life in their respective Counties, by supporting community needs in the areas of civic engagement, culture, health, education, and social services. The objective of the grant program is to fund projects that will have a permanent impact on, and in, both counties. Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, for Spring 2021, the two Community Foundations will entertain requests for program and operating support, in addition to the historic focus on items of permanence.

Please contact Stacey Goodman (stacey@omahafoundation.org) or Tess Houser (tess@omahafoundation.org) at 800-794-3458 with application-related questions. All completed grant applications will be considered at the March board meeting, with applicants being notified of funding decisions by the end of March.

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Board members of the Audubon County Community Foundation are Chair, Genelle Deist of Audubon; Vice Chair, Joel Hoegh of rural Brayton; Secretary/Treasurer, Megan Wagner of Audubon; Gina Benton of Exira, Bob Blomme of Audubon; Steven B. Hansen of Audubon; and Donna Olson of Kimballton.

Board members of the Cass County Community Foundation are Chair, Kristi Burg of Massena; Vice Chair, Gary Maas of Anita; Secretary/Treasurer, Roland K. Landsness, Esq. of Atlantic; Royal Bierbaum of Griswold; Sue Hunt of Atlantic; and Mark D. Kyhnn, CPA of Atlantic.

Atlantic, IA — Atlantic Medical Center, RHC will soon be immersed in a major renovation project, which will close half of the clinic at a time. The north half of the clinic (Suites A, C, D) will be under construction from the end of December 2020 until July 2021; the south half of the clinic (Suites B, E) will be under construction from July 2021 through December 2021. In order to preserve access to care for patients, several providers’ schedules and locations are changing.

For the first phase (December 2020 to July 2021) of construction at AMC, all patients will be seen in the exam rooms located in Suites B, E, and on the second floor across from Eye Associates.

• Dr. Angie Weppler, Mary Robinson, PA-C, and Stacey Bean, PA-C will be seeing patients in the exam rooms located on the second floor across from Eye Associates.
• Jessica Jackson, ARNP will be at Griswold Medical Center all day on Mondays as of December 7.
• Dr. Elaine Berry will be at Griswold Medical Center all day on Tuesdays as of December 1.
• Dr. Angie Weppler will be at Griswold Medical Center all day on Thursdays as of December 3.
• Elisha Hardy, ARNP will be at the Massena Medical Center all day on Mondays as of December 14.
• Stacey Bean, PA-C will be at Anita Medical Center for a half day on Wednesdays and all day on Thursdays as of December 2. She will also be in Atlantic all day on Mondays.
• Dr. Bethel Kopp will begin seeing patients in January. She will be at Anita Medical Center on Mondays, and Massena Medical Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

To make an appointment at the Atlantic Medical Center or any satellite clinic, call 712-243-2850.

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Police in suburban Des Moines say a man arrested over the weekend on suspicion of first-degree murder in a woman’s death was the victim’s husband. Urbandale police on Monday identified the woman as 29-year-old Mary Sample, of Urbandale. Investigators say she was found in an Urbandale home around 6:45 p.m. Saturday suffering from severe head trauma. She died at the scene. Police arrested her husband, 35-year-old Dustin Sample, on Sunday morning and charged with first-degree murder.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports four arrests took place over the past week. On Dec. 6th, 20-year old Domingo Raymundo Garcia, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop on I-80 westbound. His Breath Alcohol Test registered .116%. Garcia was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond. On Dec. 8th, the Iowa State Patrol arrested 33-year old Austin James Hill, of West Des Moines. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop on I-80 in Adair County, and charged with Driving While License Suspended/Denied or Revoked. Hill was released from the scene on his Own Recognizance.

On Dec. 10th, 44-year old Jacob Howard Welsch, of Fontanelle, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His Breath Alcohol Test registered .122%.  He was subsequently released with a citation. And, 36-year old Ashley Lyn Knight, of Tingley, was arrested Dec. 12th, also for OWI/1st offense, and cited for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign. Her Blood Alcohol Concentration registered .264.  She was also released with a citation.

Council Bluffs Police report three people – a man and two women – were arrested Sunday night, following a reported theft in progress at the Dicks Sporting Goods Store, in Council Bluffs. Officers responding at around 7:46 p.m., observed two suspects, a man – later identified as 19-year-old Terron A. Maples, of Blue Springs, Missouri – and one female, identified as 39-year-old Diamond D. Price, of Kansas City, Missouri, exiting the store and running toward an Orange Jeep parked near the emergency exit.  Officer’s apprehended Price but Maples got into the passenger seat of the jeep and the female driver that was waiting in the vehicle drove off.  A pursuit ensued and finally ended at the Pacific Junction exit off I-29.

Terron A. Maples

Diamond D. Price

Authorities say at that time, the female driver of the Jeep was identified as 26-year-old Ke’Shawn M. Foster, of Kansas City, Missouri.  Both Maples and Foster were taken into custody that time.  Officers received information from store employees that Price and Maples had attempted to leave the store with approximately $7,300 in both Nike and North Face merchandise.

Ke’Shawn M. Foster

During the investigation officers were able to determine that both Maples and Price were involved in a previous incident that occurred at the same location on November 14th at 8:15pm.  During that incident the suspects took approximately $4,000 in merchandise.  As the suspects exited the store, one suspect sprayed an employee with pepper spray and then left the area in an unknown vehicle.

All parties involved were taken into custody and interviewed by detectives.  They were then transported to Pottawattamie County Corrections and booked for the charge of Theft 2nd plus several other misdemeanor charges.  Additional charges for Maples and Price are possible for their involvement in case on November 14th.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Education’s annual report for the fall shows enrollment in the 327 school districts dropped by nearly six-thousand (5,935) students from last year. The Department of Education report says the one-point-two percent decline is the first drop in certified enrollment in ten years. Enrollment decreased at 215 school districts representing 66 percent of all public school districts in the state. Des Moines Public Schools had the largest decrease followed by Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Council Bluffs, Waterloo, Sioux City, Dubuque, Burlington and West Des Moines.

The report shows enrollment in home school assistance programs was up more than 16-hundred for a total of eight-thousand-735 students. Home school students receive some services through their local school district. The total number of students in schools was 484-thousand-159..

(Radio Iowa) – Congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson of Marion says to stabilize the Social Security system, she’s open to the idea of raising the age when younger Americans may begin receiving benefits. “I think it’s my job now to go in and try to make some of those tough decisions to fix and make sure it is solvent for my kids,” she says, “and hopefully their kids, too.” Hinson opposes raising payroll taxes. She says any change to the retirement age would have to be phased in and would not apply to current retirees or those nearing retirement age.

“I’m 37 years old. If I know, coming in, I’m going to have to work longer, it’s much easier for me to absorb that than to pull the rug out from under someone who’s 62 years old right now,” Hinson says. “…Somebody’s got to be willing to make a tough call and that’s exactly why the problem hasn’t been fixed and I may be roasted on both sides for saying that I’m willing to be open to it, right? But I am and I think that’s why I won this election ’cause people are like: ‘O.K., she’s willing to go and just at least entertain the topics.”

Hinson will be sworn in as Iowa’s first district congresswoman in January. According to the Social Security Administration, the system will be able to pay full benefits until 2037. At that point, monthly benefit checks would have to be cut by about 25 percent. Hinson says a Social Security fix should be part of a larger debate in the next congress about the national debt. “If we aren’t cognizant of that, in this bigger discussion, there won’t be any Social Security or any of these entitlement programs if we don’t get a handle on that, too,” Hinson says, “so I think that’s a part of the discussion, trying to look at the debt, so these things are preserved long-term.”

Hinson says both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the ballooning national debt, which tops 27 trillion dollars, and both sides should seek to reduce it. Hinson made her comments this weekend on the “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office Monday (Today), reports the arrest on drug charges, of 32-year old Chad Sheard, of Omaha, Nebraska and 30-year old Danya Schafer, of Springfield, Missouri. Their arrests are the result of an investigation that began at around 8-p.m. Sunday, with a traffic stop in Hamburg, when the deputy noticed a Cadillac SUV with heavy front end damage and a headlight out. The plates on the vehicle came back to a 2005 Buick.

Photos courtesy Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities say paraphernalia, including a white crystal substance, was located along with other items. Sheard and Schafer were both arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and taken to the Fremont County Jail. They were being held on a three-hundred-dollar bond, each.

Five people were arrested on separate charges over the past few days, in Creston. According to Creston Police, there were four arrests on Friday:

• 26-year old Brandon Stone, of Gravity, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree. He was cited and released from the scene on a Summons to Appear.
• 27-year old Jesse Johnson, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for Theft in the 5th. He was also cited, released & issued a Summons.
• 40-year old Jennifer Wollums, of Creston, was arrested Friday night for Driving While Suspended. She was cited and issued a Summons.
• 31-year old Roy Bond, of Las Vegas, NV, was arrested Friday night in Creston, for Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. He was released on a $200 bond.

And on Saturday, Creston Police arrested 37-year old Keri Lemon, of Creston, for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. She was cited and released with a Summons to Appear.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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