(Radio Iowa) – The Marshalltown City Council has approved a proposal to embed social services workers with police officers. Police Chief Mike Tupper came up with the idea after calls to revamp police services and find better ways to deal with calls to police seeking help for noncriminal but potentially violent situations. Tupper approached Youth and Shelter Services (YSS) of Marshall County to find out how to get specialists in social services embedded with police.

“And going out into the community and helping us solve and deal with some really complicated issues. Sometimes we’re asking our cops to do too much and they have to be a jack-of-all-trades,” Tupper says. He says the program would give officers more support. “We think if we can partner with some social services, we can do a better job of providing resources in our community of addressing problems and maybe preventing some problems,” according to Tupper.

Tupper and YSS Of Marshall County director David Hicks went to the City Council to request $25,000 to develop the program. After mentioning it would probably take $150,000 to fund such a program for a year — the city council approve the $150,000. The program will be called Marshalltown Partnership and Community Action Team or MPACT. Hicks is confident the program can make a difference. “It’s any social service involvement — maybe it’s behavioral issues with a child, police tell me they get calls from 911 from parents angry at their 13-year old for not wanting to do the dishes or doesn’t want to do his homework. So that’s getting a 911 call and a police visit. That is not law enforcement’s job,” Hicks says.

Hicks says MPACT can help in those situations. “We certainly want to reduce the frequency of police contact for non-cop duties. We want to make sure that there’s adequate support for people’s homes, so they’re not calling the police all the time, because if you keep calling the cops, someone’s gonna get arrested,” according to Hicks. A hiring process for two social workers to be on call with the Marshalltown Police 24/7 is underway. The plan is to begin the program in January.

(Radio Iowa) – A Teacher in Webster County has resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct. Brandon Louis has resigned from his post as music teacher at Southeast Valley High School in Gowrie after being accused of sexual misconduct. A former student spoke at the school board meeting Tuesday alleging that while she was a student there, Louis sent her text messages of a sexual nature. Reportedly over 20 current and former female students are claiming that Louis sent them similar messages.

The District said in a statement Tuesday Night they are cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate the allegations.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Anita Rescue and Wiota Fire were dispatched this morning to a two-vehicle collision with rollover accident west of Wiota, at 655th and Whitepole Road. The call went out at 7:48-a.m.  According to the report, one vehicle was on the road while the other rolled into the ditch. Additional details are currently not available.

Another crash was reported in the Omaha area on eastbound I-80 near the I-480 split. That crash was reported around 7:30 a.m. The Nebraska Department of Transportation reports that the center two lanes are closed. Avoid the area and use an alternate route if possible.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest at around 8:50-p.m., Tuesday, of 40-year-old Aaron Riepe. The Creston man was arrested at his residence on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Violation of Probation. Riepe was being held in the Union County Jail awaiting bond hearing.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa/KJAN) With less than two weeks until the polls close on Election Day, the pace of EARLY voting in Iowa is way ahead previous records. More than 827-thousand Iowans asked for an absentee ballot so they could vote early either in-person at their county auditor’s office or by mail. The Iowa Secretary of State’s website shows nearly 571-thousand Iowans have already voted. Fifty-three percent of them are Democrats, 30 percent are Republicans and the remaining 16 percent are registered as “no party” or independent voters.

The latest voter REGISTRATION data shows there are about 13-thousand more registered Republicans than Democrats in Iowa. For the past few decades, independent voters had been the largest voting block in Iowa, but they’ve been surpassed this year by voters aligning with the two major parties. The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Tuesday, reported they still have 639 ballots that were mailed out that need to be returned. Remember the postage is already paid, you can drop it in the mail or you can walk them into Auditor’s office.

Officials say also, Saturday October 24th is the last day to request a ballot be mailed to you. The Cass County Auditor’s Office is open this Saturday October 24th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for you to come in and vote. They said also “We have broken our 2016 record and currently have over 3000 ballots!!”

(Radio Iowa) – Most of the Wilson Island State Recreation Area along the Missouri River has reopened to the public after being closed for 19 months due to flooding — but the campgrounds won’t reopen until mid-April. Michelle Reinig, a supervisor in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the number of campsites will be reduced — to eliminate the most flood-prone camping areas.  “We hope we can live with the river and still provide access to the resource and the public recreation, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Reinig says.

Most of the 544 acre recreation area is now open for hunting, hiking and bird watching as well as fishing in the Missouri River. Reinig says the river levels fluctuated during the NINE MONTHS that floodwaters remained in the area. “Everytime the flood waters come up and then they recede, it cuts back into the bank and it deposits new sand and silt elsewhere, so it creates new fishing holes along the riverfront there,” Reinig says. “…Let’s face it, it’s along the Missouri River and people are drawn there because of the river attraction, but then we don’t control the river and Mother Nature, so the river’s going to continue to be the ‘Mighty Mo’ and it’s going to flood again.”

There’s no fee to use the ramp in the recreation area that gives boats access to the river. Wilson Island, which is near the town of Missouri Valley, was originally a sand bar that developed around 1900. It’s named after George Wilson, a former Iowa governor and U.S. Senator. Some accounts indicate the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped in the area in 1804.

Officials with the Harlan Police Department report just two arrests over the past week. On Sunday, 41-year-old Jason Robin Conway Emery, of Shelby, was arrested following the execution of a search warrant. Emery was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with Theft 4th. And, on Oct. 14th, 52-year-old Brian Alan Sorensen, of Harlan, was arrested on an active warrant. Sorensen was transported to the Shelby County Jail.