(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (Iowa) Attorney was arrested over the weekend. According to the Cass County Jail roster and online records, 46-year-old Vanessa Elizabeth Strazdas was arrested a little after 4-a.m. Sunday, for OWI/1st offense. Strazdas was released about five hours later, on her own recognizance. No further details are available.

(Radio Iowa) – Socioeconomic studies conducted for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission show some types of crimes do increase in casino communities — but overall they aren’t less safe. Spectrum Gaming Group managing director, Michael Pollock, says you have to look very closely at the crime studies. “Crime is a universal concern, a universal question in every gaming market. And the reality is –we’ve been studying this for 40 years — casinos do not create street crime, do not do anything along those lines,” Pollock says.

Pollock says certain types of non-violent crimes– such as robberies and thefts — are higher in casino towns. He says that’s because there are more people and money there and opportunities for criminals. “There’s going to always be some relationship, but it’s really a function of the number of people and the amount of money and the number of visitors. It doesn’t make a community unsafe,” he says. Pollock says other positive factors offset the impact. “When you add employment, and you add capital investment, quite the opposite is true. The community becomes safer. When you say the crime rate increases, people think that makes that community less safe — and it’s not the case,” according to Pollock.

Pollock says their study shows similar things with other socioeconomic impacts such as divorce. “You may in certain instances and this is nothing particular about Iowa, it could be in any state. You may see a correlation and that does not equate to causation. In our 40 plus years in this industry, there is nothing in the nature of this industry that would cause divorce rates to go up, or child abuse or any of the other issues,” Pollock says. He says you also have to look at the history of an area prior to the casino being there. “The communities that seek to have a casino as an economic stimulus and very much want that economic stimulus, often have a lot of problems to begin with that they don’t have the resources to address. So, those problems may have been there to begin with — that is essential to understanding what these numbers mean,” he says.

Pollock says there is an increase in problem gambling with casinos, but he says there are a lot of factors involved in that issue as well. He says the problem gambling rate remains very low in Iowa and the state ranks fourth for the amount of money put into its gambling treatment program. You can see the full report on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission website.

(Ames, Iowa) – There will be a new way for people to get around Ames this summer, and city leaders want the community’s help. Officials say two new electric buses will soon join CyRide’s bus fleet. The buses will run on battery and are funded by both a federal grant and a state fund. The buses should be delivered by the end of June. The clean vehicles were funded by the Federal Transit Administration Low- or No-Emission Grant program for $1.6 million and the Iowa Department of Transportation Volkswagen Settlement Environmental Mitigation Trust for $390,000.

The new buses will lower carbon emissions, control noise pollution, and reduce the operating costs of CyRide’s large bus fleet. Instead of an engine burning diesel fuel, these vehicles run from 564-kWh batteries, which could power a house for an entire month. These buses will look familiar as they are from the same manufacturer as CyRide’s articulated buses.

CyRide wants to draw attention to these unique buses while retaining many of the design elements and colors of the rest of the fleet. To help choose a new design, CyRide is asking Ames residents and Iowa State University students, faculty, and staff to help make the final decision on how these buses will look. To view all four sides of all three proposed designs, visit the CyRide site .

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Via KCCI) — Police say a good Samaritan suffered serious injuries in a crash in West Des Moines.  The crash happened just before noon. Officers say a man was helping a semi-truck driver who broke down on Highway 5 at Veterans Parkway. One car slowed down, but another did not, slamming into the car, which then hit the pedestrian.  His condition has not been released.