Three people were arrested Sunday afternoon, in Thurman. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports 42-year old Matthew Demorest, 38-year old Pamela Demorest, and 22-year old Dakota Moss, all of Thurman, were taken into custody following a call at around 2:40-p.m., about a large disturbance at Main and Filmore, in Thurman. Authorities say a large group of people had gathered in the street and a physical confrontation broke out.

Dakota Moss

Pamela Demorest

Matthew Demorest

An onlooker videoed the altercation and three arrests for Disorderly Conduct Fighting in Public, were made at the scene. The incident remains under investigation with more arrests possible. All three bonded out after posting the three-hundred-dollar cash bond.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Sunday, of 33-year old Jana Lynn Gray, from Sidney. Gray was arrested following a disturbance in the 1000 block of Cass Street in Sidney.

Jana Gray

Her arrest stemmed from a call at around 3:30-p.m., about a female that was being belligerent. During the investigation Gray was arrested of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Assault of a Law Enforcement Officers with no Injuries.

She was taken to the Fremont County Jail and bonded out after post the one-thousand-dollar cash or surety bond.

(Update!) Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Tuesday press conference on COVID-19. We will provide live audio of the presser on KJAN as well. The press conference is set to begin at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a session via YouTube, Wednesday evening. At 6-p.m., the Board will enter into an Exempt session to discuss strategy matters relating to the employment conditions of employees not covered by the collective bargaining law, under Iowa Code. The exempt session will not be open to the public, and therefore not viewable on YouTube, but the regular meeting to follow WILL be available immediately following the conclusion of the exempt session. School officials say if you are planning to view the meeting on YouTube (https://youtu.be/pZ21qb9sEc4), please stand by for the regular meeting to begin after the exempt session.

During the Board’s regular meeting, they are expected to take action on the resignations of: Alex Bales – HS Teacher/Speech Coach/Fall Play Director; Emily Krummel – MS Teacher; Hillary Zimmerline – MS Teacher/MS Volleyball Coach; Derek Hall – Freshman Football Coach, and Macie Harringa – MS Cross Country Coach. They will also act on contract recommendations for: Mary McBride – Special Education Teacher (Link Center), and, Sarah Rose – MS/HS Guidance Counselor.

The Atlantic School Board is also expected to discuss: a Facility Project Update; a report on the 2018-19 Audit, and, Return To Learn/Return to Open. Action items include (But are not limited to the following):

• Approval of the 2018-19 Audit report
• A June 2021 Out-of-State trip by Middle School Students, to Washington, D.C., under the guidance of Mr. Paul McKay. The trip is taken every other year, and includes several points of interest, a tour of Capital Hill, and more, with the idea of reinforcing things they have studied in history.
• The Board will act on 2020-21 Student Fees. No changes will be made except to the Adult Lunch Prices, which are regulated by the Federal Government, and requires the price to be increased 10 cents, from $3.75 to $3.85.
• The Board will act to approve a 2020-21 AEA Purchasing Agreement, which allows the district continued participation in the AEA cooperative purchasing program for school food service and other purchasing opportunities.
• Other action items include: An agreement with Children’s Square/Heartland Family Service Consortium for 2020-21; An 80/20 Transportation Director Sharing Agreement with the Griswold School District; Approval of 2020-21 Sponsors/Contracts & Winter Sports Coaching Contracts; Milk, Bread and Waste Management bids.

Following their regular meeting, the Atlantic School Board will enter into a closed session for the Superintendent’s Annual Evaluation.

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

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Officials with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office report 23-year old Brent Joseph Burke was arrested late Sunday night, following an investigation into a disturbance in Council Bluffs. Burke was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree and Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault. And, 33-year old Jessica Marie Rogers was arrested Friday night following a criminal mischief complaint in Crescent. Rogers was charged with OWI/1st offense and Reckless Driving. The incident remained under investigation.

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

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(Radio Iowa) – The planting season continues to move rapidly ahead following a year where farmers had to sit and wait for things to dry out. The weekly crop report from the U-S Department of Agriculture shows 91 percent of the corn planting is done — up from 78 percent last week. The report says 71 percent of the soybeans were in the ground — an increase from 46 percent the week before. Iowa State University Extension Field Agronomist Paul Kassel says it’s been decades since farmers have the conditions to be able to work at this pace. “It was a record soybean planting in Iowa. I think the north-central crop reporting district had 66 percent like a week ago which is way ahead of schedule, so yeah, so kind of a neat deal to have that situation after the last couple of springs,” Kassel says.

The only downside has been a cold snap that spread across the state last week. Kassel says he has not received any reports of frost damage — but the cold is slowing the growth of the one-third of the corn crop that has already emerged from the ground.  “Kinda losing out here on leveraging our early planting. We like to plant early to kind of extend the growing season and increase the amount of time during the summer months when we can fill the kernel and the pods that’s probably the overall bigger concern,” according to Kassel.

The corn planting progress is now almost one month ahead of last year and two weeks ahead of the five-year average. Less than five percent of the crop remains to be planted in the northwest and north-central Iowa. The soybean planting is also one full month ahead of last year and more than two weeks ahead of the average. Northwest and north-central Iowa also lead the way in soybean planting with less than 20 percent remaining to be planted.

A traffic stop at around 9-p.m. Monday, in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a Nebraska man on a Fremont County warrant. 26-year old Diego Miguel Juaquin, of Omaha, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation on an original, Possession of Marijuana charge. Juaquin was transported to Fremont County. Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies assisted Red Oak Police in handling the arrest and transport.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa researcher says the country could reopen more quickly and safely if everyone wore a clear plastic face shield. Doctor Michael Edmond, chief quality officer at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, says a universal face shield may reduce coronavirus transmission and could allow relaxing of social distancing measures. Edmond, a U-I infectious disease professor, says face shields have several advantages.

“They’re more durable than face masks,” Edmond says. “The medical face masks really don’t last very long at all. Cloth masks can be reused and laundered, but face shields can just be wiped off.” Face shields cover the eyes and prevent people from touching their faces, and face shields are readily available. Edmond says he’s working on modeling studies to determine if his theories on face shield use prove valid.

“If every person were in a face shield, we would reduce transmission of the virus to the point that some of these other more drastic things that we have to do like restricting people’s movements, those could be relaxed somewhat.” Volunteers in Iowa are making cloth masks and plastic face shields by the thousands for distribution to hospital workers, paramedics and other first responders.

(Reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)