(Atlantic, Iowa) – There’s a new sheriff in town…well, actually he’s a familiar face. John Westering was sworn-in this (Tuesday) morning as Cass County Sheriff, during a meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors. Westering – who served for many years as the Chief Deputy Sheriff – was unopposed in his bid for Cass County Sheriff, during the November 5th General Election. Former Sheriff, Darby McLaren announced in January, 2024, that he would not be seeking re-election, after 28-years serving the County as a Deputy, and his final position as Sheriff. McLaren said he was leaving the office “In very capable hands.” McLaren said Westering’s “experience and integrity” made him a perfect fit for the position.

Board Vice-Chair/District 2 Supervisor Mark O’Brien administered the Oath of Office to Westering, Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers, District 1 Supervisor Steve Green, District 5 Supervisor Bernard Pettinger (who joined the meeting via the phone), and District 4 Supervisor/Board Chair, Steve Baier. In other business, the Board passed the third reading of an Ordinance pertaining to an EMS Local Option Income Surtax. The Board approved a Cass County Wellness Program for County employees, that also designates participating and non-participation rates for Jan. 1, 2025 through Oct. 31, 2025. The differential rate amounts to five-percent.

They approved a Class-B Retail Alcohol license for the Griswold Dollar General Store, and they tentatively approved allocating the balance of ARPA funds for training new EMT’s and Paramedics. Supervisor Steve Green….

Green said we can’t afford to lose any EMT’s or Paramedics.

Cass County BOS mtg 12-17-24

The Cass County Supervisors tentatively approved plans to appropriate the remaining ARPA funds. And, they passed an annual resolution setting the posted weight limits on embargoed bridges. Along that same line, the Board approved a County Safety Action Plan that supports strategies outlined in Iowa’s Five-Year Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) 2024-2028, as well as the overall vision of Zero Fatalities on Iowa’s public roads.

The Board received a short, regular report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, and they acted on approving courthouse hours for Christmas Eve: The Secondary Roads Department will close at 11-a.m. (unless it is snowing), and the Courthouse will close at Noon.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Representatives with a community service organization in Red Oak that has been in existence for nearly 130 years, has announced they are disbanding. The news came during today’s (Tuesday’s) meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. A “Monday Club of Red Oak” spokesperson Connie Sampers explained why the club that was established in 1895, has now disbanded.

Monday Club of Red Oak members (Front row): Lois Pratt, Sandy Reich, Vici Giltner and Connie Sampers; (Back row): Montgomery County Auditor Jill Ozuna, Board Chair Mike Olson, Supervisor Donna Robinson, Supervisor Charla Schmid, Supervisor Randy Cooper (Photo courtesy of Nick Johansen/The Red Oak Express)

One of their “Pet projects,” she said was the courthouse clock.

The club began with women who wanted to keep up with the their knowledge of the world. Their motto was “The Promotion of the Social and Intellectual Advancement of Women.”

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report they handled about 60 calls for service during the ice storm event that began in the county at around 5-p.m., Friday. Sheriff Greg Schultz says those calls for service included vehicle accidents, slide-offs, disabled vehicles, and a stranded motorist. Authorities say the icy roads came as a surprise to county residents, when the roads turned into “a skating rink,” making for a treacherous drive home.

“Thankfully,” officials say, “There were no serious injuries that occurred during the accidents.”

(Griswold, Iowa) – The Griswold School Board, during their meeting Monday night, elected Ryan Smith as Board President, and Erika Kirchhoff as Vice-President. They succeed Scott Hansen and Don Smith, in those respective positions. The Board left unchanged, the dates and times for their regular board meetings. Those meetings will continue to be held the third Monday of each month, beginning at 5:30-p.m. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said the Board approved personnel matters, including contract recommendations and a contract adjustment.

The Board also approved a transfer for the 2025-26 school year.

They also discussed relocation of the Concession Stand with Alley Poyner Macchiotto Architects.

The Board also approved a contract with Alley Poyner to provide architectural services for the gym floor refinishing project.

A public hearing on the project will be held Jan. 20th at 5:30-p.m. In other business, the Griswold School Board accepted the FY 24 Audit Report, which highlighted some common issues that are reported in the State Auditor’s reports for government and school entities.

The final order of business for the Board was to approve a Tiger-Time Release adjustment, to allow seniors who are not failing any classes, to be released during the last 25 minutes of the day. The time slot is reserved for students in grade 7 through 12 who are experiencing struggles in any areas of study, so they can get help. The adjustment allows the teachers more time to focus on students who need extra attention.

(Radio Iowa) – Explore Siouxland has received a $10,000r tourism grant from the state Economic Development Authority to support a project called “Wheel the World.”

Spokesperson Kristen Heimgartner says the project aims to enhance accessibility for tourism in the Siouxland region. “We pick a couple restaurants, hotels, attractions that we think would be a good fit, and they survey them and see how accessible they actually are,” she says. Heimgartner says the program is a national effort, and they want to find out which venues are accessible to all. “They found that especially hotels are the biggest one, but sometimes they’ll say their wheelchair accessible rooms, and really they’re not,” Hiemgarten says. “Yes, they have more room than a normal hotel room, but they’re still not accessible for those that are in wheelchairs or have mobility issues.”

Those who have mobility issues are asked to take a survey when they visit. “So they come, they do a survey, they go home, they send the survey results back to us, and then it gives the attraction, hotel restaurant, the opportunity to make some changes and then become a certified, accessible business, basically,” she says. Heimgarten says they will start ten local businesses that will be part of the “Wheel the World” network. “They have their own website, and so by us participating with Wheel the World, we will become a certified destination for accessible tourism and have a landing page on their website,” she says. “So those who may have mobility issues or just need some extra help while traveling can go to this website, search a destination and then find all the results of our surveys that they do so.”

Heimgarten says they will begin the program in the new year and hope to expand the effort in the months to come.

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith says more than 68 million dollars of unclaimed property has been turned over so far this year to the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. “This is the largest amount that’s been turned over to us. It brings our total amount to 586 million dollars that we’re safe keeping, that we’re looking back, looking to get back to Iowans,” Smith says. The record amount easily surpasses the previous record of nearly 43 million. Smith believes the large amount of unclaimed money and property is linked to the chaos of the pandemic. “Don’t know exactly, but we have spoken to other states, and what we’ve kind of come up with is businesses keep the money for three years, and it’s turned over,” he explains. “Three years ago we were coming out of the pandemic, so we believe it was dealing with the pandemic where you had businesses that were closing, transferring ownership, being sold.” Smith says.

He says all those transactions likely led to the money not being claimed and its now been turned over. Smith says the average amount claimed is 150 dollars, but it can be a lot more and a lot less. “I gave a check away to someone for 317-thousand dollars in November, we had a record amount of over four million dollars given away a year ago, or given back, I should say, not giving away four million dollars, so you just don’t know, sometimes it’s 25 dollars and sometimes it’s ten-thousand dollars,” Smith says. Smith encourages everyone to go to GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov and search for your name.

“They can check for themselves, a family member, a friend, a business, a nonprofit. And we, like I said, we have 586 million dollars that we’re looking to reunite with Iowa and all across the state,” Smith says. He says you may have found unclaimed property on the site already, but you check again as new items come in every year.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston arrested a man Monday afternoon on Assault and Obstruction charges. Authorities say Dakota Wayne Brooks, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 4:30-p.m. at Eagle Avenue and 140th Street in Union County. He was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault, and Obstructing Emergency 911 – purposely interfering/obstructing. Brooks was being held without bond in the Union County Jail.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop in Red Oak at around 11:15-p.m. Monday, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police say 41-year-old Tuesday Ann Straw, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 300 block of E. Corning Street, for OWI/1st offense. Straw was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.