The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 26-year old Samuel Branigan, of Red Oak, was arrested Monday afternoon on active warrants for five-counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, Harboring a Runaway, and Trespass. Branigan was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond.

Glenwood Police report the arrest on Monday, of 51-year old Belynda Daniels. The Glenwood woman was arrested for OWI/2^nd offense. Her bond was set at $2000 cash or surety

Patrons of the Atlantic Community School District will see a reduction in the tax asking for FY2018-19. Superintendent Steve Barber told KJAN News the rate, set to be published this week, will be reduced by about 70-cents per thousand dollars valuation. The rate went down to $15.08, as compared to $15.778 last year. Barber said the adjustment is due to some corrections. He said “A few years back, the board was faced with a cash shortage situation. And over the last two-or three-years they’ve corrected that and our cash position is healthier, and therefore we’re able to lower the rate.

Barber says the Board will continue to look at the cash balance and make the best decisions to keep the balance in place while providing every opportunity for the kids to be successful and responsible to the taxpayers. Prior to the Board’s work session Monday night, the proposed tax rating was at $15.50 per $1,000, but a reduction in one of the funds made that rate unnecessary. He said there Management Fund didn’t need as much as listed on the original computation form, so they lowered the amount in that fund from $587,000 to $400,000, which reduced the levy by about .41/$1,000.

Public hearings on the 2018-19 School Calendar and 2018-19 Certified Budget will be held April 11^th at 5:30- and 5:45-p.m. Respectively, in the Atlantic High School Media Center.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Corbett says he’s “not sure why” a fellow Republican is challenging his campaign’s legitimacy. Corbett has been campaigning around the state for months as a G-O-P challenger to Kim Reynolds. Last week, former Iowa Republican Party political director Craig Robinson challenged Corbett’s nominating petitions, arguing there are too many duplicate signatures and Corbett doesn’t have the number of petition signatures he needs to qualify for the primary ballot. “If the governor really wants to knock me out of the race, then she should deliver the knock out punch on the debate stage and (that’s) why we’re challenged her to debates around the state,” Corbett says. “…We feel confident we have the appropriate number of petition signatures and will prevail.”

Corbett uses the word “underhanded” to describe the challenge of his nominating petitions. “For the governor to try to skate buy and not have debates and try to get me knocked off the ballot, I mean this doesn’t seem like she’s following in the tradition that has been set for elected officials and the governor in this state,” Corbett says.

Robinson — the former Iowa Republican Party official — says the Corbett campaign’s effort to collect signatures on nominating petitions was “incredibly pathetic” as Corbett barely submitted the minimum number of signatures required — and Robinson says there are more than 100 duplicate signatures. Iowa’s secretary of state and attorney general will convene with the state auditor this (Tuesday) afternoon to decide whether Corbett qualifies for the June Primary ballot. Similar challenges have been filed against seven OTHER candidates, including Congressmen Steve King and David Young as well as a Republican who hopes to run against Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack in November.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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A man and woman were arrested on separate warrants this (Tuesday) morning, in Creston. The Creston Police Department reports 38-year old Matthew Neipert, of Creston, was arrested at around 1:20-a.m. at his residence, on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Theft 4th. Neipert was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 12:35-a.m., 20-year old Natalie Eslinger, of Creston, was arrested at her residence on a Union County Warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault – Injury or Mental Illness. Eslinger was being held in the Adams County Jail, while awaiting a bond hearing.

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

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CRESCO, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been scheduled for a man accused of killing his wife in northern Iowa. Mason City station KIMT reports that an Aug. 8 starting date was set Monday for 34-year-old Brian Fullhart. He’s pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and going armed with intent. Howard County District Court records say Fullhart shot his wife with a handgun early March 1 at a mobile home in Cresco and later used a bow to twice fire arrows at officers who’d been sent to investigate gunshot reports. A criminal complaint says one arrow struck a squad car. Fullhart surrendered peacefully to end the more than five-hour standoff.

MARENGO, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of killing a trucker at an Iowa rest stop along Interstate 80 has been ruled mentally fit for trial. Court documents show the ruling was filed Monday following a March 19 hearing for 44-year-old Mariana Lesnic. She’s pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Authorities say she shot 60-year-old Ernest Kummer inside his truck cab last September at the westbound rest stop near Victor, about 40 miles west of Iowa City.

A doctor who examined Lesnic says in his report that she didn’t appear to be suffering from any mental illness when he examined her and says she’s competent to stand trial. The judge has scheduled an April 6 hearing to set a trial date.

Four people suffered non-life threatening injuries in a three-vehicle accident east of Council Bluffs Saturday afternoon.  Sergeant Jim Doty with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reported the accident happened at around 4:15 p.m. on Highway 92 near 220th Street. He says the accident involved a pickup, a Ford Taurus and a Ford Mustang. He says two occupants were taken by ground ambulance to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, one was taken by ground ambulance to Mercy Hospital and another was air-lifted to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The victim’s names have not been released.  The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

(from our sister station – KNOD/Harlan)