The Audubon School Board met this (Tuesday) morning and acted on approving Teacher transfers, contracts and resignations. Superintendent Brett Gibbs told KJAN News the Board approved the hiring of Tyler Christensen, of Atlantic, for 4^th Grade Teacher.Christensen will also do some coaching for the District. Other moves include:

• Megan Kjergaard, who currently teaches Special Ed, will move into a 5^th grade Teacher’s position;
• Rachael Andersen, who currently teaches 2^nd grade, will also become a 5^th grade teacher;
• Sean Birks, will move from 4^th grade teacher to Middle School Social Studies. He replaces Molly Lange, who has accepted a position in Carroll;
• Heather Griffith who is currently a Kindergarten teacher, will be moving up to teach 1^st grade.
• The Board also accepted the resignation of Dustin Christensen, who has accepted a position with the North Polk School District.)

Christensen had been making a long commute from Huxley to teach 1^st grade in Audubon. Gibbs said finding good teachers is a difficult task, because they’re aren’t a lot of people entering the field. He said they still need to fill a Spanish, Special Ed, Kindergarten and 2^nd grade positions, and they’ll be working to do that this Spring.

Next up for the Audubon School Board: A Budget Hearing on April 11^th.

Consumers will have the opportunity to dispose of unneeded or unwanted medications during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) 15th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 28, 2018. From 10 AM to 2 PM, consumers may safely dispose of unwanted medications at one of thousands of collection sites coordinated by DEA and provided by law enforcement agencies and community organizations in all 54 United States and jurisdictions. Those who cannot participate in the event can find a list of permanent, year-round drug disposal sites by using the AWARXE® Prescription Drug Safety Program’s Drug Disposal Locator Tool. ( https://nabp.pharmacy/initiatives/awarxe/drug-disposal-locator/ ). NABP’s AWARXE Program provides the public with information and resources for safe prescription medication use, abuse prevention, and disposal.

DEA Drug Take Back Day is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. Sites will accept tablets, capsules, and all other solid dosage forms of unwanted medication. Personal information should be blacked out on prescription bottles, or medications may be emptied from the bottles into the bins provided at the events.

National take back days create an opportunity for consumers to safely and legally dispose of unneeded medications, including prescription controlled substances, such as certain pain medications. In October 2017, over 5,300 collection sites were set up and over 912,300 pounds (456 tons) of unused medications were collected during the 14th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. DEA’s Take Back Day website has more resources about the upcoming opportunity

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque will spend $1.5 million over seven years to buy and rehab housing in some of the community’s poorest neighborhoods. The Telegraph Herald reports that City Council approved an agreement Monday with True North Community Development Corp. to work on up to 50 residential properties in the city’s low-income neighborhoods, such as the North End.

The rehabbed homes will be sold to those making 80 percent or less of the area’s median income, which would be no more than $53,100 for a family of four. The city will also provide homebuyers with up to a $25,000, no-interest loan. Homeowners would be required to keep the property a single-family home for 21 years.

Council Member Jake Rios cast the only dissenting vote. He says he’s worried about gentrification and displacing low-income residents.

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa man accused of stabbing to death his live-in girlfriend has pleaded not guilty. Kossuth County District Court records show 45-year-old Chad Dietrick entered a written plea Friday to a charge of first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin May 15. The records say deputies and medics sent March 3 to handle a domestic dispute found 38-year-old Krista Hesebeck had died at the home she and Dietrick shared in Lakota. He was found at his parents’ Lakota home. The records say he told deputies that he’d stabbed Hesebeck, who had also lived in Atlantic prior to moving to Lakota.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report 61-year old Thomas Harry Lebischak, of Randolph, was arrested near Highway 275 and Keys Avenue, Monday evening. Lebischak was taken into custody for Eluding, and Use of an Electronic Communication Device. His bond was set at $1,000.

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

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CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A woman has pleaded guilty to stealing from a bank and a bank customer in northern Iowa. Court records say 34-year-old Cassandra Lane, of Charles City, entered the written pleas to two felony counts of theft. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 14. Court documents say she stole $13,300 from the customer and nearly $4,000 from the bank while working from October 2016 to August 2017 at the First Security Bank and Trust branch in Charles City.

The documents say her plea deal includes five years of probation and suspended fines and deferred judgments. Under deferred judgments, Lane’s convictions may be removed from her record if she successfully completes the terms of her probation. The judge is not bound by the plea agreement.

The Creston Police Department reports a resident of the 300 block of North Walnut Street, in Creston, told authorities on Monday, that sometime between 11-p.m. Sunday and 8-a.m. Monday, someone stole her push lawnmower from outside of her residence. The mower was valued at $50.

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

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ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an inmate head-butted a guard at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in eastern Iowa. The attack occurred around 6:40 p.m. Sunday. The Iowa Corrections Department says the inmate also bit one of the officer’s forearms. Other officers soon restrained the inmate. The guard was assessed and returned to duty, but later he was taken to the Jones Regional Medical Center in Anamosa, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. The names of those involved have not been released.