The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of a Red Oak man for Domestic Abuse Assault on Thursday afternoon. At 1:40pm Officers arrested 26-year-old Aaron Gar Nelson of Red Oak in the 500 block of South 6th Street in Red Oak. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and additionally charged with Introducing Contraband into a Jail Facility, a Class D Felony. Nelson was being held on no bond.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Council Bluffs man after a traffic stop on Thursday. At 12:17pm Deputies initiated a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Mulberry Avenue. As deputies approached the vehicle all the windows were down and a strong odor of burnt Marijuana was coming from inside the vehicle. 38-year-old Adam Gene Hamm of Council Bluffs was a passenger in the vehicle and was found to be in possession of a small bag of Marijuana and a glass pipe with Marijuana inside of it. Hamm was arrested for Possession of Marijuana and taken to the Adams County Jail and held on $500 bond.

Officials with the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, are happy to report that late Christmas Eve, a visitor from afar left a package at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn. Instead of Santa, it was historic millwright Ben Hassett from Louisville, Kentucky who delivered the Windmill’s long-awaited new White Oak wind shaft!

The wind shaft is one of the components of the historic restoration project underway at the Windmill so it can return to being a functional working mill. It also includes replacing the timbers for sail arms, repairing the brake wheel and fan tail and replacing the friction drive pulley for the sack hoist.

The old wind shaft had been repaired/patched at critical areas in the past. Knowing that someday it would be needed, the Windmill had purchased a white oak timber that Ben has been storing for several years. When the inspection showed rot and decay present in the sails as well as the wind shaft, it was deemed time to replace them both as well as make the other repairs.

In May 2016, the Danish Mill Board of Directors launched an appeal to raise $200,000 to fund this major restoration project which includes the millwright’s estimate of $146,700 and an additional $50,000 as a contingency fund. Thanks to individual and corporate donations, grants, fundraisers and with the major gift from the Mike and Lou Howard Foundation the project is fully funded.

Late last December, Hassett came to Elk Horn for a week to dismantle and remove the sails and secure the cap frame for winter. Removal of the sails which are nearly 67 feet, tip to tip, was the urgent concern in order to avoid structural collapse because the condition and weight of the timbers posed a safety risk to both persons and property.

Since then, Hassett has constructed the new gears and wind shaft at his workshop in Kentucky by using the original parts as a pattern the way craftsmen did when the Mill was built in 1848. The new 67’ long sail timbers arrived from Oregon in summer 2016 had been drying since then but they needed more time to reach an “air dried” moisture content before being tapered into final form.

With all the components ready to go, the plan had been to install the wind shaft this week prior to the arrival of the new 67’ sails. Due to the extreme cold weather forecast, for the safety of the volunteers, carpenters and equipment, the decision was made to postpone it until March.

The restoration is a major milestone in the life of the 1848 Windmill. The sails that are being replaced were installed as new when the Mill came to Elk Horn forty-one years ago.

The new shaft awaits installation. (Photo’s courtesy Lisa Steen-Riggs, Manager of the Danish Windmill)

The wind shaft, brake wheel, and other parts date back to when it was in Denmark. Windmills are very complicated pieces of machinery and since the Mill in Elk Horn is close to being 200 years old, a millwright with expertise in historic restoration and preservation was needed to get it turning again.

Ben Hassett, owner of B.E.Hassett-Millwrights, Inc., has extensive knowledge of mills and completed many historic mill restorations across the country. Hassett worked on the Elk Horn Mill as an apprentice to Derek Ogden, the world-renowned millwright that did the initial maintenance plan, blue prints and rebuilt the Mill’s cap frame in 1995.

The old shaft and turnstyle

The major overhaul will restore the Mill’s structural integrity. It will still be an old mill and require ongoing care, but the investment in restoration and preservation being made today will help to insure its future well-being for many years to come. Officials say they look forward to seeing the Windmill turning again soon.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports just one arrest took place, Wednesday. 40-year old Brian Jerome Louison, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 3:45-p.m. following a traffic stop. Louison was taken into custody for Driving While License Revoked. He was transported to the Pott. County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ethanol plants in Iowa have produced a record amount of the gasoline additive this year, narrowly topping last year’s record. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group, says Iowa’s 43 ethanol plants turned out 4.2 billion gallons of ethanol this year surpassing the 4.1 billion gallons produced in 2016.

The association’s executive director, Monte Shaw said in a statement Thursday that the record is largely due to several plant expansions, increased demand of exports and rising sales of higher blends of fuel like E15, which is 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. Shaw says the industry will continue to push in 2018 to get more gas stations to install E15 pumps.

Iowa, the nation’s top corn grower, also leads the nation in corn-based ethanol production.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — A Marine says she’s been given an apology but no explanation for an errant warrant that led to her arrest in a Des Moines suburb. Sgt. Kaylie Coats says she was arrested Dec. 7 while home in Waukee on leave. The warrant alleged Coats hadn’t paid for a $45 cab ride in Clive in 2015. The 23-year-old pleaded not guilty the next day in court, telling the judge the allegation was wrong because she’d been stationed at Camp Pendleton in California at the time. The judge ordered a call to the prosecutor.

A few hours later Clive Police Chief Michael Venema called Coats and apologized, explaining only that the warrant was issued in error. He’s since declined to comment publicly about what happened, citing the possibility of litigation.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports a public information meeting will  be held Tuesday, Jan. 9th, 2018, to discuss the proposed bridge improvements on U.S. 71 over Lone Tree Creek, 0.1 mile south of Cass County Road G-35/Lansing Road. The proposed improvements include lengthening the bridge by adding a 105-foot span to the south abutment. Through traffic on U.S. 71 would be detoured during construction using U.S. 71, U.S. 6/Iowa 83, Iowa 148, and Iowa 92.

All interested persons are invited to attend this meeting anytime between 4:30 and 6 p.m. at the Iowa DOT District 4 Office, 2210 E. Seventh St., in Atlantic. The meeting will be conducted utilizing an open forum format. Iowa DOT staff will be present to informally discuss the proposed improvements. No formal presentation will be made.

The meeting space is accessible for persons with disabilities. However, if you require special accommodations at the meeting, please notify no later than Jan. 5th, Scott Suhr, transportation planner, Iowa DOT District 4 Office, 2210 E. Seventh St., Atlantic, Iowa 50022, phone 712-243-3355 or 800-289-4368, email scott.suhr@iowadot.us.  Suhr can also be contacted for general information regarding the proposed improvements.

Visit the Iowa DOT’s project-related public involvement event website at www.iowadot.gov/pim for information about scheduled public meetings and hearings, and opportunities to offer input to the Iowa DOT during the development of certain projects. To submit a comment online about this project, go to: https://bit.ly/Iowadot130371822.

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Kim Reynolds announced today (Thursday) the opportunity for two Iowa high school seniors to receive full scholarships to attend the 2018 National Youth Science Camp (NYSCamp) this summer in West Virginia. The students will exchange ideas with scientists and other professionals from the academic, corporate and government worlds during the nearly month-long experience. The camp includes lectures and hands-on research projects presented by scientists from across the nation; overnight camping trips into the Monongahela National Forest; and a visit to Washington, D.C. The selected delegates must not only demonstrate academic achievement in science, but also show potential for thoughtful scientific leadership.

The NYSCamp experience is offered at no cost to participants. Contributions to the National Youth Science Foundation allow delegates to participate in this educational experience. Educational and recreational programming, as well as meals, lodging and round-trip airfare are provided. Delegates arrive in Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday, June 27 and depart on Saturday, July 21, 2018. The NYSCamp is held near Bartow in the eastern mountains of West Virginia.

Application forms are available online (https://nysf.smapply.io/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery ). All applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

An end-of-year meeting for the Cass County Board of Supervisors will be held 8:30-a.m. Friday, at the courthouse in Atlantic. During their session, the Board will open and review all applications for appointment to the position of Cass County Attorney. The Board will act on reviewing applications submitted for the vacancy position of Cass County Attorney during their meeting next Tuesday morning, and act on appointing a person to the position at that time.

In other business during Friday’s meeting, the Supervisors will act on approving and Administrative Services Agreement for health insurance flexible spending accounts. They will also receive the 2017 Cass County Weed Commissioner’s report, and act on an abatement of tax for a parcel of land owned by the City of Atlantic.

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

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