The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest Tuesday of 60-year-old Robert Ernest McMartin of Red Oak on a Montgomery County warrant for Driving Under Suspension. McMartin was arrested at 2:42pm in the 100 block of West Nuckols Street in Red Oak. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $600 bond.

Twenty-five years of an environmental and community partnership will be celebrated with the planting of a symbolic tree on Wednesday, October 25th at 1 p.m.. in Atlantic City Park. The public is invited to the celebration. The Atlantic 25th Anniversary Planting recognizes the community’s 25 years of working with Alliant Energy and Trees Forever’s Branching Out partnership.

Dolly Bergmann, president of Atlantic Trees Forever, said in that time, 2,640 trees have been planted in Atlantic through the program, with 24 planted recently throughout the community as part of the celebration. The 25th tree in this recent group will be planted in City Park on October 25 to mark the 25-year partnership. Bergmann said also, “We’ve been all over town.” She said of the sites that have benefited from trees through the years, including parks, schools, the YMCA, courthouse, hospital and Chamber office. She said “People here understand the benefit of trees, including shade and clean air.”

According to Doug Kopp, President of Alliant Energy’s Iowa Utility  “When you plant a tree, you’re starting to leave behind a legacy. Fifteen years from now you can come back and see what you’ve done and it is impressive. These trees provide a benefit to the community in terms of energy efficiency and carbon reduction for years to come and we’re proud to be a part of it.” Shannon Ramsay, Trees Forever Founding President and CEO, says “Trees Forever is very excited to mark the 25th anniversary in Atlantic. Through our partnership with Alliant Energy and the help of volunteers, we’ve been providing a long-lasting benefit to the community.”

An estimated 50,000 blaze orange clad hunters will dot Iowa’s countryside at 8 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 28, for the opening of Iowa’s 2017 pheasant hunting season. The annual event melds generations of Iowans who reconnect with their hunting heritage. While most hunters will generally only spend the first week or two in the field, those who venture out later will likely be rewarded with success. Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says “Hunters can expect to find similar bird numbers to last year, but the October rain has our harvest running behind schedule so opening weekend may not be as successful as years past. However, a late harvest could lead to success later in the season.”

Results from the statewide August roadside survey indicate higher pheasant numbers were found in a line of counties stretching from northwest to southeast, but birds are available everywhere quality habitat is found. Bogenschutz said he expects almost a repeat of 2016 pheasant season, where hunters harvested about 250,000 roosters.

Quail season opens Oct. 28, too. Iowa’s quail population is at a 30 year high and landowners report seeing quail in areas that they had not seen them in years but the bulk of the quail population is in the southern three tiers of counties. Iowa’s partridge season opened Oct. 14. Partridge hunting primarily takes place in the north-central counties.

The Iowa DNR’s online hunting atlas lists nearly 700,000 acres of public hunting land, including more than 20,000 acres of land enrolled in the popular Iowa Habitat for Access Program (IHAP) allowing hunter access to private land. Each area on the atlas includes a link to a map with property boundaries, the size of the area, habitat type, species of wildlife likely found, if nontoxic shot is required and more. The map is available as a downloadable pdf that can be printed or saved to a smartphone. To view the atlas, go to www.iowadnr.gov/hunting and click on Places to Hunt and Shoot in the left column.

There are no new regulations this year. Shooting hours are 8-4:30 daily. Hunters are required to wear one piece of blaze orange of which at least 50 percent must be solid color.  Hunters may harvest three rooster pheasants each day with a possession limit of 12.  Hunters may harvest eight quail of either sex each day with a possession limit of 16. When transporting pheasants, either a fully feathered head, fully feathered wing or foot must remain attached for identification purposes.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports three recent arrests. On Monday, 40-year old Nancy Beth Nelson, and 41-year old Melissa Lynn Chambers, both of Audubon, were taken into custody on charges of Theft in the 5th Degree. Nelson was charged, appeared before a magistrate and remained in the Audubon County Jail on other charges.  Chambers appeared before a magistrate, pled guilty and was released.

And, on Oct. 20th, 36-year old Brandon Lee Glisson, of Boone, was arrested in Audubon on an active Boone County Warrant.  Other agencies assisted in handling the arrest, including the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol.  Glisson was turned over to the Adair County Sheriff’s Office following his arrest.

A traffic stop in Audubon County early this (Tuesday) morning, resulted in the arrest of a man on drug and other charges. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports 39-year old Anthony Joseph Miller, of Kimballton, was taken into custody at around 1-a.m. on charges of OWI/3rd offense, Possession of Marijuana, having no driver’s license, no insurance, and other violations. Miller was pulled over in the 2600 block of Goldfinch Avenue and brought to the Audubon County Jail, where his bond was set at $6,000.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of setting fire to a Sioux City house has pleaded not guilty. Court records say Jesse Bigeagle entered written pleas Friday to charges of arson, criminal mischief and burglary. The records say Bigeagle entered the home early on Sept. 19, went to the basement and started a fire there before leaving.

No injuries have been reported. The house is considered a total loss. The records say Bigeagle had lived at the house.

The Harlan Police Department said in its latest report today (Tuesday), there was one person arrested over the past week and on, non-injury accident. Officials say on Oct. 22nd, 21-year old Hana Jane Jacobsen, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. Jacobsen was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI and speeding. The previous day (Oct. 21st), 22-year old Marcus Tyler Morgan, of Harlan, was cited by Harlan Police, for Driving While Suspended.

The H-P.D. said also, there were no injuries and no citations issued following a collision between vehicles driven by Olivia Petersen, of Harlan, and Lauren Andersen, of Kirkman. The accident happened Oct. 22nd at the intersection of 19th and Lincoln Avenue, when Andersen failed to yield as she pulled away from a stop sign. Petersen’s 2005 Chrysler Sebring struck Andersen’s 2008 Chevy Impala on the left front side. As a result of the impact, the Sebring spun 90 degrees and came to rest facing west on Lincoln Street. The Impala continued west and ended-up in a yard on the northwest corner of the intersection.

This Saturday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (local time), the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and its local law enforcement, community and tribal partners will give the public its 14th opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Individuals can take pills and other solid forms of medication to one of almost 5,000 collection sites manned by more than 4,000 partners nationwide (Liquids, needles or sharps cannot be accepted, however). You can find nearby collection sites at www.DEATakeBack.com or by calling 800-882-9539. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Locally, prescription drug drop off sites can be found at the Atlantic Police Department inside the City Hall building, in Red Oak at the Hy-Vee Store (Montgomery County Sheriff’s drop-off site), and at the Glenwood Police Department, and Walgreens, in Council Bluffs.

Nationwide last April the public turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 8.1 million pounds—more than 4,050 tons—of pills.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A state audit is questioning Iowa State University’s use of donations to buy an airplane used largely by former President Steven Leath to work on his piloting skills. A report released Tuesday says the school failed to get required written permission from the executive director of the Board of Regents for the $498,000 purchase. It says Iowa State should consider requesting reimbursement from Leath, now the president of Auburn University, for a March 2016 trip in which he was flown to his North Carolina home.

The report notes that 52 of 76 trips on the aircraft were used for Leath to obtain his instrument rating. Given its limited use for “clear business” reasons, the audit questions whether the purchase served a university purpose. The university is defending the purchase, saying the plane facilitated Leath’s fundraising activities.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports that sometime between Oct. 11th and 18th, someone stole 37 bridge planks from the Union County Secondary Roads’ storage lot, located at 1701 Commerce Road. The planks were valued at $2,368. Anyone with information about the crime should call the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, an Adair County man escaped injury after he swerved to miss a deer and his pickup went into a ditch. 49-year old Rodney Wayne Carroll, of Greenfield, was traveling south on Highway 25 at around 7:30-a.m. today (Tuesday), when several deer came out of a ditch and crossed the road in front of him. Carroll’s 2017 Ford F-150 Supercrew pickup sustained $3,000 damage during the accident.