(Corrects to say he is from Persia, not Harlan) The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports 40-year old Ryan Nicholas Schwery, of Persia, was arrested July 19th on drug charges. Schwery faces a felony Possession of Controlled Substance/3rd offense charge. He was also charged with Possession of drug paraphernalia, Driving While Barred, and Prohibited Acts. Schwery posted a $5,000 bond or surety, and was released with a court date set for July 25th.  

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Council Bluffs woman has been accused of scamming a nursing home out of more than 9,700 painkiller pills while working there.
Court records say 50-year-old Laurine Wilhite is charged with theft, tampering with records and two counts of dependent adult abuse. Wilhite’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.

Authorities say Wilhite ordered medications for residents of Bethany Lutheran Home while working there as a nurse and then stole the drugs. A Bethany official told The Daily Nonpareil that Wilhite no longer works there.

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

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Police in Creston, Wednesday afternoon, arrested an Adams County man on a Union County warrant for Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance (less than 5 grams of Meth). 26-year old Anthony Cross, of Corning, was taken into custody at around 3:30-p.m. and was brought to the Union County Jail, where his bond was set at $10,000.

Also arrested Wednesday in Creston, was 32-year old Jared Wilmeth, of Creston, who was taken into custody for Operating a Vehicle without the owners consent. Wilmeth was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Creston Police said also, two Creston residents reported separate incidents of Theft and vandalism. A resident living in the 300 block of Birch Street told police someone entered a vehicle parked near his home and stole a pair of sunglasses and an empty pill bottle. The loss was estimated at $16. The incident happened sometime Tuesday into Wednesday. And, a resident of the 500 block of Levy Street in Creston reported Wednesday, that sometime between Noon and 6-p.m. that day, someone slashed both front tires on his vehicle, while it was parked in the Creston Fareway Store parking lot. The loss was estimated at $200.

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

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge’s ruling could lead to an expansion of special-education services to thousands of Iowa students. The Des Moines Register reports  that Administrative Law Judge Christie Scase has ordered the Iowa Education Department to reimburse an Urbandale couple for private tutoring they provided after their child was denied special-education programming at school.

Scase says the department should revisit its policies on determining who qualifies for special education. Randy Califf is vice president of the advocacy group Decoding Dyslexia Iowa, and he says potentially thousands more Iowa students could qualify for special education if the department were to alter its eligibility rules.

The Education Department is appealing the case in U.S. District Court, seeking a declaration that its rules comply with federal law.

The F-B-I and Waterloo police coordinated major raids in Waterloo yesterday (Wednesday). Guns, cars and cash…allegedly the spoils from drug sales…were confiscated. Nineteen people were detained. Waterloo police and federal authorities worked together to conduct the large raid. Waterloo police were seen accompanied by FBI agents. Court records indicate the arrests were connected to an investigation into drug sales in Waterloo that began in 2015 and included a federal wiretap.

(Radio Iowa)

The City of Atlantic’s Community Development Committee will meet Tue., July 25th at 5:30-p.m. in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. Their two topics of discussion include Tourism Promotion, and Mandatory Garbage Service. The latter is the result of action taken by the Cass County Environmental Control Agency/Landfill Board this past Tuesday.

During their meeting, the Board voted to implement a per capita assessment for 28E members for the fiscal year 2018-2019. The fee amounts to $12.00 per household per year or $1.00 per occupant per month. Based on a county population of 14,000, the money generated from the assessment amounts to roughly $168,000 per year, which will allow the Cass County Landfill to remain open, because it is no longer sustainable based solely on user fees.

The landfill is still dealing with a leak on the backside of the facility that occurred two-years ago, and will now require the extraction and pumping of leachate before it leaves the property. That process is expected to cost an initial $500,000 to clean-up, plus $50,000 per year afterward to maintain. And, the landfill will have to construct another cell, at a cost of $400,000.

An engineer’s study determined the best way to keep up with the costs associated with running the landfill and meeting DNR requirements, is to go ahead with a per capita assessment, which will not go into effect until the 2018-19 fiscal year. The move allows city and county governments time to enact a means of collecting the fee.

The Iowa State Patrol reports a woman from Kansas died during a crash early this (Thursday) morning in Cass County. 33-year old Petra Warnick, of Lenexa, KS, died at the scene of the crash that happened at around 1:44-a.m. on Interstate 80 westbound, in the construction area around Exit 57 (Olive Street).

The 1999 Pontiac Bonneville Warnick was driving had been reported driving in a reckless or erratic manner a few miles east of the crash, just moments before it happened. The car, for reasons unknown, left the Interstate and entered the Exit 57 off ramp in a construction area, before it went airborne and rolled over, coming to rest on its side. The vehicle then became fully engulfed in flames.

Warnick, who was wearing her seat belt, was transported from the scene to the State Medical Examiners Office in Ankeny. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Cass, Audubon and Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies, Atlantic Fire and Rescue, and Medivac Ambulance.

One person was transported to the hospital this (Thursday) morning, following a crash on the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge linking Council Bluffs and Omaha. Council Bluffs Police say a 2005 Honda Accord was traveling west bound on Veteran’s Highway in a construction area when it struck a piece of parked construction equipment. The accident occurred within the marked confines of the construction zone at around 4-a.m.

The unidentified driver was pinned inside of the vehicle and had to be extricated by Fire / Rescue personnel from the Omaha and Council Bluffs. Once freed from the wreckage, he was transported by rescue squad to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Speed and Alcohol are being investigated as major contributing factors in the crash.
The crash is being investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Special Operation’s Traffic Unit. The Council Bluffs Police Department would like to remind drivers to use caution when driving through construction zones. Please obey all directional signs, lower your speeds and be prepared to stop. Further, remember it is the law to move-over and slow down for stopped emergency, maintenance and recovery vehicles on the side of the roadway.