CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) – Parents are pushing a western Iowa school board to keep their elementary school open despite years of falling enrollment. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the proposed closing of Crescent Elementary School attracted a packed crowd to the local school board meeting Tuesday.

Community members asked the school board to delay making a decision, which is anticipated at the board’s meeting on Feb. 28. A group of about 35 people hopes to work with the Council Bluffs Community School District on possible ways to save the school.

Superintendent Martha Bruckner says past efforts to boost the school’s enrollment have failed. She asked school board members to consider what they’ll do next year and the year after if the school remains open and enrollment drops further.

A traffic stop this (Wednesday) morning, in Audubon County, resulted in a man being arrested on drug charges. 55-year old Robert Alan Griffith, of Audubon, was pulled over at around 2-a.m. on Highway 71 near 130th Street. Following an investigation and assistance from K9 “Axel,” Griffith was taken into custody for Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was later released from custody after appearing before a magistrate.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center is now running a “low vision” satellite clinic in Sioux City. Doctor John Shepherd, with the Omaha hospital’s Center for Visual Rehabilitation, says low vision afflicts many hundreds of Iowans. “Low vision is vision loss that cannot be corrected with regular glasses, medical or surgical treatments and is severe enough to interfere with a person’s ability to perform daily activities, such as reading, shopping and writing,” Dr. Shepherd says. “The most common causes of low vision are macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.”

He explains how the new clinic in northwest Iowa will serve clients. “At the initial visit, your visual goals will be identified and a low vision physician will determine the devices and training activities that will help you to meet these goals,” Shepherd says. “Subsequent visits with an occupational therapist may help you maximize the use of your remaining vision and lead a more independent life.”

He says the new clinic will be serving a wide spectrum of patients with low vision issues. “If you are having difficulty with activities like reading, driving, seeing the television or managing your finances,” he says, “our low vision professionals can help you to develop visual skills, adaptive strategies and use optical devices, such as magnifiers to better participate in your favorite activities.”

The National Institutes of Health estimates 3.2-million Americans have low vision and the number is projected to double by 2050 with the aging of the population. Most people with low vision are over 65. UNMC also runs low vision clinics in Omaha, Lincoln and Hastings, Nebraska.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), set March 8th as the date for a public hearing on the County’s Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget.  The proposed tax rate levy in the budget is roughly $5.23 per $1,000 valuation in the urban areas, and $9.50 for the rural areas, both of which is a decline from last year.

The Board also re-appointed Larry Randall as County Weed Commissioner, after he passed his recent re-certification test. His term is effective March 2017 through February 2018. And, they heard a report from Karim Amiri with Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield, with regard to renewal of the County’s Fiscal Year 2018 Group Health Insurance.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) – Floyd County has joined other counties in seeking changes to the state’s master matrix for siting animal feeding operations. The Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Tuesday that will be sent to lawmakers.

The Iowa Natural Resources Department’s master matrix is a scoring system that can be used to evaluate the siting of confinement feeding operations. The supervisors expressed concerns Tuesday that the system is failing to protect air and water and the health and quality of life of county residents.

Allamakee and Winneshiek supervisors also have formally called for changes in the matrix, and Pocahontas and Webster county officials last year asked legislators and environmental regulators for a moratorium on factory farms and changes to the master matrix.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports two women were injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident Tuesday afternoon, about four-miles north of Walnut. Officials say a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by Elsie Anthis Deyanes Welsch was traveling north on Shelby County Road M-47 near 400th Street at around 12:38-p.m., when the vehicle slipped off the traveled portion of the road and entered the east ditch.

Welsch over-corrected, sending the vehicle back across M-47 and into the west ditch, where it rolled several times before coming to rest on its wheels.  Welsch, and her passenger, Theodora Anthis, were transported by Walnut Rescue and Medivac Ambulance to Myrtue Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Shelby and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies, Harlan Police, the Iowa State Patrol, Walnut Fire and Rescue and Elk Horn Fire, all assisted at the scene.

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

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A traffic stop Tuesday night in Creston resulted in the arrest of 37-year old Victoria Brammer, of Creston, on an OWI charge. Brammer taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m. and brought to the Union County Jail, where she was charged with OWI/1st offense. Brammer was later released on a $1,000 bond.

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

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An accident Tuesday afternoon in Red oak caused several thousand dollars damage, but no one was injured. Authorities say 20-year old Colton Story, of Henderson, was arrested on a charge of OWI/2nd offense after the 1990 Honda Accord he was driving hit the rear of a small utility trailer and a Bobcat 2200 UTV it was hauling, as well as a pickup pulling the trailer. The pickup was driven by Will Horsley, of Villisca.

Story was also cited for Minor in Possession of Alcohol and Failure to Obey a Traffic Control device (Stop light). According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the collision occurred at the intersection of W. Cherry Street and Highway 48, in Red Oak. Official say Horsley was exiting the Hy-Vee Plaza and turning north onto Highway 48 after the light turned green. Story was southbound on Highway 48 and had a red light. Horsely told investigators Story did not slow down upon approaching the intersection and he was unable to avoid the collision.

Horsley’s trailer, was a total loss, while the UTV sustained about $2,000 damage. The pickup sustained damage to its trailer hitch. Story’s car was considered a total loss.