Cass County Health System will be conducting a system wide update overnight Wednesday, October 9^th into the morning of Thursday, October 10th, 2019.  These updates require all CCHS phone systems to be unavailable beginning at 11 pm on October 9^th and ending by 1 am the morning of October 10^th.   As always, individuals are encouraged to call 911 in the case of an emergency.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on multiple drug charges, of 24-year old Rodney Blackmon. He was taken into custody last Friday, following the execution of a search warrant at his residence in Bayard, which marked the third time in approximately two months the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office has executed search warrants at Blackmon’s home.  Blackmon was previously arrested on August 1st, 2019 on multiple drug and child endangerment charges. He was held on bond at the Guthrie County Jail until late August, when he posted bond and was released from custody.

As a result of his new charges, Blackmon was being held on a $15,000 cash or surety bond. The new charges include: Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Offense – Meth – a Class D Felony; Possession of a Controlled Substance – Schedule II – a Class D Felony; Drug Tax Stamp Violation – a Class D Felony; Possession of Prescription Medication – a Serious Misdemeanor, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia – Simple Misdemeanor.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors are set to meet 9-a.m. Wednesday in their Boardroom at the Courthouse, in Greenfield. On their agenda is discussion with Dean Raasch with Washington National, pertaining to the company’s insurance plans. The Board will then hear from Terry Queck-Matzie/Adair County Tourism, with regard to Empowering Adair County grants, the application deadline for which is 4:30-p.m. Oct. 15th. There is one grant cycle every year and the maximum grant amount is $10,000 annually. Applications are available online at www.extension.iastate.edu/adair or at the Adair County Extension Office in Greenfield. Projects awarded grants have one-year to be completed, under the guidelines.

The Board will also hear from officials with the City of Stuart, with regard to an Urban Renewal Plan Amendment Joint Agreement, and Resolution to approve the addition of county property to the Stuart Urban Renewal Area. And, Colleen Oxley will discuss a Wind Turbine Cap Ordinance and clarification. There are nearly 550 wind turbines already in-place or under construction. The ordinance would placing a cap on any future projects, while a grandfather clause would protect current construction.

The Adair County Supervisors will also hear regular reports from the County Conservation Director and County Engineer.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a rollover accident late Monday night, southwest of Emerson. Authorities say 18-year old Hannah Billings, of Emerson, was driving at 2002 Jeep eastbound on 390th Street and approaching Lambert Avenue at around 10:50-p.m., when she lost control on the loose gravel. The SUV ended-up in the south ditch, where it rolled onto its top. Billings was able to crawl out of the vehicle before rescue and law enforcement arrived. She refused medical treatment.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) held a hearing on the disposal of County-owned real property on the west side of Cumberland (Lot 3, Bakers Addition). Following the hearing, the Board approved disposal of the Lot and held an auction to sell the land. There was only one bid: Darrin Hardisty purchased the property for the sum of $100. The bid was accepted unanimously. In other business, the Board approved a Resolution to enter into a 28-E (Cost sharing) agreement for the Iowa Precinct Atlas Consortium (use of Precinct Atlas computer software programs, related software and hardware components). The County’s share of the agreement is an annual fee of $3,500, plus 3-cents per voter in the county, or $3,791.18.

County Auditor Dale Sunderman explained the State of Iowa decided to do away with their version of “Poll Book,” which they switched to in 2018 because it was free. The County had previously used Precinct Atlas. The new system will be in place as of January 1st. The School/City Elections on Nov. 5th will still use Poll Books as the system software. The Board of Supervisors also approved the assignment of a Tax Sale Certificate to the City of Atlantic, for that part of Lot 1 Block 120, north and east of Bull Creek, an area Sunderman said was a “bad area.” The City intends to clean it up.

The Supervisors heard from Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas, who reported on recent a sexual abuse sentence involving Kelly Simonton, that was successfully prosecuted for Sexual Abuse in the 3rd degree, with the sentences running consecutively. She said also, Tyler Mills was sentenced to 5-years probation for his criminal activities, a term she said was much longer than normal, and would “hopefully put an end to his little reign of terror,” and if not, they’re holding prison time over his head. Two other sexual abuses cases are on the docket. One for September 29th, the other expected to come to the courtroom in December. There were also charges filed in connection with an accidental shooting that took place last July, in Lyman.

In his report to the Board, Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee said they have keptg busy mowing, especially with the loss of their college student helpers, who have returned to school. He said also, with regard to Cold Springs State Park, camping sites 1 through 8, which are tightly grouped and not used as much, were split-up. Three sites were pulled out and moved to the northwest corner of the campground in preparation for use next year.

County Assistant Engineer Rich Hansen discussed changes that will be coming to some of the wind turbines located in the County. He said Mid-American Energy will be swapping out of the internal nacell components and installing longer, more energy efficient blades. A process called “re-powering.” The new blades will be 48-feet longer than the current blades. The new “nucleus” components in the turbine nacells, will still put out the same amount of power, but more days per year when they will generate maximum power on the days when winds are lighter. The changes affect some of the turbines in the northeast and southeast parts of Cass County. Hansen said it will take about three-weeks per turbine for the switch-out to take place.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests took place Monday. At around 2-p.m., 25-year old Scott Anthony Kissel, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a Pott. County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/marijuana – 1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000. At around 3:30-p.m., 34-year old Nicholas Paul Riesland, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense, Theft in the 4th Degree, and Violation of a No Contact or Protective Order. He was being held on a $1,000 bond with regard to the Theft charge.

And, at around 7:50-p.m., 31-year old Cody Nathaniel Peterson-Johnston was arrested following a report of a possibly suicidal subject traveling east on I-80 from mile marker 23. He was located at a truck stop at mile marker 34, and placed under arrest for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at $1,000.