Officials with ISU Extension in Montgomery County say four Montgomery County residents have been appointed to the Iowa State University Extension Council Nominating Committee. The committee is charged with nominating candidates for the (four) vacancies on the council before August 10th, 2016. Committee members selected to nominate extension council candidates for the 2016 election are Ryan Beeson, Red Oak; Jan Herzberg, Villisca; Sherry Heuer, Red Oak; and Chad Jacobs, Villisca.

By law the nominating committee must include two women and two men, and cannot include any current member of the council. The committee is required to take county geography into consideration when nominating candidates.

Terry Maloy, director for Iowa Association of County Extension Councils, says “Serving as an extension council member is one way to give back to your community. If you believe local educational opportunities are vital to the community’s well-being, then you should consider running for council. It is rewarding to know that people are able to improve their lives, farms, businesses and communities because of ISU Extension and Outreach’s education and information.”

Candidates nominated by the committee must submit petitions containing the names of 25 qualified voters to the county election commissioner by 5 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2016. Additionally, individuals may petition to have their names placed on the ballot through a self-nominating process by submitting petitions with 25 names to the election commissioner. Petition forms are available from the election commissioner and at the county extension office.

Voters will cast ballots for the nominees in the Nov. 8th, 2016, general election. Successful candidates will serve four-year terms beginning in January 2017.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors will meet in a special session Wednesday afternoon, to act on end of Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget matters, along with the FY 2016-17 budget that begins July 1st. The Board will also act on approving a ground lease agreement with Atlantic Municipal Utilities, and the appointment of Assistant Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm to Parks Director.

Their meeting held June 20th, was the last session for current Parks Director Roger Herrring, who had earlier announced his retirement. In other business, the Parks and Rec Board will discuss and likely act on matters pertaining to the Sunnyside east shelter masonry work, and support of a PetSafe Grant. Staashelm will provide an update as well, on the Harl-Holt Park basketball court project.

The meeting takes place at the Atlantic Parks and Rec Department Office (1200 Sunnyside Lane), beginning at Noon, Wednesday. The next regular meeting of the Atlantic Parks and Rec Board is July 25, at City Hall.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Monday evening, of a man wanted on a warrant for Harassment in the 1st degree, and Violation of a No Contact Order. 36-year old Christopher Joseph Brown, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 5:15-p.m. and taken to the Mills County Jail, where his bond was set at $2,300.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says an Afton resident reported on June 19th, that someone slashed the tires on his Honda Civic and Chevy Tahoe, while the vehicles were parked outside his home in the 100 block of W. Railroad. The incident occurred sometime overnight or early that morning. The loss was estimated at $700.

Criminals who prey on some of the most vulnerable Iowans are the subject of a Congressional hearing tomorrow (Wednesday) in Washington D-C. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’ll preside over a Judiciary Committee hearing on how best to protect older Americans from financial exploitation. “The problem is growing as our population ages,” Grassley says. “Studies vary, but the annual financial loss by victims of this exploitation is estimated to be at least $2.9 billion, that would be the least, and 36-billion at the most.”

Two Iowans are scheduled to testify at the (9 AM/Central) hearing before the Senate panel: Donna Harvey, director of the Iowa Department on Aging, and Karla Sibert of Palo, the daughter of elderly victims of financial exploitation. “The problem is growing rapidly because scammers innovate to ensnare more victims and evade law enforcement,” Grassley says. “The crime is often under-reported so available information might greatly underestimate the impact on older Americans.”

They include so-called “sweetheart scams,” where isolated elderly people are pressed for money by thieves who pretend to befriend them. Grassley says, “These also include grandparent scams where fraudsters present themselves to senior citizens as a grandchild in distress in hopes of convincing that grandparent to send cash or give out credit card numbers.”

Grassley is crafting legislation that would target elder abuse. He says the bill will promote more effective interagency coordination, training to improve the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse, victims’ assistance, and tougher penalties for scam artists. Grassley says financial exploitation is the most widespread form of elder abuse.

(Radio Iowa)

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Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety say the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations is looking into an Officer-involved shooting that took place late Monday night, in Boone. The Boone County Dispatch Center received a 911 call at approximately 10:15 pm in reference to a report of a male subject with a gun threatening people.  Officers with the Boone Police Department and Deputies with the Boone County Sheriff’s office responded to the area of 332 West 2nd Street in Boone.

Upon arriving in the area of 332 West 2nd Street, law enforcement located a male subject that matched the description that was given to the Boone County Dispatch Center.  When the male subject was confronted by law enforcement, the subject drew a gun from his waistband.  Law enforcement officers spoke to the subject and ordered the subject to drop the gun numerous times and the subject refused.

After several minutes, the subject raised his arm and allegedly aimed the gun at the officers and approached the officers.  Law enforcement officers engaged the subject and fired their weapons striking the subject.  The subject was immediately given medical aid and was transported to the Boone County Hospital where he later died from the injuries.

The body has been transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny, Iowa, where an autopsy will be conducted today (Tuesday). The officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave until the completion of the investigation, per Boone Police Department policy.

Agents from the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Crime Scene Team from the Iowa DCI’s Criminalistics Laboratory responded to the scene.   No additional information will be released at this time.

(Updated 10:38-a.m. w/additional details about the arrest)

A man who was listed as missing and escaped from the Newton Correctional Release Center Monday night was found early this (Tuesday) morning. Fred Scaletta with the Department of Corrections says Timothy Formaro, Jr., was located at around 3:30 a.m. about one-mile north of the Newton facility. He was found in a ditch along Highway 14. State Patrol Aircraft used thermal imaging to assist in locating Formaro.

He was apprehended in a joint Law Enforcement effort by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, Fifth Judicial District Warrant Team and Newton Correctional Facility Security staff. Formaro was transported back to the Newton Medium Correctional Facility and was placed into secured housing pending internal disciplinary procedures and criminal charges.

Timothy J. Formaro, Jr.

Earlier, the Iowa Department of Corrections said Formaro was not present during a routine head count at 9:20-p.m., Monday, and after further search by security staff was been determined that Formaro escaped from the facility. The Newton Correctional Release Center is a minimum security facility.

Formaro was serving a 25 year sentence from Clarke County for Prohibited Acts and Domestic Abuse assault.

Drought conditions continue to get worse in Iowa. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Small says information from the National Drought Mitigation Center now shows 19 of Iowa’s 99 counties are at least partially in a moderate drought, while 56 counties are considered abnormally dry.

“If you go back just three months ago no part of the state was in any drought. If you go back to last week there was about 27 percent of the state. Now that’s jumped up to 44 percent,” Small says. Small says the below average rainfall across much of the state has caused the drought to worsen.

“This is the peak heating of the summer. The warmed days like this are prone to drying things up quite a bit. June is also typically our wettest month of the year and we really haven’t reached those levels at all in many parts,” Small says, “So that’s why the drought is worsening in many areas.” Small says the dry conditions have happened rather quickly and could turn around just as quickly with some rain.

“This time of year a big thunderstorm outbreak and torrential rains could certainly eliminate it in one event. The worst conditions we have are across the state right now is a D-1 drought, in the moderate category. If it gets worse than that it would take more than one event,” Small says. Some areas of the state got rainfall this weekend, but the forecast isn’t showing any extended changes in the amount of precipitation.

(Radio Iowa)