On the heels of votes last week by the Griswold and Lenox School District Boards of Education to continue discussions with regard to Superintendent Sharing, a community meeting will be held Wednesday evening in Griswold, for patrons of the district to hear more about the proposal to share the services of Lenox Superintendent David Henrichs. The community meeting takes place at 5:30-p.m. in the Griswold Middle School/High School library.

Afterward, the Griswold School Board will convene to make a decision on further pursuing the sharing possibility.

An incident late Thursday night in Adair, resulted in the arrest of a Cass County man. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office says 19-year old Adam Zachary Bolton, of Atlantic, was arrested early Friday morning on a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 4th degree. Bolton subsequently posted $1,000 bond and was released from the Adair County Jail.

Authorities say Bolton’s arrest stems from an incident that took place at around 11-p.m. Thursday, where a resident living in the 600 block of Broad Street, in Adair, reported someone threw something through his window. The resident said he was confronted by three men and told them if they didn’t leave, he would call the police.

The three men refused to leave. One of the subjects, identified as Bolton, allegedly said he was going to throw a brick at the house. The victim called police, and as the men were leaving, the victims’ sister saw Bolton allegedly throw the brick through the north window of the residence. Damage to the screen and window was estimated at $300. Bolton was picked-up a short time later, by Atlantic Police. He was transported to Adair County by one of their deputies and booked into the jail.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports also, 26-year old Cody Andrew Carter-Baumgardner, of Dexter, was arrested May 4th, for Domestic Abuse by Strangulation. His arrest stems from an incident that was reported to a Crisis Intervention Center, and forwarded to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities there transferred the case to Adair County, since the offense allegedly occurred there.

Carter-Baumgardner was brought to the Adair County Jail and later released on $2,000 bond.

The Glenwood Police Department reports two arrests. Today (Monday), 21-year old Derek Zook, of Glenwood, was arrested for Public Intoxication. His bond was set at $300. On Sunday, 55-year old Danny Cardin, of Homer, LA., was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

A woman from Polk County faces charges following an accident Saturday night in Audubon County. Sheriff’s officials say 24-year old Kasie Rae Simpson, of Des Moines, was charged with Failure to Maintain Control, Open Container, Failure to have insurance, and failure to carry a registration card, following an accident that happened at around 10-p.m., Saturday.

Authorities say Simpson was traveling south on Eagle Avenue near 250^th Street, when her vehicle entered the east ditch, hit a culvert and launched into the air. The vehicle hit a tree, causing the tree to fall over. The vehicle then came to rest, on the tree. Simpson refused medical treatment at the scene.

She was transported to the Audubon County Jail and later released after posting a cash bond.

The annual, nationwide Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers is being held this weekend. The event will be held in more than 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. In its 23 years, the Stamp Out Hunger food drive has collected more than 1.4 billion pounds of food. Last year’s national drive collected approximately 71 million pounds.

Katrina James, Officer in Charge at the Post Office in Atlantic, says their local goal this year is to collect more than 2,000 pounds of non-perishable food items, and new this year…non-food items, such as new diapers, toothpaste, etc. James says “All donations go directly to our neighbors in need and help build a hunger-free community.”

Letter carriers, some of their family members and volunteers will be out from 9-a.m. until 4-p.m. Saturday, May 14^th, collecting donations, which can be left near the mailbox, on the porch or curb, depending on the weather conditions. James says there is also a drop box at the Atlantic Post Office, and, she says they are looking for volunteers to help the letter carriers pick-up the donations.

Trina says you can set the donated items in a plastic bag or whatever will make them easy to carry and safe from the elements. If you don’t have a bag, don’t worry…one will be coming your way this way. Postcards and Hy-Vee sponsored bags will be delivered by the carriers this week advertising the food drive.”

The Drop Box will be available this Friday, in the lobby of the Atlantic Post Office. If you have any questions, contact your local letter carrier or the Atlantic Post Office.

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

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Police in Creston say a man was arrested late last week, on an assault charge. 21-year old Tyler White, of Creston, was arrested just before 7-p.m. Thursday at a residence in the 600 block of N. Pine Street. White was charged with Simple Assault and later released on $300 bond.

And, 62-year old Donald Vincent, Jr., of Des Moines, was arrested Sunday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center in Creston, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). Vincent, Jr. was being held in the Union County Jail while completing a seven-day jail sentence.

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

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Motorists saw very little shift in prices at the pump last week as oil prices seemed to stabilize. Officials with AAA (Triple A) say gas prices are hovering at their highest levels in more than six months, and the national average has remained above $2 per gallon for 46 consecutive days.  As of Sunday, the National average was $2.21, while the average in Iowa was $2.13/gallon.

Looking ahead…
•Summer drivers could find the lowest seasonal gas prices in more than a decade.
•Demand for gasoline is nearly 6 percent higher than a year ago.
•National prices at the pump are 45 cents lower than a year ago and $1.46 lower than two years ago
•The average motorist saves $22 for a full tank of gas compared to two years ago.
•National gas prices averaged $2.22 last week – 5 cents more than the 7-day average the week before.

Consumer Attitudes
The lower price environment for gas prices has not only led to drivers taking to the roads at record levels, but is also shifting attitudes about various price points. Attitudes towards gas prices have changed significantly over the past few years, according to a new survey by AAA:

• Half of U.S. drivers now believe gas is “too high” at $2.50 per gallon. This figure has dropped significantly in relationship to the price of gas. As recently as 2014, half of Americans believed gas was “too high” at $3.30 per gallon, while last year half of Americans believed it was “too high” at $3 per gallon. Only nine percent of U.S. stations are selling gas for more than $2.50 per gallon today.
  •More than 35 percent of Americans believe that gas is “too high” based on today’s average price, even though gas prices are at the lowest levels since 2009. The vast majority of Americans also do not believe that gas is “cheap” today.

The Iowa Democratic Party formally launched its review of the 2016 Caucuses this weekend with a public meeting in Des Moines and plans to release a report in September with recommendations for how the 2020 Caucuses should be conducted.
Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Andy McGuire appointed the review panel. She opened the meeting Saturday with these words: “There is no suggestion that is off the table.”

Hillary Clinton finished a quarter-of-a-percentage point ahead of Bernie Sanders in the Iowa Caucuses. The Sanders campaign complained there was no way to conduct a recount, plus there were concerns about confusing party rules, tiny venues and long lines for Democrats who turned out February 1st. Former Iowa Congressman Dave Nagle , of Waterloo, said “We represent the one place where you can start unknown and rise to national prominence and if not win a nomination, at least deliver a message that the rest of the country hears.”

Nagle served as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party in the early 1980s and Nagle is leading the 26-member review panel. Nagle invited Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann to speak to the group. “We all know that we sink or swim together on Iowa First in the Nation. It’s that simple,” Kaufmann said to open his remarks. “…This is important to all of us.”

Republicans made changes after their controversial 2012 Iowa Caucus finish. Mitt Romney was declared the Caucus Night winner by an eight vote margin, but certified results two weeks later concluded Rick Santorum won by 34 votes. Kaufmann says the Iowa Republican Party spent nearly a million dollars putting on its 2016 Iowa Caucuses. Four paid staffers were hired to work full-time on the project in the year leading up to the caucuses. More than 300 training sessions were held around the state for the party volunteers who ran the Republican Party’s precinct meetings on Caucus night.

“If I could boil down to what was absolutely crucial for us, it’s that constant, non-stop training,” Kaufmann says. Four years ago David Oman led the Iowa G-O-P’s committee that reviewed the conduct of the 2012 G-O-P Caucuses and recommended changes for future Republican Caucuses. “It’s worth preserving, improving, sustaining and securing for as far as the eye can see,” Oman says. Richard Bender devised the system Iowa Democrats use for their caucuses. There is no straw poll to determine the winner, like there is when Iowa Republicans Caucus. Instead, Democrats in EACH PRECINCT use a mathematical formula to calculate “delegate equivalents” for each presidential candidate who clears a 15 percent threshold of support in a precinct.

“I don’t think we want to change the fabric of what caucuses are,” Bender said. “We really don’t want what’s known as ‘firehouse caucuses’ where people just go and cast a vote and leave.” Nagle says New Hampshire officials would consider the Iowa Caucuses too much like New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary if Democrats were to hold a straw poll Caucus night.

“The Caucuses are also supposed to be a party-building exercise, not a drop-and-go,” Nagle says. “We’re going to look at it. It’s not off the table, but it’s got some obstacles to overcome before we’d actually move in that direction.” Iowa Republicans first held a statewide Caucus Night “straw poll” in 1980. Nagle says the Iowa G-O-P’s straw poll along with the Democrats’ system of delegate selection were allowed in a 1982 deal with New Hampshire. It allows Iowa to hold the nation’s first caucuses and New Hampshire the first primary in presidential election years.

Some recommendations discussed Saturday included electronic check-in for caucus-goers and a new state law that would require government facilities to be available for the precinct meetings held on Caucus Night.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)