The Creston Police Department reports three, recent arrests. Early this (Thursday) morning, 29-year old Shane White, of Creston, was arrested on charges of Driving While Suspended and OWI/2nd offense. White was later released on $2,000 bond.

On Wednesday, Creston Police arrested 52-year old Troy McKinney and 30-year old John Vanscoy, both of Creston. McKinney was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on two Union County warrants for Failure to Appear in court on an original, Driving While Suspended, charge. He was later released on $600 bond.
Vanscoy was arrested for Driving While Suspended. He was subsequently released on $300 bond.

(8-a.m. News)

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

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The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce introduced their 2016 campaign “Explore, Discover, Share” at their Annual Dinner last weekend. The campaign will kick off in April and will focus on attractions and businesses throughout Cass County.

The Explore, Discover, Share campaign will encourage residents and visitors to explore local businesses and attractions to discover something new. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness for all the great businesses, interesting history and exciting experiences available in Atlantic and Cass County.

Chamber officials say community members and visitors that share their photos and experiences will be part of the Explorer Challenge contest and will be eligible to win prizes throughout the campaign. People will submit their photos and experiences of designated places on www.atlanticiowa.com to be entered into the contest, and those photos will be shared on social media.

Chamber businesses and attractions that purchase sponsorships will be a part of the campaign, each receiving an “Explore, Discover, Share” sign or decal to designate them as a participant. Everyone has a story to tell and something to share and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce hopes to have an endless list of businesses and attractions participate.

The success of the campaign will be determined by the amount of overall support and excitement within the Chamber membership and community.

Deputies in Montgomery County arrested a woman on drug and other charges, Wednesday night. Authorities say 42-year old Lorena Rene Jennings, of Essex, was taken into custody at around 11:05-p.m. in the 2400 block of Highway 48. Jennings was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and charged with OWI/Drugged – 1st Offense, Child Endangerment, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Medication, and Driving While Suspended. Her bond was set at $2,000.

There’s still much work left to do, but two major hurdles have been overcome with regard to the a Whole Grade Sharing Agreement between the Guthrie Center and Adair-Casey School District. Wednesday night (1/27), the Guthrie Center School Board approved the 5-year agreement, which will become effective July 1st. The Adair-Casey Board had previously approved the agreement during their meeting on Jan. 20th.

School officials say the agreement will mean more, and varied course opportunities for students, including some courses not previously being added. The agreement stipulates each district will maintain its own kindergarten-6th grade program. 7th and 8th grade students will attend class at Adair-Casey. 9th-12th graders will attend high school in Guthrie Center.

The American Wind Energy Association’s fourth quarter report shows Iowa has moved one rung from the top when it comes to producing power from the wind. AWEA manager of data and analysis, John Hensley. “We actually saw Iowa move past California into second place in our state rankings. Iowa now has more than six-thousand megawatts of installed capacity,” Hensley says. “We saw somewhere in the realm of about 300 megawatts come online in the state in the fourth quarter that helped push it up in the rankings.”

Iowa moved past California by 104 megawatts, but would have to triple its output to overtake top-ranked Texas — which has nearly 18-thousand megawatts. Hensley says Iowa was part of a trend that saw more wind turbines come online across the country. “The fourth quarter of 2015 was actually are second strongest quarter on record,” Hensley says. “We installed five-thousand megawatts, second only to the fourth quarter of 2012. So, a lot of strong momentum going into the end of the year.” He says wind will account for around one-third the electric power produced in Iowa.

“Back at the end of 2014, wind was providing 28-point-five percent of the state’s electricity-mix with windpower….The full results are not out for the year yet, but we do expect it to come into that 30 percent threshold,” Hensley says. He says Iowa has a lot of advantages when it comes to wind power. “Iowa is just a really attractive place for wind energy developers to install new projects,” according to Hensley. “It’s a state with a sort of strong, favorable policy environment, combined with a really great wind energy resource.”

And he says Iowa’s location is good for distributing the wind power. Hensley says improved technology has helped lower the cost of installing wind power, and that has helped continue the expansion of capacity. “The primary innovations that we’ve seen are taller towers — so getting the machine actually higher up into the air — and the advent of longer blades. These long blades have a larger rotor diameter, which allows them to capture more wind resources than they did before,” Hensley says.

AWEA figures show there are now 74-thousand-472 megawatts of installed wind capacity in the United States and more than 52-thousand operating wind turbines.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An explosive feud between Donald Trump and Fox News Channel is overshadowing the final sprint to Iowa’s presidential caucuses, injecting a new sense of chaos into the 2016 Republican contest. On the eve of the final debate before Iowa voters weigh in, Trump refused to back off his decision to boycott Thursday’s prime-time faceoff. His campaign insisted that debate host Fox News crossed a line with a sarcastic statement mocking him.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A report that makes recommendations on how Iowa should handle its Medicaid program under private care also highlights confusion over how recipients will be able to voice complaints. Deanna Clingan-Fischer is state long-term care ombudsman, a position designed to help respond to complaints from people who receive long-term care in Iowa. Clingan-Fischer spoke to lawmakers Wednesday about a report released in December that recommends an independent system for overseeing such complaints from Medicaid recipients.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Legislation has been introduced in the Iowa Legislature that would allow terminally ill people to end their lives with drugs prescribed by a doctor. Supporters of the legislation spoke Wednesday at the Capitol.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Hamburg Inn Number 2, located just east of the University of Iowa campus, will soon have new owners. KCRG-TV reports that 68-year-old restaurant owner Dave Panther says the sale will likely be finalized early next week.

Postpartum depression strikes about one in every eight women within about six months of having a baby, but University of Iowa researchers say the rate may be higher for women veterans. Dr. Michael O’Hara, a professor in the U-I Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, is working with the Veterans Administration on a program to help women veterans suffering from postpartum depression, especially those in rural areas.

“Many of them have been exposed to combat situations or have been in war zones or might have experienced sexual or physical abuse while they were in the military,” O’Hara says. “These kinds of exposures to traumatic events are associated with higher rates of depression.” The U-I is now working with about 40 women veterans through an online pilot program that involves six sessions over six weeks targeting mood management.

“The Mom Mood Booster program is basically focusing on helping women who are experiencing postpartum depression to increase their participation in positive events, to manage their negative mood and cognitions,” O’Hara says. “It focuses on the partner relationship and the woman’s relationship with the baby.” Some symptoms of postpartum depression may include low moods, loss of interest in normally enjoyable activities, insomnia, appetite disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and suicidal thoughts. So far, he says the Mom Mood Booster program is having a positive impact.

“We support it with what we call phone coaches,” O’Hara says. “These are staff members who contact the women veterans every week, provide support and encouragement, answer questions and just help to keep them motivated to go through the program.” O’Hara’s own experiences in the military may help him relate to some of the pressures women veterans are dealing with, as he served four-and-a-half years in the Navy during the Vietnam era.

“Certainly, there weren’t nearly as many women in the service back in those days but I knew many women and they had lots of difficult experiences,” O’Hara says. “It does make a difference being a veteran myself and that’s part of my motivation to reaching out to the VA to do work with veteran women. It feels like I can give back a little bit.” Women in rural areas often don’t seek out or have access to mental health care, so O’Hara says reaching out to rural veteran women is important. The program will run through September and then the V-A will determine whether to continue funding.

(Radio Iowa)