The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office said today (Friday), 27-year old Kyle Scott Sheppard, of Omaha, was transported from the Cass County Jail in Plattsmouth, NE, to the Pott. County Jail, Thursday morning. Sheppard was wanted on a Pott. County warrant for OWI/3rd or Subsequent Offense. His bond was set at $5,000. 30-year old Tierra Lee Parker, of Council Bluffs, who was in the Pott. County Jail, was presented with a Felony warrant out of Douglas County, NE., for being a Fugitive from Justice. She was being held without bond, pending extradition. And, 22-year old Kenneth Charles Kline was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, Thursday, for OWI/1st offense.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A utility has issued a required safety notification as it continues to add sandbags to the levee that protects its nuclear power plant along the swollen Missouri River in southeast Nebraska. The Nebraska Public Power District declared a “notification of unusual event” Friday at its Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, about 59 miles (95.5 kilometers) south of Omaha. The notification was required because the river level reached 42.5 feet.

The notification is the lowest and least serious of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants. The district says it means simply that: Conditions are not ordinary. The plant continues to generate power. The river’s rapid rise is fueled by snowmelt and storm runoff from a late-winter weather system that brought powerful winds and heavy rainfall to the eastern side of the state this week.

District spokesman Mark Becker told the Omaha World-Herald on Thursday that if the river hits the level of 45.5 feet projected by the National Weather Services this weekend, the plant would have to be shut down.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Marshalltown has begun a fundraising campaign to help renovate a 90-year-old community center damaged by a tornado last summer. City Administrator Jessica Kinser said Thursday that city leaders want to raise $1.35 million to supplement insurance money, grants and other funds being amassed for the $3.6 million project.

Renovations at Veterans Memorial Coliseum will include adding a second full-size gymnasium, adding rentable space for meetings and community events, and installing an elevator and restrooms.

Construction on the center started in 1928 with a $125,000 bond approved by Marshalltown voters. It was used as a gym for the high school until 1965 and as training quarters for the Iowa National Guard before World War II.

(Radio Iowa) — A new survey of employers across Iowa offers an optimistic view of the upcoming second quarter for anyone who’s looking for a job. Kathy Joblinske, executive vice president of Central Iowa Manpower, says the results fell slightly in the hiring category, but remain very good overall. “We have a steady job market expected for Iowa for Q2,” Joblinske says. “It’s a little bit sluggish from last year but still, steady hiring intentions.” The agency’s employment outlook survey is billed as the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind in the country. “For Iowa, 21% of employers that were interviewed plan to hire more employees from April through June,” Joblinske says. “This number is offset by 5% that plan to reduce their payrolls and 73% of employers expect to maintain their current staff levels.”

In order to make comparisons, the net employment outlook is figured by subtracting the five-percent figure of expected firings statewide from the 21-percent of expected hirings. “This yields a net employment outlook of 16% for the state of Iowa,” Joblinske says. “When we compare that to Q1, that’s down slightly, we were at a 20% net employment outlook. Then, compared to Q2 of last year, we had a 24% net employment outlook.”

For the coming quarter, Manpower says job prospects appear best in industries including: construction, transportation & utilities, financial activities, education & health services, leisure & hospitality and government. Payrolls are expected to decrease in durable goods manufacturing, wholesale & retail trade and information. Iowa Workforce Development reported this week, Iowa’s unemployment rate was steady in January at two-point-four percent, where it’s been since October. Iowa is tied with New Hampshire for the lowest unemployment in the nation.

A spokesperson for the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund reports the Fund answered the call of the Nishna Valley Family YMCA again this year, by donating $1,000 to their annual “Partnership with Youth” campaign.  Trevor’s mom Melanie Petty says the Foundation continues to “Feel strongly about the importance of the YMCA in our community.  The YMCA offers a safe environment for our youth along with offering several programs to keep our youth active throughout the year.  The YMCA also offers scholarships to help community members young and old so they can enjoy the facilities!  No amount of donation is too small.  If you are able to help call the YMCA at 243-3934 to donate.”

All of the funds donated by the Trevor Frederickson Memorial fund are raised at the annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament.  The 11th annual golf tournament will be held on Saturday, August 10th at Nishna Hills Golf Club.  Contact Melanie Petty at 712-249-3696 if you would like to golf, sponsor a team or just sponsor a hole.  All funds raised are donated to things that were important to Trevor.  We look forward to another successful year helping out our community with your help.  The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund is a 501(c) 3 Non Profit Organization.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lawsuit targeting Iowa’s use of seclusion and restraints at a state home for male juvenile offenders has been granted class-action status. The lawsuit filed in November 2017 by two advocacy groups says the school is failing to provide adequate mental health care to the boys and instead is administering powerful drugs without proper oversight or consent. The lawsuit alleges that the boys at Boys State Training School in Eldora are given medications “as a behavioral management tool” the groups likened to a chemical straitjacket.

The Des Moines Register reports that class-action certification means that, if the lawsuit is successful, required fixes would likely be more holistic in their approach.
State attorneys argued unsuccessfully that allowing the lawsuit to proceed as class-action litigation is overly broad and vague.

(Radio Iowa) — Missouri Valley Mayor Shawn Kelly says around one-thousand of the city’s three-thousand or so residents had to be evacuated Thursday when it looked like a nearby creek and a river might overflow. Several local levees then breached and allowed more water to flood the city. Red Cross representative Gerry Sue Rinella says some people spent the night in the city’s community center, while other have been in and out for food. “They can just sit and share their stories, or debrief with each other and kind of relax a little bit,” Rinella says.

Mayor Kelly says a lot of the residents who weren’t hit by the flooding have been helpful to those who have. “They’ve volunteered to open their doors for displaced people to come stay at their houses and whatever they need,” according to Kelly. “The small community we have is a wonderful community that is helping everyone as best they can.”

It’s unknown how long the evacuation could be in place. About 60 miles north, the City of Hornick told its 200 or so residents to evacuate after a levee broke along the West Fork of the Little Sioux River. A nearby city has set up a shelter for them.