The Audubon Police Department responded to a hit and run accident at approximatley 5:57am this (Friday) morning.  It was determined that a vehicle had struck a light pole at the intersection of Broadway and Market Street, causing the pole to fall and block the roadway. The driver then fled south on Highway 71 until his vehicle was no longer functioning.

The driver was located inside a home in Exira with the assistance of the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office.  22-year-old Ethan Jacob Mull of Breda was arrested and charged with Leaving the Scene of An Accident, No Valid Driver’s License, and Failure to Maintain Control.

Damage to the light pole and the vehicle totaled over $10,000. Mull was released on promise to appear.

CASS Incorporated in Atlantic has announced they are making some redesign changes to how they provide services.  These changes are necessary due to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act and another Supreme Court Ruling call the Olmstead Decision and are needed to keep compliant for Medicaid funding.

One of the issues across the country for similar programs is not discriminating against people with disabilities by segregation. That standard includes such things as sheltered workshops like the one Cass Inc. currently operates in Atlantic.

In response CASS Incorporated is currently in a transformation process of moving everyone they serve into community services by a nationally mandated date of March 17, 2019.

Because they will have no further need for an industrial building, they will be selling their main building at 1406 SW 7th Street. CEO Linda Farrier is stressing that “This does not mean we are closing! We are simply shifting facility based services from a building to the community at large. We already serve most people in the community, where they live, work and participate in activities, as they have for many years. We will have administrative office space at another location but the majority of our employees will work remotely, as they do now.”

Farrier says they will continue to follow their mission to enrich lives and won’t need bricks and mortar to do that.

Audubon County Memorial Hospital has announced a partnership with CrossChx, a leader in healthcare intelligence solutions that was founded with the support of the State of Ohio.

On September 1st of this year CrossChx will install their SafeChx system at all hospital registration points, offering patients advanced medical identity theft protection and efficient patient registration while improving health outcomes and reducing the risk of medical errors. Officials say this system is user friendly and already in use at several other health care facilities.

“Identity theft is a hot topic right now. We are proud to be able to provide this level of protection for our patients,” said Tom Smith, Administrator at ACMH.

By scanning a patient’s finger, CrossChx instantly links the patient to their medical benefits so no one else can use them. Neither CrossChx nor Audubon County Memorial Hospital will ever view, store or scan your fingerprints. Rather, CrossChx creates a unique ID based on points on your finger to offer you protection and privacy.

Using the system is voluntary, but it is the policy of Audubon County Memorial Hospital to protect your medical identity and they encourage that all patients age five and above enroll in the system.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office released information Friday of a recent arrest and accident.

On Thursday, August 27th the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 24-year-old Callyn Scott Vincent Pollock of Anita on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for Driving While Revoked. Pollock was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $1,000 bond.

On Wednesday, August 26th at 5:18 p.m. the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a two-vehicle accident in the 71000 block of Highway 92. A 2002 Chevy Trailblazer owned and driven by 43-year-old Teresa Stender of Massena was eastbound on Highway 92 and attempting to turn into a driveway when it was struck by an eastbound 2006 Jeep Liberty owned and driven by 60-year-old Rigoberto Cervantes Rodriguez of Bridgewater. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Trailblazer is estimated at $2,500 while damage to the Jeep is estimated at $1,500. Cervantes Rodriguez was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

w/ Chris Parks

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A large gas leak was reported by Council Bluffs Police around 5pm Thursday evening at Sherbondy’s Nursery in the 300 block of 16th Avenue. Emergency crews were on scene for around 1 hour and 45 minutes and secured the leak. Traffic was shut down on 16th Avenue from Main Street to S. 3rd Street in Council Bluffs during the emergency work and no deliveries were allowed at Con Agra foods during that time. After the leak was secured the roadway was allowed to return to normal traffic.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office announced multiple arrests after executing two separate search warrants.

On Tuesday, August 25th Fremont County Deputies and Sidney Police executed a search warrant at 614 West Street in Sidney. 4 individuals were arrested on a range of charges.  Arrested were 20-year-old Jason Vance of Sidney, 18-year-old Kiersten Olney of Hamburg, 52-year-old Michelle McGuire of Hamburg and 37-year-old Jason Harrington of Council Bluffs.  All were charged with Possession of Prescription Drugs and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Vance and Olney were also charged with Burglary 3rd Degree and Theft 5th Degree in connection with a string of burglaries and thefts that occurred in Hamburg on and near August 15th.

Information and evidence obtained during the arrests and search warrant led to the issuance of a second search warrant.  The was executed by Fremont County Deputies at 1511 Washington Street in Hamburg on Wednesday, August 26th.  Both residents of that address were arrested 50-year-old Kevin Corbin and 22-year-old Brittany Corbin.  Brittany Corbin was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Kevin Corbin was charged with Burglary 3rd Degree and Theft 4th Degree in connection with an incident that occurred at 300 Park Street in Hamburg on August 15th.  Kevin Corbin also was charged with Attempted Murder and Arson 1st Degree for an incident at the same location on August 16th.

Fremont County Sheriff’s deputies previously released information about that attempted arson and said during an investigation it was discovered that at 1:45am on August 16th someone approached the south building of an apartment complex at 300 Park Street in Hamburg and attempted to throw an incendiary device through an upstairs window of the building.  The fire caused minimal damage and no injuries were reported. Several people were inside the building at the time.

The investigation of these incidents is still ongoing and further charges are pending.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2 vehicle progerty damage accident occurred on Thursday at approximately 12:15pm.

The accident occurred at 1423 J Avenue north of Red Oak.  After investigation it was determined that Euguen Hardy of Red Oak was operating a 2014 Volvo gravel truck owned by Shildberg Construction traveling southbound attempting to turn into Shildberg rock quarry. At the same time a Peterbuilt Semi-Tractor Trailer owned by Thielen Trucking and driven by Donald Gourley of Exira was exiting the quarry to the north.  The trailer from the Gourley vehicle made contact with the front left of the Hardy vehicle.

Damage to the gravel truck was approximately $3,500 and damage to the trailer was approximately $1,500.  There were no citations or injuries.

The Red Oak Police Department received a call Thursday night at approximately 7:50pm of an erratic driver.  Officers found the vehicle heading northbound on Highway 48 at 180th Street in Montgomery County and made a traffic stop.  Upon investigation is was determined that the driver was intoxicated.  43-year-old Amy Suzanne Engle of Wichita, KS was charged with OWI 1st Offense and taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 cash bond.

A state audit has recovered records showing thousands of dollars in theft of city money after the main records were destroyed in a fire at the Casey City Hall. State Auditor Mary Mosiman says residents of the Guthrie County town requested an audit of city books.

Mosiman says an accountant attempted to do the audit last August. “When the C-P-A firm arrived at the city to begin the audit engagement, they could not proceed because the records had been deleted,” Mosiman explains. “So the C-P-A contacted our office, and that’s when we made the decision to go in do an investigation. And the night before we were scheduled to arrive, there was a fire.” That fire destroyed the Casey City Hall and any records that were stored there.

Mosiman says her office then began hunting down records from other sources. “We have subpoena power so we were able to subpoena records from the bank. We got copies of redeemed checks from the city’s the banks accounts, we received copies of minutes that were available through backup systems, and financial records, such as payroll journals that were available through the backup accounting system. We also received payroll records based on reports that were filed with IPERS (Eye-pers), the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System,” Mosiman says.

Former City Clerk, Dorothy Dillinger also provided some information. “She basically admitted that she had used some of the city’s money for personal use, and she gave us a time frame and a dollar amount,” according to Mosiman. Mosiman says the amount of money Dillinger gave them did not match up with the amount they found was improperly used. “Our investigation identified a little over a hundred and 16-thousand dollars of improper and unsupported disbursements, as well as almost 182-thousand dollars of deposited utility billing, which had an impact of over 298-thousand dollars to the city,” Mosiman says.

She says the were able to track the missing money in the recovered records. “Over 54-thousand-dollars of credit card purchases that were personal in nature. It also included over 27-thousand dollars in improper payments that Ms. Dillinger issued to herself for vacation payouts. And a little over 77-hundred dollars of improper fuel purchases using the city’s fuel card,” Mosiman says. Those credit card purchases by Dillinger included things like cigarettes, Avon products, electronics and other personal items.

Mosiman says part of the improper payments were utility bills that were waived for Dillinger and the Public Works Director as part of their employment, but that is not allowed by law. The audit covered July of 2008 through October of 2014. Mosiman says Dillinger was able to take city money for her personal use because no one else in the city was checking up on her. “Throughout all these different years there was very little oversight by the city council and the mayor. And this is something that is absolutely necessary — whether it is a large entity with multiple people — or especially with a one-person office that handles all the financial transactions,” Mosiman says. “Those charged with governance, need to provide oversight.”

The audit report has been turned over to state investigators. The Iowa Department of Public Safety issued a statement today acknowledging the State Auditor’s report and says the State Fire Marshal continues to investigate the fire at the Casey City Hall and would not have any further comment at this time. (Radio Iowa)