Officials in Shelby County say progress is being made on the Linden Road construction project. According to Shelby County Engineer Dan Ahart, the overlay on Linden Road from 1200th Street to County Road F32 is now complete. Ahart says this is part of the project ties in with what the Engineer’s Office did two years ago. “One thing we did was we went along with the project from 1200th Street to 1300th Street two years ago, we tried a little experiment were we went in and milled some of the existing asphalt out and put a thin layer of asphalt in. As we are doing to this project now, we decided for continuity and longevity, we extended the job on the contract farther south and put another overlay on what we did two years ago. What the public will see from 1200th Street north to F32 or golf course road, it will be all new asphalt.”

Ahart says with the new overlay comes some concerns. “But one thing I really want to caution the public on, in all sincerity, I want to make sure everyone understands it is a 55 mile per hour speed limit. When you get a new asphalt road, people have the tendency to think it runs fast and smooth. I have asked (Shelby County) Sheriff Hervey for some assistance in the next 30 days to have some pretty stringent enforcement out there. It is still only a 18 foot wide pavement and it is still narrow. People have a tendency to go fast on it and I guess what I am saying is do not do it.”

Even though the overlay on the large portion of Linden Road is complete, the bridge work on Linden Road north of Harlan continues. “We are moving a long very well on that. In fact, last Wednesday (June 11th) we poured the deck on it. The contractor is doing a good job on that. And that detour will remain in place. There’s still not access on Linden directly to 1200th Street or the back road into the landfill.”

The contractor will be working on the approaches and the railing before the bridge project is complete. Ahart said the project will end before the new school year starts in August. The cost of the overlay, bridge and previous work is around $1.2 million. Ahart says this isn’t the only project going on in the county so heed the construction signs and watch for workers on the roadways.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Two people were injured during an accident over the weekend, in Harlan. Authorities say Norma Pattee, of Avoca, and Lisa Perkins, of Harlan, were transported by Medivac Ambulance to Myrtue Memorial Hospital Sunday, after their vehicles collided at the intersection of 19th and Pine Streets. Harlan Police say Pattee was traveling east on Pine in a 1997 Oldsmobile and failed to stop at the intersection. Her car was struck by Perkins’ northbound 2006 GMC, causing major damage to both vehicles. Pattee was subsequently cited for Failure to Obey a Stop or Yield sign. Damage from the crash amounted to $8,000.

And, officials say no injuries were reported following an accident Tuesday, when vehicles driven by Maxine Gau, of Portsmouth, and Laura Andersen, of Harlan, collided on Chatburn Avenue. Officials say both women were traveling west in the 2100 block of Chatburn, when Gau attempted to change lanes in order to make a right hand turn. The front of her 2010 Chevy made contact with the left side of Andersen’s 1990 Pontiac, causing a total of $5,000 damage. No citations were issued.

A central Iowa man and a teenager were injured when the tow truck they were in toppled over early Tuesday on Interstate 80, two-miles west of Stuart. The Iowa State Patrol says 40-year old Anthony Ray Stuhldryer, of Perry, was driving a 1989 International tow truck eastbound on I-80 in heavy rain and strong winds at around 1:30-a.m., when a gust of wind caused the truck to enter the median and roll over.

The truck — registered to Jason’s Towing, LLC in Perry —  came to rest on its top in the median. Stuhldryer and his passenger, 15-year old Austin Stuhldryer, were transported by Stuart Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

Authorities in Montgomery County say a Red Oak man was arrested Tuesday afternoon for allegedly violating the terms of his probation. 33-year old Joshua Edward Mastin was taken into custody at around4:35-p.m.  on a valid Page County warrant for probation violation on an original charge of forgery.

Mastin was transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and subsequently transported by a Page County Deputy back to Page County, where he was being held on $10,000 bond.

State regulators have set the process in motion to get the casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque out of greyhound racing. The legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that shuts down the Dubuque track and shifts the management of dog racing in Council Bluffs to the Iowa Greyhound Association. It also creates a retirement fund for greyhound owners and breeders who want to get out of the business. Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says they’ve decided to send out a Request For Proposals (RFP) to hire a consultant to help them.

“The commission will have to write rules, but this will be an additional step where prior to the rulemaking process –if there is an acceptable bidder for the R-F-P — we can allow them to go through a process, get input from all of the stakeholders, and make a recommendation to the commission,” Ohorilko says. Ohorilko says the consultant is important because there aren’t any other situations they can look to as an example. “There is not. There has been instances where jurisdictions have passed legislation to end greyhound racing, but there is no instances where that has occurred and there’s been a fund that would be distributed back to the industry,” Ohrilko explains.

The deal reached in the legislation has the Council Bluffs casino pay 65 million dollars over the next seven years, and the Dubuque casino will pay one million dollars a year in the fund. Half of that money goes into the retirement fund and the other half can be used by those who remain in the industry to run the Dubuque Greyhound Park. Ohrilko says it could take until fall to the actually get things going. “Essentially, that process to review the bids and select someone will take a few months,” Ohrilko says. “And then if the commission selects a vendor, we will want that vendor to have time to meet with all the stakeholders and participants.” It could take until the end of the this year to have everything in place. “I think it’s reasonable to assume that once a bidder is selected then the bidder would have three to four months to work through that process,” Ohorilko says.

The bill says the Bluffs Run track in Council Bluffs should close, and the management of the Dubuque track should shift by December 31, 2015.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Harlan Police Department report five people were arrested on separate charges over the past week. On Monday, officers arrested 29-year old Reid Hemminger, of Harlan,on an active Shelby County warrant for probation revocation. Hemminger was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

27-year old Kenny Smith, of Harlan, was arrested Sunday, after officers were called to a disturbance in the 1900 block of Industrial Avenue. As a result of the investigation Smith was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault. And, 33-year old Jessica Tody, of Shelby, was arrested Sunday in the 1000 block of 6th Street and taken to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with intoxication in public, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of prescription drugs.

On Saturday, Harlan Police arrested 29-year old Amanda Wicker, of Harlan, on an active Shelby County warrant charging her with theft, 5th degree. Wicker was transported to the Shelby County Jail. Last Friday, officers in Harlan were called to the 1900 block of Chatburn in reference to an assault. As a result of the investigation charges were filed with the Shelby County clerk of court charging 50-year old Tracy Kobold, of Harlan, with domestic abuse assault for allegedly assaulting Terrianne Rushton, Council Bluffs.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — A group of scientists have found a mammoth bone at a dig site in southern Iowa’s rural Mahaska County. The group was cleaning up mud and other debris when they made the discovery Saturday. Researcher Holmes Semken says the bone shows evidence of fractures.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has issued disaster proclamations for five Iowa counties following strong storms. Branstad issued the proclamations for Cedar, Lyon, Plymouth, Pocahontas and Sioux counties. The action lets state resources be used to prepare for, respond to and recover from storms and flooding on public land or private land that might threaten public health and safety.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A Marshalltown man accused of setting two fires in April says he wanted to commit a crime so he could be incarcerated. Forty-eight-year-old Van Gentry made the comments during a probation revocation hearing linked to a separate forgery case. Gentry is accused of setting a local church building and trailer home on fire in April. Records say Gentry later went to a police station and admitted to both crimes.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Fort Madison police have identified a 13-year-old girl who shot herself after an officer began to approach her on a city street. Police identified the girl as Samantha Brooke Chismark, of Fort Madison. She shot herself June 11 and died the next day. Police say before an approaching officer could reach her, Chismark took a handgun from her purse and shot herself in the head.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Republican senator says the conflict between Iraq’s Shiites and Sunnis has been going on for 1,500 years — and he says, “Whatever we do, it’s not going to go away.” Richard Shelby of Alabama is among the lawmakers who voted to authorize military force in Iraq 12 years ago, but are now voicing doubts that U.S. air strikes will turn back the insurgents who are threatening the Iraqi government. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says, “After a decade of war, we’ve all had enough.”

As President Barack Obama considers what to do in Iraq, there is little agreement in Congress on what steps he should take — despite some Republican voices calling for air strikes and stepped-up military action. Sen. John McCain is among those Republicans.

A Democrat who voted for the Iraq invasion in 2002 — Tom Harkin of Iowa — now calls it “one of the worst votes” he ever cast. And as the U.S. again considers intervention in Iraq, Harkin says that vote is “weighing heavily” on his mind.

Obama will discuss the situation in Iraq with House and Senate leaders of both parties at the White House tomorrow.

Thousands of people across Iowa were without electricity early Tuesday morning, as a large complex of storms walloped the Midwest Monday and overnight into Tuesday morning. In Atlantic, winds in excess of 50-miles per hour caused a tree limb to fall on a house at 1407 Chestnut Street. Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU) General Manager Steve Tjepkes told KJAN News it was at about that same time the first power outage was reported in Atlantic. Tjepkes said a couple of outages were called in from the 2100 block of Hillcrest Drive, and the 800 block of Elm Street.

Not much later, a line in the area of Olive Street and Hillcrest was dropped by falling tree limbs, but the majority of customers on the west side of town lost power after a primary line was hit by a tree limb behind Deter Motor Company, at around 6-a.m.  Tjepkes said in all, some 700 in-town and rural AMU customers lost power at some point during the night, but service was restored to all customers by around 8:15-a.m. At around 3:15-a.m., officials with Mid-American Energy, Alliant Energy, and the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives had reported a combined 60-thousand customers were without power throughout the state. More than half of those customers were in the Des Moines metro area.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors have approved a new 2-year contract for non-union/full-time employees. In a meeting held this (Tuesday) morning, the Board presented the new contract which included a 2.25-percent Cost Of Living wage adjustment (COLA) on July 1st, 2014 and a one-percent performance increase on January 1st, 2015. Supervisor Steve Kenkel explained the performance increase. “How that will work is if an employee receives a satisfactory performance evaluation, the employee shall receive an additional 1 percent increase.”

The performance base increase is something tied to the non-union contracts but not the union contracts and Kenkel wanted to clarify the reasoning. “The goal of this board is to increase the accountability throughout county government by implementing annual employee performance evaluations. This board was willing to provide financial incentives to our employees for strong performance as evident by our initial proposal to all three unions. Unfortunately the final contracts to the unions did not include a paid per performance provision. As a board, we will continue to work towards this goal and we will implement a similar plan to our non-union employees. The bottom line is the three union contracts were given the opportunity to participate in performance base pay and they chose not to do that.”

The performance evaluations will be the same for all non-union employees and will be used for five consecutive years. Kenkel said it will be a one or two page evaluation in the fall. After the performance base pay maximum is reached, longevity will go into effect after 5 years with an increase of .35 cents and increase by ten cents every five years there after. Shelby County Recorder Linda Fahn spoke to the supervisors before they approved the vote.

“I would just like to say on behalf of the employees, we would like to thank you for the cost of living and performance increases. I think our staff deserves it and they will appreciate it as well.”
The contract was approved. The Shelby County Supervisors also approved a new 3 year contract with Gronewold and Company of Atlantic for the county audit. Supervisor Roger Schmitz said overall the contract is about a 1 percent increase from the previous 3 year contract.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)