The Harlan Police Department reports a local teen was arrested last week on drug charges. 16-year old Dustin Dirks,of Harlan, was arrested Oct. 22nd following an investigation.  Officials say after a search warrant was executed at his home in the 800 block of 12^th St,  Dirks was taken into custody and transported to the Shelby County jail where he was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and prohibited acts penalties.

The following day (Oct. 23rd) 32-year old Juan Romero, of Harlan, was taken into custody following a traffic stop.  Romero was taken to the Shelby County jail where he was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, speed and failure to have a valid driver’s license.  A hold was placed on Romero by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And, on Friday (Oct. 25th), two persons were arrested when officers with the Harlan Police Department were called to investigate a suspicious male outside a residence in the 300 block of Court Street.  Taken into custody was 19-Lacey Jae Bird, and 24-year old Kyle Tearney, both of Harlan.  Both subjects were transported to the Shelby County Jail where they were  each charged with violation of a no contact order.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education held a work session Monday evening at the High School, during which there was discussion on a couple of matters, but no action was taken. Atlantic Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said Design Alliance Architect’s Jerry Purdy presented the Board with five different concepts for the remodeling and/or expansion of the district’s facilities, based on input from teachers, staff and the public.

Amstein said Dena Goplerud also spoke to the about what she could do as far as providing facilitator services to district for further meetings with the public and others with regard to the expansion and/or remodeling options.

The Board tabled a Technology Update from District Technology Coordinator Roger Warne until their next meeting in November, due to Warne having a family emergency. They did however, hear a presentation from the Model Employment Team (MET) who reported on a grant the district received from the State of Iowa. He says Atlantic was one of just four such districts in the State to receive the grant. The grant focuses on employment skills for Special Needs students within the community. The presenters spoke about the possibility of expanding the program this year into the following school year.

And, Dr. Amstein said their certified enrollment this year shows 1,431 students, which he says doesn’t reflect students who are open-enrolled or home schooled. That number is what they are required to provide to the State as far as resident students are concerned. Amstein said when you look at actual enrollment numbers, including those that are “tuitioned-in,” the count shows about 1,643 students, which includes preschoolers. That includes about 140 kindergarteners. He said they are down a little bit in the 4-year old preschool program, and 6 or 7 students in the Special Education preschool program. Amstein says those numbers typically go up before the Spring count.

In the Fall of 2012, there were 1,611 students.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Sheriff’s officials in Shelby County say two people were hurt when the ATV they were riding went out of control, traveled up an embankment and hit a utility pole in the Elk Horn City Park. The accident happened at around 6:30-p.m, Monday.  The ATV’s driver, 19-year old Maisie Williams, of Atlantic, and her passenger, 18-year old Angel Knowles, of Elk Horn, were ejected from the machine. Both women were transported by Elk Horn Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic.

Williams was later flown by helicopter to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries. Knowles suffered minor injuries, was treated and released. The accident remains under investigation.

(8-a.m. News)

The Audubon City Council, Monday, voted to accept a bid from Monte Drehr for the collection of residential solid waste and recyclables. Audubon Mayor Clarke “Sam” Kauffman told KJAN Dreher’s bid will save the City $28,200 over the course of the next three-years.

Dreher’s bid was $99,800 per year, while Bohlmann & Sons, who have been the City’s contractor for about the past 8-years, was $109,200 per year. The three-year contract with Dreher begins on January 1st, 2014.

w/ Ric Hanson

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ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – A 44-year-old western woman has pleaded not guilty for a crash that killed her uncle.  Sioux City television station KTIV says Judith Krohn, of Mapleton, is charged with felony vehicular homicide while driving intoxicated. The accident occurred April 20 along Iowa Highway 141 near Mapleton. Authorities say Krohn was driving when her vehicle left the road on a curve and rolled into a ditch.

Her uncle, 59-year-old Albert Butler, of Mapleton, was partially ejected. He was pronounced dead later at a hospital.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Tuesday) morning resulted in an arrest. According to the Red Oak Police Department, 24-year-old Amanda Kate Carlson, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 400 block of North 4th Street.  Carlson faces charges that include driving while barred, possession of drug paraphernalia, and interference with official acts.

She was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $2,000 cash bond.

EARLHAM, Iowa (AP) — More than a dozen farmers worked with six combines to harvest a crop near the central Iowa community of Earlham, a little more than a month after the owner died of cancer. Dave Boyle, of Earlham, told KCCI-TV, “That’s what neighbors are here for.” The farmers decided to help out after 64-year-old Dennis Scar died of lung cancer on Sept. 25.

The harvest normally would have taken days to complete, but the volunteers finished it in about three hours, Monday. Scar’s daughter-in-law, Nikki Scar, says the sight of the machinery pulling in brought her to tears. She says, “We’re just very blessed to have family and friends and live in a small town I guess.”

The corn and soybean harvest moved ahead quickly in the last week. The latest U-S-D-A report shows 20-percent of the corn crop was harvested last week and 17 percent of the soybeans. That puts the bean harvest two days ahead of normal — marking the first time all season soybean progress was ahead of the five-year average.

Pam Johnson farms with her husband in north central Iowa ’s Floyd County. She says she’s thankful that the weather has been favorable at the end of the season after the way it started. The spring was cold and wet spring — leading to a very small planting window — and to get the corn in Johnson says they planted both night and day for three days and the beans didn’t go in until June. “It’s been a struggle all the way along, and then of course, mother nature shut the rain off in August,” Johnson says. But Johnson says they’re now really pleased that they’ve had a long growing season. “We were afraid of all the things that could happen, we would have an early frost and we have not, so the weather has been good to us at the back end of the growing season and we’re pleasantly surprised by the yields that are out there despite the weather,” according to Johnson.

Fifty-five percent of the corn has now been harvested, which is five percentage points behind normal. Moisture content of all corn in the field was estimated at 21 percent while moisture content of corn harvested was 19 percent. The soybean harvest is now 87-percent complete.

(Radio Iowa)