A third and final Public Hearing prior to a vote to Adopt an ATV/UTV Ordinance in Cass County, will take place 8:35-a.m. Wednesday, in Atlantic. The hearing is part of the regular weekly meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors, that begins at 8:30-a.m. in the Board Room at the Courthouse. During the previous two meetings, persons filled the chamber seating area, voicing their thoughts both for and against the Ordinance, which, if approved, would allow ATV’s and UTV’s to be used on designated Cass County roads, but also sets certain restrictions on the age of the machine operator and calls for the use of some extra safety equipment.

Last week set, the Supervisors were in agreement with the idea that 16-to 18-year old’s may operate the machines with certification, and they added rear-view mirrors as safety equipment. Gone from the latest version of the Ordinance, is a section restricting the speed to 35-miles per hour, and the use of tall orange safety flags. ATV’s and UTV’s may be used from one-hour before sunrise to one-hour after sunset, according to the proposed ordinance. Following the hearing, the Board will vote to Adopt the ATV ordinance.

In other business, the Supervisors will act on approving a Crow River Construction application for partial payment Number 3, on the gray water transmission line to the ethanol plant currently under construction. They’ll also receive, as available, Cass County Department Head reports.

A woman from Creston reported to the Creston Police Department late Monday morning, that sometime overnight Sunday into Monday, someone took from her wallet, her ID, debit and credit cards. The wallet was inside her home located in the 400 block of N. Jarvis Street. The loss was estimated at $5.

A Des Moines man is facing charges for abusing his dog – abuse that was captured on video. Scott Wilson, with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says 32-year-old Willard Street was arrested after Des Moines Police were notified about the incident last week. “A concerned citizen had a security camera and caught, on video, Mr. Street placing a dog in the backseat of his car and then leaning over and with a closed fist, punching the dog repeatedly in the head,” Wilson said. The dog, an adult pit bull, does NOT have “obvious external injuries,” according to Wilson.

Willard William Street Mugshot

ARL staff removed a total of three dogs from Street’s property. Street is charged with one count of animal neglect and two counts of failure to license a pet.  All three dogs are now being cared for by the ARL. According to Wilson, this type of animal abuse is more common in the state than most Iowans probably realize. “We probably hear about one or two a month – something like this around the state,” Wilson said. “The really scary thing is this was reported because someone did get it on video, so you have to consider there are probably a lot of cases like this that never get reported.”

The ARL of Iowa is urging state lawmakers to pass legislation to strengthen punishments for animal abusers in the state.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say seven people have been killed — including two teenage sisters — on Iowa roads as a winter storm swept the state Monday, leading to dozens of crashes and a 50- to 70-car pileup near Ames. The Des Moines Register reports that 17-year-old Avery Arneson and 13-year-old Aiden Arneson, sisters from Decorah, died a two-vehicle crash around 8:30 a.m. Monday on a county road in northeast Iowa. Four other teens were injured and hospitalized in that crash.

In Cedar Rapids, two men died in a crash on Interstate 380 that police say was weather-related, and one person died and several people were critically injured in the pileup that closed Interstate 35 near Ames. On I-80, police say a person was killed in a crash east of Grinnell around 1:20 p.m., and another person died and two others were injured at 1:40 p.m. near Durant.

There were many accidents along Interstate 80 in western Iowa. Two separate crashes occurred in Cass County, one at around 4:30-p.m. at the Wiota Exit (Exit 64), involved multiple vehicles and blocked both lanes. Anita and Wiota Rescue responded to the scene, along with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol. Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac Ambulance along with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and ISP responded to a crash near the Highway 71/Atlantic Exit (Exit 60), late Monday morning. Another crash blocked I-80 westbound between Exits 110 and 113 (DeSoto and Van Meter. Other accidents were reported on I-80, near Avoca.