Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency say due to increased winds, recent area fires, and lack of rain the last few days, the  Shelby County Fire Danger Index will remain in the “Moderate Category,” until Thursday, May 2nd.

Patrons of the Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton Community School Districts are set to head to the polls on June 25^th, for a vote on reorganization. Last week, members of the EHK Board approved setting the date for the vote. Their counterparts on the Exira School Board approved the same measure during their meeting this (Monday) morning.

The districts currently operate under a whole-grade sharing agreement. Superintendent Dean Schnoes has said the only difference the change will make if reorganization is approved by the voters on June 25^th, is a property tax deduction of one-dollar at the onset, with a gradual increase over a period of three-years to $5.45 per thousand dollars of taxable property valuation.  

Republican Governor Terry Branstad seems to be suggesting Republican Congressman Steve King either is not running or should not run for the U.S. Senate. “I really believe that Iowans want somebody that will serve in the Senate that will be an Iowa problem solver, not another congressman,” Branstad said. “You know congress is a mess. We’ve seen them spend a trillion dollars more than they take in every year and so the Democrats have decided, ‘Well, we’re going to send up another congressman.’ That’s the last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate.”

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin announced in January that he would not seek reelection in 2014. Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley started running for the Senate in February, but no Republican has stepped forward. Several in the G-O-P have said they’re considering it, including state Senator Joni Ernst of Red Oak and state Ag Secretary Bill Northey. “The contrast of having an Iowa problem solver versus somebody who that’s had all of their service in Washington, D.C. in the congress would be a very good thing for Republicans,” Branstad says.

Steve King served six years in the state senate before being elected to congress in 2002. While Branstad told reporters this morning that King was a “very effective” state legislator, the governor then doubled down on his anti-congressman pitch. “That last thing we need is another congressman in the United States Senate,” Branstad said. “The congress is so messed up. They are so unable to make tough decisions. They are so far out of touch with the public in terms of their spending policies that we just need somebody that’s going to come there with fresh ideas and we’ve got some of those in Iowa.”

Senator Harkin served 10 years as a congressman before he was elected to the Senate in 1984. Republican Chuck Grassley had been a congressman for six years before he was elected to the Senate in 1980.

(Radio Iowa)

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports three Shenandoah residents were arrested on drug charges, Thursday. 32-year old Daniel Lee Mattox faces Possession with the intent to deliver/methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving Under suspension, charges. 39-year old James Raymond McFail was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and 44-year old Christine Renee Perry was charged with Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest of two individuals, Saturday. 31-year old Ericka Sanchez, of Houston, TX, was arrested for Public Intoxication. And, 27-year old Tyler Gage, of Creston, was arrested for Theft in the 2nd degree. Official says Gage allegedly took an enclosed trailer from the 1100 block of East 14th Street, in Atlantic.  Gage and Sanchez were brought to the Cass County Jail and held, pending an initial court appearance.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report the arrest late Saturday night, of a Union County man. 33-year old Justin Robertson, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 11-p.m., on Possession of a Controlled Substance and OWI/1st Offense, charges. Robertson was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,500 bond.

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A celebration was held Saturday in Carroll, for the grand opening of the “Freedom House.” It’s a half-way house for veterans who’re suffering from alcoholism or post-traumatic stress. Randy Riesberg, an army veteran from Carroll, says the inspiration came from a conversation with a fellow veteran who went to Des Moines for help. “He was telling me one time on the phone, he says: ‘If we had a halfway house up there, I think I could get the hang of being sober,'” Riesberg says.

The new half-way house in Carroll is a place for recovering veterans to stay and heal, according to Riesberg. “As a veteran of the military, I couldn’t ever talk about what I had done, so these guys will be able to sit around the table and chat with each other on what’s bothering them,” Riesberg says. Up to eight men at a time will be able to stay at the Freedom House. No alcohol will be allowed. “And hopefully they will get clean and sober and stay clean and sober,” Riesberg says.

Riesberg will manage the house. A lawyer from Carroll still owns the property, but is donating its use as a halfway house. For more information, call Riesberg at 712-790-3481.

(Radio Iowa)

Open-heart surgery is no longer the only option for Iowans with an irregular heartbeat. A hospital in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area is the first in either state to offer a new alternative procedure. Cardiologist Dr. John Scherschel says the surgery corrects irregular heartbeat, or atrial fibrillation. “Atrial fibrillation is a huge problem and it becomes more common as people age,” Dr. Scherschel says. “The stroke risk goes up considerably, it’s five-fold higher in patients with atrial fibrillation than those without.”

The procedure, called LARIAT, involves two small incisions to insert a catheter into the heart. It takes about an hour.  “Most patients will be able to go home the next day or the day after that, it’s at longest a two-day hospitalization,” Scherschel says. “With open heart surgery, it can be several days to weeks with recovery requiring weeks to months, depending on the kind of procedure.” Scherschel believes the technique will become standard treatment eventually, but for now, the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha is among only a few hospitals in the nation that are using it.  “When I saw this technique described in the scientific literature back in 2009, I said we need to be doing that because that’s the right way to do this,” he says.

Marc Leger of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, recently had the procedure done in Omaha and says he constantly lived with the threat of stroke.
“Being in my early 60s, I’m glad I got that procedure done now and it’s something I’m going to hopefully live into my 90s and 100s with that,” Leger says.  LARIAT was recommended for Leger as it’s minimally-invasive and blocks stroke-causing blood clots from traveling to the brain. He was able to leave the hospital in a few days with just a Band-Aid covering his tiny incision.  

(Radio Iowa)