The Cass County Board of Supervisors are expected to act this (Wednesday) morning, on approving an agreement for the Use of a Local Agency Road as a detour, while a bridge is being replaced. The bridge is located over a small stream one-mile west of Iowa Highway 148 on Highway 92.

In other business, the Board will review and discuss proposed Fiscal Year 2014 departmental budgets. The meeting begins at 9-a.m. in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse in Atlantic.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer said Tuesday there were no serious injuries reported following a single-vehicle rollover accident Monday evening, about two-miles north of College Springs. Palmer says 55-year old Patricia Ann Maca, of Clarinda, was driving a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer west on 270th Street at around 4:35-p.m., when she lost control of the SUV on the loose gravel. The vehicle left the roadway to the north, traveled down an embankment, through a barbed wire fence, and rolled over once, before coming to rest on its left side.

Maca, who was wearing a seat belt,  suffered non-incapacitating injuries, and was transported by ambulance to the Clarinda Regional Medical Center for treatment. The SUV, which sustained $4,500 damage was a total loss. No citations were issued.

The Atlantic City Council today (Wednesday), will hear a presentation with regard to a request from the City’s Parks and Recreation Board, for the partial use of land at the Schildberg Recreation Area as a dog park. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring will make the presentation during the Council’s meeting, which begins 5:30-p.m.  at City Hall.

The Parks and Rec Board has given their approval for the conceptual use of 2.4-acres in the Schildberg Park area, but the City Council has not formally designated the area around the former Schildberg rock quarries as a municipal park, nor have they adopted a Master Plan for its development. A conceptual plan was created a decade ago, and while never formally adopted by the Council, it has been used as a guide for park improvements.

If approved by the Council during their meeting Wednesday, the Parks Board would be responsible for implementing the dog park plan, and the formal process to get the area designated as a City Park. That process includes updating the original concept plan and bringing a proposed Master Plan to Council for a public hearing and adoption.

In other business, the Council will receive an update on the Sunnyside Tennis Court renovation project, which is projected to cost around $241,000. City crews have already removed a fence, light poles, and old asphalt surface for the tennis courts, in an effort to reduce costs. It’s expected the Council will act on setting February 20th as the date for a public hearing and bid letting on the project.

The Council will also consider and possibly act on approving an agreement with Snyder and Associates for engineering services associated with the 2013 Sanitary Sewer Improvement projects, the cost for which will amount to an estimated $238,000. They will also consider and possibly act on the 7th Street Traffic Signal Improvement Project, which includes the final plans and specifications needed to modify traffic lights along 7th Street, at the Plum, Olive, Walnut, Chestnut and Poplar Street intersections.  The estimated cost of the project, which is included in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan, will cost about $179,000, and will likely be paid for using bond proceeds and some operating funds.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is investigating two burglaries that occurred on Monday morning. Deputies first took a report of a burglary in the Locus Grove Township just before 10:30 a.m. It was reported that several items were missing from the home.

Deputies were then called to a home located in the same area for a burglary that had occurred while the homeowner was present at the time. He stated that someone had entered his home without his knowledge and had taken several items from the property.

Deputies are looking for a light colored, older model, four-door car, which has been seen driving in the area over the last few days. The vehicle is possibly occupied by two people described as “thin”. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind residents to be watchful and to report any suspicious activity to authorities.

Anyone with information about this case, or any information on possible witnesses, please contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

Sheriff’s officials in Cass County say one person was arrested early Sunday morning, following a disturbance in Griswold Deputies responded to the town at around 4:30 a.m., and following an investigation, arrested 43-year old Ronald Edward Moyer, of Plantersville, TX, on  a charge of Disorderly Conduct. Moyer was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that morning after pleading guilty before the magistrate.  Moyer was arrested later that same day however in the Griswold area, on a charge of Public Intoxication. He was transported once again to the Cass County Jail and released Monday morning, on his own recognizance.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, the arrest on Friday, of 19-year old Colton Starlin Ireland, of Massena. Ireland was arrested for  Driving Under Suspension and Reckless Driving.  He was brought to the Cass County Jail and later released on $300 bond. And, two people were arrested in Cass County on Tuesday, Jan. 15th:

27-year old Joseph Duane Tye, of Griswold, was taken into custody on a Pottawattamie County warrant for OWI/2nd offense Tye was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was later released on $1000 bond. 43-year old Randy Lee Rush,  of Atlantic, was arrested Jan. 15th on charges of OWI 1^st Offense and Driving Under Suspension. His arrest took place following a traffic stop. Rush was taken to the Cass County Jail and released on his own recognizance the following day.

The CAM School Board met Monday night in Anita, and voted on approving a bid for a new multipurpose building. Superintendent Steve Pelzer said the approved a low bid of $584,800 from Jensen Builders in Ames, for the construction of the facility to be located near the North Elementary School in Anita.

The structure is being funded through the district’s Capital Projects, statewide penny sales tax and the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. It’s money the district already has and will not add to the district patrons’ tax burden. Construction is slated to begin as soon as the school year ends, with completion by August 20^th.

Pelzer said also, the CAM School Board renewed it contract with Driver’s Education Instructor Dick Strittmatter, for classes that begin near the end of February. Strittmatter has taught the course for the past seven-years. And, Pelzer says the board voted to leave the cost for Driver’s Education tuition unchanged from last year. He says it’s $250 for a full-paying student and $195 for reduced-cost students.

Pelzer said also, the board approved the resignation of Erin Hagen, the K-12 Talented and Gifted teacher, who has been with the district for a couple of years. She will be moving to Chicago effective at the end of the current school year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy Co. has agreed to stop burning coal in seven power plant boilers in Iowa and limit emissions from two others as part of a settlement with an environmental group.  The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit last year claiming MidAmerican was violating the Clean Air Act by emitting more pollution than allowed in permits in Sergeant Bluff, Bettendorf, and Council Bluffs.  To settle the case, MidAmerican agrees to stop burning coal in boilers at Council Bluffs and Sergeant Bluffs by April 2016. The company says it also will stop burning coal in Bettendorf but will operate the facility with natural gas.

It says installation of a cleaning system is under way at other boilers in Sergeant Bluffs.   MidAmerican says it settled the case Tuesday to avoid costs to customers.

Members of the Elk Horn-Kimballton School Board heard an update Monday night during their meeting, on the status of the reorganization process with the Exira Community School District. Superintendent Dean Schnoes said the districts are still moving forward with its plans. Those include each district having obtained 300 signatures on petitions calling for reorganization and presenting them to the Heartland Area Education Agency on January 7^th.  The AEA he says will meet with the two school board presidents, and then try to determine if April is still viable as month for a reorganization vote. Schnoes says they still hope for April 9^th, but the AEA is not sure the timelines will mesh. It’s possible the vote may have to be moved back to June.

He said they have not yet heard back from the AEA, which is reviewing the petitions, so “No news is good news,” as far as the approval of the petitions and signatures is concerned. Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein last week announced the Atlantic High School Auditorium will serve as the site at 6-p.m. March 13^th , for a joint public meeting dealing with the Exira-EHK reorganization issue. Schnoes said that the meeting will be for individuals who live in the two districts, and wish to object to the two districts becoming one. They will address the joint board members to express their reasoning against reorganization.

Schnoes said neither he nor officials with the Heartland or Green Hills AEA’s have heard any preliminary rumblings from those who might be considering an objection to reorganization.

The director of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety Narcotics Division says Iowa law enforcement officers are seizing increasing amounts of marijuana originating from Colorado. Steve DeJoode says even before Colorado relaxed its marijuana laws late last year, the amount of marijuana seized in Iowa tripled over a three year period. “In 2010, the number of interdiction stops in Iowa regarding marijuana, 10-percent of those originated out of Colorado. In 2011, it increased to 25-percent and in 2012, 36-percent of the marijuana interdictions in Iowa originated out of Colorado,” DeJoode says. “So, each year, we’re increasing at least 10-percent.”

DeJoode notes Interstates 80 and 35 provide primary routes to marijuana markets and when it’s seized in Iowa, the costs fall on Iowa. “Whether or not that interdiction load of illicit drugs is destined for Iowa or not, they still have impacts on Iowa law enforcement, jail systems and the judicial system as well,” DeJoode says.

(Radio Iowa)