The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) approved an “Other Supplemental Pay” allowance for Chief Deputy Sheriff John Westering for Fiscal year 2013, in the amount of $5,000. The pay includes Social Security and IPERS benefits. Board Chair Duane McFadden explained that during the Fiscal Year 2013 Budgeting process, the position of Jail Administrator was considered. Sheriff Darby McLaren was consulted, and it was determined it would be most practical if the 1^st Deputy Sheriff – Westering – agreed, and was willing to expend additional hours necessary to perform those duties. A motion to approve the supplemental pay passed unanimously, with Supervisor Gaylord Schelling, absent. The actual amount of pay, minus Social Security and IPERS, amounts to just over $4,253. 

In other business, the Board heard from Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert, who mentioned a slight problem with the County’s 175-kilowatt Emergency Generator located on the courthouse grounds. He said they had an issue last week where it “alarmed out” at around 1-a.m. Friday, showing a “Low Voltage” on batteries. Koppert said they called Caterpiller Service, who came out and confirmed there was a problem with a battery charger on the system, which maintains the battery voltage. A replacement charger was ordered, and a temporary charger installed to speed up the generator. 

The temporary part is functioning as it should, and, since the generator was purchased in November 2010 and installed in the Spring of 2011, the replacement part and service call to install it, is covered under warranty. Rob Koppert said also, a new dispatcher has been hired for the Cass County Communications Center. Sherri Hansen, of Atlantic, started her job last Thursday. Hansen will undergo numerous hours of training, including Emergency Medical Dispatch Training in Council Bluffs, and other required courses.

Emergency 9-1-1 calls regarding missing and/or sexually exploited children could be the first step towards saving a child in your community. Mike Jensen, Shelby County Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator says the Shelby County EMA/911 has completed 70 hours of enhanced specialized training and is now better prepared to take those types of calls. Shelby County EMA/911 has recently become a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)/9-1-1 Call Center Partner. The program acknowledges the Agency’s commitment to making the safety of children a priority.

Every 9-1-1 call involving a missing and/or sexually exploited child must be handled according to best practices. To promote the adoption of these best practices, NCMEC has created the 9-1-1 Call Center Partner Program. The Shelby County EMA/911 has incorporated the best practices in its policies and training material, making a commitment to follow these best practices. Jensen says “We feel that we have always had a good program in place for addressing these types of calls but being able to take advantage of this partnership will further enhance our capability.” He said they owe the accomplishment in large part to the training commitment of their 911 dispatch staff.                       

Every year 800,000 children go missing in the United States. That’s more than 2,000 children per day. Calls about missing and sexually exploited children can become high profile events that have a devastating impact on the victim’s family, your community, and your call center.  Every 9-1-1 call center must have in place policies and training to help ensure every missing and sexually exploited child is given the best chance to be found alive and unharmed. NCMEC is encouraging all Emergency Call Centers to become a NCMEC 9-1-1 Call Center Partner in order to obtain the skills and resources needed to respond to calls pertaining to missing and/or exploited children.

Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O’Brien today (Tuesday) announced the selection of projects in Iowa for loans and grants that will support job creation efforts, business development and strengthen economic growth in rural communities across the state.

Among the five projects receiving funds is the Harrison County Rural Electric Cooperative, which will use a $344,000 loan to construct a 10,000-square-foot central warehouse facility for Grato Holdings, Inc. The new warehouse will consolidate the company’s operations.

O’Brien made the announcement in Clarinda, during a two-day tour in Iowa. The trip began with a groundbreaking ceremony at Manning Regional Healthcare Center, in Manning. USDA Rural Development is providing a $21 million loan to assist with construction of the hospital. Following the ceremony, O’Brien toured the new Clarinda Regional Health Center in Clarinda, Iowa. The health center recently received an $18.9 million USDA loan to help with construction costs.

Funding is being provided through USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program (REDLG), which provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they, in turn, pass through to local businesses (ultimate recipients) for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas. With today’s announcement, the USDA says it is investing nearly $2.5 million to spur economic growth.

A Crescent man was seriously injured during a motorcycle accident Monday afternoon, in Pottawattamie County. Pott. County Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator, Sgt. Dwayne Richie, said 58-year old Ronnie Stuart was flown by LifeNet helicopter to Creighton Medical Center in Omaha following the crash on Mynster Springs Road, northeast of Council Bluffs.

Richie says Stuart was traveling eastbound in the 19-thousand block of Mynster Springs Road on a 2000 Confederate Hellcat motorcycle at around 1:50-p.m., when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The cycle went off to the right and struck the east side of the ditch and came to an abrupt stop. No charges were filed. A report on Stuart’s condition is not available.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A traffic stop early this (Tuesday) morning in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest of a teen on drug charges. Sheriff’s officials say 17-year old Kaylie Hudson, of Red Oak, was pulled over at around 2:20-a.m. The teen was taken into custody on a charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, after items were located in her vehicle. The teen was also processed at the Montgomery County Jail on a juvenile pick up order. Hudson was subsequently transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs, where she will be held pending further court action.

The company that wrote thousands of bad checks to buy gold and other valuables at antique shows on the Iowa border and nationwide has had an “F” rating for years with the Better Business Bureau. Treasure Hunters Roadshow held a four-day event in Nebraska City, Nebraska, earlier this month, drawing flocks of people from both sides of the Missouri River who sold heirlooms — and got rubber checks in return. Jim Hegarty, president and CEO of the region’s Better Business Bureau, says this Roadshow company is bad news. “Unfortunately, they’ve been all over the United States and we’ve received complaints from everywhere about this company,” Hegerty says. In three years, the bureau has recorded more than 200 complaints about the company, all focusing on insufficient funds. Hegarty says the Roadshow had been cooperating with the bureau, until recently.

“There was a while where the company was actually responding to BBB disputes by claiming that replacement checks were being issued,” he says, “but as of last week, the company has ceased responding to these complaints, which is not good news.” The Treasure Hunters Roadshow, owned by THR and Associates of Springfield, Illinois, was in Nebraska City from July 3rd through the 7th, buying jewlery and coins and writing checks to customers. Reports show the company cut 94 checks totaling more than $37,000 at the event south of Omaha. Many of the checks bounced. Amounts ranged from just a few bucks to $19,000. If you’re going to take part in this sort of on-the-spot sales event, he says you’d be wise to do a little research first.

“It is really important if you’re considering selling gold or silver or valuables of any kind — or doing business with any company for any reason — to take time and check them out with the BBB before doing so.” To file a complaint in this case, contact the Nebraska office of the Better Business Bureau or the Otoe County Attorney’s office. Hegarty’s office serves Nebraska, South Dakota and southwest Iowa and has more than 65-hundred member companies in the region. Learn more at the website: iowa.bbb.org

(Radio Iowa)

A Red Oak woman who was released from prison less than two-weeks ago, after her sentence for motor vehicle homicide by reckless driving was reconsidered, will end-up serving the remainder of her original prison sentence. According to Omaha Television station KETV, 4th District Court Judge James Heckerman, Monday, revoked 20-year old Karli Jo Brown’s 5-year probation, after she was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic assault just three-days after being released from prison. Heckerman was the justice who granted Brown’s request to reconsider her sentence, and suspended the two, concurrent 10-year sentences  she was given in November 2011, for her role in an accident that occurred one year earlier. The crash happened while Brown tried to pass two vehicles going uphill in a no-passing zone.

The accident claimed the lives of 4-year old Alex and 5-year old Maliki Todd, from Cumberland. Their mother Nina McNeese, was seriously injured. Investigators said Brown — who lived in Essex at the time — was traveling at approximately 74-miles per hour, and texting her then boyfriend within minutes, or seconds of the accident that happened near Red Oak on Highway 48.

Brown served eight-months of her sentence before asking the judge to reconsider. On July 21st, Red Oak Police responded to a domestic assault call at an apartment occupied by Brown’s husband, Zachary Cox. The couple was arrested after officers found red marks on his face, and scratches on his neck. Both persons said they had been assaulted by the other, but Brown showed no visible marks. Brown had been held in the Montgomery County Jail since her arrest following the domestic incident, on $20,000 bond.

KETV says in revoking Brown’s probation and ordering her to serve her original sentence, Judge Heckerman told the woman she used poor judgment in confronting her husband that weekend, just like she did the day she drove the car that killed the two preschoolers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The condition of Iowa’s crops continues to decline as the drought persists. Even with some rain last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says 46 percent of the corn crop is now in poor or very poor condition. Last week, it was 40 percent.  The USDA says in Monday’s report that 34 percent of Iowa’s soybeans are in poor to very poor condition. Last week, it was 30 percent.
 
Thunderstorms hit on Wednesday and over the weekend, with a statewide average of .70 inches. But Audubon hasn’t had any measurable rain in 36 days. In Atlantic, the last measurable rain was on June 28th, when we received just two one-hundredths (.02) of an inch.

The high temperature for the week was 107 degrees in Donnellson, Fairfield and Keokuk.  Iowa State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says July could be the third hottest and fifth driest July among 140 years of state records.