The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says two people were arrested Friday in connection with the thefts of tractor weights and batteries from numerous pieces of farm equipment in Fremont County, and northwest Missouri. 23-year old Joshua Robert Dasovich and his future mother-in-law, 42-year old Rhonda Kay Corbett, both of Council Bluffs, faces charges of Conspiracy, Trespassing and Possession of Burglary tools. Each faces 15 counts of burglary, 18-counts of theft, and eight counts of Criminal Mischief.

Sheriff’s officials say Dasovich and Corbett allegedly broke into at least 14 different, empty farmhouses and machine sheds. The pair allegedly stole copper from air conditioning units and furnaces, propane tanks and other items. Some of the stolen tractor weights were recovered at Alters Salvage, in Council Bluffs.

The couple was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $5,000 cash bond, each. The Atchinson County Missouri Sheriff’s Office also has requested a “hold” on both suspects.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports  asphalt resurfacing and bridge construction work on northbound Interstate 29 north of Iowa Highway 2 will require shifting traffic to one lane in each direction in the southbound lanes at two locations beginning Monday, April 2n, weather permitting. The asphalt resurfacing project is between Iowa Highway 2 (exit 10) and Fremont County Road J-34 (exit 15) near Percival. The bridge construction work is between Fremont County Road J-24 (exit 20) near Thurman and Fremont County Road J-10 (exit 24) near Bartlett. A 16-foot width lane restriction will be in place. The $6.9 million dollar resurfacing and $1.2 million dollar bridge projects are expected to be completed by late summer.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the owner of a large amount of commercial telephone cable. The cable was recovered March 11th by Sheriff’s deputies, with the assistance of the Tabor Police Department. Anyone with information as to the owner of the cable, is asked to call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department at 1-800-432-9240.

Sheriff’s Officials report also, Corey Ware, of Thurman, was arrested March 11th on felony charges of Domestic Assault and burglary. The burglary charge they said, was not related to the discovery of the telephone cable. Ware was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $6,000 bond.

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Applications for the 3rd Annual Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund Scholarships are now being accepted through April 15. Criteria for selection requires a GPA of 2.5 or above, plans to attend a vocational or four year college, and participation in extra-curricular activities, volunteer work, or employment. Two $750 scholarships will be awarded to graduating Atlantic High School seniors during Class Night on May 2. Applications are available at the Atlantic High School guidance office and online at www.atlanticiaschools.org.

Trevor Frederickson

The scholarships are presented in memory of Frederickson, a 2006 graduate of Atlantic High School and 2008 graduate of Southwestern Community College in Creston, who lost his life in a 2009 fire. Proceeds from the annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament fund the scholarships along with a wide variety of other donations totaling over $35,000 to date. For more information about the Fund and it’s activities, follow the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund on Facebook.

The National Weather Service says there is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms in the KJAN listening area this afternoon and tonight. The main threat at this time appears to be from large hail and damaging winds, and, although heavy rain is also possible (1-2″), the flooding threat remains low.  Spotter activation may be needed today and tonight across portions of west central and southwest Iowa.

Periods of showers and thunderstorms can be expected Tuesday through Thursday. The Weather Service says there is a low chance of an isolated thunderstorm across southern Iowa Tuesday, but the widespread threat for severe weather remains minimal.

The former publishers of a Denison Newspaper who died in 2009 bequeathed more than $600,000 to seven western Iowa communities and several area organizations.  According to the Omaha World-Herald, the monies were left in a trust by the estate of Richard and Deloris Knowles, who owned the Denison Bulletin & Review, which they sold in 1998, and is now owned by the Omaha World-Herald Company.

Among the towns which received the private funds in February, was: Charter Oak…$26,389; the town of Rickets, $51,000. Other communities benefitting from the trust fund include: Manilla, Dow City, Westside, and Manning.

Several organizations also received a share of the funds, including: the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church of Denison; the Donna Reed Foundation; the Denison Community School District; the Iowa Newspaper Foundation; and, First United Methodist Church of Denison.

The match-ups for Iowa’s June primary voting have been set, but a general election show-down in a congressional race heated up over the weekend. Christie Vilsack is unopposed in her race to win the Democratic Party’s nomination in Iowa’s fourth congressional district and Steve King, the Republican Congressman she hopes to defeat in November, has challenged Vilsack to six debates. “I have a long record and it’s full of thousands of votes and probably thousands of public positions that I’ve taken over the years — no shortage of figuring out where I stand and it’s not going to change, by the way,” King said last Thursday. “This is going to be a long process to try to figure out where she stands. That’s what I expect and so there’ll be a lot of questions to ask her.” Christie Vilsack’s campaign manager says it’s “refreshing” that King “has acknowledged…that Iowans deserve a debate, something he has avoided since taking office.” King has not debated a Democratic opponent since he became a congressman in 2003.

(by O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press