While three southwest Iowa counties (Mills, Montgomery & Pottawattamie) have instituted a burn ban, or plan to do so, Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNeese said there are no immediate plans to call for a burn ban in Cass County. McNeese said Cass County Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon has consulted with the district fire chiefs, and has determined there is no need to call for a ban on burning right now. McNeese said that doesn’t mean residents in the county shouldn’t take the necessary precautions before conducting any open burning. He says if the fires start to get out of hand or if there are a rash of uncontrolled burns, then a ban might be put into effect, but that’s not something they want to do right now. McNeese asks residents to use common sense and contact their district fire chief or department ahead of time, so crews know where to respond if the need arises.

The Iowa Fire Marshals Office has granted a request by Mills County Emergency Management, for the issuance of a burn ban. The ban on opening burning takes effect at 10-a.m Thursday, Feb. 2nd, and will remain in place until further notice.

Authorities in Page County are investigating recent incidents of theft and Criminal Mischief. Sheriff’ Lyle Palmer says an Essex man reported Sunday, someone stole about 40-gallons of fuel from his property in rural Page County, after damaging a padlock. Jim Long, of Essex, said the fuel was valued at $160, while the padlock had an approximate value of $10.

And, Braddyville Mayor Kelvin Kirchner reported Sunday, someone broke the door knob off of the east door to the Braddyville City Hall. The incident occurred sometime between January 23rd and the 28th. The culprit did not gain entry to the building, however. Damage was estimated at $40.  Both incidents remain under investigation.

Two people were arrested in Atlantic, Tuesday. According to the Police Department, 21-year old Dean Stevens, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Simple Assault with Injury. And, 18-year old Curtis McCoy, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for OWI/1st Offense. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic P-D says also, no injuries were reported following an accident Tuesday morning at West 6th and Palm Streets. Officials say vehicles driven by Kenneth Kelly and Matthew Prall, both of Atlantic, collided when Kelly attempted to go around Prall’s vehicle, while Prall was making a left hand turn into a driveway near the intersection. Both vehicles were traveling east on West 6th Street. Kelly was given a verbal warning for prohibited passing. Damage from the collision amounted to $2,500.

An Atlantic man was one of 30 people appointed today by Governor Terry Branstad, to the Judicial Nominating Commission. Robert Camblin and H. David Boettger, of Harlan, were appointed to the Judicial Nominating Commission for District 4. And, Bill Horan, of Rockwell City, along with Ann Trimble-Ray, of Early, were appointed to the J-N-C, in District 2-B.  The appointments take effect today (February 1, 2012), and are not subject to Senate confirmation. The State Judicial Nominating Commission interviews applicants and selects nominees for appointment to the Iowa Supreme Court as well as the Iowa Court of Appeals.

The commission is comprised of:   A chair, who is the senior justice of the supreme court, other than the chief justice; Seven Lawyer commissioners elected by lawyers; and Seven non-lawyer commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate.  All commissioners, but the chair, serve for a term of six years.  Within sixty days of receiving the notice from the secretary of state, the commission must submit the names of nominees to the governor. The commission selects three nominees for appointment to the Supreme Court, and three nominees for appointment to the Court of Appeals.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Cass County Engineer Charles Marker said Tuesday,  work is scheduled to begin this Summer on asphalt overlay projects for certain Farm-To-Market qualified roads. During the Board of Supervisors meeting,  Marker said a State bid letting was held January 18th in Des Moines, for an asphalt overlay project on Cass County Road M-56, north of Marne. There were two bids for the project. The Supervisors approved a bid from Henningsen Construction, amounting to nearly $1.8-million, for the 3-inch asphalt overlay project. Marker said the contract requires work to begin no later than August 13th. The contractor will have up to 50 working days to complete the project, regardless of when they start.

Marker said the next project in his 5-year construction plan, which is similar to the M-56 overlay, is for the Lewis road, from Highway 71 west, toward Lewis. Marker said they will borrow ahead out of the Farm to Market account to pay for the project, the plans for which have not yet been formulated. Marker explained how the Farm-to-Market account works to repair area roads commonly used to bring crops to local elevators. He said money for the repairs is generated through the Road Use Tax Fund. The amount is kept in Des Moines to do only those projects which are termed “Farm-to-Market.”

Marker says the County receives quarterly reports from the Iowa DOT, informing the County how much money is in the account. He says as of December 31st, 2011, Cass County had $171,000 in the F-to-M Account. The County receives just under $200,000 per quarter for F-to-M roads, or about $1-million per year. He says the County can borrow as much as 5-years ahead from that account, to combine and handle major road projects, as long as the account is not borrowed on for more than 5-years at a time. He says Cass County has a total contract amounting to nearly $1.18-million, which means the County has a negative balance because it has borrowed nearly two-years ahead.

In his five-year construction plan for Farm-to-Market roads, Marker says he has to show the County will be back in the black within two-years, which would allow the County to start borrowing ahead again. That would allow for the completion of a middle segment of M-56, from Atlantic Airport Road G-30, south to Highway 6.

w/ Ric Hanson

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A big jump in a monthly survey index suggests more economic growth is ahead for nine Midwest and Plains states.  The Business Conditions Index rose to 55.9 in January, compared with 50.0 in December. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the December report suggested the region’s economy was slowing down because of debt concerns in Europe and the lukewarm U.S. economy. But he says it appears now that December’s “tepid reading was due to seasonal or nonrecurring factors.”

The survey uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Goss says that any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor.  The survey of supply managers covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

A Red Oak man was taken into custody early this (Wednesday) morning, on a warrant out of Montgomery County, for Contempt of Court/Illegal Resistance. Red Oak Police say 20-year old James LeRoy Christensen, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested just after 3-a.m.  Christensen was being held in the Montgomery County Jail, on $13,000 bond.