The Tri-Center Preschool in Neola has earn a top rating from the Iowa Department of Human Services. It’s the first such educational facility in Pottawattamie County to receive a 5-star rating. Three Tri-Center Preschool teachers made the decision to participate in the Iowa Quality Rating System (QRS), to make sure they were doing what was possible to become one of the best preschools in the area.

The Iowa QRS is a voluntary program in which providers are rated on a scale of 1-to 5, as they work to meet strict guidelines covering various criteria. Dawn Powers, QRS Specialist and child care consultan, told the Omaha World-Herald, that Tri-Center “worked very hard to receive the level 5 rating,” which demonstrates a “desire to improve the quality of care and education the children in Pottawattamie County receive.”

The QRS program was implemented in 2006, when parents went to the Iowa Legislature for help in determining preschool quality. A provider who earns 1 star has met Iowa’s registration or licensing standards. A 2-star provider has received additional training and made the first steps toward improving quality. A 3-to 4-star rating is based on professional development, health and safety, training and improvement, community partnerships and leadership, and staff evaluations.

Powers said parents should feel good about leaving their children at a 5-star childcare center, because they will be safe, sanitary and provide a quality environment for learning.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a Council Bluffs man was arrested Wednesday night on a burglary charge. 48-year old William Marty Shepard was taken into custody in Council Bluffs, in connection with an investigation into the January 1st burglary of a residence located in the Waubonsie Ridge housing development. Shepard was being held in the Fremont County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

Greenfield Police Chief Austin O’Brien says there were at least three victims of alleged hazing by students on the wrestling team at the Nodaway Valley High School, in Greenfield. Two members of the high school wrestling team were arrested Tuesday on sexual abuse charges. The arrests follow an investigation that began January 4th after a parent of a Nodaway Valley wrestler reported her son was the possible victim on an assault in the high school’s wrestling room in mid December.

Police then learned of two other potential victims, but their investigation was complicated by witnesses who initially refused to come forward and make a statement to investigators. O’Brien says the assaults were “sexual in nature” and were “directly related to some type of punishment toward the victims.”  

Eighteen-year-old Mikel Feick and an unnamed 17-year-old juvenile were charged with second-degree sexual abuse. Both have been removed from the wrestling team, but there’s no word if they’re still students at Nodaway Valley High School. Feick was booked into the Adair County Jail in Greenfield, and later released on $25,000 bond. The 17-year old male was being held in the juvenile detention facility in Eldora, on $25,000 bond.

This is the second known investigation in recent weeks involving inappropriate conduct by members of an Iowa high school wrestling team. Police have submitted simple assault charges against three members of the Lisbon High School wrestling squad in connection with an incident that took place in a locker room. The Linn County Attorney’s office is reviewing that case.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold a special session Friday morning in Greenfield, to hear several departmental budget requests. During the meeting, which begins at 9-a.m. the Board will hear Fiscal Year 2013 budget requests from: County Attorney Mike Maynes; Custodian Rich Wallace; Conservationist Kevin Blazek; Fair Board representative Teresa Davison; VA Coordinator Donna Bittner; Library representative Lillian Nichols; Steve Bolie, representating the Area 14 Agency on Aging andSouthern Iowa Trolley; and, Environmental Health Specialist/County Sanitarian, Steve Patterson.

The Adair County Supervisors will then recess and reconvene at the Adair County Public Safety Center/Jail Conference Room, for a special presentation on a Geographic Information System (GIS), from Jan Bowles, with the Schneider Corporation.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports a Cass County man faces drug charges, following an investigation into an incident which occurred January 6th, in rural Audubon County. 38-year old Joseph John King, of Marne, was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The incident whereby the drugs were found allegedly took place in the 11-hundred block of 150th Street, in Audubon County. King appeared in magistrate court this (Thursday) morning.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report an Elk Horn teen was injured during a rollover accident Wednesday night south of Kimballton. 17-year old Daniel Jacob Brown was transported by private vehicle to the Cass County Memorial Hospital following the crash, which happened on County Road M-66 near the intersection with Sharon Road, at around 10:30-p.m.  Officials say Brown was traveling south on M-66 when he lost control of the 1993 Chevy pickup he was driving, after he applied to brakes in order to avoid a deer on the road. The pickup entered a ditch and began to roll. Damage to the truck was estimated at $3,500. The accident remains under investigation.

The FBI is investigating a bank robbery Wednesday at the Citizens First National Bank in the northwest Iowa town of Early. According to Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure, the robber entered the bank at 9:43am and demanded cash from the tellers. The suspect did not display or threaten the tellers with a weapon. The suspect fled on foot from the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries were reported.

The suspect is described as a white male, who is six feet tall and weighs between 200 and 225 pounds. He was wearing a gray stocking cap, dark colored sunglasses, blue hooded sweatshirt that was on backwards, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. He had a light colored beard.

This is the second bank robbery in Sac County in the past two weeks. Iowa State Bank in Odebolt was robbed on December 29th. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sac County Sheriff’s Office at 712-662-7127, or the FBI at 402-493-8688.

(Radio Iowa)

Additional complaints have been filed against a Council Bluffs anesthesiologist accused last month of sexual misconduct and professional incompetency. Three women have stepped forward to accuse 48-year old Dr. Michael Prescher of wrongdoing. The women alleged Prescher treated them when his office was closed and no other staff were present. They also alleged: that he gave them an I-V sedation before he administered pain management injections; they were unconscious for lengthy periods of time; and, that Prescher did not charge them for the procedures, even though the women had insurance. One of the women also alleges Prescher released her to drive home alone, while she was under the influence of sedation.

The new charges led the Iowa Board of Medicine to amend the charges against Prescher, who lives in Omaha. The Board issued an emergency order in December, suspending Prescher’s license, for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct and professional incompetency, for performing injection procedures for pain treatment on two female patients who were under sedation. Prescher denied any wrongdoing in association with the first two allegations. Council Bluffs Police conducted an investigation into the initial allegations made last month, and concluded that the investigations should end without any formal criminal filings. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said the evidence gathered by police was insufficient to secure a conviction against Prescher.

Under terms of the emergency order, Prescher is prohibited from practicing medicine until the matter is resolved. He’s scheduled to appear before the Board during a hearing today in Des Moines. The hearing is not open to the public.

w/ Ric Hanson

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