An Audubon man was arrested Thursday night, on drug charges. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year old Joseph Mark Zaiger was taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m. on charges of Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The arrest stems from a traffic stop on Highway 71, in Brayton. Zaiger was cited for the offenses and released, with orders to appear in court on January 5th.

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Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will be in Atlantic and Council Bluffs this Sunday. His stop in Atlantic, during which he will discuss jobs and the economy, is scheduled to occur at 2:15-p.m., Sunday at the Family Table Restaurant (609 W. 7th St.).  Romney’s visit to Council Bluffs, Sunday, will include a rally at Bayliss Park Hall (530 1^st Avenue), at 5:05-p.m.

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A Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department K-9 who was hurt when he was hit by a car in 2010, will be retired this weekend after six-years of service to the county. K-9 “Raven’s”  last day as a member of the sheriff’s department is January 1^st.  Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright announced the news during this week’s meeting of the County Board of Supervisors. Raven was struck by a car in October 2010, and never fully recovered from a compound leg fracture he suffered during the accident. He also suffers from arthritis in his injured leg. Arganbright says even though Raven underwent surgery to repair the damage to his leg, the dog was unable to continue with the force. He’s served the county for six years. 

Raven’s training was paid for entirely through donations, and cost about $10,000. His after-accident surgery exceeded $4,000, and was also fully funded by donations. The Sheriff said Raven will not be replaced any time soon. He hopes someone will step forward and adopt the dog, whom he says served the County well, and needs to be treated right, in his retirement years.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say a Glenwood man was cited for Failure to Yield, following a two-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon, about 4-miles north of Villisca. Authorities say a 1995 Toyota Camry driven by 49-year old Bruce Fitzwater, of Villisca, was traveling north on Highway 71, when a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am driven by 24-year old Tyler Wolfe, of Glenwood, exited westbound Highway 34 and didn’t see Fitzwater’s car. Wolfe attempted to turn south onto Highway 71 from the stop sign, when his vehicle pulled into the Toyota’s path.

The accident happened at around 3:35-p.m.  Damage from the incident amounted to $3,200. No injuries were reported.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will make a couple of final public stops in western Iowa Saturday, just three days before the Iowa caucuses.

Newt Gingrich

 Gingrich will start off the day with a “Newt’s Jobs and Growth Bus Tour” event at Tish’s Restaurant in Council Bluffs (at 1207 S. 35th St.), beginning at 9-a.m. Afterward, he’ll will hold a similar meeting in Atlantic at the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company (at 4 East 2nd Street), beginning  at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Today (Friday), Gingrich will be in Creston at 5-p.m. for an event at the Adams Street Espresso & Soda Shoppe (213 W. Adams St.), and in Shenandoah at M’s Fine Dining, 504 W. Sheridan Ave. at 8 p.m. Both of those events are open to the public as well.

A very busy year is drawing to a close for the American Red Cross chapter that covers western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Agency spokeswoman Danelle Schlegelmilch says they were on their toes all through 2011. “We responded to over 400 disasters in our area and we also sent 200 local volunteers out throughout the country to help out with the 137 big disasters that we had,” Schlegelmilch says. “Tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and a little bit of everything under the sun this year.” She says by far, the largest and longest disaster they had to deal with was the four-month Missouri River flood which socked the region.

“That really did hit us hard,” Schlegelmilch says. “We had 11 shelters open. We served over 23,000 meals and snacks and gave out 13,000 clean-up kits and clean-up items so it definitely kept us busy this summer.” The Red Cross provided nearly 300 people with overnight lodging at the shelters during the flood. Also during the year, Schlegelmilch says they responded to several tornadoes that plowed through neighborhoods and towns.

“We had volunteers respond to Mapleton, Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, pretty much all over the South wherever those tornados hit, we had local volunteers who stepped up and put on their Red Cross vests and went out and served,” she says. “We really want to thank everyone for all of their hard work and dedication this year.” Schlegelmilch says the region is very fortunate so many people volunteer their time to those needing assistance. The Omaha-based chapter has more than one-thousand active volunteers.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Presidential contender Ron Paul today (Thursday) called for a full audit of the Federal Reserve system as part of his plan to overhaul the U-S economy and reduce Federal Government spending by $1-Trillion during his first year in office. Speaking before an overflow crowd in Atlantic at the Cass County Community Center, the Congressman from Texas also said a new monetary system is needed in this country.

Ron Paul (R) - TX speaks at the Cass County Community Center

He says there is no oversight of the Fed. Congress, according to Paul can spend Trillions of dollars and hundreds of millions, but the Fed spent $15-trillion on the bank and mortgage company bailouts without any oversight by Congress. That errant spending, he says, is what contributed to the current financial crisis, and why he wants an audit of the Fed Reserve. Paul said one of the ways we could reduce spending is by eliminating the Education Department. Another, is reducing the role our military plays overseas. He says he would start by cutting spending overseas first, which can be accomplished by changing foreign policy.

His policy would include stepping back from being the world’s policeman, and nation building. The money that would be saved by reducing those roles, he says, would allow a strengthening of our country’s defense at home. He says he would bring all of our troops home, from wherever they may be. He says he sees no purpose for troops to be maintained overseas, when they could be here at home and spending money here. He said also, there needs to be changes in the tax code to bring U-S companies who have moved their operations overseas, back to America.

That would also include an elimination of the inheritance tax. Paul said he would protect Social Security however, and keep the checks coming to those who need it most, such as the elderly and poor who are dependent on it for medical care. Paul spoke for about 45-minutes before answering a few questions, and moving on to Council Bluffs.