The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested on drug charges Friday following a traffic stop. Taken into custody on charges of OWI 1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or Subsequent Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving Under Suspension, was 28-year old Jason Andrew Miller, of Atlantic.  And, 32-year old Ryan Vincent Lee Richards, of Elk Horn, NE, was arrested on charges of Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Both men were taken to the Cass County Jail where they were released on their own recognizance the next day.

Griswold School District Superintendent Dana Kunze said today that the students and staff at the Lewis Elementary building were evacuated for a short time this morning, after a strange, unidentified smell was noticed in and around the building.  The smell was first noticed at around 10-a.m. Kunze says following the procedure for a gas leak evacuation, the students and staff walked to a safe location to await the investigation of the elementary school to be complete.

An employee of Black Hills Energy arrived within minutes,  and eliminated the possibility a natural gas leak had occurred. With the building cleared and the odor having dissipated students and staff were allowed to return to the building at 10:45-a.m. Kunze says the source of the odor was a combination of “agriculturally-related,” and a dry drain. He says when drains dry-up, the trap system doesn’t work as it should, so there was an internal smell.

Kunze says the evacuation went perfectly. Parents were notified of the incident through the school’s text message alert system.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County are asking for your help in locating the person or persons responsible for a break-in early Friday morning at the Oakland Pharmacy. Sheriff Jeff Danker says an alarm was activated at the business at 12:22-a.m.  Missing from the pharmacy were the painkillers Morphine, Methadone, and Oxycodone. Danker told KJAN News it appears the persons responsible for the break-in only wanted the narcotics, because they targeted those items and left as quickly as possible.

No other items or cash were taken. Danker says the burglar made entry to the store through the front door. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Pott County Sheriff’s Office at 712-890-2200.  The sheriff suspects the culprits may try to sell the drugs, as opposed to using them for their personal benefit.

An early morning raid Sunday at a residence in rural Guthrie County resulted in one arrest and the confiscation of methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports 53-year old Dennis Carroll Glenn was arrested on felony charges of: Manufacturing Methamphetamine/5-grams or less; Possession of a Controlled Substance/Meth – 3rd offense; Possession of a precursor/Lithium; Possession of a precursor/Anhydrous ammonia, and Possession of a precursor/Pseudoephedrine.  Glenn also faces aggravated misdemeanor charges of Possession of Marijuna/3rd offense, Probited Acts, and a simple misdemeanor charge of Possession of drug paraphernalia. He was being held in the Guthrie County Jail on $100,000 bond.

The arrest followed the execution of a search warrant at Glenn’s residence about 5-miles southwest of Guthrie Center. The search was conducted by deputies with the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office and Reserves, Guthrie Center Police, the Audubon County K-9 unit, and Greene County Sheriff’s deputies.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports numerous arrests and a couple of accidents took place over the past few weeks. Most recently (November 20th), 34-year old David Allen Keeton, of Sidney, was arrested on 2 counts of simple domestic abuse/simple assault, and obstruction of emergency communications charges.  Keeton appeared in court November 21st and was released on bond.

That same day, Jacob Welchans, of Farragut, suffered minor injuries during an accident on Manti Road. Officials say Welchans was driving a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser east on Manti Road, when he swerved to miss a deer. The vehicle entered a ditch and rolled once, coming to rest on its top. Welchans was transported to the Shenandoah Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County say a northwest Iowa man was arrested Saturday on drug charges. 40-year old Howard Reed Wright, of Estherville, was arrested at around 1:30-p.m. Saturday on charges of Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Xanax. Wright was cited for the offenses and is scheduled to appear in court December 8th.

And, 50-year old Robert Charles Atkinson, of Atlantic, was arrested Thursday night on a charge of Public Intoxication/3rd offense. The charge stemmed from an incident which allegedly occurred at an Aududon business. Atkinson was scheduled to appear in court today (Monday).

w/ Ric Hanson

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A survey finds starting salaries in Iowa will rise a little over three-percent next year, slightly under the national average. Mike Gremmer is a regional vice president for Robert Half International, the recruiting firm that produced the study. Gremmer, who’s based in Des Moines, says starting salaries nationwide will rise about three-point-four percent next year, but the numbers for Iowa are a little lower.

“Accounting and financial positions are looking to increase about 3.3%, salaries across the board between IT, creative marketing, legal, administrative support, all combined would be about 3.2%,” Gremmer says. “Our technology, a little higher, at about 4.3%.” Some professions will see better boosts, according to the agency’s 2012 Salary Survey, including business systems analysts, financial analysts and staff accountants. With increasing demand on websites, email and other information technologies, he says I-T positions will see the biggest gains in Iowa and nationwide.

Gremmer says, “In the technology arena, your systems and network engineers, developers, those with .net and java skills, data warehousing, business intelligence professionals, these would range upwards of 5.5 to 6.7% increases on their starting salaries.” He says there are two key areas where most workers are virtually guaranteed a good salary.

“Certainly the IT is a very good arena to start in and continue to grow with,” Gremmer says. “Accounting and finance has continued on and it’s going to be a very important piece of a company’s ability to grow and to maintain their growth.” Parts of the Midwest have been well insulated from some of the impact of the recession the past few years. While Iowa’s salary numbers may be slightly below the national average, he says that may be because they weren’t as negatively impacted by the economy as those in other regions.

More info at http://www.rhi.com/SalaryGuides

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

The first of what are expected to be several public meetings with regard to the future of the Montgomery County Jail will take place Wednesday evening, in Red Oak. The meeting is being held in the Montgomery County Courthouse basement meeting room, and is under the direction of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

According to County Auditor Ted Schoonover, the purpose of the meeting is to gather input from residents of the county on what should be done with the old jail, and will be held as construction on a new jail/public safety center – which was approved by the voters in August, 2010 — continues. Some ideas might include demolishing the old structure, save it, or selling it. Schoonover doesn’t expect any decisions to be made at the meeting.

Schoonover says the fact the current jail is listed on the National Register of Historic Places will have no bearing on whether the county decides to preserve the structure, or demolish it.

w/ Ric Hanson

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