The National Weather Service Valley, NE Office and the Montgomery and Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agencies will conduct their annual Severe Weather Awareness week to promote Severe Weather Safety to citizens of both counties during the week of March 19^th –to the 23rd, 2012. The Annual TORNADO DRILL DAY will be Wednesday, March 21st. (In the event of severe weather, the drill will be postponed to Thursday, March 22nd). The drill will begin at 10-am with the outdoor warning sirens activated at approximately 10:10-am. The test warning will be valid for 20 minutes. All citizens, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities and public facilities are encouraged to participate in this drill by practicing what you would do in a real Tornado Warning. 

The Tornado Drill will only be conducted for the Omaha/Valley Weather Service Warning Area which includes SW Iowa Counties of Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby Counties. The Des Moines Weather Service will hold their annual Severe Weather Awareness week April 2-6, 2012, with the annual Tornado drill on April 4^th.

On the day of the drill, the Montgomery County Communications Center will activate all outdoor warning sirens for the cities of Red Oak, Stanton, Villisca, Elliott and Grant, along with the indoor warning system for participating agencies. Residences in these communities are encouraged to contact your local City Hall or local Fire Departments should their sirens not properly sound during the drill.

The Pott County 911 Center will activate outdoor warning sirens for the communities of Avoca, Carson, Carter Lake, Council Bluffs, Crescent, Macedonia, McClelland, Neola, Oakland and Underwood. Citizens in other Pottawattamie County communities are encouraged to contact their City Hall or local Fire Department to see if sirens will sound during the drill. Both Emergency Management Agencies remind citizens that outdoor warning sirens have limited to no effectiveness when you are in your home or traveling in your vehicle.

Pottawattamie County residents and residents of communities in the County are strongly encouraged to sign up for the Code Red Emergency Notification System. The service is free of charge and you will receive a phone call (home and/or cell) when severe weather threatens. Residents can sign up for the service, free of charge at www.pottcounty.com.

(updated 3:39-p.m.)

A former, long-time Cumberland-Anita-Massena School District teacher was arrested Thursday on  a warrant for one felony count of Sexual Exploitation by a Counselor, Therapist, or School Employee, and 49-Aggravated Misdemeanor counts of Sexual Exploitation by a Counselor, Therapist or School Employee. Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren says 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes, of Anita, was booked into the Cass County Jail, posted a $50,000 bond, and was released.

William Glenn Foulkes (mugshot courtesy Cass Co. Sheriff's Office)

McLaren says the arrest followed a verbal complaint his office received about two-weeks ago. The complaint says -quote – “On several occasions between August 1st 2009, and Nov. 11, 2010, Foulkes engaged in sexual conduct with a minor female while teaching the student in a math program. During these tutoring sessions, Foulkes would at times, kiss the minor female student on the cheek, mouth and breasts. These incidents occurred at the Anita Elementary School, Foulkes’ residence, and Lake Anita State Park. The Sheriff says on every occasion, Foulkes was acting in a teaching capacity and was employed by the CAM School District.”

The complaint says Foulkes “Engaged in a pattern, practice or scheme of conduct in an attempt to arouse or satisfy his desires.”

CAM School District Superintendent Steve Pelzer said Foulkes was a Talented and Gifted (TAG) Math program teacher with the Anita Community School District from 1969 until his resignation in November, 2010. He says at the time Foulkes’ resignation was accepted, “The School Board had no knowledge of any allegations of criminal misconduct.” Pelzer would not make any further comments regarding the allegations.

Sheriff McLaren says an investigation into Foulkes’ alleged activities remains ongoing.

A task force put together to explore ways to improve and cut costs in Iowa’s legal system has submitted its final report. Iowa Supreme Court assistant counsel, Timothy Eckley, says one of the recommendations is to create a two tiered system.”For a tiered system, you would draw a line at a certain dollar threshold value — say 50-thousand dollars — and cases below the 50-thousand dollar limit might have some streamlined processes built into the litigation process,” Eckley explains. “Whereas cases over the amount -whatever the amount may be — more complex cases could have different procedures in place that would be more suitable to that kind of case.” Another recommendation is to set up courts to handle only business cases.

“The idea is, if you have a judge or panel of judges that are experienced in that kind of law, or dedicated to that kind of case, they can move those cases along more efficiently,” Eckley says. Other recommendations include assigning one judge to one case throughout the process, using more video and teleconferencing to cut costs, and limiting the amount paid to expert witnesses. Eckley says some of the ideas have been tried in Iowa on a pilot basis, and all were taken from other court systems as the panel looked at many possibilities for improving the system. The next step is in the hands of the Supreme Court.

“The court will review the report and make some determinations as to whether there are recommendations in the report that are able to be implemented, whether there are sections of the report that recommend there be more study in a particular area or not,” according to Eckley. He says there’s no timeline set for moving ahead with any of the recommendations at this time, and some of the proposals could be implemented by the courts without any changes from the legislature.
“It depends, some things might be able to be done with court rule, some things might require legislation,” Eckley says.

The Civil Justice Reform Task Force included a 14-member steering committee appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court, and 71 other members representing business, law, labor, medicine, industry and consumer groups. The task force’s report is available on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at: www.iowacourts.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes, of Anita, was arrested Thursday on a felony warrant for one-count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor by a School Employee, and 49-Aggravated Misdemeanor counts of Sexual Exploitation. Foulkes was booked into the Cass County Jail, posted a $50,000 bond, and was released. Additional details are currently not available.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Two Iowa felons were sentenced to federal prison this week for separate weapons charges. Fifty-eight-year-old Charles Petro, of Winfield, was sentenced to more than four years in prison. Meanwhile, 43-year-old Darwin Zoch, of Storm Lake, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Both were convicted of being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Board of Regents will meet next week in Iowa City to consider building designs on four major University of Iowa projects. The panel will also discuss proposed academic cuts at the University of Northern Iowa.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 45-year-old man had to be taken to the hospital early this morning after he was hurt in a garage fire near a Cedar Rapids apartment complex. Two vehicles in the garage were destroyed and two others parked outside were damaged.

PELLA, Iowa (AP) – Organizers of the Tulip Time festival in Pella are worrying about the mild late-winter weather. The annual celebration runs from May 3rd until the 5th, but all three tulip varieties have already broken from the ground. It usually takes six weeks from the time tulips break through the ground until they’re at their peak.

w/ Ric Hanson

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AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-ADAMS-TAYLOR-COUNTIES
 650 AM CDT FRI MAR 16 2012
 
 …DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING…
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING.  WIDESPREAD FOG WITH VISIBILITIES OF A QUARTER MILE  OR LESS HAS DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN IOWA. CONDITIONS SHOULD BEGIN  TO IMPROVE BY 900 AM OR 1000 AM HOWEVER WITH VISIBILITIES OF AT  LEAST SEVERAL MILES BY THAT TIME. 

FOG WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES AND PRODUCE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS EARLY THIS MORNING.

540 AM CDT FRI MAR 16 2012

Counties:  EMMET-PALO ALTO-POCAHONTAS-SAC-CALHOUN-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-CASS-ADAMS-TAYLOR-  

DENSE FOG OVER PARTS OF WESTERN IOWA THIS MORNING:

FOG HAS DEVELOPED OVER MUCH OF WESTERN IOWA THIS MORNING AND IS
EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST 900 AM. THE FOG WILL BE DENSE IN SPOTS AS WELL WITH VISIBILITIES DOWN TO A QUARTER MILE OR LESS. MOTORISTS SHOULD ALLOW FOR EXTRA TRAVEL TIME EARLY THIS MORNING AND DRIVE CAUTIOUSLY WITH INCREASED DISTANCE BETWEEN VEHICLES.

COUNTIES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MONTGOMERY-PAGE.  524 AM CDT FRI MAR 16 2012
 
 …DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM CDT THIS MORNING…
 
 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A DENSE  FOG ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM CDT THIS MORNING.  EXPECT VISIBILITIES AS LOW AS ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS IN MANY ACROSS ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. BE PREPARED FOR RAPID FLUCTUATIONS IN VISIBILITY IF
TRAVELING THIS MORNING AND ALLOW FOR EXTRA FOLLOWING ROOM IN BETWEEN VEHICLES. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY MEANS VISIBILITIES WILL FREQUENTLY BE
REDUCED TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE. IF DRIVING…SLOW DOWN…USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS…AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU.