The Sidney Police Department reports Mills County man was arrested Thursday on a sexual abuse charge. 19-year old Zane S. Lord , of Glenwood, faces a charge of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd degree. The charge was the result of an investigation into an incident which allegedly occured in Sidney. Lord was being held in jail without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

An investigation into the alleged incident was conducted by the Sidney and Tabor Police Departments, along with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s officials in Page County say three people were injured, with one being seriously hurt, during a crash Thursday evening, north of Clarinda. The accident happened at around 6:30-p.m. on 140th Street, just east of J Avenue. Officials say a 1997 Ford Explorer was broken down on the very narrow shoulder of the road and was being jump started by a 2002 Chevy pickup that was parked nose-to-nose with the Explorer.

As a 2001 Hyundai Accent driven by 52-year old Clarence Holste, of Bridgewater, topped the hill, he was blinded by one headlight of pickup, which was also partially on the roadway. Holste wasn’t sure which way to go, so he swerved onto his own shoulder and ended-up hitting the rear of the Explorer. The impact shoved the SUV into the pickup.

Holste suffered non-incapacitating injuries, and was transported to the Shenandoah Memorial Hospital, by Shenandoah EMS. The driver of the Explorer, 62-year old Sharon Montross, of Clarinda, suffered possible injuries, and was transported by Clarinda EMS to the Clarinda Regional Health Care Center. A front seat passenger in the Explorer, 36-year old Heidi Montross, of Clarinda, was seriously injured and flown by LifeNet helicopter to Creighton University Hospital, in Omaha. A report on her condition is not available. No citations have been issued. The Holste vehicle was totalled in the crash, while damage to the Explorer and pickup totaled a little over $5,600.

w/ Ric Hanson

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One person was in listed extremely critical condition after a semitrailer truck crashed into a house in Minden, this (Friday) morning.  Pottawattamie County dispatchers said the semi hit the house at 210 Lincoln Street about 7:15 a.m.  Emergency responders worked to resuscitate one person. The victim was taken to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Dwayne Riche, said the semi was an empty grain-hauler traveling northbound on County Road L-66 from Iowa Highway 83 when it left the roadway to the east and struck the residence. There was no one inside the structure when it was hit,  and the semi didn’t pass through the home, but did knock down some exterior walls.

Pott. County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News it appears that the driver of the semi suffered from a medical condition, possibly a heart attack, prior to the crash. The name of the driver has not yet been released.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Missouri Valley, Iowa (AP) – Federal wildlife reuges that straddle the Missouri River north of Omaha, in Iowa and Nebraska, have been scheduled to re-open to the public next month. The DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges will re-open on January 2nd. Much of the flood damage at DeSoto has been repaired, but the visitor’s center will remain closed for more work. Some hiking trails will not be available.

DeSoto will be closed for the Jan. 11th-Jan. 18th deer hunt, and people will need to use the U.S. Highway 30 entrance to reach the refuge. Visitors to Boyer Chute will have to park at the main entrance gate and enter the refuge on foot. Silt deposited by the floodwaters will prevent driving access to Boyer Chute, indefinitely.

Members of the Cass County Compensation Board met Thursday night at the courthouse in Atlantic, and voted unanimously to approve a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, for a 2.5-percent across the board increase in pay for County officers (Attorney, Auditor, Recorder, Sheriff and Treasurer). The Compensation Board also voted to give Board of Supervisor’s Chair Duane McFadden a $1,000 salary increase. The Board of Supervisors, however, have the final say in the matter, and may act to adjust the percentage and figures as they see fit.

Prior to approving the increase, the Compensation Board discussed current statewide salary increases, which Board Chair Erich Wickman said ranged anywhere from zero to three-percent. They also considered the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which Wickman said indicated the economy was not “real strong,”  and was not a “real surprise.”

Last year, the Compensation Board approved a 2-percent across the board increase, but none was allowed in the year prior.

Police in Harlan say 26-year old Elijah Fecht, of Harlan, was arrested last Saturday (Dec. 10th), on two-counts of 2nd Degree Theft, and one count of Trespassing, in association with scrap metal and equipment reported missing from Superior Midwest Foods. Officials say Fecht was observed allegedly taking stainless steel scrap and equipment from the business. When he was found, Fecht was in possession of the allegdly stolen pieces. Authorities were also called to S.M.F. four days earlier, when employees became aware of the missing items.

And, the Harlan Police Department reports two other men, 45-year old Darvin Grant, of Sumrall, MS, and 37-year old Brian Ramaker, of Central City, NE, were arrested December 10th. Grant was charged with Public Intoxication, while Ramaker faces charges of indecent exposure and urinating in public. The charges were the result of an investigation into a disturbance in front of 1022 6th Street, in Harlan. Both men were brought to the Shelby County Jail. Ramaker was later cited for his offenses and released.

Cass County’s Salvation Army Bell Ringing Campaign is at the half-way mark, and so far, donations are running ahead of last year at this same time. County Chair Duane McFadden said Thursday night the bell ringers had raised a little over $4,500 since the Grand Lighting Ceremony in downtown Atlantic, on November 17th. He says last year they raised a little more than $5,300 altogether. Donations started coming in slowly at first this year, because of the weather on the first Saturday of the effort, but things began to pick up from there, and McFadden hopes they will finish with a fine effort as well.

McFadden says the familiar Red Kettle’s will be in place at Fareway, Hy-Vee, and Wal-Mart in Atlantic, through Christmas Eve. He encourages anyone who wishes to volunteer their time to help ring the bells, to call him as soon as possible, as there are still some open shifts. The two-hour shifts run from 10-a.m. to Noon, Noon until 2-p.m., and from 2-until 4-p.m.  McFadden says for many people, the experience has proven to be very rewarding. He says you can call him at 249-0939. One man who volunteered for the first time, told McFadden afterward that he wanted to volunteer again for the following year. Duane says it’s something you’ll treasure when you volunteer your time for a good cause.

The funds raised by the campaign stay in Cass County.  Over the course of past year, the funds were made available for such programs as the “Shop with a Cop” program, gift cards to local schools, to assist students in meeting various needs, assisting stranded motorists and transient individuals,  fans for distribution by West Central Community Action Center, and, back packs to be distributed by the administrative staff.

This year the Cass County Salvation Army unit also partnered with the Parents as Teachers Program, to purchase car seats for the program’s use.

PHOENIX (AP) — A scathing U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday found that Maricopa County, AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s

Joe Arpaio (file photo, AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

office carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos and held a “systematic disregard” for the Constitution amid a series of immigration crackdowns that have turned the lawman into a prominent national political figure. Arpaio struck a defiant tone in response to the report, calling it a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration that will make Arizona unsafe by keeping illegal immigrants on the street.

The government found that Arpaio’s office committed a wide range of civil rights violations against Latinos, including unjust immigration patrols and jail policies that deprive prisoners of basic Constitutional rights. Arpaio has built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.

Western Iowa 5th District Congressman Steve King said in a statement Thursday evening “I defend Joe Arpaio. I think he needs to continue with the tent city. And I think that the Department of Justice should not be using themselves as a tool, a political tool, to push back against people that are working to enforce the law.”

Cong. Steve King (R), IA

The findings will force Arpaio’s department to make major changes to carry out new policies against discrimination and improve training of staff and officers. Arpaio faces a Jan. 4 deadline for saying whether he wants to work out an agreement to make the changes. If not, the federal government will sue him, possibly putting in jeopardy millions of dollars in federal funding for Maricopa County.

The fallout from the report was swift. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it is severing its ties with Arpaio, stripping his jail officers of their federal power to check whether inmates in county jails are in the county illegally, a move that was meant to speed up deportation. Homeland security officials also are restricting Arpaio’s office from using a program that uses fingerprints collected in local jails to identify illegal immigrants.