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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No injuries were reported following two accidents over the weekend here in Cass County. One of the crashes happened at around 8:55-p.m. Sunday, on Interstate 80 near the Anita exit. According to dispatch reports, a vehicle rolled into the median after the driver swerved to miss a deer in the road.

Another accident happened Friday around around 11:40-p.m. on Highway 83, just west of Highway 173. Dispatch reports indicated a vehicle had ended-up on its side in the ditch.

No other details are currently available concerning those two accidents.

Officials with Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell’s office announced late Sunday night the 77-year old democrat from Des Moines will hold a roundtable discussion tonight at Iowa Western Community College in Atlantic, about issues facing community colleges. The meeting takes place from 5-to 6-p.m. at IWCC, located at 705 Walnut Street, in Atlantic.

Congressman Leonard Boswell (D) - from Des Moines

A United States representative in the 112th Congress, Boswell said earlier this month that he has not given thought about retiring, considering his very long experience both in military and politics.  He will challenge Representative Tom Latham for the state’s redrawn third Congressional District, next year.
Boswell was elected to office in 1996, and has served in Congress for twelve years, and the army for twenty years.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a former Army officer accused of breaking into a Council Bluffs apartment and assaulting a woman. The court rejected the appeal from former Lt. Col. Robert Butts, who claimed there were several problems with his 2010 jury trial. Butts was sentenced to 25 years in prison for seven charges, including second-degree kidnapping. Butts was accused of breaking into a woman’s apartment on Nov. 11, 2009, which was Veteran’s Day, and holding her at gunpoint. The woman’s sister, who was hiding in a closet, called police. During his trial, Butts testified he didn’t remember what happened that night. A psychiatrist testified Butt has history of sleepwalking.

The City Council in Audubon is set to meet Monday evening. On their agenda for the 7-p.m. session at City Hall, is an update from Barb Jacobsen on the Blue Zone Project. Audubon was one of 8 western Iowa communities selected last week from a field of 84 towns, to submit a full application for the opportunity to become one 10 finalists for Blue Zones demonstration sites. The next step in the process, is for the City to submit the full application, by no later than January 4^th.

The Council will also discuss siding on the police office, space in the basement for the police department, and compensation practices.

The Exira and Elk Horn-Kimballton Boards of Education will hold a joint meeting Monday evening, in Elk Horn. On the agenda for the 7-p.m. session in the Family and Consumer Science Room at the EHK High School, is discussion with regard to: graduation diplomas; sports facilities; communication structure; a joint advisory committee; their mission and vision; and goals for the 2012-2013 school year.

The next joint meeting of both boards will take place March 26^th, in Exira.