Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green says a student from the Atlantic Middle School is in custody for making a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the school and cancellation of classes for today. Green says the district received word an “explosive event” would take place at the Middle School. Students and staff were evacuated next door, to the Nishna Valley YMCA. Green said a suspect was identified and when approached for questioning an from authorities but was caught. Green says the suspect has confessed to making the threat, which he confirmed was not credible.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Mike Amstein said aside from the legal ramifications of making a Terroristic Threat, the student faces severe disciplinary action from the school district itself. He said “Anytype of behavior like this is a pretty severe violation of (school) board policy, and the board has the authority to expel a student for an entire school year (365 days).”

Amstein says the evacuation went as planned, noting that any threat is handled as authentic until proven otherwise. The threat which occurred today he says, happened during the lunch hour, which disrupted classes and the lunch period. Amstein says the evacuation was orderly and each student was accounted for at all times.

Some questions were raised as to why the Washington Elementary School, which is just up the hill from the Middle School, was not evacuated. Amstein said they based their evacuation on recommendations from the State Fire Marshall’s Office and Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green.

He says classes are expected to resume tomorrow at the school.

For the second time in just under one month, authorities in Atlantic are investigating a bomb threat at a local school.  Officials with the school district announced late this (Thursday) morning that all students and employees had been evacuated from the Atlantic Middle School to the Nishna Valley YMCA. Because the school cannot be thoroughly searched until later today, classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the day.

Classes at the Middle School were dismissed at 12:30-p.m. The school district says it will work with local law enforcement to ensure the safety of all students in the district. No other details concerning the nature of the threat have been released.

On October 5th, a bomb threat was discovered written on a restroom stall at the Atlantic High School. The note threatened a bomb would go off two days later, on October 7th. A thorough search of the school failed to turn up any evidence of a bomb. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

The Harlan Police Department reports two people were arrested over the past week on public intoxication charges, and one incident of vandalism remains under investigation. On October 27th, 34-year old Randall Price, of Harlan, was arrested after Police were called to the Dream Playground following a report of a person causing a disturbance. Price was charged with Public Intoxication and brought to the Shelby County Jail. He later pled not guilty. A trial date has not yet been set.

On October 31st, 55-year old Marty Schulte, of Sioux City, was arrested on charges of public intoxication and interference with official acts, after Harlan Police were called to the Forrest Lodge. Schulte has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a trial date.

And, Harlan Police say they’re investigating the egging of a car. The incident took place this past Tuesday (Nov. 1st), in the 1400 block of Grand Avenue. No dollar amount of damage was available.

One person was killed, another injured during a crash Wednesday afternoon, in Mills County. The Iowa State Patrol says the driver of one of the vehicles, 71-year old William Kinard, of Red Oak, died in the crash. Officials say Kinard was traveling east on Highway 370 at around 2:20-p.m., when his 2007 Hyundai Accent crossed the center line of the road and collided with a 2010 Honda Element driven by 46-year old Luci Branyan, of Jefferson City, MO.

Brayon was injured in the crash and transported by Pacific Junction Rescue to Creighton University Hospital, in Omaha. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts. The accident happened about a mile east of the Missouri River, just across from Bellevue, NE.

A crowd of about 75 people attended a meeting earlier this week in Walnut, to discuss the future of that district’s athletic and academic programs. Superintendent Jim Hammrich told KJAN News,  school administrators discussed with parents of the district Wednesday night, why they have the current sharing agreements with area schools, current curriculum and transportation issues, along with declining enrollment. Last year, the district’s certified enrollment was 200 students, but the actual number of students served was 170. This year, the actual number was 145.

Hammrich says they showed the parents enrollment trends for the past 10-years. The data shows double-digit declines for the past 6-years. The continued decline in enrollment means a loss of dollars from the State.  Hammrich says the school board wanted to get input from the public at Wednesday’s meeting, to determine what the district should do for the next five-years, especially with regard to the sharing of athletic programs. He says the parents were most concerned about a lack of plan for the short-term.

He says they want a plan in writing. Other meetings have been held over the past few years on a plan, but nothing has been set in stone. The parents want that to change.  Hammrich says the future of sharing both academics and athletic programs with neighboring school districts AHST and Atlantic, will be determined after the Walnut School Board meets next week with both of those district’s Boards of Education.  The meeting with the Atlantic School Board in Atlantic, takes place 6-p.m. Monday, Nov. 7th. A meeting with the AHST School Board will be held Tuesday in Avoca, beginning at 7-p.m.

Hammrich says the Walnut School Board hopes to make a decision on which district they will commit to by their meeting on November 21st or no later than December 1st. He says the board understands there’s bound to be conflicts either way, but they want to make a decision that’s in the best interest of the students, and feel good about that decision.  Sharing arrangements between districts are nothing new. In some cases and the experiments haven‘t always produced the best results, according to Hammrich.

He says Walnut shared with Avoca about 6 or 7 years ago for a period of about a year. He said he was told “That didn’t go well…for whatever reasons.” Hammrich wasn’t the Superintendent during that time frame. The board then decided to begin a sharing arrangement with Atlantic, which has held for the past four or five years. Uncertainty over which district Walnut should share with, according to Hammrich, has contributed to a large decline in open enrollments in the district, on a yearly basis.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested recently, on unrelated charges. This past Monday (Oct. 31^st), 25-year old Ashley Renee Dewitt, of Griswold, was arrested after she turned herself in on a Cass County warrant for three counts of Burglary 3rd Degree and one count of Theft 2nd Degree. Dewitt was being held in the Cass County Jail on $20,000 bond. 

And, on October 23^rd, 50-year old Joseph Alan Martindale, of Turin, was arrested on charges of OWI 3rd Offense and Reckless Driving. Martindale was brought to the Cass County Jail and held, before later being released on $10,000 bond.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents in the County not to give out their personal information to unfamiliar callers and/or in response to mail solicitations. Giving out that information may lead to identity theft. The Sheriff’s Office says you should never give out your personal information over the phone, and never send your personal information to any requestor that you do not know and trust. That includes bank information, credit information, social security numbers, and family information. They advise you not to respond to any mailings of doubtful origin, and to hang up on callers requesting personal information.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Investigators say an explosion that destroyed a vacant house in Council Bluffs earlier this week, was caused by a ruptured propane line that let the gas leak into the basement. Tuesday afternoon’s explosion in a neighborhood just south of Interstate 80 blew the house 60-feet into the air and spread debris blocks away. No one was injured. Council Bluffs Fire Chief Alan Byers says the extent of the damage has made the investigation difficult. “Somehow, propane was leaked into the basement, filled the house and there was an ignition source. With the amount of damage and the way the debris was spread out, we’re probably never going to know exactly what happened,” Byers said. Although the house was vacant, there was still propane in a tank and electric service hooked up to the home.

Byers said the last known occupant vacated the home three weeks ago. “We don’t know if someone got in the house and was using it, was trying to steal something, broke the (propane) line…we’re just not going to know,” Byers said. “Again, we had debris 60 foot up in the trees and scattered out over an almost 2,000 foot diameter area, so it’s just going to be impossible to tell.” The house was in foreclosure and just passed a city inspection in recent weeks. Byers said neighbors were asked about activity at the home.

“We had reports of cars in the area the night before, but no license numbers or anything like that,” Byers said. “We’re probably never going to figure out what really happened.” The loud blast led to numerous 911 calls. Officials locked down the nearby Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln High School for about 20 minutes as a precaution because the source of the explosion was not immediately known.

(Radio Iowa)