The Adair County Assessor’s Office will be closed on Friday July 8, 2011 due
to continued construction.  They will be open for business on Monday July
11, 2011.

Two women were cited following a non-injury accident Wednesday evening, in Atlantic. According to Atlantic Police, Samantha Christensen, of Atlantic, was cited for Failure to Maintain Control and reduce speed, and Christel Buskirk, of Atlantic, was cited for Failure to have proof of insurance.

The citations were issued after police investigated a crash at the intersection of 7^th and Olive Streets at around 5:25-p.m, Wednesday. Officials say Christensen was traveling west on 7^th and approaching Olive Street, when she failed to stop, and rear-ended the Buskirk vehicle, as it was stopped at the red light.

Damages from the crash amounted to $5,000.

Two western Iowa men were arrested today (Thursday, July 7^th), on theft charges associated with missing livestock and Ag machinery. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year old Benjamin Lee Petersen, of Audubon, and 20-year old Christopher Joe Groninga, of Dunlap, were arrested as the result of an investigation into the theft of livestock on June 6^th from the 2900 Block of Goldfinch Avenue, and the theft of machinery June 23^rd from the 1600 Block of 315^th Street in Audubon County.

Petersen and Groninga both faces charges of Theft in the 2^nd degree. Groninga faces an additional possible charge of Aiding and Abetting theft in the 2^nd degree. Petersen was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $5,000 bond, while Groninga was seen by the magistrate and released, with orders to appear for his preliminary hearing on July 25^th.

The thefts remain under investigation.

Officials say also, 48-year old Alan Kenneth Bramer, of Perry, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding Audubon County warrant charging him with a burglary that occurred on April 2010, in Ross. Bramer was taken into custody immediately upon his release from the Clarinda Correctional Facility. He was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $5,000 bond.

And, 29-year old Joseph Mark Zaiger, of Audubon, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding Audubon County warrant charging him with theft in the 5^th degree, in connection with a check written to an Audubon business in March. Zaiger appeared before a judge and was released from custody.

An Exira woman was arrested early this (Thursday) morning on an OWI charge. Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County say 34-year old Claudette May Jayne, of Exira, faces charges of Operating While Intoxicated, 1^st offense, and Driving While barred. The charges are the result of a traffic stop on Jay Avenue, near 320^th Street.

Jayne was brought to the Audubon County Jail, appeared before the magistrate and has since been released. Her preliminary hearing was set for July 25^th.

Officials with Snyder and Associates’ Engineers in Atlantic report construction will begin Monday on a Portland Cement Concrete paving and storm sewer improvement project. The work will be conducted on 22nd Street, between Olive Street and U-S Highway 71, and on Sycamore Street just south of 18th Street within the City of Atlantic.

The contractor intends to close the roads to thru traffic on Monday, July 11th. The existing roadway surfacing will be removed, so access will be limited to local residents only on 22nd Street and Sycamore Street will be closed entirely.

A West Des Moines man has entered a written plea of not guilty, to a felony 1^st degree theft charge, in connection with an incident reported in Shelby County. According to Sheriff’s officials and on-line court records, 57-year old Jon Peter DePhillips is accused of asking a Harlan customer of D-C Associates in West Des Moines, to write a personal check to him in the amount of $11,500, for payment of windows he sold a few months after he was dismissed from the company for alleged misconduct related to fraud.

The complaint against DePhillips dates back to October, 2009, when he contacted a Harlan homeowner about having their windows replaced, and made financial arrangements for them to pay for the windows. DePhillips would later allegedly tell the homeowner D-C Associates was no longer in business, that he was the CEO of a new company in Clive that had taken over as creditor. He told the homeowner they could write him a check for amount still owed. The resident’s check was immediately cashed by DePhillips.

A Sheriff’s investigation however, revealed D-C Associates, was still in business, and has been for more than four decades. The company says DePhillips was fired after an internal investigation indicated he had interfered with the sale of $30,000 by another company salesperson.

The scam involving the Harlan resident came unraveled, after the homeowner questioned why they were receiving statements from a creditor who had financed the purchase said their account was delinquent. The creditor, G.E. Money, was notified of the ongoing criminal investigation, and DePhillips was arrested by West Des Moines Police. At the time of his arrest, he was also allegedly in possession of a stolen vehicle.

DePhillips is set to be arraigned on the theft charge July 18^th. His trial was set for August 30^th.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad thinks his state and four others should consider forming a group to seek changes in how the Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri

River. Branstad sent a letter in April to governors in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska that outlined his complaint that federal officials place too much importance on recreational needs in upstream stretches of the Missouri. The Associated Press obtained the letter through Iowa’s open records law.

Branstad wrote the letter before spring rain and a huge snow pack prompted the corps to begin months of record releases from its dams that have increased the flood risk downstream. Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer says officials base their decisions on specific guidelines.

Other governors say they’ll consider Branstad’s idea after the floodwaters recede.

Authorities in Adams County report a Corning man was arrested Wednesday on a Minimus Warrant out of northeast Iowa’s Black Hawk County related to time-served. 55-year old Jack Pembrook Nevius, of Corning,  was taken into custody at around 1:50-p.m. and brought to the Adams County Jail.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is reporting numerous arrests have been made over the past week. On Monday, 21-year old Cam Christopher Jahnke, of Lewis, was arrested on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance. Jahnke was taken to the Cass County Jail where he is being held pending pre-trial release.

Last Sunday, deputies arrested 32-year old Damon John Bucy, of Glenvil, NE, on a Cass County District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Bucy was taken to the Cass County Jail where he is being held on $5,000 bond. That same say, 23-year old Rachel Marie Huggins and 22-year old Bryceton Lee Flathers, both of Cumberland, were arrested on charges of Public Intox and Interference with Official Acts. The pair were taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that same day on their own recognizance.

On Friday, July 1^st, 27-year old Robbie Troy Metheny, of Anita, turned himself in to authorities on a Cass County Warrant for OWI 1st Offense. Metheny was booked into the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on $1000 bond. That same day, 21-year old Kevin Damien Engles, of Atlantic, was charged with Use of a Person Under 18 in the Drug Trade. Engles remains at the Cass County Jail where he is being held also on charges of Possession with Intent to Deliver and Violation of Drug Tax Stamp. Bond on his prior charges is $5000; bond on the new charge is $10,000.

On June 30th, 26-year old Robin Lee Grieshaber, of Cumberland, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Possession with Intent to Deliver Controlled Substance. Grieshaber was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on $5,000 bond. And, on June 29^th deputies in Cass County arrested 34-year old Aimee Jo Nicholson, of Des Moines, on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Nicholson was taken to the Cass County Jail where she is being held on $10,000 bond.