Deputies in Cass County made several arrests over the past week. Last Wednesday, 32-year old Jacob Michael Leary, of Atlantic, was arrested on four warrants for Failure to Appear and a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Leary was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $88,000 bond.

On Thursday, 32-year old Matthew Wayne Echternach, of Atlantic, turned himself in at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for Possession Marijuana 2^nd Offense (Aggravated) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Echternach was booked at the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $2,000 bond. Also arrested Thursday, was 54-year old Brian Eugene Fahrenkrug, of Griswold, who was charged with Domestic Abuse (Serious). Fahrenkrug was taken to the Cass County Jail and released Friday on $1,000 bond.

On Saturday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 46-year old Timothy A. Newton, of Lamoni, on a Clarke County warrant for OWI 3^rd Offense and Driving while Revoked. Newton was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on $5,000 bond. And, 68-year old Ronnie Loyd Erickson, of Cumberland, was arrested Saturday on charges of Possession of Marijuana (54 grams) (D Felony); Sponsoring a Gathering (D Felony); Prohibited Acts (Aggravated); Possession of Cannabidiol 1^st Offense (Serious); and Possession of Methamphetamine (Serious). Erickson was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released Sunday on $12,000 bond.

On Sunday, Cass County Deputies arrested 54-year old David Allen Crum, of Atlantic, on two charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance 3^rd/Subsequent (D Felonies). Crum was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on $10,000 bond.

Saundra Clem Leininger, Executive Director of the French Icarian Society, located in Corning, will present a program for the Cass County Genealogical Society’s monthly meeting this week, with regard to the six Icarian Colonies in America, and the French Icarian Village, near Corning.  The village was the longest-living Icarian community.

The 34-acre settlement features a restored cemetery, one-room school house and communal dining hall. A meeting about the Icarians will take place 1-p.m. Thursday, March 24^th,  in the meeting room at the Atlantic Public Library.  The program is free, and open to the public.

Historians say the colonies were part of a social experiment began in France in the 1840s. Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa were locations for the non-religious communal experiment. The Iowa Icarian Colony located 3 miles east of Corning was established in 1852 and disbanded in 1898. Many descendants live in the area.

Everyone is invited to learn more about the remarkable Icarian story during this Thursday’s meeting, in Atlantic.

Superintendent compensation is slightly higher in southwest Iowa than across the state, on average, based on an analysis of area district’s contracts with school chiefs. The Daily NonPareil cites a report in the Cedar Rapids Gazette which conducted an analysis of superintendent contracts from 314 school districts. The Gazette requested records from Iowa’s 336 school districts, with 93.5 percent responding.

Analysis by The Gazette showed a median salary of $135,000 with four weeks of vacation, on average, and a variety of benefits typical for public school district’s de facto CEOs, who manage multimillion-dollar budgets and employ up to thousands of people. The 271 superintendents’ whose compensation was reviewed are largely new to their districts, with nearly half on the job for fewer than five years and 12 percent finishing their first year at superintendent. Many superintendents are splitting their time between two districts or serve in additional roles, such as a building principal, trends that are mirrored in southwest Iowa as well.

The Nonpareil conducted an analysis, based on The Gazette’s data plus additional reporting, of the 29 public school districts in its coverage area in southwest Iowa, showing superintendent compensation is slightly higher than the average for the rest of the state, although Council Bluffs may throw off the comparison. The analysis shows across southwest Iowa, the average superintendent salary was about $142,000. Council Bluffs Superintendent Martha Bruckner has the largest paycheck, with an annual salary of $215,000, although her district is more than three times the next nearest in terms of student enrollment.

The second through fourth largest districts were also the second through fourth largest in terms of compensation, although Harlan pays about $12,300 more to Justin Wagner than Glenwood pays Devin Embray, even though Glenwood is considerably larger than Harlan. Fifth in terms of enrollment, Atlantic, pays Michael Amstein wages that are more middle-of-the-pack despite being one of the area’s fifth largest school district. All three superintendent – Wagner, Embray and Amstein – took over their school districts in 2010. Bruckner has been at the helm in Council Bluffs since 2007.

On the other end of the salary table is Tony Weers, the outgoing superintendent of Tri-Center, who is paid $122,000, the least in total of any of area’s full-time superintendents. Southwest Iowa is typical for the state in terms of women serving as superintendents: Bruckner, Deidre Drees of Missouri Valley and Kerri Nelson of Shenandoah. The Gazette found statewide the rate was about 15 percent, and it’s about 14 percent in the area. National statistics are either dated or unclear, but the superintendency of public school districts remains a male-dominated field despite education generally being a female-dominated profession.

Police in Creston report the arrest Sunday night, of 27-year old Dustin Giles. The Creston man was taken into custody for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 bond, and, on two warrants from other counties.

Authorities said also, a resident in the 300 block of W. Montgomery Street, in Creston, reported that sometime between last Thursday and Saturday, someone broke into his truck parked near his residence, and stole a black, 12-gauge shotgun with shell catcher. The loss was estimated at $550.