IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says defendants facing drug charges must be told that they’ll lose their driving privileges for six months if they plead guilty. The court ruled Friday that defendants also have a right to know the amount of mandatory surcharges they’ll be required to pay on top of their fines. Those declarations came in an appeal filed by Kevin Fisher, who pleaded guilty to possessing a small amount of marijuana in Iowa City in 2013.

As part of a plea agreement, he agreed to plead guilty, spend two days in jail and pay a $315 fine.  He wasn’t told that his plea would also result in the automatic suspension of his drivers’ license for 180 days, or that he’d have to pay an additional $245 in surcharges.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Thursday night of a man wanted on an outstanding warrant. 36-year old Nathan Ray Johnson, of Audubon, was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/3rd offense and Violation of a Protection Order. The charges stem from an investigation into an incident that allegedly occurred at a residence in Hamlin on April 3rd. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted in making the arrest.

Johnson was being held in the Audubon County Jail on $5,000 bond.

The Griswold School Board, Thursday evening, spent a considerable amount of time during their special meeting, trying to figure out how they were going to cut $500,000 from the budget, in light of declining enrollment and other factors. Superintendent Dana Kunze said the choices weren’t easy to make, and nothing is final, yet.

He said they’ve targeted some things that action will likely be taken on during the next regular board meeting, but no action was taken Thursday night. He said basically, the Board looked at making cuts throughout the school system, and all departments. They weren’t isolated to any one area in particular. The biggest area of savings is $127,000 from the proposed sharing of a superintendent with two other districts.

Inevitably, Kunze says, the people left over will have more responsibilities, and some programs or services may not be as prominent as they once were. He says they probably fell a little bit short of their $500,000 goal, but the totals aren’t yet crunched from the meeting.

Griswold School Board members contemplate areas to be affected by a budget cut.