The Lenox Police Department reports a Taylor County man arrested November 15^th on a felony charge of 1st degree arson, now faces two additional felony charges of Arson in the second degree. The original charge against 25-year old Christopher Cameron, of Clearfield, was the result of a joint investigation by the Lenox Police Department and the State Fire Marshalls Office into a fire that occurred on November 6th, 2011, at the Lenox Motel.

The latest charges allege that on February 28th and August 11^th, Cameron started fires at a structure with the intent to destroy such structure. Two charges of fraudulent insurance submissions, both class D felonies have been filed in connection with the arson charges on Feb. 28th and August 11th.

Cameron remains in the Taylor County Jail on a $125,000 bond. His arraignment is set to take place December 6^th.

Police in Lenox report a Creston woman plead guilty Tuesday, to a felony forgery charge. The charge against 19-year old Brielle Moen, was filed on September 13th, and was the result of an investigation to checks belonging to another person being fraudulently passed at the Lenox Casey’s store. Moen was placed on supervised probation for 2 years. In addition, she was ordered to pay more than $1,300 in court-related fees and fines. The woman is also required to submit a DNA sample, and is not allowed access to firearms.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A Cass County woman scheduled to appear at a trial this month in connection with a June 2010 crash, has instead plead guilty to a felony charge of Vehicle Homicide/OWI. 46-year old Christine Riedemann, of Griswold, waived her rights to a trial and plead guilty on November 21^st.

Riedemann was the driver of an SUV that went out of control on June 4^th, 2010. The vehicle entered the ditch, and hit a utility pole west of Atlantic. 44-year old Katrina L. Christensen, a passenger in the vehicle died in the accident.

Two separate blood-alcohol tests each indicated Riedemann was above the legal limit to drive. She was also found to have been in possession of marijuana. Riedemann is scheduled to be sentenced January 23^rd in Cass County District Court.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An economic survey index for nine Midwest and Plains states has rebounded, suggesting slow growth in the months ahead. A survey report released Thursday says the overall regional Business Conditions index rose to 52.6 in November, jumping 2.7 percentage points from the 49.9 in October. Organizers say any survey score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss oversees the survey. He says the regional surveys over the past several months indicate the slowdowns in the national and global economies are pushing down the region’s economy.

The nine states are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The Walnut City Council will hold its regularly scheduled meeting this evening. On their agenda for the 5-p.m. session at City Hall, is: a request for possible business incentives; discussion with regard to a proposed trail plan for Pottawattamie County; the Appointment of a replacement Zoning Administrator; Discussion pertaining to: solid waste disposal, the City’s budget, and, the annual evaluation of City Employees’ salary.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is shifting his Iowa campaign into a more aggressive phase, launching his first TV ads in the state with a spot in which he declares he knows about how economies grow. In the 30-second spot set to begin running Friday, Romney says the right answer for America is to stop the growth of the federal government and to start private-sector growth. Romney’s decision to start spending money on paid advertising in Iowa just five weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses signals a belief that he can fare well in the state even though his 2008 bid was tripped up there. The move comes as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has emerged as Romney’s chief challenger for the nomination.

A U.S. House subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss the management of the Missouri River. Iowa Congressman Steve King has introduced legislation that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to revise its management policies to increase the total amount of storage space within the Missouri River reservoir system that is allocated for flood control. King told the panel Corps officials initially stated they would not alter their policies because they felt the flooding this past summer was a “500 year flood” event.

“I want to emphasize that we have 150 years of records and they’re declaring a 500 year event,” King said. “If you had 10,000 years of records and (flooding) happened a couple times a millennia, you might be able to say this is a 500 year event. No mortal can tell you it’s a 500 year event.” The Corps announced in early November that it would change how it manages the river. King believes Congress should still take charge of flood control in the Missouri River basin.

“We have to tell them…if we don’t tell them, (the Corps) will slide back to being run by the environmental interests as opposed to the first priority, which should be protection from flooding downstream,” King said. Many lawmakers have blamed the Corps of Engineers at least in part for the severity of the flooding that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and reduced miles of highways and interstates to rubble. Congressman Leonard Boswell said the flooding “requires us to change our policies.”

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)