Judi Nelson (center), Registered Nurse at Cass County Memorial Hospital (CCMH), was honored as a Hospital Hero at the Iowa Hospital Association’s (IHA) annual meeting this fall. Presenting the award to Judi are Gary Riedmann, IHA Board Chair, and Pat Markham, CCMH Administrator.

A Registered Nurse at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, was recently honored by the Iowa Hospital Association as one of 10 Hospital Heroes from across the state of Iowa.  Judi Nelson was selected for her efforts in organizing the Every 15 Minutes program for students at Atlantic High School last spring. Every 15 Minutes is a two-day unique educational experience designed to teach students the dangers and consequences of driving while drinking or distracted. 

Nelson organized over 100 volunteers to provide this life-saving educational program, including CCMH staff, community and business volunteers.  After a successful first year, she’s now working to provide the program for Griswold High School in the spring of 2012, and hopes to bring it to CAM High School and back to Atlantic in the future.

Judi was nominated by her co-workers, with letters of support from Atlantic High School Principal Heather McKay and Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green.  The Hospital Heroes were recognized at a special presentation program during the IHA’s annual meeting in Des Moines.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Department reports one person was arrested Tuesday on drug charges. 33-year old Nicholas Zacariah Coulter, of Ft. Dodge, was taken into custody at around 9-p.m. Tuesday following a traffic stop on Highway 71, near Hamlin. Officials say Coulter faces charges that include Possession of Methamphetamine/3^rd offense, Possession of Marijuana/3^rd offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Driving While Barred. He was being held in the Audubon County Jail, on $5,000 bond.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A collision with a deer resulted in a small in-car fire Monday morning in Potttawattamie County, but no one was injured. The Iowa State Patrol says 33-year old Andrea Root, of Persia, was traveling west on Interstate 80 south of Neola, when a deer ran out of a ditch. After the 1996 Buick Park Avenue Root was driving hit the animal, the woman pulled onto the shoulder of the road. While her car was stopped, a small fire developed in the steering column, but was quickly extinguished before it could spread to the rest of the interior.

The accident happened at around 6:45-a.m., Monday.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Funeral services will be held today (Wednesday) at 10:30-a.m.,  in the East Sac County High School in Lake View, for a Southwestern Community College student who was killed over the weekend in a northern Missouri crash, just two-miles south of the Iowa border. 18-year old Chrystal Olerich was a freshman volleyball player at Southwestern Community College, in Creston. Olerich, of Lake View, 22-year old 2009 SWCC grad Joshua Bix, of Hopkins, and one other person died Saturday, when the pickup truck they were passengers in rolled over. All seven people in the pickup, including the driver, were ejected from the vehicle, as it rolled. None were wearing their seat belts. 

Sheriff’s officials say the group had recently left a Halloween party. Alcohol was found at the scene. The driver, 22-year old Scott Woods, of Hopkins, MO., has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of 2^nd-degree assault.

An SUV, street lamp and heavy piece of equipment were damaged during an accident Monday afternoon, in Atlantic. According to Atlantic Police, a heavy piece of machinery belonging to Western Engineering stalled while traveling uphill on 10^th Street, near the Cass County Community Center. 

When the machine began to roll backwards, traveling west on 10^th, the unidentified operator bailed out, fearing for his safety. The machine continued rolling down hill, while Western Engineering employees rushed to get people and vehicles out of the way. The machine rolled past the Whetstone car wash, struck a parked SUV and a light pole, and finally came to rest in a ditch at the intersection of Highway 6 and 10^th Street. 

No injuries were reported. Officials said the SUV and light pole sustained  a combined $7,000 damage, while damage to the piece of heavy equipment was estimated at $5,000.

Officials with the U-S Army Corps of Engineers say repairs on one of the main levees breached by Missouri River floodwaters this year can begin — as soon as the money is allocated. Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer says all the preliminary work has been completed to rebuild the levee in the far southwestern Iowa town of Hamburg.  “The Corps of Engineers has pulled funds from other projects to go ahead and jumpstart construction efforts to begin the repair process,” Farmer says. “We are still waiting to find out how much money Congress is going to allocate so that we can continue that repair process.” Many have criticized the Corps for not taking action sooner to prevent the monumental flooding that lasted all summer. Farmer says she’s heard the Corps being blasted for months on the issue.

“There was nothing in our weather forecast that would have given us the indication back in the January-February timeframe or even the March-April timeframe that would have given us that red flag to say that we should increase releases,” she says. When the levee broke this summer, floodwaters rolled over and covered thousands of acres of farmland and destroyed many miles of key roadways, including sections of Interstates 29 and 680. Repairs to just three miles of I-680 are estimated at 19-million dollars.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

The City Council in Atlantic will hold a public hearing Wednesday, with regard to the disposition of city property. The property consists of 7.6-acres of land located more or less northwest of the intersection of Olive and Commerce Streets in Atlantic. The hearing will be followed by a resolution approving the disposition of that property, and discussion, as well as possible action on the sale of the parcel.

City Administrator Doug Harris says the land was included in a list of City-owned parcels which were advertised for farm leases. John McCurdy, of Atlantic, held a high bid of $300 per acre for the land, but Dave Chase, representing Nishna Valley Trails, informed the Council during their last meeting, that he had been in discussions with Ted Wickman, about getting an easement that would connect the Schildberg Quarry east, to Olive Street.

Chase said Wickman had been farming the 7.6-acre parcel since he gave it to the City in 1986, along with 10-acres of land the City owns just east of Schildberg Recreation Area Lake number 2. Harris says he was unable to find any record of the City being aware of the arrangement. He added, that Wickman didn’t submit a bid for lease of the property, Dave Chase indicated he would interested in buying or leasing it. That would be contingent on Wickman being allowed to farm both City parcels. Given the sensitivity of the matter, the City Council at their last meeting, decided to hold-off on accepting McCurdy’s bid and schedule the public hearing, to allow for discussion on what should be done with the site, and find a fair resolution on the matter.

The Atlantic City Council will also hold the second reading of an ordinance adding a chapter to the City’s Code of Ordinances, with regard to a Minimum Maintenance Code, which is designed to keep properties from deteriorating to the point they become dilapidated and/or dangerous. The ordinance would require property owners to keep structures in reasonably good repair.

The City Council meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday. For those unable to attend, it will be broadcast live on local cable channel 18, and rebroadcast at other times during the week.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A vacant house in Council Bluffs has been destroyed in an explosion that authorities say moved the house 50 feet off its foundation. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reported the explosion happened this (Tuesday) afternoon. Debris from the blast was scattered several hundred feet away. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but Fire Chief Alan Byers says it appears a propane tank may have been the cause.

A woman who lives nearby and was outside at the time was taken to a local hospital for a hearing-related injury. No other injuries were reported. Abraham Lincoln High School was also locked down for about 20 minutes following the explosion as a precaution.