The East Pottawattamie County Extension and Outreach and 4-H program offered “STEM Kids” after school program on Tuesdays in January from 3:30- to 5-p.m., at the United Church of Avoca. The program was for all 4th grade youth.  Extension officials report “Excited youth spent Tuesday afternoons leaning about science, technology, engineering and math through hands on activities, teamwork and experiments. Throughout the month of January, youth learned about the engineering design process by making their own “machines” to move and sort candy; force and energy through making their own rollercoasters with loops and hills out of pool noodles; did experiments with popcorn, and learned why bubbles are round along with different bubble experiments.”

Kaden Jorgensen, Tyler Bramblett, Collin Harder, Austin Bramblett, Anna Showers-Pape

Kaden Jorgensen & Collin Harder working together to create a rollercoaster.

The STEM Kids program is being offered to 4th graders attending the Riverside Schools on Wednesday early releases during the month of February.

The Harlan Police Department has provided an update to a report we posted online Sunday night and our broadcast reports this (Monday) morning. Authorities say at around 5-p.m. Sunday, officers with the Harlan PD and Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies were made aware of a vehicle in Shelby County that may have been involved in pursuits with at least two other law enforcement agencies. At 5:23-p.m., a Harlan officer saw a vehicle that matched the description as it was eastbound on Highway 44, leaving Harlan. A Harlan Officer attempted to stop the vehicle pursuant to a traffic violation. The vehicle sped up and a pursuit ensued with speeds reaching 120 mph.

The vehicle made numerous traffic violations and at one point was in a field in an attempt to elude law enforcement. Eventually the vehicle was stopped in a ditch approximately ½ mile west of Highway 173 on Highway 83, in Cass County. The pursuit lasted approximately 43 minutes. The suspect, who was identified as 39-year old Myron Lee Brandon, of Council Bluffs, was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital and subsequently flown by helicopter to Nebraska Medical Center in an unknown condition.

Brandon faces charges that include Felony Eluding, possession of methamphetamine, Prohibited Acts, and no fewer than 8 traffic violations. He remains at the Nebraska Medical Center. Warrants will be issued and served upon his release. The case remains under investigation and more charges are possible. The H-PD was assisted by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic Police, Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Atlantic Medivac, and Marne Fire and Rescue.

The Atlantic Business and Professional Women of Iowa are once again offering scholarships this year to persons pursing a college career. There are several different applications for you to choose from:

1. A $500 Collen Scholarship which is available to any female resident of Cass, Shelby, or Audubon County Iowa, who is pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Computer Systems Management, Chemistry, or Engineering. The student may attend school full or part time and may be of any age. Applications must be submitted by April 1.

2. Two $1,000 scholarships to a non-traditional (not a recent high school graduate) male or female student who is a United States citizen, has been out of the work force and wants or needs to go back to work but needs additional education, has completed high school five or more years ago and wanting to start or resume their college education and demonstrates financial need, scholastic ability, leadership skills and career goals for one or more of the following: (1) To gain additional education to enhance their career or re-enter the work force; (2) To continue education that was interrupted for family or other reasons.

3. A $1,000 Bev Mendenhall Nursing Scholarship honoring the memory of a long-time active member. Applicant must be a resident of Cass County, Iowa and a non-traditional student who (1) Is a United States citizen; (2) Has been out of the workforce and wants/needs to go back to work but needs additional education; (3) Completed high school five or more years ago and now wants to start or resume their college education; (4) Demonstrates financial need, scholastic ability, leadership skills and career goals.

4. A $1,000 Margaret Sonntag educational Scholarship honoring the memory of an active member. Applicant much be a resident of Cass County, Iowa and a non-traditional student who (1) Is a US citizen; (2) Has been out of the workforce and wants/needs to go back to work but needs additional education (3) Completed high school five or more years ago and now wants to start or resume their college education; (4) Demonstrates financial need, scholastic ability, leadership skills and career goals.

Please contact Jolene Roecker at 712-249-7700 for a scholarship application, or email jolene.roecker@greatwesternbank.com . Applications must be postmarked by April 1.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Lorimor was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center Saturday afternoon. 35-year old Katie Loraine Campbell was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Campbell was being held for Union County, in the Ringgold County Jail.

And, the Sheriff’s Office says no citations were issued, following an accident that happened at around 2-p.m. Sunday, at Highway 169 and 167th Street. Officials say a 2017 Ford F-250 pickup driven by 85-year old Richard James Ide, of Shannon City, was pulling an empty hay rack and had turned left onto 167th Street. The driver of a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van, 55-year old David Donald Thomas, of Lorimor, told deputies that he saw the pickup & trailer slowing down, and decided to pass on the left. Ide claimed he was going to slow down and flip on his turn signal, when his pickup was struck by the van. A passenger in Thomas’s van, 43-year old Jamie Rene Thomas, of Lorimor, said she could not see the blinker because of the empty hay rack, yet when the deputy sat in the same seat, he could tell the hay rack was not blocking view of the turn signal. Jamie Thomas complained of pain and was transported by private vehicle to the Winterset Hospital, to be evaluated and treated, as necessary.

Damage from the collision amounted to $10,000 for the pickup/trailer, and $5,000 for the van.

In an update to our earlier reports, Shelby County Sheriff Neil Gross told KJAN News this morning, that while he doesn’t have a whole lot of information, he was confident the subject of a pursuit that ended northwest of Atlantic Sunday evening, was wanted for a Controlled Substance Violation, and out of Nebraska for possessing a stolen vehicle. The Sheriff says it’s his understanding a pursuit of the unidentified subject began near Manning, Harlan Police picked up the chase just before 5-p.m., and Shelby County Deputies, along with the Iowa State Patrol engaged in a chase that wound its way through Shelby County and into Cass County, where deputies deployed stop sticks to slowly deflate the vehicles’ tires.

The vehicle went toward Marne, before (according to dispatch reports), driving through a field, and finally ending up in a ditch off of Highway 83, about two-miles west of Highway 173. The chase ended with the suspect taken into custody shortly after 6-p.m. The driver was brought to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance, and later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Nebraska. Also assisting during the chase, was the Iowa State Patrol. Marne Fire and Rescue and Atlantic Fire were dispatched to the accident scene, as well.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police Department said today (Monday), a man residing in the 1200 block of N. Sycamore Street reported Saturday, that a .357 revolver was stolen from his home sometime between Dec. 20th and Jan.1st. The gun was valued at $600.

And, there were two arrests over the past few days, in Creston. Steven Christopher Lamer, of Creston, was arrested Friday on a charge of 5th Degree Theft. Lamer was being held in the Union County Jail on a $300 cash or surety bond. Trey Vincent Mills, of Creston, was arrested Saturday, for Driving While Suspended. Mills was released from the Union County Jail on bond.

Authorities said also, no injuries were reported following a collision a little after 10-a.m. Saturday, on S. Elm Street, in Creston. A 2017 Chevy Equinox driven by 68-year old Pamela Jo Morrison, of Creston, and a 1997 Buick Lesabre driven by 25-year old Amanda Lea Thompson, also of Creston, were traveling south on S. Elm, when Thompson’s car sustained a possible brake malfunction, and ran into the Morrison’s SUV, hitting it on the corner of the right rear bumper. Damage from the accident amounted to $1,000. No citations were issued.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The president of the Iowa Association of Realtors is touting a program launched this year that’s designed to make it easier for Iowans to save for their first home. Mark Kamps says a bill signed into law last year allows individuals or couples to save money in a tax-deductible savings account to go toward the purchase of a home. “So, first-time buyers or any buyer who hasn’t owned a home in the previous three years are going to be able to put away $2,000 per year, for an individual, for a maximum of 10 years,” Kamps said. “If it’s a married couple, they can put away up to $4,000 per year for a 10-year time period.”

There’s no limit on annual contributions to a First Time Home Savings Account, but tax deductions are capped at contribution totals of $4,000 for married joint filers and $2,000 for all other filers. “Our hope is that’ll help young people get started saving toward that first purchase and encourage them to do so, so they’ll have a down payment when the time comes,” Kamps said. The new program is similar to the popular College Savings Iowa program. Kamps notes contributions can be made to a First Time Home Savings Account for up to 10 years, though he doubts most people looking to purchase their first home will wait that long. “But, parents or grandparents could start putting away money for their children to purchase a home in 10 years. That way, they could get the tax deduction for that time period, as long as their child purchases a house in the State of Iowa,” Kamps said.

(Radio Iowa)

A recent report shows ten-percent of all Americans lack access to high-speed internet service, but 39-percent of -rural- Americans lack that same access. Iowa is the nation’s 38th most-connected state, according to the study from Broadband Now-dot-com. U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says one of his priorities in the 2018 Farm Bill is connecting America through better rural broadband coverage. Perdue says, “We want to take the federal spending, that, along with state and local spending as well as the private sector, and focus them strategically like a laser in how we go across this country with a multi-year plan of becoming ubiquitous with broadband coverage across the country.”

Backers say broadband provides access to a range of resources, services and products, including: Telehealth & telemedicine, economic development, public safety, education and entertainment. Perdue says he wants the U-S-D-A to help spearhead the effort in getting broadband coverage to even the most remote parts of the country. “We think we can be a facilitator to get this done,” Perdue says. “We will continue to push because I think it’s that important for rural America. If you’re really talking about the quality of life for rural America, then broadband has to be a part of that.”

The Broadband Now report shows 21-percent of Iowans are underserved by their internet provider.

(Radio Iowa)