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

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The wife of Iowa Senator Charles Grassley will be in Atlantic Wednesday morning, on a campaign swing for her husband, who is seeking six-more years in Congress.  The senior U-S Senator has served Iowans in Washington since 1981. His wife, Barbara Grassley, is scheduled to visit with Cass County Republicans and focus her talks on voter turnout and the importance of voting.

Mrs. Grassley will be at the Sweet Joy Shoppe (315 Chestnut St.) in Atlantic, at around 8:30-a.m., Wednesday.

Cass County is being overlooked with regard to economic development. That was the gist of what Kimberlee Spillers told the Board of Supervisors during their meeting Monday morning, in Atlantic. Spillers and her husband Frank, run Global Horizons, LLC, which strives to engage employers and the community in methods of building business and interpersonal relationships for the future.

Spillers told the Board of Supervisors she’s disappointed Cass County wasn’t nominated to participate in this month’s Iowa Rural Development Summit, in Jefferson on Nov. 18th. (click on the left side of the audio bar to listen)

All communities were chosen by members of the Iowa Rural Development Council Summit planning committee as communities that are either poised for growth or who demonstrate the interest and enthusiasm for implementing strategic change.

Spillers said “Since no one from Cass County was asked to participate, I assume that Cass County is not on Iowa’s radar for [economic] development.”

189 people from around the State are attending the event, including persons from Elk Horn, Stanton, Corning, the City of Manning; Adams, Crawford, Fremont, and Sac Counties, and more.

KS3     :21       Q;”…Connect Atlantic.”

Spillers said she’s not sure what needs to be done to get invited to the summit in the future, except she perceives there isn’t enough action taking place in Cass County to warrant an invitation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly survey of business leaders suggests the economy will continue slowing in nine Midwest and Plains states, in part because of manufacturing weakness. The Mid-America Business Conditions Index report released Tuesday says the overall economic index for the region dropped to 43.8 in October from September’s 45.5.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says “weakness among manufacturers linked to agriculture and energy continue to weigh on regional economic conditions.” The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Red Oak Police report two arrests took place late Monday night into early this (Tuesday) morning. At around 11:58-p.m., 29-year old Myles Dustin Longcor, of Carbondale, KS, was arrested at the intersection of Highways 34 and 48, for OWI/Drugged. Longcor was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond. And, at around 1:19-a.m. today (Tuesday), 21-year old Cassandra Jane Rohner, of Red Oak, was arrested at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, for Public Intoxication. Her cash bond was set at $300.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating an armed robbery that took place Monday night. Authorities say at around 8:50-p.m., officers were dispatched to the 800 block of 1st Avenue on a Robbery. There, they met with the victim, 21-year old James Peterson, of Council Bluffs. Peterson said while he was walking in the 100 block of South 10th street, going to a friend’s home, he was approached from behind by an unknown male. The male demanded Peterson to give him everything, while pointing a silver handgun at him.

Peterson gave this male his personal property. The suspect then fled the area in a southbound direction. Peterson was not injured in the incident and there were no witnesses. He described the suspect as being 5-feet 11-inches to around 6-feet tall, weighing 250 to 260-pounds. He might have been Hispanic, and had a goatee. The male was dressed in a white shirt with black clothing and a black beanie. The suspect also had his face painted with black and green paint, with a pattern of stripes and dots.

The investigation is ongoing by the Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone with any information that was in the area at the time of this incident is encouraged to contact this Division at 712-328-4728 or they may call Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is increasing the amount of money it pays three private insurance companies to administer the state’s Medicaid program. The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency says the Iowa Department of Human Services decided recently to pay more in rates distributed for each Medicaid patient. It’s unclear how the extra $33.2 million in payments will affect the state’s cost projections.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Cedar Rapids man has been sentenced to more than 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in connection to the illegal export of guns to Lebanon. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 51-year-old Ali Afif Al Herz was sentenced Monday to 28½ years in prison and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine. Al Herz’s son, Adam, and sister in law, Sarah Majid Zeaiter, were sentenced to prison earlier this month on related charges.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Police in Perry, Iowa, have charged a man in Morrison, Illinois with two counts of first-degree murder. Officers charged 24-year-old Carlos Marlo Hernandez-Ventura on Sunday with the deaths of 34-year-old Lourdes Flor De Leak and her daughter, 14-year-old Melany Elizabeth Barraz. All three lived at a Perry home where the bodies of Flor De Leak and Barraz were found Saturday night. A 78-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was found injured at the home.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An unseasonably warm week has aided farmers in getting crops out of fields in Iowa and Nebraska although both states remain slightly behind the five-year average. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday in its weekly crop update that in Iowa 71 percent of corn is harvested, about two days behind the average.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested a man in Illinois on charges on murder charges from Iowa. Police in Perry, Iowa, announced Monday that officers in Morrison, Illinois, charged 24-year-old Carlos Marlo Hernandez-Ventura on Sunday with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He was held in the Whiteside County Jail in Morrison, a city near the Mississippi River, 210 miles east of Perry.

Authorities will seek to return Hernandez-Ventura to Dallas County, Iowa, to face charges in the deaths of 34-year-old Lourdes Flor De Leak and her daughter, 14-year-old Melany Elizabeth Barraz. All three lived at a Perry home where the bodies of Flor De Leak and Barraz were found Saturday night.

A 78-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was found injured at the home. He’s hospitalized in critical condition.

Officials with the West Central Valley (WCV) School District today (Monday) said on their social media page, that Guthrie County, Stuart Police and State law enforcement officials provided “Solid security” Monday to the district, in light of a threatening note found in the High School commons last Friday, in Stuart. The District says “Stuart Police and our Highway Patrol representative are continuing their investigation to locate the person or persons responsible for the note.”

District officials said also, that “For the remainder of this week, all buildings will be utilizing a single point of access for all students and families. All doors in each building will be locked, and the access point will be monitored (The access point is normally the main entry door). The high school will continue to have a modified contingent of law enforcement personnel onsite for a good portion of this week as their investigation continues. High school students will continue to have their bags checked when they enter the building. The elementary buildings and the middle school will operate under normal conditions with the exception of the single point of access.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An unseasonably warm week has aided farmers in getting crops out of fields in Iowa and Nebraska although both states remain slightly behind the five-year average. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday in its weekly crop update that in Iowa 71 percent of corn is harvested, about two days behind the average. The soybean crop is 89 percent harvested, about five days behind average.

Farmers in southwest and south central Iowa still have a third or more of their soybeans to harvest. Nebraska experienced a week with temperatures averaging nine degrees above normal helping to get 91 percent of the soybean crop in, near the 96 percent five-year average.

Corn farmers in Nebraska are 69 percent harvested which is near the 70 percent five-year average.