Emergency Management officials in Shelby County have upgraded the field/grassland Fire Danger rating to “High” this weekend. EMA Operations Officer Jason Wickizer says there will also be a chance of “Red Flag” Conditions.  He urges people to be mindful of drying conditions, wind and abundant dead vegetation.

Authorities therefore are asking anyone who plans to conduct controlled burns to contact their local fire chief, first. Be sure and call 755-2124 also, with the location of your burn, so dispatchers can gather logistical data.  Burns should be conducted with fire chief approval during the late evening or early morning hours only, when winds are usually reduced.

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.

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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a Sioux City woman who approached her husband for a kiss instead bit and tore his lower lip. Court records say 59-year-old Carol Smith is charged with felony willful injury.  The documents say the incident occurred in the couple’s Sioux City home on May 24 last year. Police say Smith’s husband required plastic surgery and say his psychologist reports that the man now suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder. Smith’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 15.

A Creston resident reported an incident of theft, Thursday morning. Creston Police said a resident in the 100 block of S. Jarvis Street, reported a red, three-person canoe with a live well, was stolen from her property sometime between April 5th and 6th. The loss was estimated at $500.

And, a City of Creston employee reported Thursday, that sometime during the overnight hours of April 5th, someone drove into the northeast corner of fencing at the Bill Sears Baseball Fields (in the area of Clark and Chestnut Streets). The incident caused an estimated $2,500 damage.

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

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The Griswold School District’s Board of Education met Thursday evening to discuss and move forward on, filling the Superintendent’s position. The Board discussed three options. The one that gained the most favor, was sharing a Superintendent with two other districts in a 40-40-20 time split, with Griswold and the other, larger district having the Superintendent 40-percent (or two days) per week, and a smaller district sharing that person one-day per week. It would also involve a one-third cost-sharing contract. The arrangement would be for one-year, to start, with an evaluation taking place between late this fall and March 1^st, 2017.

Griswold School Board meeting 4-7-16 (Ric Hanson/photo)

Board member Steve Baier said since December, he’s been contacted by, or made contact with, over dozen different school districts to discuss options, but some of the ones he thought were “pretty obvious,” didn’t work out. One of the districts wanted a 50-50 split. Baier said he and Board member Rob Peterson said two, unidentified districts, wanted to talk about an arrangement.

Baier said he met and Peterson met with representatives of the two boards and the potential Superintendent candidate, Tuesday night. Those two boards will hold separate meetings this Sunday night and next Monday. Baier said the other districts seemed to be on-board with the proposal. He said also, “The candidate in question, I would characterize, as being enthusiastic about taking on this challenge.” Peterson spoke about the candidate via conference call during Thursday evening’s meeting, and said that candidate (who was not identified), demonstrated Tuesday that he’s very well prepared for change, if it’s approved.

One of the districts the candidate currently oversees, has 130 students. The other is a little better off, and not facing a financial squeeze. Baier acknowledged, the Griswold Board’s original line of thinking was having a traditional, 50-50 sharing arrangement with another school district, but the financials just don’t work out for the better with that option.

The arrangement would save the Griswold District $127,000 per year, in a time when they’re looking at cutting $500,000 from the budget. More information on the possible three-way Superintendent sharing will be released after the other boards have met.

Police in Creston cited two teens, following an accident in Creston Thursday afternoon. 16-year old Sydney Martin, of Creston, was cited after she stopped at the intersection of W. Howard and N. Elm Streets in Creston at around 4:40-p.m., but then pulled into the intersection. The 2003 Chevy she was driving hit a 2003 Saturn broadside, causing $4,600 damage. Neither Martin, nor the driver of the Saturn, 17-year old Aly Hudgens, of Creston, were injured. Hudgens was cited for Failure to have a valid driver’s license.

Sheriff’s deputies in Adams County, Thursday night, arrested a man wanted on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court. 26-year old Adam John Cross, of Corning, was arrested at around 8:10-p.m.  Cross was brought to the Adams County Jail and held on $5,000 bond.

Red Oak Police report one person was arrested this (Friday) morning, on a drug charge. 18-year old Hallam Peter Russell, of Corpus Christi, TX, was arrested at around 12:50-a.m. at the Red Oak Rehabilitation and Care Center, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine. Russell was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

And, three people, including a teen from Atlantic, were arrested Thursday night on charges of Trespassing. Taken into custody at around 9:50-p.m. at the Hardware Hank Store (300 block of E. Reed Street), was 17-year old Tanner Dennis-Joseph Jones, of Red Oak, 17-year old Drew Henry Miller, of Atlantic, and 18-year old Skylar Lee Bingham, of Red Oak.  All three were transported to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center. Jones and Miller were issued a Juvenile Referral citation, and released to their parents. Bingham was being held in the jail on a $300 cash bond.

(Sheriff’s Officials corrected Miller’s residence as Atlantic, instead of Red Oak)