Atlantic Police report a local man was arrested Friday on a shoplifting charge. 22-year old Donald Smith, of Atlantic, was taken into custody on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree. Smith was booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests over the weekend. On Saturday, deputies arrested 22-year old Danielle Rae Curtis, of Waukee, on a charge of OWI/1st Offense, and 34-year old Amy Jo Hockabout, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on an Atlantic Police Dept. warrant for two counts of felony forgery and one-count of Theft in the 3rd degree. Hockabout was being held in the Cass County Jail on $10,000 bond, while Curtis was released later in the day, Saturday, on her own recognizance.

And on Sunday, deputies in Cass County arrested 18-year old Sarah Jo Porter, of Cumberland, on OWI/1st offense and Minor in Possession of Alcohol, charges. Porter was released later that day on her own recognizance.

(12-p.m. News)

Two young men who had escaped from the Clarinda Academy late this morning have been located. Additional details on where the youth were found is currently not available. A law enforcement broadcast went out a little after 11-a.m. about the Clarinda Academy Juvenile Center escapees.

At the time, the escapees, one of whom was black, the other white, were last seen near 140th Street and P Avenue, heading north on foot out of Clarinda.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The number of acres devoted to corn is expected to shrink about 4 percent this year as farmers devote more of their land to soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual forecast Monday of what farmers plan to plant.  The USDA says it expects 91.7 million acres of corn to be planted this year, down from 95.37 million acres last year.

The number of acres devoted to soybeans is expected to grow about 6 percent to 81.5 million acres from last year’s 76.5 million acres. Iowa farmer Ray Gaesser says farmers are responding to predictions for tight soybean supplies and relatively high crop prices. Gaesser, who serves as president of the American Soybean Association, says demand for soybeans is clearly high going into this year.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports there was an escape this (Monday) morning from the Clarinda Academy Juvenile Center located in Clarinda. The escapees are believed to be on foot north of Clarinda last seen in the area of 140th St. (J-20) and P Avenue.

One of the escapees is a black male, red sweatshirt, camouflage shorts, black Under Armor Backpack, Red/White Nike Tennis Shoes. The second escapee is a white male, 5’10”, eyeglasses, blue sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and red shoes. Do not approach. If you see these individuals contact your nearest law enforcement agency immediately.

The Fire Danger signs throughout Shelby County will remain in the HIGH category this week. Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert says although the County experienced some precipitation (.30”) in the last 24 hours, the placards will remain in the HIGH category due to predicted winds, and lower Relative Humidity today.

Seivert says until we get more green grasses growing, the fine dead fuels will continue to pose a HIGH fire danger with wind, and low humidity. Officials are asking residents to postpone burning until at least Thursday.

If you must burn, contact your local Fire Chief to make sure that are made aware, and provides authorization for the burn. If a burn is allowed to occur we ask the Chief to call 712-755-2124 and advise the Communications Center that a burn will take place.

A grass/field fire northeast of Exira Sunday afternoon burned 150 acres, but no one was injured. Exira Fire Chief Mike Bintner told KJAN News the blaze was reported just before 1-p.m., and crews remained on the scene for about 3 ½ hours. Mutual aide was received from the Brayton, Audubon, Coon Rapids, Kimballton and Guthrie Center Fire Departments. No structures were damaged by the fire.

The fire began just north of a residence off of 250^th Street and quickly spread to just north 240^th Street, where the blaze was brought under control. Bintner says the fire began with a rekindled burn that was initiated on Saturday. He says the resident was burning garbage in a burn pit north of their home Saturday. Sunday’s winds whipped some of the remaining hot items out of the pit and spread them to the nearby field.

Weather conditions today are expected to be dry and very windy. Bintner said anyone planning to burn should take the weather into consideration, and take the necessary precautions regardless of the weather. That includes call the fire station and your local county dispatch center to inform them about any controlled burns He says there is no burn ban yet in Audubon County, but it is being considered. In the meantime, property owners need to be responsible and no start any fires when the weather is dry and windy.

Bintner was grateful for the help his department received from the area firefighters, and said everyone really worked well together. He was also very appreciative of the area farmers, who used their disc implements to help prevent the spread of the fire.

(8-a.m. News)

w/ Ric Hanson

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The ban that prevents utilities from turning off services to those behind on their bills ends Tuesday (April 1st). The ban only covers those who are signed up for the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Iowa Utilities Board spokesman, Rob Hillesland, says those not in LIHEAP may also be behind on their bills and the best thing to do is to work out a payment agreement. “It’s vital that customers who feel they cannot pay their energy bills contact their local utility for help in avoiding potential service disconnection,” Hillesland says.

The record cold this winter has pushed heating bills up for everyone and led to a record amount of unpaid bills. Hillesland says regulators and the utility companies are trying to help Iowans deal with the bigger bills. “The board has met with representatives of many of the utilities recently and they’re doing extra things this year to try to reach out to customers and communicate that they need to enter into payment arrangements — or find means to try to avoid service disconnections,” Hillesland says.

He says the utility companies across the state would rather work something out than pull the plug. “Disconnection is always the last resort for representatives of utilities,” he says. But, Hillesland says you have to do your part and try to work something out. “One of the large energy utilities serving Iowa reported that it had done an internal study of its customers that had been disconnected recently. And it indicated that a majority of those customers had left options on the table that could have avoided disconnections,” Hillesland explains.

The state can help if you feel you can’t come to an agreement with your utility. “If there’s unresolved issues with their utility, they can call the Iowa Utilities Board customer service staff. There’s a toll free number 1-877-565-4450,” Hillesland says. “The Iowa Utilities Board does have rules that govern when disconnections can occur.”

He says they also have rules governing the payment agreements between customers and utilities. The board report showed that there were just over 243-thousand households in Iowa who had a past-due balance on their utility accounts at the end of February. Those households owed a record of just over 46-million dollars.

(Radio Iowa)

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Florida man suspected killing a northwest Iowa man in 2009 has been returned to face a murder charge. Authorities say 54-year-old John Green arrived Friday night and is being held without bond in Sac County Jail. He’s scheduled for a hearing next Monday. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer. He was arrested Tuesday at a dog track in Orange Park, Fla.

Green is accused of killing 58-year-old Mark Koster, of Sac City. Police say Green briefly lived with Koster in 2009. Relatives say they last saw Koster that year. Koster was reported missing in 2010. His skeletal remains were found buried in the basement of his Sac city home in 2012.