The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests over the past week. On Tuesday, September 3, 2013, deputies arrested 27-year old Prudence Penelope Gwendolyn Page, of Atlantic, on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Page was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was being held on $10,000 bond.

And on Friday, Sept. 6th, 36-year old Shawn Joseph Williamson, of Anita, was arrested on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for Theft 5^th Degree. Williamson was taken to the Cass County Jail where he pled guilty and was released the following day.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports no one was injured following an accident that took place last Thursday afternoon (Sept. 5th). The accident involving a 2003 Ford Ranger and a 2008 Dodge Avenger, took place  at 2:25 p.m. on Highway 92. Officials say the Ford Ranger owned and driven by 52-year old Brent Behnken, of Atlantic,  was eastbound on Highway 92 when it was struck in the rear by the Dodge, owned and driven by 18-year old Haley Marie McVay, of Bridgewater. The accident happened while Behnken was waiting at a construction site. McVay was cited for Failure to reduce speed. Damage from the crash amounted to $700.

One person was injured during an accident that took place on August 30, in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Office says the incident happened  at around 5:41 p.m. on Highway 83, near Anita. A 2007 Suzuki motorcycle driven by 19-year old Tayler Michael Murphy, of Anita,  was traveling eastbound when the bike began to skid. Murphy was ejected into a ditch after he lost control of the cycle, which continued to slide unoccupied down the highway. The cycle hit the rear bumper of an eastbound 2004 Dodge Durango  driven by 27-year old Amber Ellen Schlake, of Atlantic, before coming to rest on the south side of the roadway. Murphy was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Anita Rescue.He was later cited for Reckless Driving and Failure to Maintain Control. Damage from the crash amounted to $4,400.

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After a slight cool-off over the weekend, triple-digit temperatures are back in today’s (Monday) forecast for a wide section of Iowa. Miles Schumacher, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says we can expect steamy highs this afternoon that are some 20-degrees hotter than normal. “It looks like the entire state will make the 90s,” Schumacher says. “The only cool spots, if you want to call it cool, we have some low 90s over the far, far northeast and northwest, but 95 to 100 will be pretty common across the whole state.”

Schumacher says the heat wave should roll out by Wednesday night into Thursday as cooler weather arrives. Some lower temperatures may appear in northwest Iowa as soon as tomorrow but the rest of the state will still be very hot, he says, with the “real cooling” in the latter part of the week.

Highs by Thursday may only be in the 70s and 80s. Fall arrives in just under two weeks, September 22nd.

(Radio Iowa)

Many Iowans have allergies or hearing problems but farmers may be more susceptible to both. Dr. Dwight Jones, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says some of the most common ailments among rural residents, particularly farmers, are chronic sinus disease and late summer and fall allergies. “People can have chronic runny noses and chronic stuffy noses from chronic sinus disease,” Dr. Jones says. “Chronic sinus disease often times plagues farmers and ranchers and people in the rural community heavily from nasal allergies. If you clear the allergies up, often times the sinus disease will clear up.”

If it doesn’t clear up, he says it can be treated in the office through sinus therapy. During dry seasons, dust from multiple sources is common on farms, whether it’s stirred up by tractors working in the fields or from the gravel road in front of the farmhouse. “All of those kinds of dust lead to increasing problems with asthma and chronic respiratory diseases in the farming and ranching population,” Jones says. “It’s really imperative that they avoid that kind of dust exposure on a chronic, long-term basis, or do something to protect themselves from that type of exposure.”

Years of being around big tractors, trucks and combines can also take a toll on one’s hearing. Jones says that’s another occupational hazard. “Farmers and ranchers work around a lot of heavy equipment, they work around a lot of noisy equipment and they’re especially vulnerable to have damage to their hearing,” Jones says. “They should take care and either wear some kind of hearing protection if possible or avoid long-term exposure to those kind of noises which can lead to sensory neuro hearing loss and tinnitus.”

For farmers and anyone else who suffers from ragweed allergies, he says a relatively new treatment is available. Drops can be taken under the tongue which can eliminate allergy shots and over-the-counter medications.

(Radio Iowa)

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – State prosecutors have given way to federal prosecution of a Sioux City man accused of assault and robbery.  Court documents show robbery, burglary, theft and assault charges against Levon Dean have been dropped.  Woodbury County Attorney Patrick “PJ” Jennings says dropping the local case will save the state money and could lead to heavier federal punishment for Dean.

Authorities say Levon Dean and his brother, Jamal Dean, broke into a Sioux City home and beat and robbed a resident at gunpoint in April. A few days later Jamal Dean shot Sioux City Police Officer Kevin McCormick, who survived. Jamal Dean was given 25 years in prison for attempted murder.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report the arrest of a Stanton man on an assault charge, Sunday morning. 38-year-old Marshall Adams was arrested early Sunday morning on an Assault causing serious injury charge. Adams was taken into custody at around 1-a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of North 2nd Street shortly after the incident allegedlyt took place.

Adams was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Four Republican candidates for Iowa’s U-S Senate seat agree: the U.S. should not send military strikes into Syria. The four spoke Saturday night at the Polk County Republican Party’s annual summer picnic and the crowd applauded each for their stand on the issue. Sam Clovis of Hinton is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who signed off his radio talk show in Sioux City in June to run for the senate.

“I’m amused at the fact that Bruce Braley has to go out and put a poll on the internet to find out where he stands on Syria,” Clovis said. “He ought to know where he stands on Syria. I know where I stand on Syria and that’s that we have no business being in Syria — not now, not ever. Ever!” Braley is the only Democrat running for the senate seat Tom Harkin has held since January of 1985. Candidate Joni Ernst of Red Oak is a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard and the commander of a battalion with 12-hundred soldiers.

“We are not going to Syria, not at this time,” Ernst said, telling the crowd there’s been a “lack of leadership” from the president on this issue. Candidate Matt Whitaker, a lawyer from Ankeny who was the G-O-P’s nominee for state treasurer in 2002, also served as a U-S Attorney. “I don’t see how it is in our strategic interest and I would be a note on military action in Syria,” Whitaker said.

David Young of Van Meter, who quit his job as Senator Chuck Grassley’s chief of staff this spring in order to run for the U.S. Senate, would be another “no” vote on a congressional resolution to authorize U.S. military strikes into Syria. “Assad is a mad man, obviously, gassing people,” Young says. “…But I would not support this. I certainly don’t want boots on the ground, that’s for sure.”

Congressman Tom Latham of Clive also spoke at the Saturday evening event, telling the crowd of fellow Republicans it is “irrational” to attack targets in Syria and kill men, women and children as a response to the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons to kill men, women and children. Latham also faulted the president for failing to build an “international coalition” to respond to Syria.

(Radio Iowa)

AREA COUNTIES: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD–

247 AM CDT MON SEP 9 2013

VERY HOT CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST FOR CENTRAL IOWA TODAY WITH NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 95 TO AROUND 100 DEGREES FORECAST. DEW POINT VALUES BY THE AFTERNOON WILL DROP INTO THE 50S TO LOWER 60S…COMBINED WITH TEMPERATURES THIS WILL ALLOW THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES TO DROP TO 25 TO 30 PERCENT.

THESE CONDITIONS WILL ACCELERATE THE ONSET OF DEHYDRATION. IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR PERSONS THAT MUST BE OUTDOORS TO DRINK PLENTY OF WATER…TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS AND WEAR LIGHT COLORED AND LOOSE CLOTHING. OUTSIDE EXERCISE SHOULD TAKE PLACE DURING THE MORNING OR DELAYED UNTIL THE EVENING.

A COLD FRONT WILL DROP SLOWLY THROUGH IOWA TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. THE HEAT WILL LIKELY PERSIST ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA THROUGH TUESDAY.

IN ADDITION…THERE IS AN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER MONDAY AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY ACROSS AREAS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN IOWA WHERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE RETURNED. THE COMBINATION OF LOW HUMIDITY…A GUSTY 20 TO 25 MPH SOUTHWEST WIND AND DRYING VEGETATION COULD LEAD TO QUICK FIRE GROWTH SHOULD A FIRE BE IGNITED.