The Shelby County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, approved a five-percent increase in wages for elected officials, with just a few exceptions. Tim Meyer, Treasurer of the Shelby County Compensation Board, requested the increase for elected officials except for Shelby County Sheriff Mark Hervey, who will see a 6 percent increase. Meyer told the supervisors his first year on the board in 2011, that Shelby county officials were trailing the rest of the counties considerably, ranking 89^th as compared to the population at 65^th. The Compensation board decided in 2011 to ask for the increase in wages and continue a plan to raise the compensation closer to the population. Meyer said the 5 percent increase agreed upon by the Compensation Board prior being recommended for approval by the Supervisors.

Meyer said the county officials do a great job and should be commended for the work they do. Supervisor Steve Kenkel compared elected officials’ wages in Shelby County and four other counties in the area prior to the Boards’ vote.  Kenkel said “Shelby County population ranking is 64 and property tax is 63 so we are right where we need to be. But I wanted to look at the levy rate where we are with taxes. The levy rate of the counties around us varies to 37.3 and we are 30.3. The state average is 34 so we are real low in the property tax levy. Property tax in our 5 year average what our change has been is 2.4%, or about half of the state average.”

He said also, the County will be debt free by next fiscal year, and he reminded the Board other County officials received a $1,500 raise this year. Kenkel said “If we weren’t doing anything at all you have to look at that and factor that in there that’s $12,000 subtract off of there. You are looking at above and beyond a 1.5% increase about what the other employees got. Charlie and I said we would not take a raise the 1^st year if this is approved, that’s $1,279. If you take that savings out, we are looking at additional cost for the county of 1.1%.”

Supervisor Roger Schmitz said he would not vote for a salary increase, because he is not better than the other two supervisors.  Kenkel refuted that argument, saying “What I wanted to do was approve it and Roger get his now and wait 6 months the next year and then enacts Charlie and I in. That way we end up with two and a half and he ends up with 5.” A motion to approve the increase passed however, by a vote of 2-to 1, with Schmitz voting no, because he felt everyone should be the same on the board.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

w/ Ric Hanson

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(Updated 7:23-a.m.)

Officials in Council Bluffs say a large water main break near North 9th Street and Avenue F, has resulted in the issuance of a BOIL ADVISORY for the entire City of Council Bluffs for anywhere from 24-to 48-hours.   According to media reports, a geyser was shooting up from the street for a while after the incident occurred sometime between 2:15- and 2:30-a.m., and a vehicle was observed partially submerged in the large hole created by the water main break. The road has also buckled in the area.  The cause of the break is under investigation.

Authorities have shut down at least nine blocks to traffic, as the main break caused street flooding.  Temperatures below freezing means that roads in the vicinity of the incident are very icy or slushy. Drivers are urged to avoid the area.

And, schools are asking students to bring bottled water to class today, due to the Boil Advisory. Under a Boil Advisory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that persons use bottled water for drinking, cooking and the brushing of teeth, or tap water be brought to a rolling boil for one minute before it is consumed in order to kill protozoa, bacteria and viruses.

(7-a.m. News)

Area residents looking for ways to fulfill their New Year’s resolution to get healthy and fit, can do so by participating in the annual “Live Healthy Iowa 10 Week Challenge“, January 28th through April 5th. During the challenge, participants form teams of anywhere from two to 10-adults, who motivate and support each other in achieving their fitness and weight loss goals.

Each week, team members report their physical activity and/or weight, as part of a friendly competition. Team totals will be tracked and tabulated. In addition, a new feature this year, is a K-through 12 Live Healthy Iowa kids’ 10-week Challenge. Last year, Corporate and Community Cup Challenges were introduced into the competition, where teams from those divisions vied for a traveling trophy. Cass County is one of the communities which will actively be tracking its participation.

If teams sign-up using the group i.d.  LHICASS, they will be grouped with all teams in Cass County, thereby making the County eligible for the Community Cup Challenge. Sign-up today, by visiting www.livehealthyiowa.org.  Or, for more information, call Teddi Grindberg, Cass County Wellness Coordinator, at 712-243-3934.

State Climatologist Harry Hillaker is reporting 2012 was Iowa’s third hottest year on record. The statewide average temperature through the year was 51.9 degrees. That was 3.8 degrees above normal, but just over one-degree cooler than 1931, the hottest year ever in Iowa. Nationally, government meteorologists say 2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States with an average temperature of just over 55 degrees. In addition to the heat, Iowa and nearly two-thirds of the country endured a summer-long drought.

Hillaker says 2012 was Iowa’s 19th driest year in 140 years of record keeping.  The statewide average precipitation last year was 26.31 inches, nearly 9 inches below normal. The record for Iowa’s driest year was set in 1910 at 19.98 inches of precipitation. Farmers and others who desperately needed rain last summer may find it hard to believe 2012 was only the 19th driest in state history. But, Hillaker notes above normal precipitation was recorded statewide in the months of February, April, October and December. July, meanwhile, was extremely dry and hot.

Hillaker says it the 5th driest July in Iowa history (1st-1936) and the month trailed only 1936 and 1901 for the hottest July in state history. The month of March was the warmest ever, 51.1 degrees on average, besting the previous record set in March 1910 by nearly two-and-a-half degrees. There was yet another unusual weather statistic in Iowa in 2012. You might call it a silver lining of the drought – as there were very few tornadoes.

Hillaker says there were only 16 confirmed tornadoes in Iowa last year and they all happened before the end of May. “Which is pretty amazing considering June is usually our busiest tornado month of the year,” Hillaker said. “That 16 annual total for tornadoes is, at least, our lowest since 1963.” Iowa averages 47 tornadoes per year. A record 120 tornadoes touched down in Iowa is 2004.

(Radio Iowa)

An accident Tuesday evening about three-miles southeast of Bayard, in Guthrie County, has claimed the life of one person and resulted in injures to another. The Iowa State Patrol says 85-year old Donald Merle Wetzel, of Guthrie Center, died in the crash which occurred at around 5:40-p.m. on Highway 25, just north of 130th Street. Officials say the accident happened when a northbound 2008 Chevy Impala driven by Wetzel, collided with the trailer portion of a semi driven by 60-year old Duane Eugene Putney, of Stuart, as Putney was backing the semi into a farm drive.

The truck, with its flashers and headlights on, was blocking both lanes at the time of the crash. The car came to rest directly under the trailer portion of the semi, in the northbound lane of Highway 25. Wetzel was pronounced dead at the scene. Putney was transported by Guthrie Rescue to the  Guthrie County Hospital. Both men were wearing their seat belts.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Three people were arrested Monday, in Atlantic. In a report released Tuesday, officials said  36-year old Ezra Sedina, of Atlantic, was arrested for Violating a No Contact Order. And, 22-year-old Francis Kirchner along with 21-year-old Samantha Massa, both of Grant, were taken into custody. Each was charged with 4^th Degree Theft/shoplifting.

Sedina and Kirchner were booked into the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate, while Massa was cited and released from custody, with orders to appear in court at a later date.