Police in Harlan are asking for the public’s help with regard to two incidents that took place Wednesday. Officials say officers were called to the 1400 block of Onyx Drive, where four vehicles parked along the block had been vandalized with an instrument that may have been a key. If you heard or saw something, please call the Harlan Police Department, as your information may help to solve the case. As always, if your information leads to an arrest and conviction, you may be eligible for a Crime Stoppers reward.

The H-PD reports also, a Harlan resident reported Wednesday, that her 2009 Chevy Malibu was stolen from her residence. The “Keying” incident and theft, remain under investigation.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy Co. is holding meetings with landowners and residents in two locations in Iowa as part of a nuclear energy assessment study.  About 40 residents in southwest Iowa’s Fremont County, and a similar number in Muscatine County in eastern Iowa received invitations.  MidAmerican will discuss the purpose of soil samples the company is gathering for the study to assess the viability of nuclear generation in Iowa.

Spokeswoman Tina Potthoff says the company is taking five soil borings of nearly 100 feet deep in both locations. She says no decisions have been made to build a nuclear plant.  The Legislature in 2010 passed a bill allowing MidAmerican to recover up to $15 million in study costs from Iowa electric customers.  A report will be filed with lawmakers next year.

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – German-based chemical maker BASF had made a deal to buy Ames-based Becker Underwood, which makes seed treatment and other farm products.  BASF says the purchase price is $1.02 billion. Becker Underwood was co-founded in 1982 by Atlantic natives Roger Underwood and Jeff Becker.  They sold controlling interest to Norwest Equity Partners of Minneapolis in 2004. Becker has more than 210 employees in Ames; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Caldwell, Idaho; and nearly 270 more in several other countries.

BASF is based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and produces chemicals and plastics as well oil and gas and agricultural herbicides and fertilizers. BASF spokeswoman Anne Burt says final decisions haven’t been made about the future of Becker Underwood’s chief executive officer, Peter Innes, other managers or other workers.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Cedar Rapids police spokeswoman says no obvious signs of trauma have been found on the body of a man that was found between two houses. Officers were sent to the scene on the southwest side of the city after a neighbor reported seeing the body of 25-year-old James Tamayo shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines area developer has pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with a loan to develop a condominium project. U.S. Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt announced that Randal Walters of Polk County pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of bank fraud related to the Meadow Cove project. The 55-year-old Walters acknowledged during court proceedings that he diverted loans intended for condos to other uses.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Rural electric cooperatives operating in Iowa, Nebraska and seven other states are getting federal loan guarantees to improve portions of their power lines and generating systems. The funding includes a $6.7 million loan guarantee for Nobles Electric Cooperative, which serves customers in northwest Iowa and Minnesota.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Cleanup of an oil spill along 10 to 15 miles of the North Raccoon River south of Jefferson continues as environmental officials warn people to avoid canoeing, fishing, or even hiking in the area. Pools of thick black smelly oil are apparent in the area after a valve on a storage tank malfunctioned September 13th at Krieger’s Greenhouse in Jefferson.

Volunteers are needed to pull on boots and gloves this weekend to help clean up the banks of the Missouri River after last year’s historic flooding. Jeff Barrow is director of Missouri River Relief and says they’re focusing their efforts Saturday on the Nebraska side of the river, just north of Omaha. They’ll be getting the debris that washed up on the islands and in the woods in last year’s flooding. Barrow says up to 300 volunteers are expected for the event who will help pick up 10 to 15 tons of trash. He recommends bringing bug spray and sunscreen. The trash pick-up runs until noon and lunch will be provided. After lunch, more volunteers are needed to sort and haul that trash away.

The Army Corps of Engineers is providing a barge on which the trash will be dumped, while there will also be separate dumpsters for trash and scrap metal. Volunteers should be on the look-out for unusual items and there’s a contest for the best “trash treasures” found. Barrow says they’ve literally found a message in a bottle before.”We were doing a clean-up way down near the Mississippi River on the Missouri River and someone in Council Bluffs had put a message in a bottle and it’d been in the river ten years,” he says. “We found it. It was really amazing. We tried to call the person back but the phone number was no longer active.”

Volunteers should be at N-P Dodge Park north of Omaha at 9 AM Saturday. Barrow says in ten years, more than 16,500 volunteers have collected and hauled away more than one-million pounds of trash from 784 miles of river.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds are calling on Cass County residents and all Iowans to join in a one-kilometer Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday, October 3rd, as one part of an effort to become the healthiest state in the nation. More than 291,000 Iowans from each of Iowa’s 99 counties participated in the Healthiest State Initiative’s “Start Somewhere” walk in 2011. This year, many organized Healthiest State Walks will be held at noon on October 3rd, but walks are encouraged throughout the day.

A kilometer is about 7.5 city blocks, a 12-minute stroll for the average walker. Walkers can sign up for the event and find or create a local, organized walk at www.iowahealthieststate.com. In addition to walking, Branstad and Reynolds are encouraging Iowans to add one more wellness activity to their day on October 3rd.  The Governor and Lt. Gov. last year announced the plan to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation within five years as measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index(r). In 2011, Iowa ranked 16th compared to all other states, moving up from the 19th position in 2010.

The Healthiest State Initiative is a privately led, public effort that engages Iowans and their communities throughout the state. It involves individuals, families, businesses, faith-based organizations, not-for-profits and the public sector in a broad-based community-focused effort.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports his deputies were called Thursday to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man found in a vehicle.  Deputies responded to 1851 A Avenue at approxiamtely7:30 AM. Following an investigation, which involved the Page County Medical Examiner and the Page County Sheriff’s Office, it was determined that 59-year old George Henry Mier, of Ottumwa,  had died from natural causes in a Semi tractor waiting in line to get into the business of Hallet Materials.  The Semi was parked on A Avenue facing north just south of the entrance to the business.