An educational, mock collision is taking place this (Tuesday) afternoon, in Griswold, at the High School. The “Every 15 Minutes” program involves students portraying victims of a crash caused by an impaired driver. The public is being asked to avoid the area along North Street and Highway 48, between 1- and 3-p.m., so as to not interfere with Emergency vehicles. No parking is being allowed in the area.

A Clarinda woman facing a jury trial over the theft of funds from the Clarinda High School Athletic Booster Club has instead plead guilty to the charges filed against her. 52-year-old Cynthia Ann Gerdts entered her plea Monday,  in Page County District Court.  Gerdts had faced a felony charge of Theft in the 2nd degree, and an Aggravated Misdemeanor charge of Theft in the 3rd degree. She was granted a deferred judgement and ordered to pay restitution to the Booster Club amounting to just over $25,600.

The judge also placed Gerdts on two-years probation in association with the felony charge, and ordered the woman to stay with a gambling treatment program. She must also complete 365 hours of community service over the next two years. On the second charge, the judge sentenced Gerdts to two-years in prison, but then suspended the entire term. The case against her was prosecuted by the Page County Attorney’s office.

Trial for an Atlantic woman accused of taking inappropriate pictures of a bathing, elderly woman at a local nursing home, will take place May 30th in Shelby County District Court. 35-year old Amanda Sedina, was arrested last month on a serious misdemeanor charge of Invasion of Privacy-Nudity, for allegedly taking a picture of a 78-year old female resident at the Salem Lutheran Home, in Elk Horn. Sedina was working as an employee of the facility at the time. The alleged incident was reported to authorities on March 22^nd. 

Sedina is scheduled to be arraigned April 23rd. Her pre-trial conference will be held May 7th. Sedina remains free on bond, while awaiting her court appearances.

The trial date for a former Anita Community School District teacher facing a single felony charge of Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee, and, 49 Aggravated Misdemeanor counts of Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee-Arousal, has been set for July 10^th in Cass County District Court. 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes, of Anita plead not guilty to the charges last month. His arraignment hearing will be held April 30^th, with a pre-trial conference scheduled to take place May 29^th. If convicted on all of the charges, Foulkes could face a maximum time of 103 years in prison and fines of more than $300,000.

Foulkes allegedly exploited a minor female over a period of 13-months, from August 2009 to November 2010, while teaching the student in a math program. A former long-time Math teacher at the Anita High School and Anita Elementary School, Foulkes resigned from his teaching position in November 2010. He was arrested March 15th, 2012, and remains free on bond. He’s been ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim.

An Atlantic man was arrested Monday on a Cass County Sheriff’s warrant. 33-year old James Wolff was taken into custody on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Wolff was being held in the Cass County Jail.

(9-a.m. News)

The Chair of the Cass County Community Foundation has announced $95,900 was awarded recently to several non-profit groups and organizations within the County. Nicholas Hunt says the grant checks were presented to those non-profit organizations which had submitted applications to the CCCF by the February 1st deadline.

CCCF grant recipients display their checks on the steps of the Cass Co. Courthouse

Grant funds amounting to $8,000 were awarded to: the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center in Atlantic, for increased classroom play space, and to the Hitchcock House Advisory Board, for the addition of a registration/gift shop/restroom building. Awards of $7,000 were given to the Cass County Mormon Trail Association, for the restoration of the Nishnabotna Ferry House, in Lewis, and, to the Nishna Valley Family YMCA in Atlantic, for their Water Spash Program.

A grant amounting to $6,400 was made available to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, for their Healing Garden project. Grant awards of $6,000 each were presented to the City of Wiota’s Fire Dept., for new turnout gear, and to the Lewis 1st Responders and Firefighters Assoc., for the purchase of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBS) for two firefighters.

In addition, four organizations received $5,000 grants, including: the Atlantic Parks and Rec Dept., for the purchase of a kit for use in Summer program activities….the Cass County Conservation Board, for the purchase of a new equipment trailer….the City of Griswold, for an upgrade to the Cocklin Fish Farm to an attractive park for community use…and the City of Marne, for lights, bleachers and a sound system for the City Park Ball Field.

The Cass County Historical Museum also received a $4,000 grant for continued renovations on the upper floor of the Museum. The Griswold Fire Dept. received a $3,500 grant to equip a fire truck with updated safety and rescue equipment, and the Lewis Public Library received $3,500 for six new computer stations at the Library/Heritage Center. Eight other organizations within Cass County received grants ranging from $1,500 to $2,500.

All grantees met the criteria as Cass County nonprofit agencies or organizations, with charitable missions in the areas of civic, cultural, health, education and social services. For more information about the Cass County Community Foundation, contact any CCCF Board member, or Dennis Nissen, Iowa Program Officer for the Community Foundations of Southwest Iowa, at 1-800-794-3458.

(9-a.m. News)

The Griswold Community School District’s Board of Education Monday night, approved a settlement with the district’s certified staff. Superintendent Dana Kunze said the total package agreement was for 4.0% of the base salary. The package includes an insurance increase, and increases to FICA and IPERS. Kunze says the agreement puts the district in-line with what other districts in southwest Iowa are averaging. The Board also held a hearing at 5:30-p.m. with regard to School Board Director Redistricting, District Maps and the method of electing school board members. He says a district patron asked some questions about the process, and the board later voted to approve redistricting, unanimously. That means there will still be seven directors, but four geographical districts instead of seven, with three members elected At Large.

The process of determining Director Redistricting began following the results of the 2010 census. In other business, the Griswold School Board set May 1^st at 1-p.m. as the date and time for the sale of just under $3-million in bonds for various current and future projects. The move followed the approval Monday evening of a service agreement with the District’s bonding agent, Piper Jaffrey.  And, the board approved a contract with Bishop Engineering of Des Moines, for the parking lot project.

(9-a.m. News)

w/ Ric Hanson

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THURMAN, Iowa (AP) – Hundreds of volunteers have put their lives on hold so they can help people in a tiny western Iowa town recover from a mammoth tornado. The tornado ripped through the town of Thurman on Saturday, damaging most of the town’s homes but causing only a few minor injuries.  The 900 volunteers who showed up Sunday to help the town’s 229 residents were followed by an estimated 270 on Monday. Mayor Rod Humphreys Jr. told The Des Moines Register people will be cleaning up for a week, and “we should be 90 percent done by Wednesday.” Many of the volunteers are people whose homes or businesses were flooded by the Missouri River last summer. More volunteers are expected today (Tuesday), from as far away as Wisconsin and Montana.

w/ Ric Hanson

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