The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Friday) voted to appoint Cathy Downey, of Atlantic, to fill a vacancy on the County Veterans Affairs Commission. Downey will hold the position to fill the vacancy, for the remainder of a vacancy term created by the resignation on March 21st of VA Commissioner Jerald Putnam, of Griswold. Putnam had served on the Commission for more than 12-years. Downey will serve on the Commission at least until the term ends on June 20th, 2013.

The Board also voted to remove from the Local Emergency Planning Council James C. Wyman, of Griswold, and Chuck Kinen, who passed away last year. They voted to appoint to the LEPC, Kurt Reason (Marne Fire Dept.), along with Supervisors Gaylord Schelling and Mark Wedemeyer.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors tabled action on a revision to the County’s cellular phone policy, pending further discussion with the various County Department heads, who have not yet had a chance to review the current proposed policy.

One person suffered apparently minor injuries during a rollover accident this morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. According to dispatch reports from the Cass County Communications Center, a vehicle rolled into the median off of I-80 westbound, about a mile west of the Marne exit (Mile marker 52). The accident happened at around 8:35-a.m.

State Patrol Troopers on the scene reported the subject suffered from rib and shoulder pain. Atlantic and MarneFire and Rescue were responded to the scene.  The accident resulted in I-80 westbound being blocked for a little more than an hour.

No other details are currently available.

An Atlantic woman accused of taking a picture of a nude nursing home resident earlier this month, is free on bond while awaiting a court date. 35-year old Amanda Sedina, an employee of the Salem Lutheran Nursing Home in Elk Horn, faces a serious misdemeanor charge of Invasion of Privacy-Nudity. Shelby County Chief Deputy Sheriff Rod McMurphy says Sedina allegedly took an inappropriate picture of a bathing 78-year old female resident. He says after fellow employee received a text message from Sedina with a picture of the woman attached to it, the employee notified Salem Administrators, who called the Sheriff’s Office. 

The incident was reported to authorities on March 22^nd.  Sedina was arrested March 23^rd, and was released Monday on $1,000 bond. A date for her preliminary hearing has not yet been set.  McMurphy could not comment on Sedina’s motive for taking the alleged picture. He says the case is extremely unusual for Shelby County. He says it’s not something they run across very often, and “It’s beyond despicable.”

w/ Ric Hanson

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GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – A 49-year-old Iowa woman on probation for dumping 23 dead or dying dogs in a Nebraska cornfield in 2008 has admitted violating probation by living with 13 dogs.  A judge told Denise Withee, of Mapleton, Iowa, on Thursday that she’ll be resentenced on April 26 and that she could face prison time. Court records say Withee originally was sentenced in September 2009 to four years of probation and was ordered not to own, possess or reside with any animal for five years. The 13 dogs were found by Iowa authorities in January in the home Withee shares with her mother. Withee will remain in Hall County Jail in Nebraska until her sentencing.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Severe storms that popped-up in southeastern Nebraska Thursday evening didn’t take long to affect the atmosphere in southwest Iowa. Storm warnings for parts of the listening area were issued at around 6:40-p.m.  Motorists began pulling under bridge overpasses along Interstate 29 near Council Bluffs, as the area was hit by heavy rain and hail. At about that same time, the National Weather Service in Valley, NE, issued a Tornado Watch for four counties in  the southwest corner of the state.

Storms continued to build and move eastward, until they began to form and move northeast into Cass County just after 7-p.m.  At around 7:25-p.m., a Severe Thunderstorm warning was issued for parts of Cass and Audubon Counties. The storms moved through Griswold and Atlantic, dumping heavy rain. Here at the KJAN studios, we received a total of .88″ of an inch of rain, with most of that having fallen between 7-and 9-pm.

Pea-sized hail was observed just a  few miles south and northeast of Atlantic as the storms passed through, but further off to the southwest, near Griswold, quarter-sized hail was reported at 8:10-p.m. by a trained weather service spotter.  About 15-minutes earlier, another spotter reported golf ball-sized hail reported 4-miles northeast of Griswold .

Other reports of hail included  quarter-sized hail one-mile north of Braddyville in Page County at around 8:40-p.m.   There were no  immediate reports of damage. Just when it appeared the storms had died down near 9-p.m. and were moving out of the listening area, the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for those counties mainly south of Interstate 80 until 2-a.m., but most of the storms weakened significantly prior to the watch having expired.

Rainfall in Atlantic= .8”   Some reports of pea-sized hail south and northeast of Atlantic as the storms passed through. Quarter-sized hail reported 3 miles south of Griswold at 8:10-p.m.*;  Golf ball-sized hail reported 4-miles NE of Griswold at 7:54-p.m.*; quarter-sized hail reported 1-mile north of Braddyville in Page County at 8:42-p.m.*.  (* indicates report from trained National Weather Service Spotter) 

Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 2-a.m. for Cass, Adair, Adams, Madison, Union, Taylor and Ringgold Counties in SW IA.

(ISP Corrects victims’ hometowns and age in an update at 6-p.m. to our original story posted at 5:05-p.m., Thursday)

Two people were injured, while a third person was killed in a single-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon, in Adair County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash victims were in a 1995 Mercury Sable that was northbound on County Road P-33, about one-half mile north of the Adair/Union County line, when the car went out of control as it was passing a semi at around 12:15-p.m.  The car entered a ditch and came to rest in a stream.

The driver of the car, 20-year old Mark Stout, of Greenfield and a passenger, 49-year old Susan Lavonne Rinkert, of Creston were injured and transported to the Greater Regional Hospital in Creston., before being flown by Mercy 1 helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.   A second passenger in the vehicle, 53-year old James Edward Rinkert, of Macksburg, was also transported to the hospital in Creston, where he died from his injuries.

The Patrol says Stout wore his seat belt, but neither of the Rinkert’s wore theirs. The accident remains under investigation.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Business Manager is undergoing chemotherapy for treatment of Acute Myelocytic Leukemia, or AML.

Atlantic Community School District Business Mgr. Mary Beth Fast

Mary Beth Fast, who came to the Atlantic District from the Griswold Community Schools in 2010, was diagnosed with the condition earlier this month.

AML is the most common type of leukemia among adults, although it affects people of all ages. In AML, immature leukemia cells rapidly accumulate in the bone marrow, destroying and replacing cells that produce normal blood cells. The leukemia cells are released into the bloodstream and are transported to other organs, where they continue to grow and divide.

A “Caring Bridge” site has been established for Mary Beth’s friends, family, students and faculty members to follow her progress as she endures the chemo procedures and tests. The website is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/marybethfast

Mary Beth was initially diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection on February 24, 2012.  After completing the prescriptions, she still had a sore throat.  She returned to her doctor on March 12th, and upon further examination he decided to run a full blood test.  The next day she saw another physician, who confirmed the original doctor’s  blood tests results, and performed a bone marrow biopsy.  Before leaving his office he had diagnosed her with acute leukemia.

Mary Beth was admitted to Immanuel Hospital in Omaha, NE, on March 22nd.  The “induction  phase” of her treatment started the day she was admitted.  Her Caring Bridge site said she is on a high dose chemo therapy.  The goal is to completely eradicate her marrow of cancer cells.  This includes destroying all cells.  Once that is accomplished, new cells will begin forming, hopefully free of cancer. Melinda McDermott has assumed Mary Beth’s duties as Business Manager and School Board Secretary, in her absence.