Local members of the Cass County Unit of the Salvation Army met this week to launch the “Red Kettle Campaign” for 2011.  JJ Kuzma from Salvation Army in Omaha attended the meeting with Duane McFadden, Chairman of the Red Kettle Campaign and Teresa Kanning Co-Chair of the Cass County Salvation Army unit.  As always, funds raised by the local Kettle Campaign stay in Cass County and are used for projects within the County. Last year the Cass County unit raised $5,827.

Among the issues discussed during the meeting held Wednesday, was the upcoming holiday season and setting up bell ringing for the season.  In the last several years, the unit has collected money by ringing bells for the campaign at Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee and Fareway, as well as at the Grand Holiday Lighting. This year’s Grand Lighting ceremony takes place in the Atlantic City Park on November 17th,  at 5:30.  The bells will also be rung during the Lighted Christmas Parade, on December 3rd.   The funds raised by the campaign stay in Cass County.  During the last year, the funds were made available for such programs as the “Shop with a Cop” program, gift cards to local schools, to assist students in meeting various needs, assisting stranded motorists and transient individuals,  fans for distribution by West Central Community Action Center, and, back packs to be distributed by the administrative staff. This year the Cass County Salvation Army unit also partnered with the Parents as Teachers Program to purchase car seats for the program’s use.

New this year, Salvation Army has the ability to accept donations thru the National Salvation Army website.  Anyone wanting to donate to the local unit can go on the website and specify which local unit they want their Red Kettle donation to go to.  More information will be released on this program at a later date.  Volunteers to ring bells are welcome; any person, family, community group or religious organization who would like to sign up for a shift to ring bells for Salvation Army, please contact Duane McFadden at 712-781-2287.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man has been injured when he was struck by a train while watching another train pass by in Council Bluffs. The Daily Nonpareil reported the man, who wasn’t identified, was struck by the train this (Thursday) afternoon. Police say the man was standing near the westbound tracks in the area, watching an eastbound train pass, when he was struck by a westbound train. Police Sgt. Jason Bailey says the man suffered an injury to his arm. It took the train several seconds to stop after it hit the man. It wasn’t immediately known how fast the train was traveling. A bystander says he saw the man under the train after the accident.

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District report another bomb threat was discovered and reported to the office at the Atlantic Middle School. In a statement released at around 11:15-a.m., the district says “The Atlantic Police Department was notified. The police have searched the building and feel the building is safe. The Middle School staff and students have been evacuated for a short period of time as a precautionary measure. The school district will continue to work with the local law enforcement to ensure the safety of all students in the district.”

Atlantic Police Lt. Dave Erickson said at 11:30-a.m., classes were dismissed and students sent to the Trojan Bowl. They will return to their classrooms at Noon.

One week ago today (Thursday) a similar bomb threat was discovered at the Atlantic Middle School, and one student, a 12-year old male, was arrested on a charge of making a terrorist threat. On October 5th, a bomb threat was discovered at the Atlantic High School. No arrests have been made in connection with that incident.

The American Red Cross is asking people to roll up their sleeves and give blood or platelets this Veterans Day weekend to honor those who have served their country. Officials say at the same time, anyone who comes to donate will have the opportunity to sign a card and include a personal message that will become part of the annual American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign.　

The Red Cross and Pitney Bowes have joined together for Holiday Mail for Heroes, a program through which people can sign holiday cards for members of the U.S. military, veterans and their families. Pitney Bowes will then screen the cards for hazardous materials, and the Red Cross will sort and deliver them to military installations, veterans medical facilities and other locations during the holidays.

Tricia Quinn, CEO of the Red Cross Midwest Blood Services Region, says “By giving blood this Veterans Day weekend, donors can pay tribute to those who serve this country. Quinn says the blood drives will “Give donors the chance to help hospital patients who need blood, and at the same time, write messages of thanks to veterans and members of the military for their service.”

On Friday (Nov. 11^th) an American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held in Cass County, from 8:30-a.m. until 2:30-p.m., at the Griswold High School. If you’d like to donate, simply call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment, or for more information.

All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.　

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is making an air quality “watch list” available to the public for the first time. The EPA watch list names alleged air pollution offenders who’ve been out of compliance without state or local resolution within 270 days. Jason Marcel, with the DNR air quality bureau, says the list used to be for internal use only. “They made a decision here recently to make that, what they call the watch list, more publicly available. It was in response to repeated freedom of information act requests,” Marcel said. A few Iowa firms have shown up on the list in recent months.

“The expectation from the EPA to the state and local level is that enforcement actions should be processed in a timely manner, so the watch list is a check on that when the time limit is exceeded,” Marcel said. The EPA now publishes the watch list on its website. The September list included Griffin Pipe Products of Council Bluffs, Diamond V Mills in Cedar Rapids and Grain Processing Corporation in Muscatine. Only Griffin Pipe remained on the list in October. Marcel said enforcement for Griffin Pipe has been turned over to the EPA because water quality violations are also involved.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County say a Shelby County man was injured during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday morning  about four-miles south of Shelby. 63-year old Larry Sheeler, of Tennant, was traveling south on 380^th Street at around 11:30-a.m., when he apparently suffered from a medical condition and blacked-out. Sheeler’s 1995 Cadillac hit a fence post before coming to rest in the east ditch near the intersection with Sycamore Road. 

The man was pinned in his vehicle and had to be extricated with the “Jaws of Life,” by Shelby Fire and Rescue. Sheeler was transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs for were described as non-life threatening injuries.

w/ Ric Hanson

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POMEROY, Iowa (AP) – The state of Iowa has fined a Pomeroy nursing home where an 8-year-old girl reported seeing an elderly resident being sexually assaulted by a registered sex offender who lives there. The Des Moines Register says the 83-year-old sex offender hasn’t been charged but that a Calhoun County prosecutor says charges are expected. State records say an Iowa judge had ordered the man placed in the Pomeroy Care Center. The girl had been visiting a relative on Aug. 21. She told officials she saw the man in the room of a resident in her upper 90s who has dementia. The state fined the center $10,000 last week for failing to protect its residents. The center’s administrator declined to comment on the state allegations.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Small towns in Iowa don’t have to think small when it comes to art, according to one organizer of this weekend’s event in Coon Rapids called Public Art for Rural Communities. It will gather artists, art appreciators, patrons and rural leaders from across Iowa to discuss prospects for public art, even in small rural towns. Doug Carpenter is the rural arts coordinator for Creating Great Places.  “There’s been a question for years over the role of public art in small communities,” Carpenter says. “Big towns have a lot of money and a lot of volunteers and can make things happen but smaller towns have a smaller budget and that makes it more difficult but it doesn’t keep small towns from pursuing it.”

He says the event will showcase place-based art that reflects Coon Rapids’ rich agricultural history as the cradle of hybrid seed corn on the Garst farm and host to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1959. One feature will be the large, lighted sculpture, “Hybrid Icon,” at the Coon Rapids entryway.  “We’re bringing together people who have successfully started programs,” Carpenter says. “Plus, we’re bringing together some of the state people who know about public art and funding from the Iowa Arts Council.” He says from sculpture to singing and from dancing to poetry, people in small towns deserve art just as much as city folks, which is why this event is being held.

“We call it a gathering,” Carpenter says. “It’s not a symposium or a formal meeting. It’s just inviting people who know about art or who are interested in art in small communities to come together and network, compare notes and get ideas.” The gathering begins at 1:30 Friday afternoon and ends late Saturday morning with a visit to the sixth annual Raccoon River Art Fair in downtown Coon Rapids.

(Radio Iowa)