The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a Page County man was arrested Saturday night on a Willful Injury causing Serious Injury charge. 45-year old Jody Lee Michaelsen, of Clarinda, was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $10,000 bond following his arrest at around 10-p.m. Saturday.

Early Sunday morning, 31-year old Kyle Clifford Weber, of Red Oak, was arrested by Mills County Deputies, for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, early Sunday afternoon, 32-year old Claire Ashly Thalken, of Emerson, was arrested on a Montgomery County warrant for Probation Violation. Her bond was set at $2,500.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A judge has rejected a challenge to a jury pool for a man charged in the death of his infant son. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Judge Richard Stochl ruled Monday there weren’t systematic problems with how the pool was assembled and that it was a representative cross-section of Henry County.

Lawyers had objected to the potential makeup of the jury for Zachary Koehn, who is charged with murder and child endangerment. Police say officers found the maggot-infested body of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn in an infant swing on Aug. 30 last year at the couple’s Alta Vista apartment. The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is having a separate trial.

Koehn’s trial was moved to Mount Pleasant in Henry County because of pretrial publicity in Chickasaw County. Defense attorney Steven Drahozal asked the court last week to reconsider the jury pool because of an under-representation of Hispanic people. Drahozal says Koehn has a Hispanic background and is entitled to a jury drawn from a cross-section of the community.

Firefighters in Atlantic were busy late Monday evening. Just after 5-p.m., they were called to the Pizza Ranch in the Atlantic Shopping Plaza for a reported grease fire. Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees said a broaster in the kitchen caught fire after a drain apparently didn’t connect after being cleaned and replaced, while the broaster was in operation.

McNees said the grease apparently flowed out by the burner and caught the inside on fire. The restaurant was quickly evacuated and the fire knocked down using a new product the fire department uses, called F-500, which can be used on a variety of fires and renders a fuel non-flammable or ignitable. The building was ventilated and the restaurant closed for the night until cleanup and repairs could be made.Firefighters were on the scene for about 25 minutes.

Not long after they left, Atlantic and Marne Fire were called to a field fire near a combine west of town near 59504 Marne Road (The Scott Robinson farm). Fire fighters were on the scene for about 40-minutes.

Photo courtesy Cass County Emergency Mgmt. Coordinator Mike Kennon

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa election officials in each of the state’s 99 counties will hand count votes in one randomly selected precinct for the general election as an added security measure.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says the manual vote count process was added to Iowa’s election security process in a 2017 law and will be used for the first time in Iowa this year.

Pate says his office will select a precinct in each county and officials will hand count votes to be sure the totals match the electronic counter that scanned and counted ballots. Iowa uses paper ballots counted by machines.

Pate said Monday personnel from homeland security, public safety, Iowa National Guard, and the Iowa chief information office will oversee an election day security operations center to respond if any problems develop.

The Iowa State Patrol says a man from Prairie City died during a collision between his van and a pickup pulling a piece of ag equipment. 50-year old Rex Lynn Chickering was driving a 2015 Chevy van eastbound on Highway 163 in Jasper County, when he ran into the back of an implement being pulled by a slow-moving pickup truck. The accident happened at around 8-a.m. today (Monday).

Chickering died at the scene. The driver of the pickup, 53-year old Curtis Wayne Kaisand, of Monroe, was injured and transported by ambulance to the hospital in Pella. The accident remains under investigation. Earlier reports indicated Chickering may have been blinded by the sun prior to the collision.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for an Iowa father charged in the death of his infant son are challenging the potential makeup of the jury. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Zachary Koehn is charged with murder and child endangerment. Police say officers found the maggot-infested body of 4-month-old Sterling Koehn in an infant swing on Aug. 30 last year at the couple’s Alta Vista apartment. The baby’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is having a separate trial. His trial was moved to Henry County because of pretrial publicity in Chickasaw County .

Defense attorney Steven Drahozal asked the court last week to reconsider the jury pool because of an under-representation of Latino or Hispanic people. Drahozal says Koehn has a Hispanic or Latin background and is entitled to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community. The attorney says that of the 82 people who indicated their race on the jury questionnaire, only 2.4 percent marked Hispanic or Latino.

Des Moines – The Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources today (Monday) announced that 58 Iowa communities have received a total of more than $171 million in low-interest loans through the State Revolving Fund to assist in advancing water quality projects.  State Revolving Fund Construction Loans are a low-cost construction financing option available for Iowa cities and municipalities for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Planning & Design Loans are zero percent loans that assist with the first-phase of project expenses. In the KJAN listening area:

• The City of Lewis was awarded $225,00 for Sewer Planning and Design.
• Council Bluffs Water Works was awarded $5.025-million for Water Transmission Improvements.
• Denison Municipal Utilities was awarded $10.206-million for Sewer Treatment improvements.
• Malvern was awarded $228,000 for Water Planning and Design.
• Manning was awarded $436,000 for Sewer Transmission Improvements.
• Mt. Ayr was awarded $275,000 for Water Transmission Improvements.
• And Winterset was awarded $105,000 for Sewer Planning and Design.

Iowa Finance Authority Interim Executive Director Carolann Jensen said “The State Revolving Fund has loaned more than $3.4 billion to more than 600 Iowa communities to date and we look forward to helping to advance many more water quality improvements.” Iowa Department of Natural Resources Acting Director Bruce Trautman said “The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is proud to partner with the Iowa Finance Authority to provide communities with affordable, accessible financing that will allow them to move pertinent water quality projects forward.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides annual capitalization grants to states. Leveraged bonds and loan repayments expand the reach of the federal investment. More than $3 in assistance has been leveraged for Iowa water quality projects for every $1 of federal funds. The State Revolving Fund has awarded Iowa communities and municipalities with more than $3.4 billion in Construction Loans and more than $198 million through Planning & Design Loans since the program’s inception.  The low-interest loans have saved communities millions of dollars in interest. More information is available IowaSRF.com

(Radio Iowa) — The driver of a car was killed after a crashing into a piece of farm machinery this (Monday) morning in Jasper County. The crash happened around 8 a.m. on Highway 163 near Monroe. The Iowa State Patrol reports a car caught fire after running into the back of a piece of farm equipment being pulled by a tractor. Troopers believe sunlight in the driver’s eyes may have been a factor in the crash.
The name of the person killed in the crash has not been released.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of stealing from her mother has pleaded not guilty in eastern Iowa. The Telegraph Herald reports that 50-year-old Corenna Marshall, of Sherrill, was arraigned last week on charges of fraudulent practices and of dependent adult abuse-exploitation. Her trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 18.

Authorities say Marshall held a power of attorney for her 78-year-old mother, Jeanne Marshall, of Dubuque. Investigators say bank records show that more than $21,000 was transferred to Corenna Marshall’s account from her mother’s account. Court documents say Corenna Marshall put her name on her mother’s property but used her mother’s account to pay a loan on the property.

Nominations packets for the ATHENA Leadership Award are due in to the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, by 5-p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 30th). The award, developed through a grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation, identifies eight distinct attributes that are reflective of women’s contributions to leadership: living authentically, learning constantly, advocating fiercely, acting courageously, fostering collaboration, building relationships, giving back and celebrating. These personal traits are more intuitive to women and combined with the strongest aspects of traditional leadership – taking risks, assertiveness, hard work – prepare women to be successful leaders in the 21^st century.

Athena Award

Over 7,000 recipients around the world have been honored with the ATHENA Leadership Award since the program launched in 1982. Presented to leaders, women and men, across the professional sector, the ATHENA Leadership Award is one of the most prestigious leadership awards one can receive – and Atlantic is one of the few communities in Iowa with an active ATHENA Leadership group.

Nominees must meet each of the following three criteria:

1. Demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession
2. Provide valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in their community
3. Actively assist women in achieving their full leadership potential

Over the past 18 years, Deter Motor Company has sponsored the ATHENA Award in this area. 17 women have been honored with the award and nominations are being sought out now for the 18th award winner. At Scott Deter’s request, the award winners have met consistently over the past several years to develop a program to mentor women. Local recipients to date include: LaVon Eblen, Judy Marnin, Leanne Pellett, Denise O’Brien, Margaret Slepsky, Glenda Farrier, Carole Schuler, Jan Kinnison, Janell Hansen, Ann Pross, Wendy Richter, Dolly Bergmann, Pat Markham, Lanette Plambeck, Kathie Hockenberry, Dr. Tressa Wilcox and Heather McKay.

The ATHENA Leadership Award is presented in January at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner. Those interested in nominating an individual can pick up a nomination packet at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, 102 Chestnut Street, or by visiting www.atlanticiowa.com. Again, nominations are due Tuesday, October 30^th at 5 PM.