A Lenox teen faces a Criminal Mischief  charge after authorities investigated an incident of vandalism. According to the Lenox Police Department, at around 5:30-PM, Tuesday, officers were called to the City Park, in reference to vandalism. When they arrived, police were shown a concrete bench which had been broken. Witnesses indicated they had seen a male juvenile jumping on and kicking the bench intentionally causing the damage.

After further investigation, an unidentified 15-year old male was charged with 3rd degree criminal mischief and referred to the juvenile court officer.

State officials say Election Day went smoothly, except for problems with the official website that displays election returns. Mary Mosiman, Deputy of Elections for the Iowa Secretary of State, says an internal server problem caused some disruptions at the site for about two hours.  “We did notice it right away, of course, so we went to Plan B and just put static information up there that was updated as we received it, but it wasn’t our original webpage design,” Mosiman said.

The problem popped up just after 9:00 p.m., when closed in Iowa. Many website users on social media reported receiving error messages instead of seeing election data. While the server problem was being corrected, elections staff posted PDF files of election results on the website. Mosiman said that was a big challenge because data had to be received from races around the state. “And then to be compiled and displayed in a user friendly manner…so, once we (identified) the server issues, we got that fixed as rapidly as possible and then it worked as we intended,” Mosiman said.

As part of the workaround, many counties had to email or fax results to the Iowa Secretary of State. Mosiman said the intended election night reporting system was back on-line shortly before 11:00 p.m. The system had undergone nearly two dozen successful tests in the days leading up to Tuesday, according to Mosiman.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, discussed a report from the Community Protection Committee, with regard to a petition it received to reduce the speed limit on west 22^nd Street, from Chestnut to Palm. The petition called for the City to reduce the speed limit from 45-to 35-miles per hour along that particular stretch of road. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Livengood Chairs the CPC.

Livengood said the petitioners asked to lower the speed limit, but they didn’t give an explanation for their request. The Committee recommended to the Council, that they amend the ordinance to lower the speed limit, because it opens the door to public comment about the matter. He says the recommendation from the CPC to the Council was to lower the speed limit. During discussion, Councilman Dana Halder said he understands the likely safety concerns among residents in the newly developed area, but there are alternatives for those residents who fear getting hit backing out of their driveways.

Halder says the speed limit was established before the residents moved in to the new subdivision, and those homeowners are provided with a turn-around in the subdivision that should be used, instead of backing out. During the public forum portion of Wednesday night’s meeting, Keith Harlan, who has lived in the area for 16-years, was one of the residents who signed the petition. He said he’s noticed that since the new pavement was laid along 22^nd Street, traffic is moving faster. His personal concern is with regard to getting up to speed on the hill before someone rear-ends him. However, he said he’s “Probably old enough to watch out for” oncoming traffic, and he hopes his wife and visitors to his home will be able to do the same. He says he’d hate to see someone “smacked.”

Additional public input will be taken during the next City Council meeting before action on amending the ordinance is taken.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Miller and his k-9 partner Francisco have scored another drug bust. Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News Deputy Miller stopped a 2012 Toyota Tundra pickup truck for speeding along eastbound Interstate 80 at around 11:25-a.m. Wednesday. After talking with the driver, Miller became suspicious about the man’s story. While speaking with the driver, Deputy Miller noticed the man’s hands were shaking, he appeared nervous, and the lived had a “lived-in” look. He said also that the drivers’ story seemed suspicious. After issuing the driver a warning citation for speeding, Miller asked and was refused permission to search the vehicle.

Danker said during Deputy Miller’s free-air search around the vehicle with his k-9 partner, the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics in the bed of the truck. A search revealed three duffle bags containing a total of 90-pounds of marijuana in vacuum-sealed bags.

The driver, 30-year old Andrew Ducharme, of Guilford, CT, was placed under arrest and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance with the intent to Deliver, Prohibited Acts, and a Tax Stamp violation. He was also issued a warning for the speeding violation. Ducharme was brought to the Pottawattamie County Jail, and later posted a $5,000 bond.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

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With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson….

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The Missouri River Recovery Program is launching a new interactive online tool designed to provide insight to the river’s natural environment and efforts being made to preserve it. Steve Fischer, the program’s senior manager, says the tool is called the Missouri River Basin Explorer. It lets computer users explore the waterway’s different regions, from the Rocky Mountain foothills, along Iowa’s western border to the lowlands of Missouri. “You can take a look at each one of those different regions on the river,” Fischer says. “You can click on different tabs on the website and it’ll show links based on whatever topic you might have selected. It’s helping to show folks how things are interacting together.”

He says the tool was developed with plenty of input from stakeholders all along the Missouri River Basin. Fischer says the tool can help the public to better understand what takes place on the river. “As we engage with the stakeholders in a variety of different venues up and down the river, for example our Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, our 70-member stakeholder group that we work with,” he says. “It’s a tool for them to go back and share with their constituents as well as for us to share with other basin stakeholders.”

The river serves many interests, including: agriculture, commerce, energy, natural resources, navigation, recreation and water supply. Overuse of the river, the group claims, has led to problems with the ecosystem — 51 of 67 native fish species now rare, uncommon or decreasing; reproduction has largely ceased for cottonwoods, historically the dominant floodplain tree; and aquatic insects, a key link in the food chain, have been reduced by 70-percent. The group says three-million acres of natural river habitat have been altered. Learn more at the website: www.MoRiverRecovery.org

(Radio Iowa)

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While the weather outside isn’t exactly frightful yet, some Iowans may need a reminder that wind chills will plummet and snow will fly one day very soon. Today (Thursday) is Winter Weather Awareness Day, according to Jeff Johnson, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Johnson says, “Winter Weather Day is a day to think about the hazards we face here in the state from winter weather, particularly, we’ll look at the winter storms, blizzards, extreme cold episodes and ice storms and for each of those, how to deal with each threat.”

The National Weather Service is offering that information on its website, weather-dot-gov. “We want people to know how to get a watch, warning or advisory,” Johnson says. “Safety things everyone should do, like making sure your winter weather emergency kit is ready in your car. Exactly what to put in that is on our website.” Some items should include: blankets, a flashlight, extra batteries, a radio, a shovel and non-perishable food. After this year’s prolonged drought, everyone’s wondering about the winter ahead. Johnson says predictions are still inconclusive.

“Last year, we had a fairly tranquil winter that was punctuated by an extremely warm March, holy cow, with temperatures in the 80s, it was a record month,” Johnson says. “Prior to that, we had a few snow episodes and some ice but nothing significant.” As for naming this season’s winter storms like what’s done with hurricanes, Johnson says that’s a gimmick being offered by the Weather Channel, not the National Weather Service.

(Radio Iowa)

The driver of a moped suffered minor injuries during a collision with a car Tuesday afternoon, in Atlantic. According to the Police Department, a vehicle driven by Brenda Roenfeld, of Atlantic, was traveling east on 14th Street and had stopped at the intersection with Plum, before proceeding to turn right. As she did so, her vehicle was struck in the rear by a moped being driven by Maximilian Elwood, of Atlantic. The accident happened at around 3:30-p.m.

Elwood refused medical treatment at the scene. Police cited him for Failure to Maintain Control and Reduce Speed.