A Cumberland woman was cited after crashing her pickup into a dump truck performing maintenance on Wednesday in Harlan.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports that at about 1:20 PM, Sylvia Hoffman of Cumberland was driving a 2006 Chevrolet pickup north on highway 59 about two miles south of Harlan.  Keith Myers of Oakland was operating an Iowa DOT dump truck on the east shoulder performing maintenance.  Hoffman lost control of her pick up and struck the rear of the dump truck.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damage and were towed from the scene.  Neither driver sustained injuries.  Hoffman was cited for failure to maintain control.

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Shelby County Emergency Manager Bob Seivert says today (Thursday), that the Fire Danger level will remain in the “HIGH” category until further notice. Seivert cites wind conditions and low relative humidity.  The Fire Danger rating in Shelby County is based on input from local fire chiefs and the Emergency Manager, and weather factors.

Controlled Burns should only be conducted with the knowledge of the local Fire Chief.  Open burning is discouraged.

Seivert says the local farmers have done an extremely good job during harvest.  He says not one combine fire was reported during the month of September.  Only one hay bailer caught fire.

The next update from Shelby County regarding fire danger is scheduled for Monday.  Seivert says he expects the Fire Danger to remain high into the month of October.

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The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports several recent incidents.

On September 14, Jessica Appley of Red Oak reported 2nd degree arson near highway 275 and Rains Ave.

On September 15, Jean Curtis of Hastings reported 3rd degree burglary on 345th st in Hastings.

On September 17, Vanderhaag’s of Council Bluffs reported 3rd degree burglary and 3rd degree theft on 189th street in Council Bluffs.  Also on September 17, Farm Service of Pacific Junction reported a burglary incident at the Pacific Junction Depot.

On September 18, Carol Liles of Pacific Junction reported 3rd degree burglary on Elm Street in Pacific Junction.

If you have any information about these incidents, contact the Mills County Sheriff’s Office at 712-527-4337.

MidAmerican Energy has begun the process of studying potential locations to build a new nuclear power plant in the state. Company spokesperson, Tina Potthoff (Pot-off), says the study is focusing on Muscatine and Fremont counties in the southwest corner of the state.

“When evaluating sites to include in this study, we look at things like geography, environmental issues, proximity to transportation routes and proximity to existing transmission lines,” Potthoff explains. She says the study is in reaction to a law the legislature enacted a law in 2010 directing MidAmerican to look at and analyze the possible construction of nuclear power-generating facilities.

“We are in the process of beginning soil and environmental sample taking, that’s a part of the study process to asses land suitability in the event that a determination will be made to to develop the facility in the location,” Potthoff says. “And it is important to note that no decision has been made to build any generating facility in Iowa, this is simply part of the study process and those samples will be taken as several locations this fall. An overview of the study will be in 2013.” Crews moving around taking soil samples have drawn notice from residents.

“There’s definitely been an interest in this, as there should be. We want to make sure that we’re letting people know –especially in those sites where we might be on their land or their neighbor’s land — that they understand what is going on,” according Potthoff. “The sites under study also may be a good location for other generating facilities in the future, especially a natural gas plant, if a nuclear plant is not pursued.” Iowa currently has just one nuclear power plant located in Palo (Pay-low) in eastern Iowa.

Today is the 40^th day before election day, and the first day that absentee ballots may be voted in a county auditor’s office.  Any Iowa voter may request an absentee ballot if they expect they cannot go to the polls on election day.  Voting an absentee ballot may be done in different ways:

1. Voters may vote in-person in their county auditor’s office during the regular business hours.  The last day that a voter can vote an absentee ballot at the county auditor’s office is Monday, November 5^th.  In Cass County, the auditors office is located at Cass County Courthouse 5 West 7th Street Atlantic, IA 50022.  Regular business hours are from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.  The phone number is 712-243-4570
2. Voters may request an absentee ballot be mailed.  The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is Friday, November 2^nd at 5 PM.  If you request a ballot by mail, it must be returned to the county auditor’s office by the following deadlines:

• In-person delivery – Tuesday, November 6^th by 9:00 PM
• Mail delivery – postmarked no later than Monday, November 5^th and received no later than 12:00 PM on Tuesday, November 13^th.  Postmarks are not guaranteed.  Please mail your ballot early to make sure it is received on time.

1. Satellite voting stations may be offered.  Check with your local county auditor’s office to see if satellite voting is available.

A voter who chooses to vote an absentee ballot by one of these methods will be asked to fill out an official Iowa absentee ballot request form.

Persons soliciting absentee ballot request forms while acting as an agent for a political party or candidate must offer a receipt to the voter for the completed request form.

Track your absentee ballot at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/absenteeballotstatus/search.aspx.

The Iowa State Patrol will soon dedicate bridges near Lewis to two fallen troopers.

On October 18, the Iowa State Patrol will formally dedicate the trooper Lance Dietsch and trooper Stanley Gerling memorial bridges near Lewis.  The two bridges span Indian Creek and Turkey Creek on Highway 6 just west of Atlantic near Lewis.

The ceremony will be held at the Iowa State Patrol Communications Center at 56911 Whitepole Road in Lewis at 10 AM.  Once the ceremony is over, those who desire photos at the bridge sites will be taken there in small groups.

The State Patrol says the memorials will serve as a reminder of gratitude to fallen troopers and the families they leave behind.

Both troopers being honored were killed in a plane crash near Highway 6 near Lewis on June 30th, 1989.

A Corning woman was arrested Wednesday for writing bad checks.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports Dorothy Snyder of Corning was arrested Wednesday at about 11:20 AM.  She was arrested on two warrants for writing bad checks in Adams and Montgomery Counties.  She was being held on $900 cash bond.

A rollover accident in Neola blocked part west bound I-80 for almost two hours Wednesday.

Just before 1 PM, a semi driven by 23-year-old Inderjit Singh of Chowchilla, CA was traveling west on I-80 near mile marker 27 in Neola.  When the semi drifted onto the shoulder Singh over corrected causing the semi to roll onto its right side.

The incident caused one and a half lanes of traffic to be blocked on I-80 westbound in Neola.  All lanes were re-opened about two hours later just before 3 PM.

No other details about the incident are currently available.