Authorities in Montgomery County report four recent arrests. Early this (Wednesday) morning, 50-year old Tammy Renee Cerven, of Red Oak, was arrested by Red Oak Police, in connection with an incident that occurred earlier. Cerven was charged with Simple Assault, brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) and held on $300 bond pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Tuesday evening, Red Oak Police arrested Christopher Michael Mattingly, of Red Oak, and formerly of Kentucky, on a nationwide warrant for Failure to Pay Child Support. Mattingly was being held in the Montgomery County LEC on $8,000 cash only bond.

Arrested Tuesday afternoon in Montgomery County, was 38-year old Michael Lee LaFollette, of Stanton. He was taken into custody on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine. LaFollette was being the in the jail on $1,000 cash bond. And, 53-year old James Edward Wiese, of Red Oak, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies Tuesday afternoon, on a Page County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond for the offense was set at $100,000. Wiese was also being held on new drug and PCS charges, along with Possession with the Intent to Deliver, for which bond amounts to $52,000.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A lawyer who angered an Iowa federal judge by repeatedly raising objections has received an unusual punishment: an order to produce a training video that denounces such tactics. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett issued the sanction last week to attorney June Ghezzi, who works in the Chicago office of the law firm Jones Day.

Bennett criticized Ghezzi’s pretrial conduct in a case in which she successfully defended Abbott Laboratories against a lawsuit alleging its infant formula contained a dangerous bacteria that caused a baby to suffer brain damage. He wrote that Ghezzi “proliferated hundreds of unnecessary objections and interruptions” during depositions that coached witnesses and delayed the proceedings.

Bennett says the video must be made available to Jones Day lawyers. Jones Day said it will appeal, arguing Ghezzi acted appropriately.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials are offering grant money to help rural fire departments with their equipment costs. The forestry bureau of the state Department of Natural Resources is coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service to offer grants for hoses, nozzles and adapters, among other things.

Applications are due Oct. 15. A grant provides 50 percent reimbursement for fire equipment. A department can received up to $3,500. Fire departments are encouraged to submit a special report after responding to a wildland fire to receive priority points in the grant application process.

Two tragic accidents this past week involving all-terrain and off-road utility vehicles are refocusing attention on safety as well as efforts to allow utility vehicles on city streets and county roads. David Downing of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says sales of A-T-Vs and O-R-Vs — the short-hand for “off-road utility vehicles” — are growing rapidly. “You’re seeing more and more of those vehicles and as the counties start to open up their roads and city jurisdictions open up their roads for ATVs and ORVs, obviously there’s more interaction with motor vehicles and all kinds of other things,” he says, “so people need to be aware of that.”

On Saturday, four 14-year-old boys were killed when the utility vehicle they were riding in was hit by a pick-up truck that ran a stop sign near Epworth. Two nine-year-old boys died in an A-T-V accident Monday on a farm near Mount Vernon. Representative Curt Hansen, a Democrat from Fairfield who taught driver’s ed for 43 years, urges Iowans to take the safety courses that are available.  “They don’t handle like a vehicle designed for roadway use and so there’s a lot of limitations that people have to realize,” Hansen says.

Downing says his agency offers an A-T-V safety course. “You can take the class online. It’s available 24 hours a day or you can take a hands-on class,” Downing says. “There’s also the ATV Safety Institute, which you get a certificate back from them, the manufacturers, when you purchase an ATV, then you’re able to take the course free of charge.” Downing says A-T-V drivers have to learn how to shift their weight to balance the machine as it moves. Representative Hansen says he worries about the larger, off-road utility vehicles that have bench seats.

“They’re almost golf carts on steroids,” Hansen says. “They’re just very, very fast and the vulnerability increases with the increase in speed.” Four-wheel A-T-Vs may be driven on rural roads and county highways today if they’re being used for farming. Some local city and county ordinances also allow A-T-Vs, golf carts and other off-road utility vehicles on local roads, but the operator has to be a licensed driver, the vehicle can’t go more than 35 miles an hour and the hours of operation are limited to between sunrise and sunset.

A bill that would have allowed A-T-Vs and off-road utility vehicles on every rural road and county highway in Iowa passed the House this spring, but stalled in the Senate. Representative Brian Moore, a Republican from Bellevue who has been pushing for the legislation, says it only would have applied to Iowans who are above the age of 16 and who have a valid drivers license. “Of course, you get stuff out on the road, four-wheelers and ATVs and more traffic out on the road, there’s going to be a risk,” Moore says. “There’s a risk on bicycles. There’s a risk on walking.”

Moore says he doesn’t plan to introduce the bill again in 2014 unless there are major changes in the make-up of the state senate and he determines the bill could pass the the senate.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa driving instructor has been accused of stealing another instructor’s identity to teach a class. Sixty-five-year-old Frederick Donald Bindner, of Mount Pleasant, faces a charge of felony identity theft. Bindner is accused of using the driving instructor’s personal identification information to teach a class over several days in June.

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northeast Iowa have released the name of a Missouri man killed when his motorcycle hit a sport utility vehicle that veered into his path after another collision. The Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office says 54-year-old Mark Hill, of Cameron, Missouri, died in the Friday morning crash near New Hampton, Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal disaster declaration has been issued for 22 Iowa counties damaged by severe weather in June and July. The declaration was issued for Audubon, Black Hawk, Butler, Cedar, Des Moines, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Mahaska, Muscatine, Poweshiek, Tama, and Washington counties. This is the third such declaration that Iowa has received this year.

WAVERLY, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the northeast Iowa city of Waverly have approved tax rebates for a planned four-story downtown hotel. Waverly City Council on Monday voted 6 to 1 to approve a development agreement that includes about $700,000 in rebates for the estimated $4.5 million project. Cobblestone Inns and Suites, a Wisconsin-based chain, plans to build the hotel at the site of a home furnishing store.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will hold act on a Resolution establishing an Urban Revitalization Plan for the City, and, the first reading of “An Ordinance designating the 2014 City of Atlantic Urban Revitalization Area.” Both will follow a required public hearing on the Plan. The URP as presented has some significant changes from the last version the Council reviewed.

For instance, the Community Development Committee has recommended a prohibition on granting both Tax Increment Finacing (TIF) benefits and Tax Abatements on project properties, be removed. Two other changes were made after the URP was reviewed by the City’s bond counsel, Bob Jostens. Jostens’ legal opinion was that contrary to SWIPCO’s assertion, the entire City of Atlantic is not blighted, and therefore the newer, non-blighted areas would not qualify for more favorable tax treatment limits (granting tax exemptions on new added value up to $250,000), and that Tax Abatements in the newer area (south of 14th Street) be limited to the first $75,000 in added value.

However, the Community Development Committee minimized the effect of the legal abatement recommended by Jostens, by increasing the Tax Exemption rate schedule from 80% to 100% for the first through 5th years. The variance will be a continuum with abatements steadily increasing for improvements under $125,000 and decreasing as values exceed $250,000. The plan would also significantly increase the abatement amounts on all commercial improvements, regardless of location.

And, whereas the original URP said “Improvements that began after Jan. 1st, 2014 and not completed prior to adoption of the plan may be eligible for abatement,” the Committee will leave it up to the County Assessor, who has indicated she would have to use the Jan. 1, 2014 Assessments (which are based on inspections made in the fall of 2013), as the base. Any increase in valuation due to improvements that was completed at the time of her inspections this fall, may be eligible for a tax abatement. Another option is to set Jan. 1st, 2015, as the base for valuations, which would limit the length of the program to 3 years, as originally intended.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on a recommendation by the Personnel and Finance Committee to issue a loan amounting to $400,000 at an interest rate of 4-percent, to developer Pat McCurdy, who plans to build a 24-unit apartment complex near the existing Walnut Hill Apartment building at 1300 E. 10th Street. The loan would be contingent upon McCurdy’s grant application being approved by the State, in January, 2015.

The Atlantic City Council meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday, in their chambers at City Hall.

Atlantic Collision Center, a local auto body shop, hosted the Atlantic Ambassadors for a ribbon cutting at its new location at 1500 SW 7th Street. ACC owner Pam Towne said “Since we moved locations the overall business and clients has doubled.”

Atlantic Collision Center Staff Pictured: Doug Towne, Pam Towne, Kevin Hemphill
Atlantic Area Ambassdors Pictured: Gerald Brink, Nedra Perry, Pat McCurdy, Jim Kickland, Carol Seddon, Dolly Bergmann, Lana Westphalen, Lauren Coder, Tammy Waters, Haley Kickland, Kerry Jepsen, Arlene Drennan, Sue Muri, Tyler Mosier, Chrystal Christensen, Russ Joyce, Mitch Peerbolte, Janet Cappel, Tara Jennerjohn, Karl Aldag, Jolene Roecker.

Atlantic Collision Center specializes in automotive and collision repair, car washing and detailing. Doug Towne, owner and mechanic, has 25 years of experience in collision repair. Doug and his wife, Pam Towne, are very excited about the recent expansion and opportunity to grow.