An accident Saturday night in Shambaugh caused at least $5,000 damage, but no one was hurt. The Page County Sheriff’s Office says 45-year old Jeffrey Gray, of Shambaugh, was attempting to make a left turn into an alley at around 8:30-p.m. Saturday, when his 2005 Chevy Colorado pickup hit a power pole. The pole snapped off at the ground before breaking in half and pulling the electrical wires from a building owned by Frank McCoy. After hitting the pole, Gray backed his truck up, and in the process struck McCoy’s metal building.

Gray was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors have approved a wage increase for county employees. In a regular meeting this (Tuesday) morning, Tim Meyer, chairman of the compensation board, reported to the supervisors, the compensation board met on Tuesday, December 3^rd, and was requesting a 5 percent increase for employees in the county.

The compensation board started out two years ago with an aggressive campaign to raise the percentages of salaries in the county near the population rank of the county. In 2011, the county was in the 84^th in pay scale and 65^th in population. At the time, a 5 percent increase was approved by the board of supervisors and the same percentage was approved in 2012. Meyer said the compensation board discussed in great length and felt the 5 percent increase was appropriate. He proposed another 5 percent increase, 2 percent cost of living and 3 percent as a “catch up.”

Meyer said depending on what the state does, this increase would move Shelby County much closer to their population rank. “So based on the assumption they are going to do what they have done in the past, we would hope we would again climb 4, 5 maybe 6 spots to be in the 67, 68 range comparison to our population of 65. That would be a long ways in three years from where we were.”

Supervisor Steve Kenkel said some county officials are in the population range and the supervisors cannot choose individual employees. Kenkel said the recorder, auditor and treasurer are in the 75 range but the supervisors and sheriff are already near the population rank. After further discussion between Kenkel and Meyer, the supervisor made a proposal. It called for a two percent for the cost of living for everybody but then one and half percent for everybody else but the supervisors.”

The Shelby County Supervisors approved Kenkel’s motion for the 3.5% overall raise for the county employees and a 2 percent for the supervisors. In other business, four representatives from the Elk Horn Trails Committee gave a report to the supervisors about the ongoing efforts for the Elk Horn trail from Kimballton to Elk Horn. The committee has a total of $168,000 raised for the $500,000 project. The Elk Horn Trails requested $5,000 from the Supervisors. The Board approved half the request, $2,500. The same amount was granted to the West Central Community Action non-profit agency, which was the same amount given last year.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Mega Millions estimated jackpot has soared to $636 million, making it the second largest jackpot in U.S. history. The jackpot had been $586 million, but lottery officials increased it Tuesday morning because of strong ticket sales ahead of the evening drawing.  The jackpot now trails only a $656 million Mega Millions pot in March 2012.

Mega Millions changed its rules in October to help increase the jackpots by lowering the odds of winning the top prize to about 1 in 259 million. Paula Otto, lead director for Mega Millions, says officials expect about 70 percent of the possible number combinations to be purchased. The cash option is $341 million, before taxes.  Mega Millions is played in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democratic state Rep. Tyler Olson says he is dropping out of the 2014 race for governor.   Olson made the announcement Tuesday, about two weeks after acknowledging that he and his wife planned to divorce and that he would scale back his campaign for the rest of the year. The couple live in Cedar Rapids and have two young children.  Olson says he needs to focus on his children.

The 37-year-old Olson is one of at least two Democrats running for governor. He’s in his fourth term in the state House and is the former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. Olson recently won the endorsement of Iowa’s largest union.  The Democratic nominee likely will face Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who is expected to seek re-election.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing Wednesday morning on the lease of a recently purchased building. During their meeting last Wednesday, the Board agreed to purchase property located at 707 Poplar Street for the sum of $370,000. The lower level of the Cambridge Law Firm building will be used for either a new 9-1-1 Center or to relocate the offices of the County Engineer and Assessor. A proposal would call for the upper level of the building to be leased for “More than three-years,” to the Cambridge Law Firm, with an option for two additional five-year periods, or a total of 10-years.

Following a public hearing on the matter, the Board will act on approving a resolution leasing the property to the law firm. In other business, the Supervisors are expected to hear a report from West Central Community Action (WCCA), and a request of continued match funding.

The meeting begins at 9-a.m. in the Supervisor’s Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse.

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) – Romance writer Janet Dailey, whose books sold more than 325 million copies worldwide, has died at her southwest Missouri home. She was 69. Snapp-Bearden Funeral Home in Branson, Mo., says Dailey died Saturday in the music resort town. The cause of death was not released as of Monday. The funeral home reports the family said Dailey died “peacefully.”

Dailey was born and raised in Iowa. She moved to Branson in 1978 with her husband, Bill Dailey. Her step brother, Bobby Rutherford, lives in Atlantic.  Dailey’s novels included the popular “Calder” series and her Americana series – 50 books, one set in each state. Her website lists 155 works altogether.

Bill Dailey died in 2005. He was credited with helping build Branson into an entertainment mecca. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout.

Officials with the Harlan Police Department say following-up on an anonymous tip, officers were directed Saturday to a residence at 1211 Durant Street, where several persons were cited for minor in possession of alcohol. Authorities say the following teens cited for the offense and released to their parents: 14-year old Emily Ledkins; 16-year old’s Tiffany Thompson and Rebecca Hanson; 17-year old’s Shelby Gundy, Colin Fuhs, and Faith Hunt; and 20-year old Matthew Scheuring, all of Harlan; 17-year old’s Natalie Finken and Tevin Jansen, of Defiance, and 18-year old Megan Hunt, of Earling, were all cited and released.

In other news, the H-PD reports  officers were called to the 1600 block of Exchange Street on Monday, following a report of six vehicles with broken windshields. The police are pursuing leads as the investigation continues. And, on Dec. 14th, 22-year old Shawn Mosher, of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop, for Driving While Revoked. Mosher was also cited for Failure to provide proof of security against liability (Insurance).

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Tuesday) launched www.homebaseiowa.org, a new website for Home Base Iowa. The initiative is a new non-profit, private-public partnership that will recruit veterans and active duty service members for private-sector job opportunities in Iowa.

The website serves as a comprehensive source for job services available to veterans in Iowa. The site features job postings, links to job fairs, and up-to-date information about educational opportunities, National Guard recruiting, job training, and much more.

Home Base Iowa is raising private funds to support outreach efforts to veterans, including national advertising, in-person outreach, a social media campaign, and outreach through military publications. 

w/ Ric Hanson

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