The Iowa Department of Transportation reports all lanes of I-80 eastbound near Shelby are now open, following a semi-tractor trailer fire earlier this morning.

Cass County Mental Health Coordinator Teresa Kanning says seats are still available for this Thursday evening’s “Conversation on Mental Health,” which takes place at Iowa Western Community College, in Atlantic. The event begins at 7-p.m., with keynote speaker Joan Becker.

Becker’s son Mark shot and killed Aplington-Parkersburg Football Coach Ed Thomas in June 2009. A jury found him guilty of 1^st degree murder in March 2010, after rejecting his insanity defense. He was later sentenced to life in prison.

Joan Becker, who has two other sons, is making her way around the state to hold conversations about mental health issues. She spoke last month at the Wallace Country Life Center in rural Orient, about her son‘s struggle with paranoid schizophrenia.

Kanning told the Board of Supervisors during a meeting earlier this month, that Becker will discuss what parts of the mental health system failed her son, and which parts were helpful. A local mental health panel discussion will follow Becker’s presentation about how the system works or doesn’t work, in Cass County.

Several mental health and medical professionals, as well as Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren and County Attorney Dan Feistner, have signed-up for the program. Some of those individuals will participate in the panel discussion that evening. The event is open to the public. To reserve your seat, call 712-243-4424.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office reports five people were arrested over the past week and a half. On October 10^th, 62-year old Mary Jane Hammes, of Tabor, was arrested for 5^th degree theft, and 19-year old Alexandra Brooke Odell, of Hamburg, was arrested on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge.

On October 8^th, 47-year old Michelle Dawn Campbell, of Thurman, was arrested on a Mills County warrant for 3^rd degree theft. She posted a $2,300 cash bond that same day. And, 24-year old Lester A. Gonzalez, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested for 1^st Offense OWI.

And, on October 6^th, 21-year old Amy Marie McConahay, of Glenwood, was arrested on two counts of allegedly providing alcohol to minors. The woman posted $1,000 bond. Her arraignment is set to take place October 31^st, with a jury trial scheduled for December 6^th.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department today (Monday), released a compiled report on accidents which occurred over the past couple of weeks. Officials say two people suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident Oct. 11^th, northeast of Sidney. The accident happened when Justin Carter, of Nevada, MO, missed a curve on 195^th Street, as he was traveling north onto 305^th Street. The car rolled into the east ditch. Carter, and a passenger in the car were injured, and transported by Sidney Rescue to Grape Community Hospital in Hamburg.

Another accident happened October 8^th, near the Sidney Recreation area. Officials say Rosemary Spiegel, of Hamburg, was traveling north on Highway 275. As she passed 230^th Street, Spiegel lost control of her 1998 Buick LeSabre and overcorrected, sending the car across the opposite lane of traffic and into the west ditch, where it rolled onto its top. Spiegel and a passenger in the vehicle were transported to the hospital in Hamburg by Sidney Rescue.

And, on October 4^th, two passengers in a van were taken to the Shenandoah Hospital after a car driven by Brittany Corbin, of Tarkio, MO, collided with the van as Corbin was passing a semi. The accident happened on northbound Highway 275. Neither Cordbin, nor the driver of the van, David McSorley, of Sidney, were injured in the crash.

A downed power line north of Lewis Sunday left residents of the community without power for a little more than five-hours. The downed line caused a small ditch fire just north of Highway 6, near County Road M-56.

The power was knocked out at around 3-p.m.. Crews from Mid-American Energy were on the scene and able to restore service to the utility’s customers, at around 8:00 p.m.

Police in Shenandoah report a traffic stop Sunday resulted in the arrest of one person on a drug charge. 18-year-old Treyton Sunderman was taken into custody for possession of drug paraphernalia, after a Shenandoah Police Reserve officer stopped Sunderman’s vehicle in the 400 block of West Nishna Road.The police report said the officer discovered drug paraphernalia in the vehicle during a search. Sunderman was subsequently cited into magistrate’s court.

Police in Shenandoah are investigating the theft over the weekend, of a pickup truck. Officials say Chris Hogue of Shenandoah reported his 2008 Chevy Silverado was stolen at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday, from the 300 block of Church Street. Police located the pickup a short while later in the 1000 block of 7th Avenue. Officials say anyone with information about the theft should contact Shenandoah Police at 712-246-3512.

Police in Red Oak say an alleged shoplifter was arrested Sunday evening. 42-year old Darren Scott Foncree was taken into custody for allegedly taking a pack of cigarettes from the Red Oak Hy Vee Store. Foncree was charged with 5th degree theft and held in jail on $300 bond.

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says there are now over 150 locations where you can take old computers, cell phones and other electronics for recycling. D-N-R spokesperson, Susan Johnson, says the number of people willing to take electronics for recycling increased after a change in regulation. She says they changed the process in July from requiring a permit, to just requiring those businesses that recycle cathode ray tubes and other electronics to register. Johnson says that made the collection easier without compromising the protection of the environment.

Johnson says the electronic gadgets have become common place in almost every home and business. She says there seems to be more electronics produced each day as the faster and more convenient devices replace the old ones. She says it’s important to recycle the old devices properly to keep from polluting.

There are a variety of toxic materials that can be found in electronic devices that can pollute the soil and groundwater if they are not properly disposed of. Johnson says the change has appeared to have increased the recycling effort. Johnson says they don’t have an exact number on the recycling effort, but she says from the collection events she’s seen, it seems like people have had old computers and things stored in their basement and are now recycling them.

Johnson encourages you to find a recycle for your old electronics. She says you can do to the Iowa D-N-R website under the solid waste page and look under electronic recycling. Or you can call her 515-281-7892, and she will e-mail you the list. The D-N-R’s website also has an application for those who want to register to recycle electronics. The address is: www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

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Evaluations are underway into how the U-S Army Corps of Engineers handled the summer-long flooding of the Missouri River. The Corps has hired an independent panel to review its actions, Congress may launch a review and the governors of states in the river basin want a review, too. Brigadier General John McMahon, commander of the Corps’ Northwest Division, says many eyes will be surveying their actions. General McMahon says, “All of these assessments will come together and formulate the basis of what I’m calling a comprehensive restoration plan that will be a menu of things we could do and should do given time and resources of both near and long-term.”

The flooding started back in the spring and resulted in many tens of millions of dollars damage to homes, businesses, farmland, roads, bridges and more. McMahon says a host of local, state and federal agencies are setting reviews in motion. “There’s a lot of accountability that I guess will result from all of this,” he says. “We’re just going to keep our heads down and continue the mission until it’s all done.” The general is pledging to cooperate with all of the entities reviewing the Corps’ actions.

“We really don’t have anything to hide,” McMahon says. “This is all about being accountable and doing the best we can under these very trying and unprecedented conditions. We will play our role as dictated by whatever comes.” The Corps released record amounts of water from upstream dams and reservoirs on the Missouri after record rains and snowmelt in the Rockies. As for the money it’ll take to make repairs to levees along the Missouri River that were damaged by this summer’s flood, McMahon realizes there are many other natural disasters that are in line for federal funds.

“We have the event in the Mississippi, we have Hurricane Irene and the Joplin tornadoes, tornadoes in Alabama,” he says. “We have many natural disasters through the course of this year 2011 and there’s many demands on the system.” Still, McMahon says he does expect the Corps to receive all the funding needed to fully restore Missouri River levees. He notes, there is a lot of work to be done in a short period to time to insure the widespread flooding of this year doesn’t strike again in the spring.

(Radio Iowa)