Shelby County Emergency Coodinator Bob Sievert has increased the fire danger level in his county to “High,” due to a lack of moisture and anticipated strong winds. Sievert says the County has received less than one-quarter of an inch of moisture since Monday. The lack of moisture, coupled with forecasted strong winds over the next couple of days, mean conditions in the fields will be extremely dry, and result in an increased risk of field fires caused by machinery, or timber fires created by open burning. Sievert notes that Shelby County is not currently in a burn ban. Cass and Greene Counties have instititued Burn Bans here in western Iowa.

Seivert is asking residents of Shelby County to call 755-2124 to report any controlled burns. The caller will be instructed to notify their local Fire Chief. He says it’s hoped that by increasing public awareness and through public cooperation, officials can avoid placing the County in a burn ban.

The Sheriff of Guthrie County is warning parents and children in the area about a suspicious person who has contacted young people in an apparent attempt to solicit them for a movie role. Sheriff Marty Arganbright told KJAN News a man who claims to be from Los Angeles has been communicating with young people through Facebook, about making a movie early next year, in Guthrie Center. Arganbright says the man has made contact with at least a half-dozen people, who are in the eighth-grade to high school age group.

He says some of the young people responded to his inquiry, which Arganbright says sets the stage for their classmates and friends to be solicited as well. The Sheriff says he was alerted to the attempted contacts by school officials. He says students in Dallas, Polk and other nearby counties have also been contacted by the individual in question.

The man identifies himself as “Dan Worthington.” Arganbright said his office has been in contact with the FBI, which advised him he should continue to investigate the matter. He says there haven’t been any new reports of attempted contact with students in Guthrie County since last Monday or Tuesday, but if adults hear of any such attempts, they should contact law enforcement. Parents in the Panorama and Guthrie Center School Districts received notices about the dangers of having a “Public” profile on Facebook. He says “Worthington” contacted one student through a “Public” profile page, and from there attempted to contact that person’s friends.

Sheriff Arganbright says there are some rules Facebook users of any age, but especially young people, should follow. Don’t arrange to meet with someone, don’t put your picture on your page or any identifying information, such as name, home address and school.

Arganbright says Worthington isn’t being charged with anything, but his intentions are suspicious.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A Shelby County man is set to appear in court next month on charges he photographed a naked female in her bathroom. 27-year old Daniel David Pauley, of Defiance, was charged with invasion of privacy, after he allegedly took the picture through a screen window on the back of a home, while the woman was nude in her bathroom. A complaint filed against Pauley says the victim did not give him consent to photograph her, and the bathroom was not viewable from any public right of ways. The offense allegedly took place on August 14^th. Pauley has entered a written plea of not guilty to the charge.

A pre-trial hearing in the case was scheduled for November 28^th, with trial set for December 20^th. If convicted on the serious misdemeanor charge, he faces up to a year in jail with an additional fine totaling $1,500.

Pauley faces an additional trial on February 14^th, 2012, on a 3^rd Degree Harassment charge and for Violation of a No Contact or Protective Order, associated with the August 14^th incident. He’s plead not guilty to both charges.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Wilson Trailer Co. is laying off 68 workers at its plants in Sioux City and Moberly, Mo., citing a slowdown in the national economy and bad weather in crop-producing states. The Sioux City-based company produces livestock, grain, flatbed and gooseneck trailers. Demand fell this year in the wake of a multitude of bad weather, from flooding along the Missouri River to drought in some Midwest and southern states.

Human Resources Director John Kreber says the company hoped to avoid the layoffs, but the reductions became necessary. Employees were told of the decision at a meeting in late September. The layoffs are effective Oct. 31.

Iowa businesses located along the Missouri River are struggling to recover from this summer’s flood. A survey from the Safeguard Iowa Partnership (SIP) shows respondents noted impacts to their workforce, supplies, customers, transportation and in some cases were forced to relocate. SIP executive director Jami Haberl says 140 business owners completed the survey.  “Over 70-percent of them were small businesses with less than 50 employees,” Haberl said. The survey results were included in Governor Branstad’s recent appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide financial assistance to Iowans. The businesses were not asked to provide a dollar figure on their damages, but most reported they spent a lot of money to prevent or mitigate flood damage. Haberl says over 70 percent of respondents did not have flood insurance and 80 percent did not have business interruption insurance

She said it’s important for business owners to work with their insurance agents to understand their coverage plans. Many of the businesses were not flooded, but lost business because residents were forced to leave the area. Branstad’s request to FEMA for individual disaster assistance noted the Missouri River flooding destroyed 189 homes in Iowa, while 161 sustained major damage.

(Radio Iowa)

The anti-corporation “occupy” movement that’s caused a stir in Des Moines and Iowa City in recent days is heading west to Omaha-Council Bluffs. Dustin, who only gives his first name, says he’s part of a group that’s planning to march from Omaha’s City-County Building to the Federal Reserve Bank on Saturday.  Dustin says, “We’re not protesting, we’re demonstrating, showing our solidarity with the sentiment of the feeling of what people in New York are doing.” The Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City on September 17th when protesters took to the streets to protest financial industry practices, economic inequality and taxation. A Tea Party rally is also planned for Saturday in Omaha and Dustin says it’s just a coincidence.

“We have a lot in common with the Tea Party,” he says. “The only difference is that mainstream Democrats have not yet accomplished the co-opting of this movement while mainstream Republicans that joined the Tea Party have been co-opted.” Julie Fredrickson is a member of the Tea Party and says, essentially, they will be demonstrating against the demonstrators in Omaha on Saturday.  “We don’t plan to block the streets,” Fredrickson says. “We’ll see what the other group does. We’re only responsible for ourselves and we plan to be peaceable.” She says she doesn’t put much stock into the “Occupy” group’s efforts.

Fredrickson says, “If these people really took a look at what’s going on within their group of zombies, they would be marching, like Herman Cain says, on the White House.” About 30 members of the Occupy Des Moines group were arrested on Sunday night after they refused to leave the capitol grounds at the required time of 11 P-M.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), Wednesday, opened bids on three emergency, Missouri River flood-related highway repair projects that totaled $5,221,938.75. The contracts included:

• The grading and replacing paved sections of Iowa 2, from the Missouri River east to east of Interstate 29 in Fremont County. The low bidder was C.J. Moyna & Sons Inc. of Elkader, Iowa, with a bid amount of $4,078,756.57; the Iowa DOT received two bids for the project.
• Repairs to the Iowa 333 bridge approach and roadway from I-29 east one mile, located near Hamburg in Fremont County. The low bidder was M.E. Collins Contracting Co. Inc. of Wahoo, Neb., with a bid amount of $249,940.50. The Iowa DOT received five bids for the project.
• TrapBag removal and repairs to the foreslopes of U.S. 30 in Harrison County, west of Missouri Valley. The low bidder was Peterson Contractors Inc., of Reinbeck, Iowa, with a bid amount of $893,241.68. The Iowa DOT received six bids for the project

Official say the goal for the projects is to expedite repairs and get the roadways safely reopened to traffic as quickly as possible.

The U-S Department of Agriculture approved a request from the governor for ag disaster designation Wednesday for 27 Iowa counties that were hit by severe weather that ranged from flash flooding to drought. Iowa Ag Secretary, Bill Northey, says the federal designation will allow farmers to apply for federal help.  Northey says it offers the chance for them to be eligible for disaster payments through what’s called the “SURE” program. Northey says the rules for the federal aid make the counties bordering the disaster counties to be eligible too. He says there are 33 counties that qualify as “contiguous counties” under the disaster declaration. Northey says farmers need to check to see if they qualify for assistance. Northey says they need to go into the U-S-D-A Farm Service office and find out how the program will work for them as he says each case will be a little different.

The 27 counties included in this declaration are: Clarke, Jones, Mahaska , Montgomery, Van Buren, Davis, Keokuk, Marshall, Page, Wapello, Decatur, Lee, Mills, Polk, Washington, Fremont, Linn, Monona, Tama, Wayne, Henry, Louisa, Monroe, Taylor ,Woodbury, Jefferson and Lucas. The 33 contiguous disaster counties are: Adams, Cedar,Dubuque,Jasper,Pottawattamie, Appanoose, Cherokee,Grundy,Johnson,Poweshiek, Benton, Clinton, Hardin, Madison, Ringgold, Black Hawk, Crawford, Harrison, Marion, Story, Boone, Dallas, Ida, Muscatine, Union, Buchanan, Delaware, Iowa, Plymouth, Warren, Cass, Des Moines and Jackson. Farmers in the eligible counties have eight months from the date of secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance.