Atlantic Police report the arrest on Tuesday, of 44-year old Craig Griffin. The Atlantic man was taken into custody on a charge of OWI/1st offense. Griffin was booked into the Cass County Jail.

Two Dallas County residents were cited for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia after they parked in a No Parking Zoning behind the Guthrie County Courthouse last week. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports Dustin Brobst and Tarrin Thomas, both of whom are from the Perry area, admitted to using methamphetamine before they arrived at the courthouse on Jan. 27th.

The citations were the result of an investigation that began at around 11:30-a.m. , when a pickup truck entered into the restricted area, behind the Guthrie County Courthouse and parked in no parking zone. The vehicle was approached due to the safety concerns, and after some investigation the Guthrie County K-9 was deployed, the K-9 hit on the vehicle and a search was done and Drug paraphernalia was found.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Bank will pay $18 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by regulators alleging that it mishandled customer funds of a collapsed Iowa brokerage. U.S. District Judge Linda Reade approved a consent decree Wednesday that orders the bank to return the money to customers of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc.

The order settles a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleging that U.S. Bank allowed Peregrine founder Russell Wasendorf Sr. to improperly withdraw millions of customer funds to use for other expenses. Wasendorf is serving a 50-year prison term after he was convicted of stealing $215 million from customers over two decades.

The consent decree says U.S. Bank has already taken “significant remedial action” in its handling of customer funds that are supposed to be held separately.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Senate Democrats have given preliminary approval to legislation that would boost school funding above the level sought by the governor. A set of education funding bills received subcommittee approval in the Democratic-majority Senate Wednesday. Under the proposal, school aid would increase by more than $200 million for the upcoming school year. That’s more than double the amount supported by the Republican-controlled House and by Gov. Terry Branstad. The legislation will now move to the full Senate Education Committee for review.

Lawmakers say the schools need more support. Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, says the state must do better for students. Legislators will have to work to find a compromise. House Republicans contend the state cannot afford a significant increase for schools, given existing budget commitments.

A two-vehicle accident that took place Tuesday afternoon near the Griswold High School caused $3,500 damage, but no one was injured. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says they were notified of the incident at around 3:30-p.m.

Officials say the accident happened on Highway 48, as a 1999 Chevy Silverado driven by 22-year old Nolan Ryan Nielsen, of Walnut, was stopped in a line of traffic headed northbound. 18-year old Brody Adam Main, of Griswold, was attempting to exit the parking lot from the high school, when the 1994 Ford Mustang he was driving slid through the stop sign, and struck Nielsen’s vehicle in the driver’s side.

Icy road conditions were to blame for the accident. No citations were issued.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Tuesday, of 38-year old Sara Nicole Exline, of Afton. She was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center in Creston at around 10:30-a.m. Tuesday, on a Union County warrant charging her with 5th degree theft. Exline plead guilty to the charge and was released from custody.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office is reporting citizens in the county have been receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be from the Page County Sheriff’s Office or another Law Enforcement entity. The number on caller ID sometimes even shows that it is from the Law Enforcement entity. The caller claims there is a warrant or some type of criminal / civil litigation against the person and they need to call back to another number right a way to avoid jail and/or prosecution. If the number given is called back, the person on the line will request some sort of payment via any type of payment method. Authorities say THIS IS A SCAM.

Law Enforcement does NOT call if there is a warrant or litigation to obtain money. We serve papers and warrants in person and do not handle these matters over the phone.

Sheriff Lyle Palmer warns against falling victim to the scammers. He says if you do it is very unlikely that you will ever get your money back as the caller is usually from out of the United States. Tracking the culprits down is virtually impossible. If they can show that they are calling from a Law Enforcement entity, they can change to whatever number they want. If you do receive those type of phone calls,  call your local Law Enforcement agency.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office has released more information about an injury accident that took place late Tuesday morning near Council Bluffs. Officials say the Sheriff’s Office received a call about at around 11:27-a.m. about a two vehicle head on collision that occurred on Highway 6 near the intersection of 238th street in rural Pottawattamie County.

Deputies arrived within minutes to find a 2005 Ford E250 Econoline van spun and in the middle
of the highway and a 2001 Subaru Legacy down an embankment in the south side ditch. An early
investigation of the accident indicated that the west bound Econoline van driven by 34-year old Tommy Manheim, of Ralston, NE., encountered a slick portion of roadway, fishtailed then crossed the center line of the highway striking the east bound Subaru Legacy driven by21-year old  Stephen Formhals, of Hastings, Iowa.

Formhals was extricated from his vehicle and flown to University of Nebraska Medical Center, where h was listed in critical condition. Manheim was said to have been uninjured. The accidentremains under investigation.