Three people were arrested overnight Monday-into early Tuesday morning, in Montgomery County, including two people who were taken into custody on drug-related charges.

Today (Tuesday), at around 2:20-a.m., 39-year old Brian Louis Reinhart, of Carroll, was arrested on drug charges, following  a traffic stop at Highway 71 and 250th Street, north of Villisca. As a result of the stop and the use of the Montgomery County K-9 Unit, the Sheriff’s Office seized nearly 12 grams of Methamphetamine. Reinhart was charged with Possession of Meth with the intent to deliver, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $100,000 bond.

At around12:35-a.m. (Tuesday), Police in Red Oak arrested 30-year old Marcus John Josephson, of Red Oak, on charges of Serious Domestic Assault, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. Josephson was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Sheriff’s officials say at around 11-p.m. Monday, 30-year old Christopher Allen Lundgren, of Omaha was arrested, following a traffic stop on Highway 34. Lundgren was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended, with 17 withdrawals in effect. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

The Iowa Department of Education has announced another round of school districts chosen to receive funding to launch teacher leadership plans. Department spokesman, Jim Flansburg, says 126 district’s were selected for the next round under the new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System. “There’ve been so many of them there’s going to be 76 in the next year and then another 50 in the following year,” Flansburg says. The program is part of education reform measures passed by the Legislature in 2013 and signed into law by the governor.

“The very essence of the program is that teachers will have mentors, the very talented teachers will have a career path in which they can get out of the classroom to an extent, and help newer teachers become better teachers,” Flansburg explains. “The bottom line is that we create a career path for teachers and make the education system better for children.” There were 39 districts chosen in the first round for the program and Flansburg says the Department has gotten some good feedback already.

“The things that we’ve been hearing have been absolutely tremendous. In fact, in Benton County there’s a school district out there that’s just doing a stupendous job with it. They’ve already seen some very specific evidence that scores are going up,”Flansburg says. Districts that apply to start teacher leadership systems are required to have a set vision and goals for what they plan to accomplish. They also must address meet certain requirements — such as setting a minimum yearly teacher salary of 33-thousand-500 dollars.

“Ultimately we’d like to be able to have all the districts participate if they want. The legislature has allotted the money so there is 50 million dollars a year , and adding another 50 million dollars a year thereafter until all school districts are participating if they want to,”Flansburg says. In the latest group, 76 schools would create plans for the 2015-16 school year and another 50 during the 2016-17 school year.

The selected districts for 2015-16 include (locally): Atlantic; Audubon; Carroll; Glenwood; Lewis Central; Nodaway Valley; Red Oak; and West Monona.

2016-17 districts include (locally):
Adair-Casey (in collaboration with Guthrie Center); Adel-DeSoto-Minburn; CAM; Charter Oak-Ute (in collaboration with Maple Valley-Anthon Oto and Schleswig); East Sac County; Guthrie Center (in collaboration with Adair-Casey); Lenox; Maple Valley-Anthon Oto (in collaboration with Charter Oak-Ute and Schleswig); and Schleswig (in collaboration with Charter Oak-Ute and Maple Valley-Anthon Oto).

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Orange City Democrat will run for a heavily Republican northwest Iowa House seat in January. John Buntsma, a former newspaper manager and editor at the Le Mars Daily, the Sioux County Capital-Democrat and the Dayton Review will be the Democrat on the ballot in House District 4, the most heavily populated Republican district in the state. Republicans have chosen John Kooiker, a retired postal service worker and a Sioux County farmer.

SCRANTON, Iowa (AP) — State environmental officials credit quick action by a farmer for preventing environmental damage from a manure spill three miles southwest of Scranton. About 2,000 gallons of manure flowed into a ditch. The driver, Joanne Hunter, and others from the Hunter hog farm quickly dammed the ditch on either side of the spill on Saturday and called a contractor to pump it onto a nearby farm field.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican lawmaker will renew an effort to require a waiting period for abortions in Iowa, but it is not clear that he’ll find support to pass a bill in the politically divided state Legislature. Sen. David Johnson, from Ocheyedan, says he has submitted a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would set counseling requirements followed by a 72-hour waiting period before a woman could receive an abortion. It is not clear Johnson will find support for the bill, since Democrats control the Senate and have opposed abortion restrictions in the past.

(Information in the following story is from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/)

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Church youth members in northern Iowa have performed a living Nativity scene that featured live animals. Nearly a dozen people congregated Sunday night to watch the children and live animals re-enact the birth of Jesus Christ. They also sang hymns and enjoyed cookies and hot cider.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican lawmaker will renew an effort to require waiting periods for abortions in Iowa, but it is not clear that he’ll find support to pass a bill in the politically divided state Legislature. Sen. David Johnson, a Republican from Ocheyedan, has submitted a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would set counseling requirements followed by a 72-hour waiting period before a woman could receive an abortion.

The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights think-tank, says a total of 35 states currently require counseling before an abortion, with 26 of those states imposing a waiting period between counseling and the procedure. It is not clear Johnson will find support for the bill, since Democrats control the Senate and have opposed new abortion restrictions in the past.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest last week of two Minnesota residents. On Dec. 15th, 32-year old Magbeth Contreras-Vazquez, of St. Paul, MN, was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st offense. And, 33-year old Juan Fernandez Polanco, of Burnsville, MN, was arrested on a charge of Open Container as a Passenger. Both men were taken to the Cass County Jail. Contreras-Vazquez was released later that day on $1,000 bond; Fernandez Polanco pled guilty and was released later that day.

On December 17th, deputies in Cass County arrested 70-year old Marlin Eugene Rossell, of Lewis,  on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. Rossell was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on his own recognizance.