Changes in health insurance raise many questions for consumers. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering a free on-line workshop to help local residents understand how to make Smart Choices for purchasing health care coverage. The free workshop will take place Wednesday, December 10th from 6-8 p.m. To register for the workshop go on-line to http://tinyurl.com/pvmceb7. Once registered, participants will receive a website link for logging in to join the workshop from their personal computer as well as a link to access handouts.

Brenda Schmitt and Joyce Lash, Human Science Specialists in Family Finance will facilitate the workshop. Participants will understand key health insurance terms and concepts, learn to identify personal health care needs and priorities, understand key provisions of the Affordable Care Act and examine the pros and cons of hypothetical insurance plans.

The workshop is intended for both current health insurance consumers and those who are newly eligible through the Affordable Care Act. The Smart Choice workshop will not offer one on one assistance or advice for enrolling in a particular insurance plan. Questions about the on-line program can be directed to Brenda Schmitt at 641-512-0650.

Deputies in Montgomery County, Thursday afternoon, arrested a man wanted by court order (mittimus) on an original charge of OWI/1st offense. 33-year old Alan Joe Turpen was taken into custody at around 3:15-p.m. in the 500 block of east 5th Street, in Villisca. Turpen was brought to the Montgomery County Jail to serve a two-day sentence required to satisfy the court’s order.

An Audubon County manufacturer has announced its workers were given notice earlier this week that their jobs are being eliminated. California-based Anthony International,  the world’s largest manufacturer of specialty glass, commercial glass refrigerator & freezer doors, case lighting, and display & merchandising systems said Monday, 61 of its employees in Audubon were given notice that as of January 16th, they will be out of a job.

Shawn Simmons, Vice President of Human Resources for Hillphoenix, Anthony’s parent company, stated that some of the Audubon employees will have the opportunity to relocate to Richmond, Virginia for roles in which they qualify and that they will be working to provide support to all Audubon employees during the transition.

Anthony opened in Audubon in 2010, after the acquisition of Trausch Industries. At that time, 118 people were employed at the Audubon Plant. In 2012, Dover Corporation, acquired Anthony International, merging it with Hillphoenix. Monday’s announcement came as a surprise to both the workers at the business as well as officials with Audubon County Economic Development.

(KNOD/Harlan)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs officials are planning a nearly $1 million restoration of the historic Fairmount Park with the help of $100,000 from a Rotary club. Mayor Matt Walsh announced the project Thursday. The 90-acre park features a greenhouse, ice skating, sledding, a petting zoo and an old bell tower. But the Daily Nonpareil reports the park’s forest is overgrown and its facilities need renovation.

Officials say the project will restore the woodlands and establish new trails to improve pedestrian access from nearby neighborhoods. The project also calls for a plaza on the site of the former Fairmount Lodge.

Mick McKinley, the former president of the Rotary Club of Council Bluffs, says the group was looking for a service project to help fund to commemorate its 100-year anniversary.

Councilman Aaron Anliker has announced he is resigning from the Harlan City Council effective December 31st. Anliker served seven years for the City. Officials will appoint his replacement sometime in December. That person will fill Anliker’s remaining three years of a four-year term.

Anyone interested in the position that lives in Ward 1 and 4 could be eligible to be considered for the position. Call the Harlan City Hall at 755-5137 or contact Mayor Gene Gettys, Aaron Anliker or city administrator Terry Cox for more information.

Service on the council will begin January 1st. Besides council meetings, the appointed member will be involved in committees of the council as well, to be determined for the next year in the coming month.

(KNOD/Harlan)

The Museum of Danish America will present Photography by Diana Velasco: Two Nationalities from November 28 – March 15. This exhibition presents a series of photographs exploring individuals who grew up with parents of two different nationalities – as Velasco herself did, with a Danish mother and Spanish father. The exhibition is organized by the Denmark Immigration Museum outside of Copenhagen. The exhibition will also feature an artist-in-residency project that will involve the community members of Elk Horn and result in another exhibition, Sense of Place, to be opened at the museum in May 2015. Support for this exhibition and for the artist-in-residency comes from the Iowa Arts Council.

Photography by Diana Velasco: Two Nationalities will open at the museum during the Danish Villages’ annual Christmas celebration of Julefest on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. The museum, its Genealogy Center, and its historic house museum, Bedstemor’s House, will have free admission on November 28 and 29. Special refreshments and activities will be held during those dates as well. The artist herself will give gallery talks about the exhibition in the main floor gallery throughout the celebration days.

The museum will have four different exhibits open throughout the winter months, including Exploring Danish Happiness, which looks into the reasons why Denmark is consistently ranked as “one of the happiest countries on Earth.”

For more information, visit the museum’s website, danishmuseum.org or call (712) 764-7001.