The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 54-year old Kelly Marie Erickson, of Massena, turned herself in at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday, on charges that include felony Possession of Methamphetamine 3rd/Subsequent offense; Possession of Tramadol without Prescription; Prohibited Acts; and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Erickson was released later that day on $5,000 bond.

On Thursday, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 24-year old Drew Ashton Gagnon, and 22-year old Heidi Lynn Murphy, both of Sac City, on District Court warrants for Probation Violation. They were taken to the Cass County Jail and  released today (Friday), on their own recognizance.

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees will hold several closed sessions next week to interview candidates for the hospital’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The meetings will be held at various locations in Atlantic on Sept. 19th,20th, 22nd and 23rd.

Pat Markham, former CEO of the Cass County Health System, is currently serving in an interim role as CEO. She was selected by the Board to help run the facilities after Todd Hudspeth was terminated earlier this year when he agreed to an Alford Plea with regard to a check forgery case in Buena Vista County.

ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) – South Dakota authorities have confirmed that a body recovered from the Missouri River was that of a missing Iowa college student.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that the medical examiner’s office in Sioux Falls says the body was that of 23-year-old Tom Patterson. He disappeared in the water around 5 p.m. Sept. 4th near a beach about four miles southwest of Elk Point, SD.

Authorities have said witnesses reported that Patterson was trying to help some companions swim from the Nebraska shoreline back to South Dakota when he was swept away by the current.

Patterson was from Frostburg, Maryland, and was a student at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University’s president intends to propose a two-tier tuition structure that would impose a higher rate for juniors and seniors than the rate for freshman and sophomores at the Ames school. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports President Steven Leath mentioned the plan Wednesday during his 2016 Presidential Address. He described it as a “reasonable approach that reflects the higher costs associated with more advanced and increasingly specialized coursework, learning opportunities, personalized instruction, smaller classes that you get as you proceed through your undergraduate education.”

Leath says state funding has not increased at a rate comparable to the university’s enrollment growth. He provided few specifics from his plan, which he said he will submit to the Board of Regents for consideration.