A public hearing will be held during the Cass County Board of Supervisor’s meeting Wednesday morning in Atlantic, with regard to a change of zoning classification from General Agricultural District to Light Industrial, for a parcel located in rural Griswold, in Pleasant Township (Kyle Kirchhoff property). The parcel contains around three acres of land. The hearing begins at 8:30-a.m. Following a public hearing on the matter, the Board will act on approving the zoning change.

In other business, the Supervisors will hear regularly scheduled reports from the County Engineer and Mental Health/General Assistance Director.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports two weekend arrests. On Sunday, 24-year old Tasia Leigh Merrick, of Shenandoah, was arrested for OWI/1st offense following a single vehicle accident. The woman was taken into custody after deputies were dispatched following a report of a reckless driver traveling east on Highway 2 from B Avenue, at around 2:15-p.m.  The vehicle, a 2004 Chrysler van, was located in the ditch in the 1700 block of Highway 2. Merrick was uninjured during the accident. She was transported to the Page County Sheriff’s Office for testing and later posted bond, pending further court proceedings.

And, Saturday afternoon, 59-year old Randy Lee Archer, of Clarinda, was arrested in Page County on a charge of OWI/3rd or subsequent offense. The man was arrested after deputies responded to a vehicle in the ditch in the 1500 block of 300th Street at around 7:35-p.m. During their investigation, authorities determined Archer drove a 1999 Plymouth minivan into the north ditch. The man was not hurt during the incident. Archer was brought to the Page County Sheriff’s Office for testing and later released on bond, pending additional court proceedings.

The annual Iowa Mission of Mercy (Iowa MOM) free dental clinic is set for the end of this week in western Iowa. Kathy Salisbury with the Iowa Dental Foundation says this is the eighth year for the clinic. “It is the first time we have been in Council Bluffs. What we try to do is choose a different city in the state of Iowa each year, so that Iowans from all over the state can benefit from the services that we are providing,” Salisbury says. Those attending the clinic can have a variety of dental work done.

“Everything from cleanings, we do fillings, we extract teeth — in fact that’s probably the number one thing that we do — we also do some root canals, and we do some lab work,” Salisbury says. “We can provide for front teeth that are missing, what we call flippers. It’s not a partial, it’s a removable piece. So, we are really a full-service clinic.” Salisbury says it’s a big effort made possible by donations.

She says all of the dentists and dental professionals donate their time, the supplies are all donated and many others donate their time to help. The clinic is free and all you have to do is show up. “We’re not going to ask any financial questions or anything of people. Our philosophy is to treat everybody who is having a challenge receiving dental care. And the only thing we tell people is, it is a first-come, first-served basis, and the lines start very early,” Salisbury says, “We open the clinic at six a-m and often times we have people there at 10 o’clock the night before starting to get in line. So, people have to get there early and be prepared for a long wait.”

Salisbury says they’ve seen more than 95-hundred patients and done six-point-five million dollars of dental work in the eight years of the missions. She says the dental work can help prevent a lot of other issues. “I don’t think a lot of people realize that when your mouth is not healthy — it can affect other parts of your body and it can affect other diseases — such as diabetes, heart problems. Recently there’s been a study that poor oral health care can actually accelerate dementia in some people,” according to Salisbury. The Mission of Mercy is this Friday and Saturday at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs. For more information, go to the Iowa Mission of Mercy website at: www.iowamom.org.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa – With alcohol being the substance most frequently abused by children and adolescents in the U.S., parents are being urged to talk to their children about the dangers before they take their first sips.  According to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, children start to think positively about alcohol between the ages of nine and 13.

Licensed addiction counselor Sheena Williams says for most children, their parents are the biggest influence. “So if a parent has a very flexible idea about alcohol or they’re frequently engaging in alcohol use, the child kind of picks up that that’s a normal behavior,” she explains. “So they’re going to kind of follow down the parent’s footsteps.”

The report also warns about binge drinking in adolescence, which can interfere with important aspects of brain development and lead to cognitive impairment and alcohol-induced brain damage.  In Iowa , nearly one-fourth of high school students take part in binge drinking. Williams notes that the earlier the age that a person starts to drink, the higher risk that he or she will have lifetime addiction.

“Addiction starts out with experimentation and that’s kind of what start to see in adolescence,” he says. “It progresses into abuse when there starts to become problems because of their use, but those problems aren’t enough to make the person quit.”

September is National Recovery Month.

(Iowa News Service)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a bicyclist has been killed in a collision with a sport utility vehicle on the west side of Council Bluffs. The accident occurred around 6 a.m. today (Tuesday) near a railroad bridge over South 35th Street.  The names of the bicyclist and the SUV driver and other details about the collision have not been released.

Police in Creston say a local woman reported Friday sometime had taken her purse from a store at 109 N. Maple Street. The purse contained several checks, cash and personal identification. The incident happened sometime between 10-a.m. and 11-a.m. Friday. The loss was estimated at $1,800.

And, a Creston man reported to police on Friday, that someone damaged a fence on his property at 508 W. Adams Street. The incident, which happened sometime between Aug. 23rd and Sept. 4th, resulted in a $400 loss.