The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Friday of two Lincoln, Nebraska residents for vehicle theft after a traffic stop.  At approximately 8:00pm Deputies stopped a black 2006 Chevy Cobalt on southbound Interstate 29 near the 21 mile marker.  During the traffic stop it wast discovered the vehicle was just reported stolen from a car dealership in Lincoln, Nebraska after the occupants failed to return after a test-drive.

Officers then arrested 33-year-old Kimberly J. Coffman and 32-year-old Timothy S. White both of Lincoln, NE.  They were charged with 2nd Degree Theft, a Class D Felony.  Charges are pending in Nebraska and both individuals are being held on $5,000 bond.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office wants the public to be aware of a phone scam that was reported to the office today (Friday). Officials say someone called an individual in the county, claiming to be from the office that administrates their pension fund. The scammer claimed the reporting party had been overpaid from the pension fund and owed money back, but declined to allow caller to stop at the pension office.

The Sheriff’s Office advises that if you receive a call that sounds as though it could be valid, do your homework! Ask for information by mail, and, if you are able, find a number on your own for the place that is allegedly contacting you to verify the validity of the call.

The field representative for the company charged with rebuilding Highway 6/7th Street in Atlantic reports work continues on the project, and more activities are planned for the week of July 13th through the 17th.

Among the scheduled portions of the project is: Finishing the installation of a modified base and paving steel, from Pine to Cherry Streets (The base is what forms the foundation for the laying of forms and PCC paving; The laying of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) Pavement from Pine to Cherry on the north, 25-feet in width- which is expected to begin next Wednesday or Thursday; Subgrade Preparation and Installation of a Subdrain; The placement of a modified base from Cherry Street to EPA Zone (Near Plum Street); PCC pouring at Spruce Street north intersection and PCC taper from Olive to Spruce.

Among the work that’s been accomplished this past week: Subgrade Prep / Installation of Subdrain completed between Pine & Cherry; and installation of most of the modified base from Pine to Mulberry.

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa community has designated a “safe exchange zone” where strangers can meet to complete Internet purchases and sales. Sioux City television station KTIV reports that the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says the zone is at the Public Safety Center in Sibley and it has 24-hour video surveillance.

Chief Deputy Kevin Wollmuth says that if people have any questions or apprehensions about the strangers they’ll be meeting, “then by all means we welcome you to come here.” The zone also may be used as a safe meeting place for online dating or child custody exchanges.

Can you recite your parents’ phone number? If you can’t, you’re not alone. A survey shows 45-percent of those asked couldn’t recall phone numbers of family members because they’re stored in their smart phones. More people are using their phones as an external memory port, leading to what’s called “digital amnesia.” Dr. Aura Nasir, a pediatrician in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says she’s not too worried.

“Our brains are really very adaptive and we will remember what we need to remember,” Dr. Nasir says. “The numbers are not only stored on the phone but also dialed for us and this is one of the reasons we don’t remember them, because one of the ways we remember things is by repetition.” This digital amnesia, or relying on technology instead of memory, is just one way modern advances are altering our way of life.

“I don’t think we fully understand the impact of the digital technology,” Nasir says. “What we know is that digital technology is a tool that is going to affect the way we do business, just like cars changed the way we travel and medicine is practiced in a different way now than it used to be in the past.” Our brains are very efficient in the way memories are stored and if they don’t need to be taking up space, they won’t be there long.

“If it is not an advantage to us to remember or keep those numbers in our brains, our brains are not going to keep them there just because we have sometime in the past and that was in the past advantageous to us, but now it isn’t anymore,” according to Nasir, a pediatrician at University of Nebraska Medical Center. While about half of the people surveyed couldn’t remember their parents’ phone number, about 70-percent knew their spouse’s number by heart. Many of those who report having digital amnesia are 18 years old — and younger — and grew up with pocket technology.

(Radio Iowa)