The Riverside Community School District is excited to get the playground equipment installed and have a great play space for their students at Carson Elementary. Superintendent Tim Mitchell says Madeline Gordon, a Girl Scout in the community, has been working on her Gold Award Project over the last two years to make the playground a reality.  Mitchell said she has been working to help raise money and to get the project completed.

All the playground pieces have now finally been delivered to Carson and Madeline is moving onto her next steps.  She has organized a group of people to come in and complete the install on Saturday, September 28, 2019 and Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 8:00 AM on both days.  With the supervision of Scott, the building coordinator, from Cunningham Recreation, she has volunteers ready to go.  Mitchell says Madeline and Jamie Meek, Grade PK-5 Principal, have also been working on getting together everything that is needed for the installation.

The Superintendent says “We know many of you would like to volunteer to help assemble the playground with us.  Right now, we have enough volunteers for the install, but please feel free to show up and be ready in case we need more help.  Everyone is welcome to come and watch the playground install.” If you have questions or would like to donate something for those days, please contact us at 712-484-2212.

Mitchell says “We are very excited to get this next phase done for the Carson Elementary.  If everything works out, on September 30, 2019 we will have a new playground to play on and then we can move to installing a basketball court.”

Two people were arrested in Harlan, last Friday. following separate traffic stops. The H-PD says 18-year old Masen James Schmitz, of Harlan, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. And, 20-year old Juan Carlos Lara Juarez, of Harlan, was arrested for driving while suspended.

(Radio Iowa) — Southwest Iowa officials are warning residents who’ve returned to areas that flooded this spring to be ready to evacuate as heavy rains upstream make their way down the Missouri River basin. Fremont County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Crecelius says “They should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, just in case. Don’t wait ’til the last minute. Have stuff ready in case we have to tell you to get out again. I know people don’t want to hear that, but that’s the nature of what we’re dealing with here.”

Crecelius spoke yesterday (Monday) with the Army Corps of Engineers about repairs to local levees damaged by this spring’s flooding.  “They are fairly confident that the repairs that they have made to the levee will withstand the amount of water that we’re supposed to have down here by Friday,” Crecelius says. “My concern is…what happens if we have more rainfall in the local area or just north of us? Then that’s going to change things.” Crecelius says this latest flooding threat comes as the county is slowly recovering from previous events in March and late May. “Some of those people haven’t even been back in their because we’ve got to get the roads repaired for them to get back out there and in some places there’s still water,” Crecelius says.

Areas west of Hamburg and the Bartlett-McPaul vicinity have the greatest risk for additional flooding, as they are still mostly underwater. Mills County is also on high alert because of flooding. Mills County Emergency Management says elevated Missouri River levels will cause increased flood risk for the southwest portion of the county. Officials say exact effects of the river’s level are hard to determine, so extreme caution is advised. Some residents in the northwest portion of Pottawattamie County have been warned to watch the rising Missouri River.  “Unfortunately this isn’t anybody’s first rodeo. We’ve been dealing with this since March. Many of these folks who live along the river had to deal with this back in 2011.”

That’s Pottawattamie County Emergency Management director Doug Reed. He says Interstates 29 and 680 could be impacted. “We anticipate losing some of our secondary road systems up in the northwest part of the county along with our threat to the interstate,” Reed says. “So, as always, that means you might not be able to get back to your property it or if you stay too long you might not be able to get out of it or we might not be able to get to you in a timely fashion should there be an issue.”

More than 10 inches of rain fell last week in areas of South Dakota and National Weather Service forecasters say there hasn’t been a day this month that rain hasn’t fallen somewhere in the Missouri River basin

The Creston Police Department reports 43-year old Christine Selvy, of Creston, was arrested Monday morning, on a charge of OWI/1st offense. Selvy was later released on a $1,000 bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report Allen Long, of Prescott, was arrested Monday on charges of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd degree, Lascivious Acts with A Child, and Child Endangerment. His cash bond was set at $22,000. Angela Long, of Prescott, was arrested for Child Endangerment. Her cash or surety bond was set at $2,000. Additional information was not released.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested on drug charges last week. On Sept. 12th, 35-year old Kevin Andrew Brown, of Desoto, KS., and 37-year old Melissa Marie Charay, of Kansas City, were arrested following a traffic stop at around 12:30-p.m. at I-29 and Highway 34. The pair were charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, 2 counts Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Their bonds were set at $3,000 each.

Also arrested Sept. 12, was 26-year old Paul Eugene Whitmore, of Omaha. He was taken into custody at the Mills County Jail, for being a Fugitive from Justice. Whitmore was being held without bond. And, 48-year old Pamela Shawn Portnell, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, Fraudulent use of Registration, and Failure to show proof of insurance.

On Sept. 13th, 49-year old Shelly Ann Dow, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension. And, late Saturday, 28-year old Bernebe Hernandez-Espinoza, of Des Moines, was arrested following a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Deacon Road. He was charged with OWI/1st offense, No Valid Driver’s license, and driving on the wrong side of a 2-way Highway. Bond was set at $1,000.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, two men were transported to Mercy Hospital by Malvern and Glenwood Rescue, following a chain reaction collision Saturday. Authorities say a 2006 Dodge driven by 50-year old Clarence Kier, of Shenandoah, and a 2012 semi driven by 57-year old Darwin Shires, of Corning, were legally stopped in traffic due to a traffic backup in a road construction zone. A 2010 Dodge driven by 72-year old Lyle Shannon, of Washington, NE., was traveling west on Highway 34, and did not see the stopped vehicles in front of him. His vehicle struck the rear of the Chevy at highway speed, causing the vehicle to be pushed into the rear of the semi.

Shannon and Kier were transported to the hospital. The driver of the semi was not injured. Lyle Shannon was cited for Failure to reduce speed to a reasonable and proper rate.

The Griswold School Board, Monday evening, approved several matters, including personnel hires. Superintendent Dave Henrichs say the Board approved the following new hires:

• Jeri Orstad – Nurse
• Barbara Teaney; Clarisa Johnson; Alexandria Reilly – Middle School/High School Paraprofessionals
• Chad Rodgers – Junior High Football Coach
• Ryan Lockwood – Assistant Girl H.S. Basketball Coach
• Kassandra Amos: Co-Musical Director

They also approved a one-year leave of absence for Lisa Rush – Cook, and a contract termination for Trish McKinley. Henrichs said the board heard a brief update from their partners at FRK Architects and Estes Construction, with regard to the District’s new facilities. He said the project is very near completion. The Board approved up to $600 for the “Brainfuse” program, which allows anyone at the Griswold of Lewis Libraries who has a library card, to have access to online tutoring, a writing lab and ACT test prep.

In other business, the Griswold Board approved Depositories for the year, a Request for Allowable Growth and Supplemental Aid for 2018-19 Special Education Deficit. Last year, the District’s Special Ed Deficit was $120,000, as compared to $264,000 the year before. Henrichs said they “Greatly decreased” the deficit. Henrichs said also the Board allotted up to $400 for a Veteran’s Day Program put on each year by Board Secretary Nancy Taylor. The Board has supported the program since its inception. It typically costs the school anywhere from $200-to $300, but they built-in the extra to cover costs. The costs include postage, post cards, program paper and table service. He says the community really enjoys the Veteran’s Program.

And, the Board temporarily approved their Board Goals. Henrichs said the temporary approval is because with the change of the election date, their re-organization meeting will not occur until December. Some of the goals were simply left the same, so the new Board can deal with them a bit down the road.