A message relayed through the Emergency Alert System Tuesday morning notified residents of Pottawattamie County about a phone outage that affected their 9-1-1 land line service. According to the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency, the incident was caused by a phone company problem. Residents of Carson, Oakland, and Treynor were affected by the phone system outage that prevented them from dialing 9-1-1 for a little more than two-hours. Cellular phone customers were not affected by the outage.

Persons without a cell phone and in need of 9-1-1 service, were asked to go to their local fire station, where persons on-duty could contact the proper authorities. Land-line 9-1-1 service was restored by around 1:15-p.m., Tuesday.

HORNICK, Iowa (AP) – Residents in the western Iowa town of Hornick have returned to their homes after a fertilizer fire at a co-op building.  The fire at the Western Iowa Cooperative broke out Tuesday afternoon. The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office was concerned about air quality and residents’ safety and urged the evacuation as a precaution.  Co-op general manager John Bender says a phosphorus-based fertilizer is stored in the building but the building was 90 percent empty, however. Fire officials say the fire was under control within an hour. No injuries were reported.  Hornick, which has about 220 residents, is around 30 miles southeast of Sioux City.

(Correction to earlier version of this story – updated 8:50-a.m. 5/2/12)

The Audubon County Board of Supervisors have set May 9th as the date to appoint an interim County Treasurer, to fill the vacancy created by the death Sunday, of Audubon County Treasurer Connie Johnson. Auditor Lisa Fredericksen told KJAN News, per Iowa Code section 69.3, the Treasurer’s Office was temporarily closed once officials learned of Johnson’s passing. Fredericksen came into the office and took possession of the keys and books, and count the money on hand.

The Board of Supervisors held a special meeting Tuesday to decide whether to hold a special election to fill the position, or to appoint. They chose to appoint a person to the job. The notice will be posted in Friday’s edition of the local paper in Audubon. Fredericksen says the notice needs to be in the paper no less than four days and no more than 20, so the soonest an appointment can be made is next Wednesday, May 9th, at 9-a.m.

In the meantime, Fredericksen said so she doesn’t handle both sides of money transactions, the Board approved Deputy Treasurer Deb Campbell and Fredericksen going to the bank together, to handle any financial transfers, so their is no appearance of impropriety. The Supervisors passed a resolution to allow Fredericksen to become bonded until an appointment is made next Wednesday. She has custody of the office until such time as an appointment is made.

All Audubon County offices will be closed on Thursday, May 3rd,  so that County employees who choose to do so, may attend Johnson’s funeral. Connie Johnson was 53-years old. Kessler Funeral Home in Exira is in charge of the funeral arrangements.