The Iowa Department of Corrections issued a statement Saturday afternoon, with regard to an escaped Work Release inmate. DOC spokesman Fred Scaletta says 26-year old Karlos L. Goldman Jr., was placed on escape status following an unexcused absence from the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility.

Karlos Goldman

Goldman is serving a 26-year sentence, which began Dec. 18, 2008, for assault while participating in felony, voluntary absence, two counts of first-degree theft and forgery in two counties. He is described as African-American with black hair who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs around 270 pounds. He has tattoos on his chest, upper left arm, left forearm, right forearm and neck. He has piercings on both ears.

Anyone with information on Goldman’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Des Moines Police Department or the Polk County Sheriff’s Department.

Kids across Iowa are hearing a message about the importance of reading books and switching off the television from an unlikely source — the star of a T-V show. Dan Wardell is the host of Iowa Public T-V’s Kids Clubhouse and he’s making his 10th annual trek to libraries across Iowa this summer.

“Ten years, I’ve been on the Reading Road Trip,” Wardell says. “It started with 51 libraries ten years ago and now I’m visiting 75 libraries, the biggest of the big libraries and the smallest of the small libraries all across the state. Just teaching kids to turn their TVs off, go outside and play, use their imaginations, read good books, and eat healthy food.” Wardell said he creates his own tales when he makes his stops.

“One of the cool things they’ve always let me do at IPTV is to write my own stories for these Reading Road Trip events,” he says. “I don’t actually read a book during the events but we incorporate the librarians, we incorporate the kids, we even incorporate the grownups into a super-interactive story time.”

The show will run for ten weeks. Find the full list of all of the stops at the website: http://site.iptv.org/about/iptv-news/iptv-announces-dates-tenth-annual-reading-road-trip

(Radio Iowa)

The Red Oak Police Department reports two arrests and one accident early Saturday morning.

At 1:19am Saturday officers responded to a two-vehicle accident at N 8th Street and Inman Drive in Red Oak. A 2008 Mercury Milan driven by 22-year-old Brooke Carpenter of Red Oak was struck from behind by a 2011 Chevy Cruze driven by 28-year-old Sara Orme of Omaha.  Carpenter stated she had braked for a slowing vehicle in front of her and Orme stated she attempted to brake but was unable to stop before the collision.  No injuries were reported and no citations were issued at the scene. The Mercury sustained an estimated $2,000 damage and the Chevy had an estimated $5,000 damage.

At 3:33am officers arrested 70-year-old Carroll Euguene Thurman of Red Oak and 28-year-old Branden James Buffington of Shenandoah in the 2500 block of North Broadway Street on charges of 2nd Degree Theft, a Class D Felony.  They were taken to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $5,000 full cash bond each.

The 18th Annual Cass County Relay for Life was a big hit on Friday night at the Atlantic High School Track.  A large crowd gathered to celebrate survivors, remember those they have lost, and fight back against cancer on what turned out to be a beautiful night in Atlantic.

Relay day was kicked off with a tractor ride that included 37 tractors that left from the Cass County Fairgrounds at 9:00am and returned in the afternoon to Sunnyside Park.  The Windbags and UCC Riders Motorcyle team had another great ride as well that started in the noon hour at the Atlantic City Park and wound down at the Survivors Dinner at the High School.

The Survivor dinner was held at 5:00pm at the Atlantic High School Commons with a meal provided by Atlantic Hy-Vee.  That meal was followed by the opening ceremonies on the track and the survivors lap honoring all those that have won or are battling their fight against cancer.

The event featured a wide variety of entertainment, food, games, and fun.  Entertainment was provided by Sheltered Reality drumline, Zumba with Allison Knox-Westmeyer, and performances by Villa Dance Students. Food was available from the Atlantic Kiwanis, Troublesome Creek BBQ, and cotton candy from the Lewis Life Preservers team.  Kids games were provided by National Honor Society students and a bounce house was available courtesy of the Nishna Valley Family YMCA.

Fundraising was a huge success with end of the night totals at $71,958.37 raised with more funds still expected to come in.  The Relay for Life Committee would like to thank everyone who helped make Relay 2016 a great success in Cass County.