The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says an additional charge of Animal Abuse has been filed against a Marne man who shot a woman’s dog Monday morning. As we reported Monday afternoon, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a dog having been shot in Marne. A deputy responded to the Atlantic Animal Health Center, where the owner of the dog, 23-year old Stacy Ernat from Denver, CO, reported her chocolate Labrador “Wrigley,” was playing with a relative’s dog in the church lot adjacent to the residence of Charles Collins Cutler, the individual who shot the dog with a shotgun, from a distance of 30-to 40-feet.

Ernat brought her dog to the Atlantic Animal Health Center where it died. Ernat and another friend told the deputy they witnessed Cutler shoot the dog. Upon investigation, a Sheriff’s Deputy cited Cutler for Animal Abuse (Aggravated Misdemeanor) and Reckless Use of a Firearm (Simple Misdemeanor). Cutler was given a court date of January 17th, 2013.

The debate over credit card “swipe fees” is surfacing again at the statehouse. The issue is pitting banks and credit card companies against retailers, both big and small. Jim Henter, with the Iowa Retail Federation, says businesses shouldn’t have to pay a fee on the tax portion of the bill when a customer buys something with a credit card. “We understand the need to cover the costs of these transactions, but we believe the big banks have gotten greedy,” Henter said. “That’s why we’re talking about this issue.”

The fee is two-and-a-half percent of the total purchase, including the tax, and Henter told a legislative interim committee that it amounts to a “tax on a tax.” Retailers want limits on the fee they pay every time a customer makes a purchase with plastic. But Justin Hupher, with the Iowa Credit Union League, said it would be “a mess” if every state passes its own laws on swipe fees. “In my opinion, this is the wrong venue because of the interstate nature of plastic payments. This issue has been lobbied and debated in Congress prior to the Dodd Frank act when Congress did take action,” Hupher said.

But, the federal law affects only the very biggest companies, so none of Iowa’s credit unions are covered by the law.

(Radio Iowa)

Two people were arrested in Atlantic during the past couple of days. On Monday, 42-year old Michael Croghan, of Atlantic, was arrested for three-counts of Forgery and one count of ongoing Criminal conduct. And, on Christmas day, 33-year old Joshua Mullen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of OWI, and on a warrant for violating his parole.

Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – A woman has been arrested in Council Bluffs, Iowa, after a 90-minute chase that began across the Missouri River in Bellevue, Neb.  The Omaha World-Herald says the pursuit began about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when a Bellevue officer checked a car that had stopped on a highway offramp. The officer says the car nearly backed into the officer’s cruiser and then headed north toward Omaha.

The chase continued into Omaha and back to Bellevue, where the car stopped several times and sped away when officers approached. The driver eventually went to Omaha and drove east into Council Bluffs, using the westbound lanes of Interstate 80.

The woman was arrested a little after 3 a.m., when she stopped her car for good in Council Bluffs.   Charges are pending in both states.