The Page County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of tools valued at $4,720, from a building in Blanchard. The incident happened on or about August 18th. A list of the tools was provided to the Sheriff’s Office last Friday by Joseph Nelson, owner of the tools. Anyone with information about the burglary and theft is asked to call the Page County Sheriff’s Office at 712-246-5193.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports the arrest of man who turned himself in on a warrant for unauthorized use of a credit card. 22-year old Keith James Land, of Clarinda, was unable to post a $2,000 bond, and was being held in the Page County Jail.

A nationwide campaign to remove drunk drivers from the road is being launched today and will run through September 8. Randy Hunefeld with the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says motorists in Iowa, compared to others around the country, do a good job of designating a sober driver or calling a cab when they’re out drinking alcohol.

Iowa ranks 2nd as having the lowest number of alcohol related fatalities in the nation. “My hat goes off to drivers who are out partying because they are apparently taking responsibility for that,” Hunefeld says. The crackdown on drunk driving, dubbed “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“There are contracts with law enforcement agencies across the state, so there will be somewhere between 250 and 260 law enforcement agencies that’ll be out specifically working this enforcement effort,” Hunefeld says. “And even though there is an emphasis on drunk drivers, they will be looking for all traffic violations.”

In addition to the enforcement boost, the campaign is being supported by paid advertising. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s latest statistics, from 2011, show 9,878 people died across the nation in crashes involving drunk drivers. That equates to roughly one drunken driving fatality every 53 minutes. Over the Labor Day Holiday weekend in Iowa last year, there were no reported alcohol related fatalities, however there were four fatalities from traffic crashes.

(Radio Iowa)

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report the arrest this (Monday) morning of 48-year old Carl Race, of Clarinda. Race was taken into custody on Bunge Road at around 1:25-a.m. for allegedly Violating a Protective Order and Interference with Official Acts. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office reports also, a Glenwood resident was transported to a hospital in Council Bluffs, following a single-vehicle accident Saturday morning. Kerry Newman was driving a 2009 Chrysler northbound on 221st Street  at around 10:35-a.m., when Newman swerved to the right to avoid another vehicle which has crossed into the northbound lane. Newman’s vehicle went off the road to the right and hit a curve sign and power pole before rolling over four times and coming to rest on its wheels in the east ditch. Newman was transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries.