At a hearing Monday (11/17) morning at the Cass County Courthouse Leatha Slauson pleaded guilty to 5 out of 20 counts including 4 felonies, and 1 serious misdemeanor.  Slauson will face the potential of 21 years in prison at a sentencing that will take place on December 22nd at 9am.

The Atlantic Police Department has released details about an accident that occurred at 9th and Poplar Streets in Atlantic  last Friday, November 14th.  Officials say a vehicle driven by Jesse Simmons of Atlantic was traveling southbound in the 900 block of Poplar Street entering the intersection at 9th Street, when it was struck by a vehicle driven by Marilyn Mundorf ,of Atlantic.  Mundorf had stopped at the stop sign in the 100 block of West 9th Street facing eastbound, and proceeded to enter the intersection, when she hit Simmons’ pickup, causing it to roll on it’s top.

Mundorf was cited for failure to stop or yield at an intersection. Her vehicle sustained $4,500 damage.  Simmons was cited for Driving Under Suspension and No Liability Insurance. His vehicle sustained $8,200 damage.

A single vehicle rollover accident with injuries occurred Saturday, November 15th south of Elk Horn.  The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene on Highway 173 near the 400 Block south of Elk Horn at 12:20pm. Officers discovered 17-year-old Zachary Thompson of Elk Horn had lost control of the 2005 Chevy Trailblazer he was driving southbound and went into the east ditch and rolled onto the roof and came to rest.

Elk Horn Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and transported Thompson to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic where he was then transported to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for further treatment.

The roadway was ice and snow covered at the time of the accident and no further details are known at the time of this report.

3 suspects are in custody following a narcotics investigation by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.  Officials say a search warrant was executed at the residence of 35-year-old Benjamin Allmon, in Westphalia today (Monday, November 17th).  The Cass County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit assisted with the investigation at 409 Weber Street in Westphalia.

Three suspects were arrested at the residence and face various charges.  Allmon was charged with Delivery of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), Possession with Intent to Deliver (Methamphetamine), Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp, and Prohibited Acts. 28-year-old Amanda Hourani, of Defiance, was charged with Gathering where Controlled Substances are used, Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine). 48-year-old Darius Jacobs of Omaha, Nebraska, was charged with Possession with Intent to Deliver (Methamphetamine), and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp.

All three suspects are currently being held in the Shelby County Jail. Allmon and Jacobs were being held on $100,000 bond, while Hourani’s bond was set at $2,000.

A book is being released today (Monday) detailing the long history of a long road, U-S Highway 20, which cuts across Iowa and the nation. Author Michael Till grew up along the historic roadway in the northeast Iowa town of Independence, where it was Main Street, and says he always found Highway 20 fascinating.  “I knew as a small child that it went from coast to coast, from Boston to Newport, Oregon,” Till says, “but I hadn’t really given it a great deal of thought in terms of traveling it until I got a bit older.”

The road was completed 88 years ago and runs across 301 miles of Iowa, from Sioux City to Dubuque. As Till began exploring the many miles of highway, he started collecting postcards that featured landmarks along the route. “Now I have a collection of over 3,000 postcards going all the way from Boston to Newport,” he says. “Highway 20 is 3,365 miles long so that would come to approximately one postcard every mile.”

His latest book is tailored for the Iowa market as it’s called “Along Iowa’s Historic Highway 20,” though he’s also written books about Highway 20 in Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. Till will make stops in several Iowa cities on his book tour starting December 1st, including in: Waterloo, Independence, Webster City, Ackley and Williams. The book can be ordered through Arcadia Publishing, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

(Radio Iowa)