A pre-trial conference is set to take place today for an Atlantic woman facing multiple charges associated with a scheme to get money by making her 5-year old daughter appear to have cancer. The conference for 30-year old Leatha Kaye Slauson will be held at the Cass County Courthouse.

A pretrial conference may be conducted for several reasons: (1) expedite disposition of the case, (2) help the court establish managerial control over the case, (3) discourage wasteful pretrial activities, (4) improve the quality of the trial with thorough preparation, and (5) facilitate a settlement of the case.

Slauson had claimed her 5-year-old daughter Riley was dying from colorectal cancer. Thousand dollars were raised for treatments that were never rendered and the family’s trip to Disney World.

The woman has plead Not Guilty to 20 counts, including one count of drug distribution to a person under 18, two counts of child endangerment causing bodily injury, two counts of administering harmful substances, two counts of assault while committing a felony, two counts of domestic abuse and 10 counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and one count of Theft in the 1st degree. The alleged offenses date back to September 2013.

Earlier this month, Slauson’s lawyer indicated he would file a motion for “Diminished Responsibility” on behalf of Slauson, whom he says is competent to stand trial, but unable to tell right from wrong.

Slauson’s trial is set to begin November 12th, in Atlantic. She remains in the Cass County Jail on $35,000 bond.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney — the 2012 Republican nominee for president — campaigned in Iowa Sunday with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst. “She’s going to be an extraordinary breath of fresh air in Washington,” Romney said. “I can’t wait ’til she goes there and makes ’em squeal, can you? It’s going to be wonderful.” Romney, of course, is referring to Ernst’s primary campaign ad in which she talked about her farm roots and castrating pigs.

Romney campaigned with Ernst in eastern Iowa on May30th, right after he endorsed Ernst as she was competing against five other Republicans for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination. On Sunday Romney was in central Iowa, headlining an Ernst campaign rally at the Iowa Farm Bureau headquarters in West Des Moines. Both Ernst and Romney referred to remarks President Obama made last week about this year’s election.

“He said in this race that his policies are on the ballot,” Romney said. “but Iowa voted for President Obama twice, but Iowa is not going to vote for Bill Bailey and vote for him a third time, that’s for sure.” That “Bill Bailey” reference was Romney’s way of highlighting Michelle Obama’s missteps last Friday when she called Braley “Bailey” seven times before the crowd yelled out Braley’s name. Ernst, who spoke three times as long as Romney did, urged the crowd to vote early and volunteer to seek out other voters.

“Iowa is excited about the opportunity to have not just one Republican United States Senator, but two Republican United States Senators,” Ernst said, to cheers. Romney and Ernst plan to rally with supporters this (Monday) morning in Cedar Rapids.

(Radio Iowa)

Most Iowans heat their homes with natural gas and they’re facing a good news-bad news situation as the colder months approach. A report from the American Gas Association predicts there will be a relatively “normal” winter ahead, but it also notes natural gas prices are creeping up. Chris McGill is a policy analyst for the association. “It doesn’t appear, according to the National Weather Service, that we’re going to have a repeat of the ‘polar vortex’, so a more moderate, more normal winter this year,” McGill says. “However, the price of natural gas, the unit cost of natural gas for consumers, has been going up over the last couple of years.”

That will likely translate to Iowans facing more expensive utility bills in the coming months. McGill says, “With the increase in costs along with a perhaps-normal winter, we actually see the possibility of bills being about 7% higher this year, compared to last year.” Demand for natural gas remains very high but he says there should -not- be any shortages.

“Supplies are very strong,” McGill says. “We’ve been putting record volumes of natural gas back into storage, planning for the coming winter heating season. Natural gas supplies in North America in general are very strong.” A report from the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 67-percent of Iowans use natural gas to heat their homes, 15-percent use electricity, 14-percent use propane, and the rest use wood or fuel oil.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney is visiting Iowa for U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee planned to headline a campaign event Sunday evening in West Des Moines and a stop in Cedar Rapids on Monday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State Fair officials are defending the timing of the annual event against critics who say it may be time to set an earlier fair schedule to avoid conflicting with increasing numbers of school districts moving up the start of their academic year. The Des Moines Register reports the 2015 fair is set for August 13th through 23rd.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A video recording of an Ankeny police officer who tried to get a man to consent to a search of his car after pulling him over for not having headlights on has attracted more than 100,000 views on YouTube. KCCI-TV reports the video of officer Aaron King noticing the driver had disc golf equipment in his car and commenting that all disc golf players smoke marijuana prompted an apology from the police department.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport cemetery has been listed on a national U.S. National Park Service registry of sites connected with the Underground Railroad, an anti-slavery network that had helped many escape to freedom. The Quad-City Times reports a high school social studies class from Arlington Senior High School in eastern Nebraska discovered the graves of 11 former slaves at Oakdale Memorial Gardens in Davenport.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will meet Monday evening in the Media Center at the High School. Kicking-off the 7:30-p.m. session, is a presentation from IASB Financial Services Planning Director Gary Sinclair, who will speak with regard to the budget.

Items on the Board’s Consent Agenda include approval of: Open enrollment requests; Contracts for General and Special Education instructors, along with other contracts and/or Letters of Assignment; Volunteer coaching positions and any resignations.

Other, action items, include approval of: a request for Modified Allowable Growth and Supplemental Aid for a Special Ed deficit; Financial Planning Program Assumptions for budgeting purposes, and, approval of the 2013-14 District Annual Report.

Prior to adjourning for the evening, Schuler Elementary School Principal James Northwick with bring up for discussion, the topic of “District Branding.”