Shelby County Emergency Management Director Bob Seivert reports residents in all but three Shelby County Towns (Earling, Westphalia, Kirkman) will be hearing Storm Sirens on Monday or Tuesday July 14th and 15th.  Seivert says technicians will be working on software necessary to activate each communities sirens. which will involve some actual siren activation, maybe several times, through out this time period.

The intent is to send out Code Red messages to communities prior to activation and use local radio media to keep residents from becoming concerned, especially if the weather is not ideal. Officials will not know any particular time period for each community activation, due to the nature of the repairs and testing being conducted.

Seivert says every effort will be made to keep the public informed. If the area happens to be under an actual Warning,  the testing will be postponed.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report a Tabor man was arrested Wednesday. 28-year old Kain Taylor Endicott was arrested at around 3:35-p.m. at a location on Pleasant Street, in Tabor. He’s been charged with Trespassing. Bond was set at $300.

Mills County, IOWA – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Mills County Sheriff’s Office are asking for the public’s help in identifying a male body pulled from the Missouri River on July 1, 2014.

The unidentified male body was located in the area of Lincoln’s Landing campground near the Plattsmouth Bridge in southern Mills County, Iowa.

The body was found with blue denim “Chaps” shorts, size 38, white/grey Under Armour boxer briefs, size large, a brown belt and black Ocean Pacific shoes, size medium 9-10.

The body has a Playboy bunny tattoo on the upper left part of the chest, a monochromatic tattoo of two unclothed Asian women with a dragon in the background located on the upper left arm and a tribal tattoo on the right shin.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Mills County Sheriff Eugene Goos at (712) 527-4337 or DCI Special Agent Phillip Kennedy at (712) 322-1585.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrat Staci Appel says she has more than $725,000 in the bank for her run in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Appel’s campaign reported Thursday that the former state lawmaker raised more than $425,000 during the 2nd quarter of the year, which ended June 30. In total, she has more than $725,000 on hand for her bid to replace retiring Republican congressman Tom Latham.

Appel ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She will face Republican David Young, a former chief of staff for Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, in the general election. Young’s spokesman said Thursday that the campaign did not yet have any financial figures to release. Reports are due Tuesday to the Federal Election Commission.

The 3rd District covers much of southwest Iowa, stretching from Des Moines to Council Bluffs.

Officials with the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (Iowa College Aid) have released the “Condition of Higher Education in Iowa 2014” report. The report provides policymakers with an overview of Iowa’s population in relation to college readiness, persistence, affordability, educational attainment and the future employability of the citizens of Iowa.

Karen Misjak, executive director of Iowa College Aid, said “As we work towards increasing Iowa’s overall educational attainment, the data in this report highlights where we are as a state and the challenges we will need to overcome in the process.” Misjak says “The report is a great resource for policymakers and those working towards increasing college preparation, access and persistence and completion rates in Iowa.”

Among other things, the report illustrates that:

· With an aging population, increasing the state’s educational attainment will require more adults to pursue post-secondary education.

· Iowans with bachelor’s degrees earn approximately 60 percent more than individuals with only a high school diploma and 110 percent more than those with less than a high school diploma.

· Less than 36 percent of Iowa’s working-age population holds an associate’s degree or higher, yet it is projected that 62 percent of all jobs in the state will require post-secondary education by 2018.

· Iowa counties with a high percent of their populations holding an associate’s degree or higher tend to have higher median earnings.

· Iowa students in the college pipeline are projected to be fewer in number and more racially and ethnically diverse.

· Increasingly, Iowans applying for financial aid for college have higher need.

· The median income of most state financial aid program recipients is well below that of the state as a whole.

· Increases in college costs have outpaced increases in household income and appropriations for state financial aid programs.

The full report can be accessed from Iowa College Aid’s Higher Education Data Center, https://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/content/higher-education-data-center.