GREENE, Iowa (AP) — Two rural northeast Iowa school districts intend to offer firearms safety courses for middle school students this spring. Joel Foster is superintendent for both the Clarksville and North Butler school districts, and he says he hopes the courses will prepare students in both districts to react in the event of an active shooter situation. Students will use inoperable guns with replica ammunition to learn how to load and unload bullets and hold and care for firearms. Foster says they’ll also learn how to safely carry guns and how to recognize when firearms are loaded.

The hunter safety courses are expected to last about a week as part of the physical education curriculums and will be taught by a naturalist from the Butler County Conservation Board. Parents can opt to have their children sit out the courses.

The Creston Police Department reports 29-year old Steven Behlers, of Afton, was arrested Monday afternoon. Behlers was arrested at the Union County Jail on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. He remains in the jail on the latest, and other charges, with his total bond set at $17,300.

And, a Creston woman reported to police Monday morning, that sometime between 7-p.m. Sunday and 8-a.m. Monday, the back window of her vehicle was smashed while parked outside her residence in the 400 block of N. Oak Street. The damage was estimated at $200.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — The Fort Dodge City Council has approved a plan use a portion of fireworks fines to help pay for professional pyrotechnics show on Independence Day. The Messenger reports that the council voted 5-1 for the plan Monday. The city will give to the fireworks show whichever is greater: $5,000 or half of the fireworks fines collected each year.

City ordinances say people may use fireworks from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. July 1-3 and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. July 4. They also may be used between 5 p.m. Dec. 31 and 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1. People convicted of violating the fireworks rules can be fined $500. Fort Dodge police officers responded to 604 fireworks complaints between June 1 and July 8 and issued 49 citations.

(Radio Iowa) — Managers representing Governor Kim Reynolds are negotiating new contracts with four unions that represent state employees. The Republican governor’s administration has just offered the union representing about 24-hundred social workers and scientists in state government a one percent raise in each of the next two years. Reynolds isn’t sending any public signals about the negotiations.

“We’re grateful for our state employees. They’re the boots on the ground. They’re the ones that’s carrying out the mission every single day. They do a great job,” Reynolds told reporters Monday. “I am so proud of our state workers and, you know, it’s no different than what a business does when they’re putting a budget together, so we’re going to do the best that we can with the resources that we have.”

All the unions representing state workers are asking for raises for all employees covered by union contacts. Administrators representing Reynolds will make more counter offers to other unions before the end of the year. Reynolds says “a lot of preliminary work” has been done on her proposed state spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1st. A missing piece of the puzzle was revealed last week. A panel of financial experts set the official estimate of state tax revenue growth during the period at one-point-eight percent.

“We really can’t start to finalize stuff until we get the numbers, which we have those now,” Reynolds says, “and so we’ll sit down and get those kind of hammered out over the next week or two.”

Reynolds will deliver her policy agenda and proposed state budget to legislators on Tuesday, January 15th. Reynolds will be inaugurated to a full, four-year term on Friday, January 18th.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reviewing water testing done for nitrates in 43 public water supplies after discovering some results which didn’t look right. D-N-R environmental specialist, Kathy Lee, says the problem happened with samples tested by Mangold Environmental Testing in Storm Lake. “We noticed some irregular sample results and we investigated with Mangold and we determined that after they put a new piece of equipment in place, some incorrect sample results were calculated,” Lee says.  Lee says they asked Mangold to stop doing samples and have been working with them to try and determine what went wrong. “At this time we don’t have any information to suggest that there is any problem with any of the drinking water supplies that utilized Mangold environmental testing,” according to Lee.”However, we are reviewing all of the data — particularly to see if any of the results can be recalculated — so we can replace those values in our database.”

She says they haven’t determined that any of the samples tested had high levels of nitrates. Lee says the water supplies are periodically tested to be sure the nitrate levels meet acceptable federal standards. “High levels of nitrate in drinking water can be harmful to infants less than six months old — causing what’s commonly called ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’,” Lee explains. “So we want to prevent any exposure to that.” Lee says Mangold has been cooperating with them as they try to figure out the issue. She says the D-N-R does requires notification within 15 days when new equipment is placed into service at testing facilities and Mangold didn’t let them know for a couple of months. Lee doesn’t know yet if the company will face a penalty for the late reporting.”Our investigation is ongoing and…any decision regarding enforcement action has not been made at this time,” Lee says.

The D-N-R and Mangold each sent letters to the operators of the water supplies to notify them of the issue. The 43 entities impacted include (locally): Breda Water Supply; Early Municipal Water Supply; E-Stop (Council Bluffs); Hamburg Water Supply; Lewis And Clark Monument; Mapleton Municipal Water Plant; Oakland Municipal Water Utility; Schuler Manufacturing; Shenandoah Water Dept ; Sidney Water Supply; Southern Iowa Rural Water Association – Corning/Brooks ; Southern Iowa Rural Water Association #2 (Creston); The Learning Journey ( Council Bluffs); West Central RWA; Woodbine Water Department.

Other public water supplies impacted include: Akron Water Supply; Battle Creek Water Supply;Danbury Water Supply;Dow City Water Works; Evangelical Covenant Church; George Water Supply ; Gilmore City Waterworks; Grand Jct Municipal Water Dept;  Holstein; Humboldt Country Club; Ida Grove Water Utility; Iowa Cage Free; Kingsley Water Supply; Lake View Water Supply; Linn Grove Water Works; Livermore Water Supply; Mallard Water Supply; Marathon Light & Water Department; Pierson Water Supply; Quimby Water Supply; Rembrandt Enterprises Inc (Rembrandt); Rock Valley Rural Water District; Schaller Water Supply; Sioux Rapids Water Department; Smithland Water Supply; Tobey Jacks Mineola Steak House; Twin Lakes Utilities; and Ute Water Supply.

(Radio Iowa) — A big chunk of change is discovered in a Salvation Army kettle in central Iowa. Salvation Army officials report they were sorting through bills from a red kettle that was hanging at a Hy-Vee in Urbandale this weekend when they were surprised to find a valuable piece of metal wrapped inside a five-dollar bill.

Canadian gold coin in red kettle

Someone donated a one ounce Canadian gold coin. The Salvation Army reports it’s worth over $1,200.