The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), approved a $10,000 funding request from  representatives of the Cumberland Public Library, to help with a renovation project. Library Board President Vicky Anstey appeared before the board to ask for the funds which she says will address some safety issues in the front part of the building. She said there concerns over lightening and sagging shelves. The money would be used to replace paneling and move some of the shelving to another room.

Anstey said the board has been working for a few years to expand the library, because of their increasing patron base. The City of Cumberland, she says has cooperated with that goal, by contributing space previously used as a city garage, and funds for the project.

She says the children’s and open meeting areas are being moved to a back section of the library, and they’ve had a good working relationship with other entities to make the project successful.

She says the $10,000 will help finish the project, which is expected to cost $50- to 55-thousand dollars altogether. The Library has already received a $35,000 grant, a $10,000 private gift, and in-kind services for the project. Board Member Carolyn Hartmann said the City of Cumberland also set aside some funds from a recent event. She says the money came from the City’s 125^th Anniversary Celebration.

The nearly complete renovation includes the only handicapped-accessible public restroom in the City.

In other business, the Board of Supervisors approved the funding of sidewalk repair on the county’s portion of the Atlantic City Park. Engineer Ken Coffman told the board their share of the work and engineering costs amounts a little more than $5,495. The City of Atlantic will pick up the remaining cost of the $27,000 project.

Coffman said work on the sidewalk project won’t likely begin until AFTER the AtlanticFest Celebration and Ragbrai event. It was hoped it would be finished before those events took place, but the contractor, Betts and Beer Construction, is busy working on the Iowa Western Community College renovation project, and won’t likely be completed in-time for the City Park project.

Alex Rutledge

Tia Cohrs

Atlantic Police today (Wednesday) released more information about the arrest Sunday of an Atlantic couple on drug and other charges. Police Chief Steve Green said warrants for 18-year old Alex John Rutledge and 19-year old Tia Cohrs were issued following an investigation into a report an 11-year old boy was being treated at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, for an overdose or adverse reaction to the use of an illegal narcotic. 

Green says after a search warrant was executed, it was determined Rutledge and Cohrs allegedly distributed the illegal narcotics to the child inside the Cohrs residence.

The pair face numerous charges, including Possession of a Controlled Substance, Felony Distribution of an illegal substance to a person under the age of 18, and Gathering where Controlled Substances (marijuana) are unlawfully used.

Rutledge and Cohrs were brought to the Cass County Jail, they were being held on $30,500 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on June 2^nd.

AMES, Iowa – May 25, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is seeking information from anyone who may have conducted business with the following individual or businesses and has similar complaints to those investigated by the department. 
 
James (Jim) F. Austin, 66, of Greene, Iowa, was arrested Friday, May 13, 2011, by officers with the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Office Motor Vehicle Enforcement and Butler County Sheriff’s Office. 
 
Austin, a former licensed Iowa automobile dealer, once operated the used car dealerships known as Austin Auto Center at 702 N. First St. in Greene and The ClassicConnection at the same address, and now operates JSA Classics in Greene.
 
This arrest stemmed from complaints received by the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement regarding business practices and motor vehicle transactions conducted by JSA Classics.
 
Austin was charged with one count of Class D felony theft by deception, two counts of aggravated misdemeanor fraudulent practice, and one serious misdemeanor for false application for a motor vehicle title.
 
Members from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Patrol’s Vehicle Theft Unit assisted in the Iowa DOT’s investigation leading up to the arrest. Austin was taken to the Butler County Jail and later released.  
 
Anyone with information concerning the business practices of any of these dealerships is encouraged to contact the Iowa DOT’s Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement at 866-906-4636 or via e-mail at invmve@dot.iowa.gov.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Boy Scout council that serves eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and the corner of South Dakota has chosen a new top executive. The Mid-America Council says Eric Magendantz will become the council’s top professional on July 1. He will replace Lloyd Roitstein who is retiring after 40 years with the council.

Magendantz has led the Chester County Council in West Chester, Penn., since 2007. He has been with the Boy Scouts of America since 1993 and has also held jobs in Florida, Maine, Connecticut and Delaware.

The Mid-America Council serves 31,000 youth in 58 counties in the three states, and it is supported by nearly 8,000 volunteers.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says two Elk Horn residents were arrested on drug charges Monday afternoon, following the execution of a search warrant at 2107 Washington Street, in Elk Horn.

22-year old’s Gregory Frazer and Lucas Spangler face aggravated or serious misdemeanor charges of Prohibited Acts, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and a felony charge of Manufacturing a Controlled Substance.

During a search of the men’s residence, authorities took into evidence material used to manufacture a controlled substance. Frazer and Spangler were brought to the Shelby County Jail and later released after posting $5,000 bond, each.