Brian Hamman, Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator, says due to abnormally warm temperatures and several months of below normal precipitation, Montgomery County rural areas are extremely dry. In the past few weeks, area fire departments in Montgomery County as well as surrounding counties have responded to numerous grass and wildland type fires. The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency has polled all Fire Chiefs as to implement a burn ban for Montgomery County.

All departments were in agreement to the ban and the ban has been approved by the Iowa State Fire Marshalls Office in Des Moines.
Effective 10-a.m. Wednesday, February 1st, 2012, all open burning will be banned within the rural areas of Montgomery County until further notice under Chapter 100 of the Iowa Code. An application to your local fire chief can be obtained to allow a permit for an open burn if your local Fire Official believes it is safe to do so. After approval of the permit, several entities within Montgomery County are informed to lessen the danger of false alarms.

This is a dangerous situation. The conditions are currently favorable for a fast moving wildland fire that can destroy property and be life threatening if uncontrolled. If adequate moisture is received, a revocation of the ban will be considered by all Montgomery County Fire Officials.

The Atlantic City Council is set to meet Wednesday evening. During their 5:30-p.m. session at City Hall, the Council will hear a report from the Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation (CADCO), and act on a Resolution supporting an Affordable Housing Development proposal for the Southern Heights second- and third-additions. City Administrator Doug Harris says developer Cohen-Esrey has requested the City’s financial support for their proposed 16-unit affordable housing project, which would consist of 16 three-bedroom, 12-hundred square-foot, single-family houses. The houses would cost $100,000 each. The City’s Finance Committee has met twice to discuss the request, and is expected to recommend the Council approve the resolution, along with a level of financial support, not to exceed $160,000. The contribution would lower the developer’s operating costs, and allow them to meet the requirements for Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Harris says if the Council passes the resolution, and the developer is awarded the tax credits, the Council can place requirements on the project, through the development and minimum assessment agreements, which can be negotiated prior to the approval of any development incentives.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hold the first reading of an ordinance amending the posted speed limit on 22nd Street, from Highway 71 to Olive Street, and from Chestnut Street to Highway Six. Police Chief Steve Green has recommended reducing the speed limit on 22nd Street from 45- to 35-miles per hour, citing the hilly terrain, which tends to hide residential driveways from view, until motorists approach them. Green says the average speed on 22nd Street is 37-miles per hour, but people often exceed the 45-mile per hour limit.

The Council will also hold the second reading of an ordinance amending the City’s Traffic Control ordinance, by adding a stop sign on Pine Ridge Road, at 22nd Street. At the end of regular business, the Council will enter into a closed session to discuss collective bargaining strategies.

With abnormally warm temperatures and several months of below normal precipitation the rural areas of Pottawattamie County are extremely dry. In the past few weeks several rural fire departments in Pottawattamie County have responded to grass and wildland fires. This week Emergency Management polled the rural fire departments of Pottawattamie County after several Departments inquired as to a burn ban in the County. All rural Departments agreed to the ban and the ban was approved today (Tuesday), by the State Fire Marshall in Des Moines.

Effective 8-a.m. Wednesday, February 1st, all open burning will be banned within the rural areas of Pottawattamie County until further notice, under Chapter 100 of the Iowa Code. An application to your local fire chief can be obtained to allow a permit for an open burn if your local Fire Official believes it is safe to do so. After approval of the permit, several County entities are informed to lessen the danger of false alarms. This is a dangerous situation and officials say they are relying on the public to assist them in enforcing the ban. The conditions are currently favorable for a fast moving wildland fire that can destroy property and be life threatening if uncontrolled. If the area  begins to receive adequate moisture, a revocation of the ban will be considered by the rural Fire Chiefs. A violation of the burn ban is a simple misdemeanor offense.

A man from Ute, in Monona County died this (Tuesday) morning in Crawford County, when the car he was driving rear-ended a semi. The Iowa State Patrol says 29-year old Benjamin Randall Monk was not wearing a seatbelt, when his 1989 Mazda 929 ran into the back of a 2001 Peterbilt semi, as both vehicles were on Highway 141, about two-miles west of Charter Oak. The accident happened at around 7:45-a.m.

Officials say the car and the semi were headed east on 141, when the semi, driven by 37-year old Justin Charles Hansen, of Ute, stopped to wait for cross traffic before making a left hand turn into a farm drive. Monk was pronounced dead at the Crawford County Memorial Hospital. Hansen was not injured in the crash.

A Union County woman suffered what were described as “incapacitating” injuries during an accident Monday afternoon, southwest of Macksburg, in Adair County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 34-year old Hidie Lemon, of Creston, was traveling north on York Avenue near 320th Avenue at around 3:30-p.m., when she lost consciousness due to a medical condition.

The Patrol says Lemon’s 1998 Chevy CRS entered the east ditch. Lemon was transported by ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston. Her car sustained about $1,500 damage during the accident. No citations were issued.

Cass County Zoning Administrator Rich Hansen told the Board of Supervisors during their meeting this (Tuesday) morning, that the Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on February 9^th with regard to a request by John Dvorak to rezone a part of his property on the outskirts of Atlantic, from General Ag to Light Industrial. The property is located off Olive Street, across from the Little League Diamonds. Dvorak wants to rezone the 4.5-acre area so he can have a tire repair and car service business. The Zoning Commission will try to iron out some parking issues, and submit its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for their approval, following the public hearing. The hearing will likely take place at around 7 or 7:30-p.m. on February 9^th. The exact time, though, has not yet been set.

MONDAMIN, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa school board has fired a principal accused of pulling down the pants of a 15-year-old student. The West Harrison Community School District Board in Mondamin voted unanimously Monday to terminate the contract of Mike Loftin at the end of the school year and immediately ban him from school grounds.  The board members would not say specifically why Loftin was fired. The board directed its attorney to file a complaint about Loftin with state education authorities. 
 
The Harrison County sheriff’s office is investigating, but Loftin has not been charged with a crime. A phone listing for Loftin could not be found.  The girl says Loftin, who coached the girls’ basketball team, pulled down her pants before a game on Jan. 20th. Several other students were nearby.

Cass County Engineer Charles Marker said today (Tuesday), a public hearing will be held February 12^th, regarding the closure and replacement of the Highway 92 bridge, located just west of Massena. Marker told the Board of Supervisors he’d received an e-mail from the Iowa Department of Transportation, informing him the bridge is in their replacement program for this Summer. Marker says while the bid-letting date for the project has not been set, the public hearing is being held as part of the process required before work can begin. The detour route will take motorists up Cass County Road N-28 to G-43, across G-43 to Highway 148, and back down to Highway 92. 

Marker says the bridge is being replaced because of the damage it sustained during a flood a couple of years ago. Since then, the bridge has been limited to one-lane traffic for trucks and other such heavy vehicles, because of their weight, meaning only one truck can cross at a time. The public hearing will take place at the Massena City Hall, just prior to the beginning of the regular council session.

Speaking of weight limits, Marker said every year, the County approves weight limits on the bridges, following inspections and subsequent recommendations. He says the bridges have weight limits from as low as 3-tons, to as much as 23-tons. Signs must be erected annually, to indicate the current weight restrictions. The Board approved a resolution allowing limits to be set, according to the inspection reports.