The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Wednesday of a Lewis man on a warrant for 50 charges related to the sexual abuse of a minor.

Roger Allen Ericksen

52-year old Roger Allen Ericksen faces two Aggravated Misdemeanor charges of Assault with the intent to commit Sexual Abuse, two counts of Lascivious Conduct with a Minor (A Serious Misdemeanor), and 46 Class-C felony counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd degree. The arrest stems from an on-going investigation into allegations Ericksen had sexual contact with a 14-year old female over a two-month period of time, earlier this year. Ericksen was being held in the Cass County Jail on $250,000 bond.

The Atlantic Animal Shelter is reminding persons who have adopted pets from the shelter, that they must spay or neuter the animal, as your adoption form indicates. Shelter officials say it’s a State mandates when animals are adopted out. The Shelter says State officials have visited the shelter and found many adoption forms have not been not been returned, stating that the animal has been spayed or neutered. Officials say if the forms are not returned by the end of the month, they could lose their ability to adopt-out the animals, which would mean all animals not claimed by their owners would face euthanization.

Since no one wants that to happen, the Atlantic Animal Shelter is asking you to return your animal adoption paperwork to the shelter, so they are in compliance with State regulations, and so you can receive your $20 rebate. If you have any questions, call the Shelter at 712-243-2287.

Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says the Postal Service’s decision to delay closing all offices until May of next year isn’t just a move that will delay the inevitable. Braley says Congress has been working on changing the way the Postal Service funds its retirement system to allow them to save BILLIONs of dollars, and that’s why he favors delaying the closings. 

“I think in this case the moratorium on making decisions will allow congress more time to try to address the problems facing the Postal Service in a meaningful way,” Braley says. The congressman has backed a bill by a colleague on revamping the postal retirement system and he says the U-S Senate is also considering action as well.

“I think that the impact of congressional action between now and the date when the Postal Service has decided to postpone its decision making will at least inform the decisions of the Postal Service on what type of action it needs to take,” Braley says. Braley says his questioning of the Postmaster General makes him confident the Postal Service is looking at several options to revamp its business once the pension issue is settled. “I think they have a lot of ideas that they are prepared to implement, some of which are good and some of which are not, but they haven’t just been sitting there idly, they are preparing to deal with the realities of their funding,” according to Braley. 

There are 178 post offices in Iowa that are on the current list for possible closure. Locally, that includes those facilities in: Brayton, Cumberland, Grant, Kimballton, and Lewis. Braley and the rest of the Iowa Congressional delegation all asked the Postal Service to delay the closings, as did Governor Terry Branstad. 

(Radio Iowa)