Republican Presidential Candidate & Congresswoman  Michele Bachman (Rep.-MN), will hold a town hall meeting this morning, in Atlantic.  The Iowa native will speak in the Atlantic room, at the Cass County Community Center, beginning at 11:45-a.m., according to her campaign staff.

Bachman is touring the state prior to Saturday’s Straw Poll, in Ames.

A Louisiana man was arrested Saturday near Lake Anita. According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office,  24-year-old Jacob Ellard, of Monterey, Louisiana, was taken into custody following a traffic stop.

Ellard was charged with 1^st offense OWI. He was brought to the Cass County Jail and held on $1,000 bond, until being released later that same day.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office reports four arrests over the past week. On Wednesday, 46-year old Jeffrey Scott Ruckman, of Council Bluffs, and, 47-year old Tina Marie Handy-Zoltowski, of Omaha, were arrested on charges of trespassing, and 5^th degree theft.

Last Tuesday, 50-year old Shelly Ann Elsen, of Hastings, IA, was arrested for contempt of court. And, on Monday, 25-year old Brian Keith Palm, of Des Moines, was arrested for a probation violation, and on a Monona County warrant.

Strong storms Saturday night brought large hail and damaging winds to western and southwest Iowa. The storms blew through the area between 8:15-and 11-p.m.

In Stanton, sustained winds tore off a large chunk of the gymnasium roof at the Stanton High School. In Atlantic, thunderstorm winds at around 9:50-p.m., toppled a large tree limb onto a power line, which fell on a truck.

Hail the size of pennies began to fall in Crawford County at around 8:15. Golfball-sized hail was reported in Shelby County at around 8:30-p.m., damaging several vehicle windshields. Within the next half-hour, pea-to quarter-sized hail was reported near the Audubon Airport, and quarter-sized hail near Kimballton, along with winds gusting up to 60-miles per hour. Quarter-sized hail continued to fall near the Audubon Airport for about 10-minutes, after 9-p.m.

At about 9:30, winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour were recorded four-miles northeast of Anita, along Interstate 80. Thunderstorm winds caused 4-to 6-inch diameter tree limbs to fall near Corning, at around 10:10-p.m. Saturday, and winds gusting up to 71-miles per hour were reported northwest of Creston about 20-minutes later, causing tree and roof damage. A tree was also reported to have fallen on a house, in Creston. At about the same time, the American Legion Building in Macksburg sustained wind damage from the storms.

Storms spotters northeast of Orient reported 65-miles per hour winds and torrential rain at around 10:40-p.m., Saturday. About 20-minutes earlier, winds gusting over 60-miles per hour damaged metal sheds and peeled off part of a roof two-miles southeast of Orient. A tree was also reported to have fallen on a trailer east of Orient, and a roof was torn off of a hog house.

Those same storms pushed their way into south central Iowa overnight Saturday, into early Sunday morning. There were no reports of injuries.