COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Career education programs at Iowa Western Community College helped Richard Kleckner turn around his life after years living on the streets, abusing drugs and repeatedly getting trouble with the law. While locked up in Omaha, Kleckner decided in 2016 to stop abusing heroin and methamphetamine and instead pursue his high-school equivalence diploma. After his release, he moved to Council Bluffs and enrolled in HiSET classes through Iowa Western with financials support from IowaWORKS. “That’s how I got my foot in the door,” Kleckner said. “It gave me something to do. It got me out of the house. I felt active. I felt better for myself, and I really felt good when I passed my first test. That right there was a super huge boost to my ego and that’s when I felt like I could really do this.”

Richard Kleckner shows off the welding lab at Iowa Western Community College’s Kinney Hall in Council Bluffs on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. Kleckner took a welding class through the Education 2 Employment career preparatory program and now has a job as a welder in Omaha. (Photo by Scott Stewart/Iowa Western Community College)

Kleckner said his teachers were exceptionally supportive and the small classes make sure everyone gets the attention they need. The program offers an option for self-directed HiSET preparation, too, for those students not seeking a classroom experience. “It’s basically really like a step-to-step program,” Kleckner said. “It makes getting your HiSET easy. I came in thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be really hard.’ I dropped out of school in ninth grade. I don’t know if I can do this. But then it became something that was fun. It became something that interested me that I wanted to be a part of. It was really exciting, and then once I got it, I knew that I wasn’t the person that I was labeled as being at that point. I am still in awe at everything that I have done.”

After earning his diploma, Iowa Western’s Education 2 Employment program paid for Kleckner to enroll in a welding class at the college. It paid for his books, welding boots and all other costs associated with the course – including his American Welding Society qualification test. Within a month, he landed a job as a welder for an Omaha manufacturer. He now hopes to be a role model and to continue to give back to improve the lives of others struggling with substance abuse.

Police in Glenwood report four recent arrests. On Nov. 21st, 31-year old Jared Pomerenke and 34-year old Robyn Salmons, both of Glenwood, were arrested for Theft.  Bonds were set at $300 each. Both were later released for time served. On Nov. 22nd, 26-year old Jordon Williams, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested in Glenwood for OWI/1st offense. Williams posted a $1,000 bond, and was released. And, last Saturday, 35-year old Kristy Wilson, of Glenwood, was arrested for Serious Assault. She posted a $1,000 bond, and was released.

There were also two accidents in Glenwood over the weekend, one of which was attributed to road conditions. No one was injured.

Officials with Harlan Municipal Utilities (HMU) report an equipment failure at around 9:30-a.m. Sunday, resulted in an electrical outage to parts of the community. HMU CEO Ken Weber said a middle phase jumper on a junction pole along the 69Kv (kilovolt) main line feeding Harlan, failed and dropped into the lower phase line causing a partial power outage. HMU linemen and a crew from Northern Iowa Power Company (NIPCO) were able to affect a temporary workaround to restore power.

Weber said today (Monday), that they are working with line crews from NIPCO to repair the jumper. During the repair, they hope to determine the cause of the failure and fix it so it doesn’t happen again. Power was restored to all customers by around 11:45-a.m., Sunday. The partial power condition damaged some electronic equipment on the HMU telecom service. Telecom technicians worked until early Sunday evening to replace, repair and restore cable TV, Internet and Telephone Services.

PIONEER, Iowa (AP) — A tiny city in northern Iowa is edging toward unincorporating as its population dwindles, but first it must figure out how to spend its healthy reserve fund. The Messenger reports that Pioneer City Clerk Janet Berte recently met with the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to discuss the formal process of unincorporating. Berte says the last census found that the city had a population of 23. Officials say that the city soon won’t be able to meet the official requirements of being a city as its citizens age.

Berte says one obstacle to unincorporating is the city’s good financials. She says most cities unincorporated when they run out of money, but Pioneer has about $150,000. Berte says the City Council doesn’t have a set timeline for unincorporating.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state audit says the legislature, governor and Iowa Department of Human Services have failed to follow a state law that requires full quarterly financial reports on the state’s privatized Medicaid program. Auditor Mary Mosiman says in an audit released Monday that the state officials and lawmakers should have established a method to estimate program cost savings when they moved from state-managed Medicaid to a system managed by for-profit health care companies in 2016.

The state released widely varied estimates of savings last year ranging from $47 million to $235 million in the $5 billion program that oversees the health care program for poor and disabled Iowans. Mosiman estimates the state saved $126 million in fiscal year 2018 compared to what it would have spent under state-managed care.

Sheriff’s officials in Union County say The Whistle Stop, in Lorimor, reported that at around 8:51-p.m. November 21st, someone came in to the store and paid for $51.05 worth of product with a counterfeit $100 bill. The subject had left the store before the money was tested. No other information was available.