FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – Midland University in Fremont, NE, has announced it will acquire the former Dana College campus in Blair, NE, just across the Missouri River, not far from Missouri Valley.  Midland announced the plan today (Thursday), saying in a news release that its growing enrollment in the last four years has necessitated expansion of its campus.

Dana and Midland had shared Lutheran affiliations – and served as athletic rivals – in eastern Nebraska for decades before the Blair school closed its doors in 2010 following years of financial struggles and the loss of its accreditation.

More than half of Dana’s 600 students transferred to Midland, sending the Fremont school’s 2010 enrollment from 643 to 962. Midland has continued to see enrollment growth, and currently has more than 1,000 students.  Midland officials did not disclose how much it plans to bid for the Dana campus.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 3:15-a.m. today (Thursday), of a Villisca man. 74-year old Carter Levi Bennett was charged with Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. The charge is the result of an investigation into allegations Bennett had inappropriate contact with children on different occasions. Bennett was taken into custody at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, without incident.

An investigation into his alleged activities is ongoing. Authorities say additional charges are anticipated. Bennett remained in the Montgomery County Jail early this (Thursday) morning, on $25,000 bond.

Police in Red Oak say a motorcycle accident Wednesday evening resulted in one person being flown to an Omaha hospital for treatment of serious, unknown injuries. 38-year old David Aaron Fillmore, of Red Oak, was traveling east on Highway 34 just before 8-p.m., when he lost control of the 2011 Ducati motorcycle he was riding, as the bike was maneuvering a curve and merging onto Highway 48 southbound.

The Ducati hit an area of sand/gravel before sliding partially out of control and hitting a curb of the median. Fillmore then lost complete control of the cycle, which toppled onto  its right side. He was transported by Red Oak Rescue to the Montgomery County Hospital before being flown by Mercy One helicopter to a medical facility in Omaha.

The motorcycle sustained $500 damage during the crash. Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies and Red and Fire and Rescue assisted Red Oak P-D at the scene.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Saying “It’s time for the courts to take animal abuse seriously,” animal welfare advocates have written a letter to the Cass County Attorney, asking him to prosecute to the full extent of the law, a Marne man charged in the shooting of a dog that strayed onto his property last year. Lin Sorenson and Becky Fetters of the Des Moines based St. Francis Foundation for Pets have requested that Cass County Attorney Dan Feistner recommend to the judge that he enforce the law and sentence 56-year old Charles Collins Cutler to a minimum of 30 days in jail, and for him to pay $6,250 in fines , along with restitution to the pet’s owner.

Cutler faces an Aggravated Serious Misdemeanor charge of Animal Abuse, and a Serious Misdemeanor charge of a Reckless Use of a Firearm, in connection with the shooting of a dog which strayed onto his property on December 24^th, 2012. Cutler pleaded not guilty to both charges. His trial, which was to have been held last month, was instead continued until April 16th, and will be held in Cass County District Court. Cutler’s request for a change of venue, was denied.

According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when a dog owned by 23-year old Stacy Ernat from Denver, CO, was shot when it strayed onto Cutler’s property. Ernat told authorities her chocolate Labrador “Wrigley,” was playing with a relative’s dog in the church lot adjacent to Cutler’s residence, when the dog ran onto his property and was wounded by a shotgun blast fired from a distance of 30-to 40-feet. The dog was treated, but succumbed to injuries, at the Atlantic Animal Health Center.

The animal welfare group says “It is time for the prosecuting attorney and the judge to demonstrate how serious the courts take animal abuse and to let other animal abusers know that this behavior has severe consequences.”