Many rural Iowa communities are losing a valuable resource: attorneys. The state bar association reports it’s a growing crisis as small town lawyers are retiring and few are willing to take their place. Some small town residents are struggling to get basic legal services they need to sell a house or draft a contract. Phil Garland, chair of the bar’s Rural Practices Committee, says they’re teaming up with the University of Iowa to place law students in rural areas this summer. “We’re also expanding it to really try to encourage a lot of us in small town Iowa to hire a clerk during the summer, to take a spin and really see what life is like in a small town,” Garland says.

Some Iowa towns currently have no resident attorneys, according to Garland. He says Adams County now has just two attorneys and several other rural counties have only three or four. The program is placing eight law students in small towns this summer with plans to add more students next year. Garland was a guest on Iowa Public Radio’s “River to River” program.

(Radio Iowa)

Authorities in Fremont County have issued an arrest warrant for a Missouri man, in connection with a bank robbery earlier this month, in Hamburg.

Nathan W. Smith (Bank robbery suspect)

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope says the warrant was issued for47-year-old Nathan Wayne Smith, of Lexington, MO.  An investigation by Aistrope’s office and the FBI determined Smith was the man behind the June 11th robbery of the Great Western Bank, in Hamburg.

Smith, a black male, was described as being in his early 20s, approximately 5-6, to 5-8, inches tall, and 175 pounds. Anyone with information as to the location of Nathan Wayne Smith, should call the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-432-9210, or the Omaha FBI office, at 1-402-493-8688.  The man is to be considered dangerous, and should not be approached by the public.

Authorities in Montgomery County arrested a Red Oak woman Friday evening on a charge of Tampering with a witness. Officials with the Red Oak Police Department say 58-year-old Michelle Dawn Ronfeldt was being held on $2,000 bond. Additional details about the incident which lead to her arrest, are currently not available.