OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A 29-year-old Iowa man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Omaha after making a deal with prosecutors.    Online court records say Justin Reinders, of Persia, Iowa, made the plea Tuesday in Douglas County, NE.,  District Court. He’d been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Milton Jackson.  Police say Reinders shot Jackson, of Omaha, on Jan. 6th, 2011,  at a lubrication business on the city’s west side.  Reinders also pleaded guilty to a felony firearms charge.  Reinders faces 25 or more years in prison when he’s sentenced on April 4th. The other murder charge carries either the death penalty or mandatory life in prison.

Some users of the popular social networking website Facebook are being told the new Timeline format will become mandatory in another week. While some of us are hesitant to depart from our familiar profile page, central Iowa social media expert Drew McLellan has already made the leap and says it was a simple, step-by-step process. “The one thing you do need to think about is one of the main features on the Timeline,” McLellan says. “That cover photo, that long horizontal photo becomes the header to your Facebook page. You’re going to want to think about what photo you want to have and have that ready to upload.” The new Timeline feature re-arranges items on the page and orders posts, pictures and everything else based on reverse chronological order. Most recent items are at the top with the ability to scroll all the way back to the year a person was born.

“There are parts of it I do like,” McLellan says. “I like the layout of it, but I’m not so sure that I’m going to spend a lot of time on my friends’ profile pages, flipping back to their birth years and all of that sort of stuff.” While it may take some Iowans a little time to get the hang of the new format, McLellan says it’s a masterful way for Facebook to give itself staying power, especially for younger users. “Imagine a kid is 14 or 15 and they just opened a Facebook page,” McLellan says. “Fast forward ten years. Literally, their entire life is going to be chronicled and easy to find on Facebook. It really does become almost like a scrapbook of your life.” The website claims to have 700-million members globally and McLellan says he doesn’t see anything else on the horizon that could challenge Facebook — though he admits, something new could come out tomorrow.

“For a lot of people, Facebook has become ‘the’ place that they have the widest connection of old friends and new friends and work friends and college friends,” McLellan says. “It’s hard to imagine unraveling that and starting all over again somewhere else, but in the social media world, you never say never.” Iowans need to get used to the Timeline structure of Facebook, as it will be forced upon all users within another few weeks, some sooner than others. Privacy settings sometimes get jumbled with this sort of major shift in the program, so he recommends taking a close look at all of your settings, and for parents, especially those of your child’s page.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday) approved the appointment of Kristy Pellett, of Atlantic, as Clerk for the Pymosa Township, effective immediately. The position of Trustee for the Township has yet to be filled, however. The Board also approved the immediate appointment of LuAnne Beth Steffens, of Griswold, to the County Conservation Board.  Supervisor Chuck Rieken said Steffens’ appointment will help the County in its mandated efforts at Gender Balancing the various County Boards.

In other business, the Supervisors heard a report from County Veterans Affairs Commissioner Mitch Holmes, who said the number of claims filed for assistance in the 2^nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011-2012 were down slightly less than 30 from the previous quarter, primarily due to the reduced number of applications for energy assistance, thanks to the warmer weather we’ve been experiencing. Holmes said there’s a positive sign for veterans who might be looking for work. He says his office has been receiving calls from local employers looking to hire veterans, and while he’s helped to put some vets in contact with those employers, he doesn’t know what the results of any interviews were. 

And, Joel Dirks, with West Central Community Action (WCCA) provided his agency’s Annual Report. The organization serves to administer several programs in the County as alternatives to General Relief, including Head Start, Child Care Resource and Referral, the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program, and Emergency Food and Shelter (EFS) Programs. Dirks says WCCA provided a little more than $2-million in services to residents of the County last year. They worked with 750 households, made up to a little more than 1,700 individuals. Many of those persons include Single parent/female heads of households, and single-person households, which is attributed in-part to LiHeap – the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. 

59-percent of those households had an income below 100-percent of the poverty guideline. 32-percent have a household income between 101- and 150% of the poverty guideline. The annual federal poverty guideline (100%) during the reporting period for a family of four, was $22,350. Dirks said 22% of their individual clients in Cass County have no health insurance, and 20% are disabled. Last year, the Supervisors appropriated $3,000 to WCCA. When Dirks asked for the same amount from them for the upcoming fiscal year, his request was unanimously  approved by the Board.

Here’s a reminder from “The Station Where Your Friends Are”: A celebration will take place this afternoon at the CAM High School in Anita, to honor the former staff, teachers, board members and students of CAM North Elementary School, which received a 2011 “Blue Ribbon School” award in Mid-September. CAM North was formally known as the Anita Elementary School. The celebration along with a recognition ceremony and speech from a returning Anita High School alumna, will take place at 1-p.m., at the high school.

A reception and open house will continue at the elementary building after the ceremony, until 4-p.m. (Students will be dismissed at 2:30-p.m.) Invitations were sent to former staff and board members from recent years at the school, but all former teachers, staff and board members are welcome to attend.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and non-public elementary, middle, and high schools where students achieve at very high levels and/or where the achievement gap is narrowing. The Program sets a standard of excellence for all schools striving for the highest level of achievement.