I am writing this at about the time classes are starting again for the new school year. I think all of us can remember the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. I still remember it as a person who would be attending school, but my fondest memories are those of a parent when I knew school was about start. This brings me to my point: The beginning of new school year.

Pollen Count

Continuing its mission of education in the performing arts, the Donna Reed Foundation plans a series of weekend workshops to be held throughout the year. The first workshop will feature a former Denison native. It will be held Sept. 24 and 25.

The Ameristar Casino Advisory Committee offers local nonprofit groups the opportunity to be recognized and rewarded for their work in the community.

Blood donations through the local American Red Cross Blood Services Region have been declining this summer, and supplies are currently less than sufficient. All blood types are needed to ensure blood supplies do not drop to emergency levels.

Police suspect arson in a car fire reported Saturday at 12:46 a.m. at 102 S. Seventh St.

A robbery was reported Friday at 9:50 p.m. at 110 N. 35th St.

OMAHA – The Opera Omaha Guild will hold a class for metro area sixth-graders to teach dining, dancing and social amenities during the 26th Annual Opera Omaha Cotillion. The class is open to students in the Council Bluffs/Omaha region.

RED OAK – The State Historical Society of Iowa will partner with the Red Oak Historic Preservation Commission to hold the state’s annual historic preservation conference in Red Oak.

With only a few more hunters allowed to participate in this year’s deer bow hunting season, time is running out, Council Bluffs Public Health Director Donn Dierks said Wednesday.

Matt Campbell, Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 5th Congressional District, has agreed to debate incumbent Rep. Steve King in October in Sioux City.

RED OAK – Two southwest Iowa men were arrested Thursday on a litany of drug charges.

DES MOINES – A Council Bluffs woman was shocked to learn her Iowa’s $100,000 Cash Game ticket was a winner; she was even more shocked to learn just how much she’d won.

Boots is truly a “soft-pawed” cat – all of his claws have been surgically removed. He’s a 1- to 2-year-old shorthaired fellow that has already been neutered. Boots is all decked out in a shiny suit of basic black and white with a very distinctively marked face. He has a black face with a white tip on his nose, a white streak that runs up from the tip, a black triangle under his nose and a little white “bow” under the triangle. Boots has a white neck, chest and tummy with black legs and white feet. He needs to be an “only child” because he doesn’t get along with other cats or dogs, but he loves people.

SEWARD, Neb. – The Nebraska Archaeological Society invites the public to attend the sixth-annual Nebraska Artifact Show Saturday at the Seward County Fairgrounds in Seward, Neb.

A new doctor in town has a familiar face. Ann Narmi, M.D., daughter of Jon and Candy Narmi of Council Bluffs, is now an interventional cardiologist for Alegent Health. She practices with AHC Heart & Vascular Specialists at Alegent Health Mercy Hospital at 800 Mercy Drive; Bergan Mercy Medical Center, Immanuel Medical Center and Lakeside Hospital in Omaha; and Midlands Hospital in Papillion.

After more than two months of high water and disappointed boaters, Narrows River County Park on the Missouri River has opened its boat ramp.

Kristy Hansen has joined the Council Bluffs Community School District as the director of financial services, and on Tuesday she was sworn in as secretary-treasurer for the school board.

OMAHA – Two Iowa men were arrested on multiple charges after allegedly stealing a truck from an Omaha car lot.

Four Fremont County residents were arrested Monday on drug charges, culminating a three-month investigation by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.