A public hearing is set to take place Monday evening in Atlantic, with regard to the Proposed 2015-16 Atlantic School District’s calendar. The hearing begins at 7:30-p.m. in the Atlantic High School Media Center, as part of a School Board work session. During the hearing, patrons of the district may speak for or against the proposed Aug. 24th start date and related matters. Later in the work session, the Atlantic School Board will vote on approving the 2015-16 calendar and testing calendar.

In other business, the Board will act on approving the purchase of a heat pump for the high school, and hear from Gary Sinclair with PMA Financial Network, with regard to a Financial Planning Program for FY 2016 and beyond. They’ll also hear from the Building Leadership Team (BLT) from the Washington and Schuler Schools, and discuss the graduation/dropout rates.

A Red Oak man was arrested on Friday by Red Oak Police for Possession of a Controlled Substance Marijuana.  21-year-old Blake Mitchell Wilkinson was arrested at 9:00pm Friday and is being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on $1,000 cash bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Villisca teen after responding to a call for a male subject that had been stabbed.  Officers were called to 422 W 4th Street in Villisca at approximately 2:46am this morning (Saturday). After investigation officers arrested 16-year-old Ashley Nicole Fitzwater of Villisca on a charge of Aggravated Domestic Assault.  Fitzwater is being held on no bond at the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A year after the children of radio personality Casey Kasem had to seek court action to see their ailing father, a new Iowa law aims to ensure that adult children can see their sick parents — granting them visitation rights unless the person’s guardian goes to court to stop them.

Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill Friday. The law gives an adult with a legal guardian — someone who cannot manage their own affairs — the right to receive visits from family members and others they have previously expressed interest in seeing.

Sen. Rob Hogg said he started working on the issue after hearing from a constituent having difficulty visiting her brother. The legislation was backed by Kasem’s daughter, Kerri Kasem, who appeared on Iowa radio to advocate for it.

Protesters will have to keep a greater distance from grieving families at funerals under a bill signed Friday by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. The Omaha World-Herald reports the measure, House File 558, unanimously passed both houses of the Iowa Legislature. The bill came out of a court ruling that stemmed from protests Westboro Baptist Church staged in western Iowa, including one at the funeral of a fallen soldier in Red Oak.

The change from winter to springtime temperatures and recent rains have combined to create some dangerous conditions on many of Iowa’s rural gravel roads. Dusty Rolando, the engineer for Chickasaw and Floyd Counties, says road crews all over the state are dealing with the annual problem known as frost boils. They’re essentially defective spots in the roadway that develop from the swelling of frost.

“Those spots tend to show up in the springtime with the frost coming up,” Rolando says. “We’re trying to hit those with spot rock…but it’s not a crazy bad year.” Rolando says, at this time of year, it’s a good idea for motorists traveling on gravel roads to slow down.

“If you’re coming up on an area with a frost boil or something that’s pushing up in the middle of the road, you’ll want to make sure you bridge off to the side…typically there will be a lane that’s passable,” Rolando says. “I know a lot of people, at times, might come up on it fast and maybe can’t slow down enough or move over, but I would just be careful when you’re driving and look for those areas.”

Rolando also suggests drivers user alternate routes if possible to save wear and tear on both their vehicles and the gravel roads.

(Radio Iowa)