The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, is expected to act on committing $31,000 toward the construction of  a trail around Lake #2 at the Schildberg Recreation Area. During their meeting two weeks ago, Dave Chase, with Nishna Valley Trails, asked the Council to consider $50,000 to help fund the Troublesome Creek Connector Trail Project, which would be a match to funds already raised by the trails group since December, and would connect the Lake # 2 trail to the Atlantic Municipal Utilities’ wellhead trail. No action was taken on the request at that time. Atlantic Parks & Rec Dept. Director Roger Herring requests the Council commit $31,000 or 20-percent of the cost of the Lake #2 project, which is expected to run $154,000 altogether.

In other business, the Council will hold a Public Hearing on the sale of Lot A, in the Southern Heights Subdivision 2nd Addition. A hearing on the matter was originally set for Feb. 4th, but it was tabled so that an appraisal of the property could be completed in the public’s interest and that the property is sold at Fair Market Value. An appraisal has been conducted, with the land being valued at $1,620. The hearing will allow the public to comment on the proposed sale. Following the hearing, the Council will act on a Resolution authorizing the sale of the property, which was originally given to the City by developer Don Sonntag, when the old plat called for a street to be located on the land. Since that time, the area had been replatted, and the street no longer exists. Iowa Code does not allow for a City to give the land to a private party for private purposes.

The Council will also act on setting March 4th as the date for a Public Hearing on the adoption of the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 Capital Improvement Plan. The improvements would be accomplished through the the sale of $1.58-million in General Obligation bonds. A resolution setting March 4th as the date for a public hearing on the issuance of bonds that will incur indebtedness on the part of the City and taxpayers, will also be acted upon by the Council, Wednesday, along with an order to adopt the proposed FY 2016 budget, and the setting of March 4th as the date for a public hearing on the budget, before final approval. As it stands, the budget amounts to just over $9-million (at $9,029,059.00).

Prior to adjournment for the evening, the Council will go into a closed session under Iowa Code, to discuss the job performance of  Interim City Administrator, John Lund.

The City Council’s meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., Wednesday, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Fire department officials in Sioux City say they’re investigating what started a small fire at a feed plant.  KTIV-TV reports someone called authorities early Tuesday and reported seeing smoke near the Hubbard Feeds, Inc. plant in Sioux City.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad Robinson says crews found a small, smoldering fire had broken out in the facility’s cooling tower down in the basement.  Robinson says the fire was extinguished and damage was confined to one cooling box of feed pellets.

A man from Shelby County was arrested early Saturday morning in Audubon County, on an OWI/2nd offense charge. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year old Jared Timm Schmidt, of Irwin, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. following a traffic stop in the 2500 block of Highway 71. Schmidt was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released after appearing before a magistrate.

The governor’s STEM Advisory Council will highlight the accomplishments of the effort this Thursday at the capitol building in Des Moines, but gave a preview at the governor’s news conference Monday. The focus on STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, began in 2011 and advisory council co-chair, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, says the Scale-Up programs have been key. “Getting those high-quality programs in the hands of students, and these 10 outstanding STEM programs, I am happy to say are reaching over 117-thousand students in the State of Iowa,” according to Reynolds.

The legislature appropriated five-point-two million dollars for STEM programs in 2014-2015, and that is supplemented with support from other sources. “Scale Up programs I am happy to say are in more than 90-percent of the 338 school districts across the state of Iowa, as well as many non-public schools and out-of-school settings,” Reynolds says. ” And our goal is to be in 100-percent of the districts, and we hope to do that relatively soon.” The executive director of the STEM Advisory Council, Jeff Weld, is also an associate biology professor at the University of Northern Iowa.

“We’ve been at this for three-and-a-half years and I think we’re beginning to see the impact of our affect. We have a wonderful uptick in the number post-secondary community college and four-year college majors in the STEM fields that we are seeing lately,” Weld says. “We’re seeing wonderful evidence of public support and awareness of the STEM cause for our state. We are seeing an encouraging rise in the number of teachers earning math and science teaching endorsements.” STEM information shows a 13-percent increase in the number of teachers in Iowa with one teaching endorsement in science or math.

“Last year the Board of Educational examiners approved a new STEM endorsement. So, unlike your and my school experiences where we took math and we took science, kids of our not-to-distant future will be able to take STEM classes by teachers trained and prepared to teach interdisciplinary active, community-based, problem-solving approaches to learning,” Weld says. Displays touting the work of the STEM Council will be set up in the capitol rotunda Thursday.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad says he’s not ready to take a stand on raising the speed limit to 75 miles-an-hour on rural interstate highways. “I want to look at the impact that would have on public safety and fatalities on our roads,” Branstad says. Seven Republican Senators have introduced a bill that would raise the limit on some stretches of roadway above the current 70 miles-an-hour maximum. “I know a number of western states have done that, but I would want to get more information before making a decision on that,” Governor Branstad says.

The Republican governor also says he is waiting to see any final legislation before determining if he would sign off on reducing the penalties for possession of marijuana. A bill to reduce the sentences of first-time offenders for possessing trace amounts of marijuana is working its way through the Senate and supporters say it would help address racial disparities in Iowa’s prison system.

Branstad, a Republican, says he wants to see the final legislation, and says it’s one part of the effort to deal with the racial disparity issue. “We have been working with the African-American community to address the concern about the disproportionate number of African-Americans who are in the corrections system,” Branstad says. “I think our parole board has made great progress also in reducing the disparity and we have been able to increase paroles at the same time reduce recidivism. So, I am really encouraged about the collaboration between the parole board and corrections in addressing this issue.” Branstad made his comments at his weekly meeting with reporters.

(Radio Iowa)