Governor Terry Branstad says the state will look to other facilities to provide care if his proposal to close the state-run Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant moves forward. The governor’s budget sent to legislators does not include any money to keep the institutions open past June 30.  “We had two mental health centers that were not accredited, we have no psychiatrist in Mt. Pleasant, the one in Clarinda is going to retire. So, we wanted to provide better services, and also we are going to work with the University of Iowa Hospitals. The governor says they want to use facilities that have the proper staffing to help patients.

“We think we can provide better services to people with mental health issues with making this transition and not continuing those facilities where they’re not accredited and where we don’t have psychiatrists,” according to Branstad. The idea is not favored by everyone, including Representative Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant. Heaton is chairman of the subcommittee that writes the budget for the Iowa Department of Human Services, the agency in charge of the Mental Health Institutes, and he’s arranged for the agency’s director to go to Mount Pleasant Saturday (January 24th) to explain the proposed closure to the community.

Five years ago a consulting firm hired by then-Governor Chet Culver recommended that the Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant close, but Heaton and others worked to keep the institutions open. The Mental Health Institutes are routinely the treatment option of last resort for acute care of mentally ill patients. The governor’s budget indicates the state will save 15-and-a-half million dollars by closing the two facilities. The M-H-I at Clarinda opened in 1888 while the Mount Pleasant facility opened the year the Civil War broke out, in 1861.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Education says school districts seeking permission to start classes earlier in the summer must prove that academic achievement is at risk. The Des Moines Register reported Wednesday the department sent the new guidelines to school districts. The guidelines say districts must show students would be affected in a “negative and significant manner” if classes start during the week of Sept. 1. Districts must provide research backing up the claim.

Last month, department Director Brad Buck told districts the state would stop granting automatic waivers to school districts seeking to start classes earlier in the summer. State law requires districts to start school no earlier than the calendar week including Sept. 1 but in the past, most have obtained waivers allowing them to begin classes earlier.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in the Republican-majority Iowa House have granted committee-level approval to a small funding increase for schools, but leaders in the Democratic-controlled Senate say they want to provide more dollars. The House education committee Wednesday approved an increase in schools funding for the upcoming academic year. The legislation is based on Gov. Terry Branstad’s budget proposal. It would provide an increase of about $35 million in general support for K-12 public schools.

In all, Branstad’s budget provides about $100 million in new schools funding, much of that earmarked for specific programs. Rep. Ron Jorgensen, a Sioux City Republican who chairs the House education committee, said this was what the state could afford.

But Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames who chairs the Senate education committee, called the proposal “inadequate.”

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday approved the site plans for development of the Southern Heights View Condominiums at 1700 East 22nd Street.  The site plan had previously been approved by the Planning Commission and Personnel and Finance Committee, who also approved for recommendation to the full Council, a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal.

Local developer Don Sonntag has asked the City for a $360,000 TIF to help the project move forward. He expects it to be complete in three-years or so. The project includes 28 condo units, with some available for rent. Sonntag estimated it would add $3.4-to 4-million in valuation to the City’s tax roll. (Southern View Site Plans Color)

In action related to Wednesday’s site plan approval, the Atlantic City Council set Feb. 4th at the date for a Public Hearing on the conveyance of the Lot A of the Southern Heights Subdivision, Second Addition.

In other business, the Council passed a resolution committing $190-thousand in matching funds for as part of an internal loan for the Atlantic Airport Corporate Hangar project.  The funds will serve to fill a grant requirement for the estimated $422,700 cost of the project, which includes the demolition of the existing block hangar, asbestos mitigation, completion of a $345,000, 75-by-85 foot hangar and engineering services. The Airport Commission has already secured $150,000 in the form of an Iowa DOT General Aviation Infrastructure grant, plus they have $32,700 in cash on-hand. That leaves them with a shortfall of $240,000.

The Commission has proposed to lease the completed hangar to two prospective clients for a period of eight years, with the option to renew, plus $25,000 down, each. The clients would pay $1,000 each per month to have their corporate jets stored, which would generate $192,000 over the life of the lease. The Commission would repay the City $2,000 per month for a term not to exceed 8-years, from the proceeds of the hangar lease.

An Oakland man convicted in the April 2014 shooting death of 64-year-old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. KETV in Omaha reports the sentences was handed down Wednesday afternoon in Pottawattamie County District Court.

Late last year, a jury of three men and nine women found Reynolds guilty of first-degree murder after just three-hours of deliberations. Reynolds shot Kinkade-Dorsey following an evening of drinking with family and friends.

Reynolds reportedly stared emotionless at a corner of the room as members of the victim’s family read impact statements in court.

Two people were arrested on drug charges last week, in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday (Today), 23-year old Nicholas Dean Anderson, of Atlantic, was arrested Jan. 15th on charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Anderson was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on $1,000 bond.

And on January 13th deputies arrested 33-year old Jacob Allen Cochran, of Red Oak, and 26-year old Jodi Lynn Brookshire, of Atlantic. Cochran was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Brookshire was charged with Driving While Barred. Both were taken to the Cass County Jail where they were released the following day on their own recognizances.

That same day, deputies in Cass County arrested 35-year old Joshua James Mullen, of Atlantic, on a District Court warrant for Violation of Probation. Mullen was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $20,000 bond. And on January 14th, 41-year old Jeremy Eugene Jameson, of Anita, turned himself in to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office on a Pottawattamie County warrant. He was  transferred to Pottawattamie County authorities later that day.