The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting, beginning at 8:30-a.m, Friday. During their session in the Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse, the Board will act on approving:

A tax suspension for a parcel of land in Section 5 of Bear Grove Township; An Assignment of Tax Sale Certificate for an 11-foot wide section of land in lots 1 and 5, Meredith’s Addition, in Lewis; An Abatement of tax for properties owned by the City Atlantic at 611 Linn, 1200 Birch and 1106 Poplar Streets, and Atlantic Municipal Airport buildings and land in Washington Township.

The Supervisors will also hear regular reports from the Cass County Engineer and Mental Health/General Assistance Coordinator.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – Retiring Des Moines Police Chief Judy Bradshaw isn’t done working yet. The Iowa Law Enforcement Academy announced Thursday that Bradshaw will become the assistant director Oct. 6 after she ends a 34-year tenure with the Des Moines Police Department.

Bradshaw will replace Mike Quinn, who was fired in June after female cadets and workers complained that he behaved inappropriately. Some have alleged the academy has a hostile environment for women.
Academy Director Arlen Ciechanowski says Bradshaw “brings an incredible wealth of law enforcement knowledge” to the academy, which trains Iowa police officers, jailers and dispatchers.

The 55-year-old Bradshaw says she’s eager to “share what I’ve learned in my career with Iowa’s future law enforcement leaders.”

A business in Shelby County has donated a building to help create a new alternative high school program for AHST-W students. The Daily NonPareil reports VCM LCC, a subsidiary of Nishnabotna Valley REC of Harlan, donated a 10,000-square-foot building at 919 N. Chestnut St. to the school district last week, which will open its doors for a new program to help students at risk of not graduating earn their high-school diploma.

Superintendent Jesse Ulrich said that Thursday was the first day for the new Viking Excel program, which will serve 10 students in 10th through 12th grades with an additional five or so students anticipated by the end of the year.

The AHST Community School District serves the communities of Avoca, Hancock, Shelby and Tennant, as well as secondary students from the Walnut Community School District through whole-grade sharing. Ulrich said Walnut had sent alternative students to programs in Atlantic and Council Bluffs, but AHST had left them in the mainstream high school program.

Creating an alternative program moved to the top of the district’s to-do list after an evaluation of the AHST programs focused on addressing the number of dropouts. Ulrich said the at-risk students were not being given learning opportunities to meet their needs. The new program will blend online learning with support from a teacher and an administrative assistant for about half of the school day.

The district received the building for free after inquiring about purchasing it from VCM. AHST couldn’t afford the original price, but the company came back and offered the building, which has been vacant for about four years after being leased to a telemarketing firm with about 150 employees.
Records from the Pottawattamie County Assessor’s Office show the property’s assessed value at $275,600.

Ulrich said an appraisal is being completed before the deed is transferred, which may require a couple months to complete. AHST hopes to use the remaining space for economic development in Avoca, while continuing to make its facilities a regional hub for education.

The Audubon City Council will hold a special meeting tonight to approve a remediation plan set forth by the Iowa Public Information Board, in light of the Council’s violation of Open Meetings and Open Records Laws. During the 7-p.m. meeting, the Council is expected to read the agreement, and vote on approval. If approved, the agreement will be signed and returned to the IPIB and the Council will continue to implement the plan with regard to areas that may not already been addressed.

A copy of the remediation plan is available on the Audubon City Council’s website.

(a PDF copy of the plan can be found here: http://www.auduboncounty.com/webres/File/city-agendas-minutes/08-28-14/IPIB%20Remediation%20Plan.pdf )