(Atlantic, Iowa) – During a meeting of the Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening, City Administrator John Lund wanted to get an idea of what the Council thinks about renewing the City’s agreement with “The Retail Coach,” as the contract is set to expire. Renewing the contract for a second year, would cost $20,000.

The $20,000 price tag that comes with the renewal, was the result of conversations between Councilman Gerald Brink and The Retail Coach Project Director Austin Farmer, who is working with  the Chamber and the City as a consultant to conduct market research and development to further high-impact retail recruitment and development strategies. Last year, the first-year of the program, cost $30,000.

Brink said Farmer told him that it “normally takes two-years to see some success.” He said the main issue the City faces right now, is a lack of location for certain business.

Councilman Pat McCurdy said “The Retail Coach’” price tag could easily be offset by the introduction of a new employer.

John Lund says “very concrete and specific things are being discussed and worked-on,” and, while he’s not at liberty to say what client or clients may be inclined to locate their business in Atlantic, he doesn’t feel the City is being “Strung along,” just to get more money from “The Retail Coach.”

Lund says value of “The Retail Coach” comes from an extensive collection of data that the City would pay much more for if it was gathered by other means.

There was no formal action on renewing the agreement Wednesday. Instead, renewal of the contract will take place by a vote at a near future Council meeting, and then signed by Mayor Grace Garrett.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is starting to get in shipments of the latest COVID-19 booster shots, and the experts say we should consult with our doctors on the best timing to get vaccinated. The new m-R-N-A booster doses from Moderna and Pfizer are bi-valent, meaning, they protect against two strains of coronavirus. Federal guidance recommends those 12 and older get the shot at least two months after their last dose. Leah Veach, an infectious disease specialist with UnityPoint, says some people may want to wait a little longer between shots if they’ve recently had another booster or a COVID infection. “If you’re right at that two-month point, I surely would have no problem with waiting an additional month or two beyond that,” Veach says, “but I would not wait until say January or February to assess the situation.”

Veach says not to panic and think you need to get in right away for the booster. “Sometimes people hear that two-month interval and think, ‘Oh my goodness, I need to get it right at two months,'” Veach says. “It’s just important to realize that that’s a minimum and that it’s absolutely fine and maybe slightly beneficial to wait a bit longer than that.”

Federal figures show 63-percent of all Iowans have received their initial vaccinations against the virus, but only slightly more than half of this group has received their first booster dose.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa; reporting by the Atlantic FFA’s Charli Goff) – The Atlantic FFA Chapter competed in the Iowa FFA Livestock Career Development Event held at Iowa State University on August 27, 2022 placing 15th and earning a Gold medal. Team members included Brett Dreager, Dylan Comes, Joaquin Walies and McKenna Sonntag as they competed against 47 other teams during the contest. Sophomore McKenna Sonntag led the way with earning 4th place individual. McKenna placed 3rd in Beef, 2nd in the Swine division, 3rd in the Sheep & division and 6th in Oral Reasons. Dylan was 2nd on the team placing 69th, Joaquin placed 121st and Brett placed 129th out of 159 individuals.

The FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event provides an opportunity for FFA members to display their agricultural knowledge and skills in the area of Livestock Evaluation. Activities included: placing breeding and market classes of beef, swine, sheep and goats; keep/cull and oral reasons classes; and a general knowledge test.

Left to right
Brett Dreager, Dylan Comes, Joaquin Wailes, Mckenna Sonntag (Photo submitted) Click to enlarge

There were 159 members participating from 47 chapters. Dylan Comes said “It was really fun to spend the day at ISU. The classes were challenging, and touched most aspects of livestock, and I learned a lot.”

The Iowa FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event was made possible with support from the Iowa State University Block and Bridle Club through the Iowa FFA Foundation. The Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event was coordinated and conducted by Will Taylor and other faculty and staff with the Animal Science Department at Iowa State University.

(Radio Iowa) – The suspect in a burglary at a hardware store in Storm Lake has been linked to similar burglaries elsewhere in Iowa and surrounding states. On January 28th, Storm Lake Police discovered around 28-hundred dollars worth of merchandise was missing from Ace Hardware. Similar burglaries and thefts had reportedly occurred around the area. Storm Lake Police eventually obtained a search warrant for a Rock Rapids residence, which was executed on June 15th.

Approximately 14-thousand dollars worth of various tools were located that were allegedly stolen from theft incidents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. 45-year-old Adam Nelson of Sioux City was taken into custody by Lyon County Deputies on drug-related charges, as well as two Sioux County warrants.

Storm Lake Police have filed multiple felony charges against Nelson. He was originally held at the Lyon County Jail pending extradition to Buena Vista County.

Police in Creston (Iowa) report the arrest Wednesday afternoon, of a 74-year-old man, for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Hyvis Oerlyn Thatcher, of Creston, was transported from his home to the Union County Jail, where he posted a $300 bond, and was released.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A woman whose vehicle struck and killed a Des Moines East High student and then left the scene, was ordered to serve two years of probation. A Judge, Wednesday, also ordered 38-year-old Terra Jean Flipping to pay a $1,025 associated with the death on April 28th, of 14-year-old Ema Cardenas. Flipping was facing five-years in prison for leaving the scene of a deadly accident. Cardenas was hit near the intersection of East University Avenue and Sampson Street, while she was walking home from school.

Des Moines Police have said Flipping had no way to avoid hitting Cardenas. They said also, that had she not fled the scene, she likely would not faced any charges. Flipping’s father previously told KCCI-TV in Des Moines, that his daughter didn’t stop because people in the area started harassing her. Ana Campos, Ema Cardenas’ mother, said she has grocery store video that shows that claim was untrue, and she plans to release it, soon.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A District Court Judge in Polk County, Wednesday, tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Kirkwood Institute against State Auditor Rob Sand, Chief of Staff John McCormally, and the Auditor’s Office. Sand was accused of violating open records laws and using his office for political gain. The Kirkwood Institute had claimed Sand refused to hand over documents about the office’s communications with a reporter and liberal blogger after Sand accused Gov. Kim Reynolds of improperly appearing in a COVID-19 public service announcement. The Court concluded “the emails were properly maintained as confidential and withheld,” and therefore granted summary judgment in favor of Auditor Sand and the rest of the Auditor’s Office.

In response to the ruling, Sand said “We are committed to transparency, but also to protecting whistleblowers who help us uncover waste, fraud, and corruption. We’ve had everyone from right-wing media outlets to the Democratic National Committee ask for records that could possibly identify tipsters. Our answer is the same every time: we must deny requests that would chip away at our ability to protect whistleblowers and save taxpayers money. Iowans can trust the State Auditor’s Office.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who hope to get their student loan forgiven need to be wary of people and organizations offering to process their claim. Consumer protection advocate Michelle Reinen says con artists have quickly jumped on the Biden Administration’s loan forgiveness plan and they’re using it as bait. “Anyone claiming that they require an upfront fee or charge to assist you, that’s going to be a red flag,” Reinen says. “That individual isn’t associated with the programs and is likely a scammer.” Reinen says you should always be wary of links you receive in unsolicited email.

“If you get an email that claims to look like it’s coming from your borrower and they ask you to click a link, to do an update, or verify your information, know that scammers impersonate these borrowers and lenders all the time.” If you’re wanting to check in with your lender about having the loan forgiven, go directly to the source.

“Go to your normal method of logging in, or making contact by phone with your borrower to use that information,” she says, “rather than just clicking a link from a random email.” Under the federal plan, single borrowers who earn less than $125,000 per year, or households earning less than $250,000, are eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Borrowers who fall under the income caps and received Pell Grants in college will receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness. Contact your lender directly for full details.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman was arrested Wednesday on a valid Montgomery County warrant for OWI/2nd offense. Red Oak Police report 58-year-old Rhonda Joann Sperber, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 3:30-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain, Wednesday, reported a strong first quarter in a report to investors. President and CEO, Darren Rebelez, says total revenue was up across the board as the pandemic recovery continues. “Sales volumes and margins improved dramatically as guest traffic began to rebound, driving an all-time high gross profit dollar quarter for the company,” he says. Casey’s gross profit was nearly $724 million dollars in the first quarter — a record and an increase of more than $100 million from the prior year.

Rebelez says the increased traffic help increase sales. “Grab-and-go items such as pizza slices, packaged beverages, and snacks are up significantly throughout the quarter as guest traffic improved. Same-store grocery in general merchandise sales were up seven percent, and the average margin was 33 percent, compared to 32-point-two percent for the same period a year ago,” Rebelez says. Sales of their pizza slices were up close to 29% in the quarter. Fuel gallons sold were up 9% with the fuel margin of 35.1 cents per gallon. 

Breakfast sales were a key area where the company saw a bounce back. “With respect to the breakfast business, we are not all the way back to where we expect to be. I think we’re going to learn a lot here in the next several weeks post-Labor Day with school fully back in session, people going back to work or not depending on the Delta variant,” Rebelez.

He says supply chain issues and inflation continue to a problem. “We’ve experienced our own challenges with a supply chain because manufacturers are struggling to produce products. But the fact that we control the supply chain has given us a lot of flexibility,” Rebelez says. I’ll give you n example, we’ve had some suppliers that can’t get the product to us because of driver shortages. We have our own fleet of drivers and trucks — so we can send a tractor to a manufacturer, pick up a trailer and get it back to our distribution centers to distribute product.”

He says the supply chain problems don’t appear to be getting better. “It’s a new challenge every day that we hear from certain suppliers,” according to Rebelez. “And it’s and on their end. It’s anywhere from labor shortages to driver shortages. And sometimes in some cases, it’s raw material shortages that have occurred. So it’s across the board.” The company completed the acquisition of the Buchanan Energy and Circle K stores in the quarter.