OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha will again host an open house and air show this summer.  The event will return July 19 and 20 after a break last summer caused by budget problems amid spending negotiations in Congress.  The air show will include performances by the Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration team. It will be the team’s first visit to Offutt since 2009.

More information on the plans will be posted on a website when they’re available at www.offuttairshow.com

The Atlantic School Board will decide during a Special meeting tonight at 8 o’clock in the High School Media Center, which of the two school expansion concepts will be voted on by School District Patrons. The board has previously discussed Concepts 1 and 2, after school administrators provided their input on how the grade levels might fall into place and where those classrooms might be within the building with each one of those concepts.

Concept 1 includes: moving the Pre-K back to Washington Elementary and adding two Pre-K classrooms, one special education classroom and a new dining facility. This option also includes a new media center at Schuler, additional toilets, and eight new classrooms. The expansion would also include a new dining facility at the Middle School and three to eight additional classrooms at the high school along with an expanded art room. The price tag on this option is around $8.7 million.

Concept 2 is a little more dramatic. It includes: two Pre-K Classrooms, one Special Education Classroom and a new dining facility at Washington. There are two options at Schuler with this plan, an additional Special Education Classroom, or an additional art room and music center or three to eight additional classrooms at the high school. This plan would also include the construction of a brand new 80,000 square foot Middle School attached to the high school and a brand new competition Gymnasium. The cost of this project would be around $20 million.

The Design Alliance Architectural firm originally drafted five concepts. Following a public meeting and discussions with the personnel and staff, they narrowed it down to the two options.

A reminder to persons interested in the Mental Health and Disability Services, that the second of three public meetings with regard to the Regionalization of those services, will be held this afternoon, in Oakland. Counties formed Regions in response to State law affecting funding for the Mental Health and Disabilities Services in Iowa.

The Southwest Region includes nine counties (Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawatttamie and Shelby). Local advisory and Community input meetings have been scheduled to take place across the Southwest Region. Cass County Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator Teresa Kanning said the next meeting will be held this afternoon, at the Oakland Community Center [614 Dr. Van Zee Road, in Oakland]).

The meeting begins at 3-pm and runs until 5-p.m. In the event of a bad weather, it will be held January 7^th at the same location. The public is invited to attend the session to provide input into the current mental health service system, including what you feel works and doesn’t work. It’s also designed to: develop ideas for future service needs, including Crisis Response in rural areas; Build relationships and interest in participating in Local Advisory Councils, and to provide an overview of the developing region’s progress, administrative structure, future board and advisory structure, and current service systems.

Anyone who is a consumer of mental health services, family members of those using mental health and disability services, community mental health/developmentally disabled service providers and those interested in being a part of forming the Southwest Iowa MH/DS Region, is urged to attend. The meeting is being facilitated by Beth Morrissette, Executive Director of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Network.

If you miss today’s meeting in Oakland, there will be a final session in Harrison County, January 21^st,  at the Dunlap City Hall.