The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors will hold a special meeting Thursday evening, at City Hall. During the 5:15-p.m. session, the Board will act on approving the bids, contract and plans for the Parks and Recreation Dept. office and Maintenance building, as presented by Snyder and Associates.

The total estimated project cost is $311,000, but during a Parks and Rec Board meeting in February, Director Roger Herring said the Building Committee had hoped to find a way to cut $80,000 from that price tag, by having a skeletal electrical system in the shop area, insulation modifications, plumbing and heating changes, through the use of temporary light fixtures, and gravel in the driveway. Engineering costs were also reduced, due to the changes in the latest design.

A contract for the project is expected to be awarded during the Atlantic City Council meeting on April 3rd.

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) – A former Madison County prosecutor has pleaded guilty to an assault charge and been sentenced.  The Des Moines Register reports that 55-year-old Anthony Blessum had made a deal with prosecutors, who lowered or dropped charges related to the beating of Blessum’s former girlfriend. The incident occurred on June 11 last year at Blessum’s home in Waukee.

At his sentencing on Tuesday, Blessum was given seven days in jail, a suspended sentence of a year, probation, and he was ordered to pay the woman nearly $7,000 in restitution.   Blessum was Madison County attorney from 1987 through 1997.

Three men from Nebraska were hurt after they were ejected from a stolen vehicle that was involved in a high-speed crash Monday afternoon, in Council Bluffs. According the Daily NonPareil, police were pursuing the 2006 Pontiac G6 a little after One-p.m., when it left the road near the Interstate 29 southbound split to I-80 westbound. Officers arriving on the scene found the men laying to the vehicle, which had been reported stolen from an Omaha car dealer.

Officials say 30-year old Jesse Byers, 41-year old Willie Gonzales and 25-year old Anthony Biggart, all of Omaha, were transported by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue to Creighton University Medical Center, for treatment of possible/unknown injuries.

Criminal Investigation Division Sgt. David Dawson confirmed the vehicle was stolen, but charges had not yet been filed in connection with the theft.

A report in the Daily NonPareil says police officers in Council Bluffs discovered human remains in a wooded area on the city’s southeast side, early Tuesday afternoon. Officers found the body of a man believed to be in his early 50’s, as they were chasing a shoplifting suspect near the Manawa Centre and Metro Crossing areas.

Authorities say the man was homeless. His skeletal remains were found in tent with it’s top blown-off. The tent was in a remote area popular among transients, near 35^th Avenue and the South Expressway. The man’s death was not considered suspicious.

Police were chasing a person who was suspected of shoplifting at Kohl’s in Council Bluffs. When the suspect ran into the woods an officer discovered the body. The suspect in shoplifting incident was not apprehended.

Authorities in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following a three-vehicle, chain-reaction accident Tuesday evening, in Red Oak. Officials say two vehicles were stopped at the intersection of North Broadway and West Cherry Streets, facing south at the stop light, when a third vehicle failed to stop in time. The 1999 Mercury Villager van driven by 29-year old Joshua Kenkel, of Shenandoah, rear-ended a 2008 Chevy Aveo, driven by 52-year old Debra Johnson, of Red Oak. Johnson’s vehicle was shoved forward into the rear of a 2010 Toyota Prius, driven by 61-year old Jerrold Lamb, of Essex. The collisions occurred at around 6:45-p.m.

Damage from the accident amounted to $2,100. No citations were issued at the time of the investigation.

A bid to let adults carry concealed weapons in Iowa schools was briefly discussed in the Iowa Senate Tuesday night. Republican Senator Mark Chelgren says the idea to arm teachers and principles is a natural response to the tragedy at a Connecticut elementary school. “I would expect, as I think I would do myself, to stand in front of those children, to protect them at all costs,” Chelgren said. “But I can tell you right now I also would expect the ability and the authorization to try to end that threat if at all possible.” Chelgren tried to attach his proposal to an education reform bill.

“I have no problem dying for the children of Iowa,” Chelgren said. “Neither do I think teachers or the employees of schools in this state do either, but I’d rather see that happen after the clip that they have is emptied into the bad guy.” A Democrat who makes decisions about what proposals may be voted upon during senate debate ruled Chelgren’s proposal was beyond the scope of the education reform bill.

(Radio Iowa)