The Atlantic City Council unanimously approved a new School Bus Loading Zone ordinance, which takes effect immediately. Their action means parking is prohibited on the east side of Linn Street, from 8^th Street north 100-feet, from 7:45-a.m. to 3:15-p.m., for the purpose of loading buses when school is in session. The affected area is by the Ann Wickman Center in Atlantic. Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green and School Bus Superintendent Dave Eckles had requested the change for the safety of the children.

In other business, the Council Wednesday voted 6-to-1 against an expanded tobacco free policy,  that would have prohibited city employees from using tobacco during company paid time while on the job site, building, or contiguous city owned grounds. The policy also prohibited smoking in an employees’ own vehicle parked on city property. Councilman Shawn Shouse cast the only yes vote. A Tobacco Free Policy for City Hall was originally enacted in February of 2007. The expanded version would have also included a tobacco cessation program for City employees.

Police in Red Oak report a man wanted on several warrants was arrested Wednesday afternoon. 25-year-old Kyle Jacob Campbell was taken into custody on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County for a Parole Violation, and a Nodaway County, Missouri, Warrant for Driving While his License was suspended. Campbell was taken into custody without incident. He was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

A western Iowa lawman spoke late Wednesday afternoon at the Democratic National Convention, accusing Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan of proposing cuts in federal spending for “first responders.” Carroll County Deputy Sheriff Ken Myers got a burst of applause from convention delegates when he stated his support of President Obama. “Governor Romney has said it’s time for us to cut back on public employees like teachers, fire fighters and cops and that’s exactly what his plan would do. When the Republican governor of Ohio attacked the collective bargaining rights of police officers, Romney supported him,” Myers said, and some in the crowd booed.

Myers, who spoke for about three-and-a-half minutes, spent part of his speech talking about an incident last spring when he and other law enforcement officers were involved in an armed stand-off with a man inside a house. “First responders like me put our lives on the line,” he said, and the crowd applauded. “We’re proud to do it. It’s just the job we signed up for, to protect and serve, but we need a leader who’ll do the same for us and that leader is President Barack Obama.”

The Romney campaign shot back at Myers, saying neither Romney nor Ryan have proposed cutting federal spending on public safety by “nearly 20 percent” as Myers claimed in his speech. Romney’s campaign website makes no mention of local law enforcement, nor does it mention public sector unions for police and fire fighters. The Obama campaign has been arguing federal spending for things like grants to local law enforcement agencies would have to be reduced to meet Romney running mate Paul Ryan’s overall plan for reducing the federal budget.

(Radio Iowa)

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers says emergency 911 telephone service was restored to the Clarinda Public Safety Answering Point 911 Dispatch Center at approximately 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, after repairs were made to the fiber optics cable that had been severed disabling 911 service to the Clarinda Center. The service was disrupted for about 5 1/2 hours.  Brothers wants like to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation as officials worked through this outage. Citizens may immediately begin resuming dialing 911 for police, fire and medical emergency needs.

The Cass County Democratic Party has announced the opening of their Election Headquarters at 511 Chestnut in Atlantic. The Headquarters will be open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Saturday & Sunday from noon to 4 PM, and other times by appointment, through Election Day, November 6th. Democratic candidate buttons, yard signs, and bumper stickers are available as is voter information. The office also has voter registration and absentee ballot request forms for the voter’s use. The public is welcome to stop by and have a cup of coffee or just enjoy some political discussion. The date for a grand opening will be released at a later date.