Voters in the Lewis Central and Council Bluffs Community School District’s, Tuesday, approved tax levies for both districts. The Omaha World-Herald reports 67-percent of the voters who cast ballots in the Council Bluffs Community School District, approved a change in the Instructional Support Levy (ISL) from the current 2.17-percent, to 10-percent. The levy will remain in-place through 2016. The increase in the levy is expected to generate an additional $2.9-million in property tax revenue for instructional and classroom support, only.

Voters in the Lewis Central Community School District approved the renewal of a 10-year Physical Plant and Equipment (PPEL – or, “Peppel”) Levy, which will remain at 50-cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation. The levy is typically used for building repairs, transportation and technology needs. School officials say they plan to use the levy funds for several planned projects, including heating and air conditioning work, pool deck and track replacements, new buses, and technology.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities are crediting a federal DNA database for nabbing a Nebraska sex offender in a 10-year-old Iowa sexual assault case.   The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports that Mark Sands, a registered sex offender from Omaha, Neb., pleaded guilty to third-degree kidnapping and third-degree sexual assault before his trial in Pottawattamie County was set to begin Tuesday. He had been charged with first- and second-degree kidnapping, burglary, sexual abuse and three assault charges for a 2001 home invasion in which a Council Bluffs mother was raped and beaten and her 16-year-old disabled daughter tied up.  Sands was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison.  The 51-year-old Sands was arrested last year after police said the national DNA database identified him as the man who raped the woman in October 2001.

The most recent state records show 369 Iowans took their own lives in 2010. Mark Vander Linden, with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), says the suicide rate among Iowa’s young population is of particular concern. “Iowa’s 14th in the nation for suicide rates among teens and young adults aged 15 to 24 years old. For those who are 15 to 19, it’s the second leading cause of death (in Iowa),” Vander Linden said. This week is National Suicide Prevention Week.

There are several risk factors and warning signs for parents, friends and other to watch for to prevent a loved one from taking their own life. “The most common sign would be making a suicide a plan and the more specific the plan, the higher the risk…statements from somebody about feeling hopeless or what it would be like when they’re gone,” Vander Linden said. Most people who commit suicide have talked about it or given definite warning signs, according to Vander Linden.

This past April, a northwest Iowa teenager who openly admitted to being gay killed himself. His family said he was being bullied on-line and at school.  “Youth who are bullied are definitely at a higher risk,” Vander Linden said. “There’s a recent study by Yale University that found victims of bullying are two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.” Governor Branstad has scheduled a “Bullying Prevention Summit” to be held in Des Moines on November 27th.

(Radio Iowa)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Villisca teen was arrested Tuesday afternoon, on an assault charge. 13-year old Wyatt Dean Baldwin was taken into custody at around 3:30-p.m., on a charge of Simple Assault, in connection with an incident which allegedly occurred on Villisca Community School District property, Tuesday. Baldwin was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, processed, and then released to the custody of a parent.

The Sheriff’s Department reports also, Jeremy Joel Binns was arrested Tuesday night, on two warrants charging him with violation of his probation. Binns was taken into custody without incident at around 8:10-p.m., at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center.

While other school districts have seen a decline in student enrollment over the years, the classes continue to grow in the Atlantic Community School District. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein to the Board of Education during their meeting Tuesday night at the High School, that as of Tuesday, the District has 1, 484 students, which is an increase of 59 students from what was certified last year at this same time. Amstein said if those numbers continue to hold, it wouldn’t surprise him if they have somewhere between 60 and 70 new students by the time the District actually certifies its numbers to the State at the beginning of next month. Amstein says for rural southwest Iowa, those types of numbers “Are basically unheard of,” and he’s “very pleased,” but he acknowledged it does “create problems,” as far as classroom space is concerned.

The subject of classroom space came up during discussion about the District’s Capital Needs 5-year Plan, at the end of the night’s meeting. Amstein said his priorities in their five-year plan include additional classroom space , and an overhaul of the Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) system at the high school, which are nearly the end of their expected life span. The plan tentatively includes additional classroom space at the high school for the 2014-2015 school year, which is expected to cost around $1-million. Matt Alexander, Schuler Principal and Curriculum Director, said if the enrollment numbers Principal Stacey Hornung is seeing in the Washington Elementary school continues to grow, he’ll need an additional six-to nine-classrooms in his facility by 2015. That means the district could be expanding its use of “Mobile classrooms,” but leads to the question of where those classrooms would be located. One factor that will help the District with its funding for those projects, is an expected increase in the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax funds, which Amstein said will likely grow based on projections, and generate an additional $50- to $60,000 in revenue.

Kristy Pellett (left) is sworn-in as Atlantic Board of Ed. President for 2012-2013, by Board Secretary Mary Beth Fast, Tuesday night. (Ric Hanson photo)

In other business, the Atlantic School Board Tuesday, re-elected Kristy Pellett as Board President, and Dennis Davis as Vice-President, for the 2012-2013 school year. They also voted to approve Mary Beth Fast as Board Secretary, and Melinda McDermott as Treasurer. And, the Board opted to return to their Monday night at 7:30 twice monthly meetings, effective in October, instead of holding those meetings on Tuesday’s, at 7:30-p.m.