The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will meet this (Tuesday) evening, at the High School. During their 7:30-p.m. session in the Media Room, the Board will hear a progress report from Design Alliance Architect representative Jerry Purdy,  on the Atlantic Middle School renovation, along with construction on the former Clarinda Company Building and the temporary classrooms being put up at Washington Elementary.

Maintenance Director Russell Peck will report on Summer Improvements to the district’s facilities, and the school Principal’s will provide their status reports. In other business, the Board of Education will act on approving: amended contracts and/or Letters of Assignment; Volunteer coaching positions, and, resignations.

They’re also expected to approve a 28-E agreement with the Cass County Memorial Hospital Therapeutic School, hold the second reading of an Overtime Policy, and approve a bid for the repair of the Middle School roof.

The Board will end their meeting with discussion, on a request from the Atlantic Municipal Utilities.

A new federal report finds Americans are walking more and those who walk are healthier. The C-D-C report singles out the I-WALK program in Iowa for helping promote physical fitness. I-WALK stands for Iowans Walking Assessment Logistics Kit. Sarah Taylor-Watts, the physical activity coordinator for the Iowa Department of Public Health, says I-WALK maps safe walking routes to school for children and routes for adults, too.  “Children have to get to school regardless so it’s finding a way to incorporate walking and biking into their day,” Taylor-Watts says. “Instead of kids being driven to school, it’s an opportunity for them to walk to school which adds minutes of physical activity to their day without really taking too much time out of their day.”

The report also found there’s still plenty of work to do, as fewer than half of American adults and only 45-percent of Iowa adults reach the recommended guideline of 30 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week. Some programs that promote walking involve the use of pedometers, counting one’s steps throughout the day or measuring the distance they’ve walked. “We don’t keep track of anything like that,” Taylor-Watts says. “I-WALK is primarily just about improving the environment so kids can walk or bike to school and providing those non-infrastructure things so maybe helping the school starting a walking school bus or something like that.”

She explains the concept of a walking school bus:  “It’s like a traditional school bus but instead of a group of kids riding a bus, they walk together like on a bus and an adult usually leads the group,” Taylor-Watts says. “Maybe it’s a parent volunteer or a teacher or some schools, like the high school honor class, will lead the group.” The I-WALK program is already being used in the following 16 Iowa communities: Cedar Falls, Dallas Center, Washington, Wellman, DeSoto, West Des Moines, Tabor, Hull, Spencer, Kalona, Riceville, Atlantic, Vinton, Independence, West Union and Fort Madison. Another 12 communities will be added to the list this fall. Learn more at: “www.i-walk.org”

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department reported Monday, numerous individuals were arrested over the weekend. On Sunday, 21-year old Michelle Jackson, of Des Moines, was arrested for Driving While Barred. On Saturday, officers arrested the following persons: 22-year old John Thompson, of Atlantic, for Public Intoxication and, on a Buena Vista County warrant for Failure to Appear on an OWI charge; 27-year old Frazer Werts, of Atlantic, arrested for Public Intoxication; 44-year old Roger Brubaker, of Clarinda, on 4 counts of Harassment in the 3rd degree; and, 37-year old Allen Walker, of Atlantic, was arrested Saturday for Driving While Barred.

And, there were two arrests on Friday, in Atlantic: 21-year old Scott Downer, of Norfolk, VA, who was taken into custody for Criminal Trespass, and, 22-year old Tyler Mills, of Atlantic, for Driving Under Suspension. Each of those individuals were booked into the Cass County Jail and held, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Two Villisca men were arrested Monday on Assault charges. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 33-year old Jamie Ryan Straw, was taken into custody at around 10:50-p.m., and 38-year old Eric Michael Huffstutlear was arrested at around 8:40-p.m. Both face charges of Domestic Assault. The men were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on full bond.

Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds opened their weekly news conference Monday speaking to reporters in a conference room via Skype from the governor’s office. “As kids start picking up their school supplies, packing their backpacks, boarding the bus, we’re announcing a new initiative called Skype your School, and hope that classrooms across the state will take part in this initiative,” Branstad said. Schools that sign up can talk with the governor or lieutenant governor via Skype. “We’re hopeful that students will find this to be fun, informative, and a innovative exercise,” according to Branstad.

Lieutenant Governor Reynolds is leading the state STEM task force that seeks to improve education in science, technology, engineering and math. “We want students to continue to be excited about technology as well as civics and government, and we hope that our participation helps raise their interest level,” Reynolds explains. “We’re excited to partner with Iowa schools to utilize a relatively new technology that is becoming more and more available to the general public, and that’s Skype.” Reynolds said it is easy to schedule a Skype discussion.

“To request a Skype Your School classroom chat, teachers or administrators and students are encouraged to click on the featured image at the governor’s website, governor-dot-Iowa-dot-gove,” Reynolds said. She said you can also go to the comment section on Facebook, either the governor’s or her Facebook page or through Twitter at the hashtag: SkypeYourSchool. The governor and lieutenant governor have already done several Skype chats with students, and said they want to be sure that every school has that opportunity.

(Radio Iowa)

President Obama is headed to campaign rallies in Oskaloosa, Marshalltown and Waterloo today (Tuesday), after spending part of Monday evening at the Iowa State Fair. Obama’s stroll through the fairgrounds came about seven hours after Paul Ryan — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate — spoke to a crowd gathered around The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox. “We’re not growing this economy like we need to. We’re not creating jobs like we can in America and that is why Mitt Romney and I have a plan for a stronger middle class, to get this country back on track, get this country growing jobs again and get us back on the path to prosperity in this country,” Ryan said early Monday afternoon. There were protesters who heckled Ryan throughout his speech.

“We’re used to this in Wisconsin,” Ryan said nine minutes into his 12 minute speech, laughing, as his supporters chanted Romney’s name to try to drown out the protesters. Obama arrived in Council Bluffs mid-day Monday and quickly took aim at Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman who is in his 14th year as a member of the U.S. House. “What’s holding us back right now is Washington politics,” Obama said. “You’ve got folks on the other side who think compromise is a dirty word,” Obama said and someone in the Council Bluffs crowd yelled: “Yes, they do.” Obama suggested the “main idea” Republicans are presenting voters in 2012 is the “same old, top-down economics” that created the economic downturn. Late Monday afternoon during a speech in Boone, Obama amplified on that theme.

“They have tried to sell us this trickle down fairy dust before,” Obama said, “and it did not work then. It won’t work now.” Last night, at about 7:30 Obama walked through one of the gates into the Iowa State Fairgrounds, talking with fair-goers and posing for pictures for about an hour before going into a beer tent and ordering a Bud Light. Obama also ate a cold pork chop. The president-elect of the Iowa Pork Producers had been holding two pork chops on a styrofoam plate for 45 minutes, waiting to give them to Obama.

(Radio Iowa)