A sizable, appreciative crowd showed up in the Atlantic City Park Thursday evening, for the first of three, free,  “Third Thursday” Summer Concert events, sponsored by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab performs in the Atlantic City Park (Ric Hanson photo)

Taking to the stage was “Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab,” with their renditions of some popular Country, Blues and Rock songs.

One of the Dirt Road Acoustic Rehab band members

(For more information about the band, surf to http://dirtroadacousticrehab.com/index.html).

The next Third Thursday event will take place July 19th, from 5:30-7:30pm, also in the Atlantic City Park.  The concert will feature the Travelin’ Light Band, with 60’s & 70’s music, along with a little variety.

For more information about the concert series, check out the Chamber’s website at http://www.atlanticiowa.com/

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Kansas City, KS, Thursday, announced Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) has been selected to receive $200,000 in workforce development and brownfields job training funds from the EPA, to train unemployed and underemployed residents in Council Bluffs and Omaha. IWCC is one of only 15 workforce development organizations in the nation to receive the funding this year. Its project will specifically serve residents of the environmentally impacted neighborhoods of the South Main Brownfields Site in Council Bluffs and northeast Omaha. 

Targeted populations include Trade Adjustment Assistance individuals displaced from their jobs due to the competition of foreign imports or due to work activity moving out of the U.S.; unemployed and underemployed individuals, with priority given to veterans, long-term unemployed, residents of the identified contaminated communities; and populations underrepresented in the green and environmental fields, including minorities and women. 

IWCC plans to train 100 students, place 80 graduates in jobs, and track graduates for one year.  The core training program includes 152 hours of instruction on hazardous materials, lead and asbestos abatement, storm water management, underground storage tank leak prevention, construction debris recycling, green remediation, and environmental health and safety.  Participants will also be offered additional training in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) construction and mold contractor remediation. 

EPA’s Annual Environmental Workforce Development and Brownfields Job Training Grants allow nonprofit and other organizations to recruit, train, and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed people living in areas affected by solid and hazardous waste.  Typical applicants include community colleges, universities, vocational-technical colleges, workforce development organizations, non-profit organizations and others with an interest in the program. 

Nationwide, as of January 2012, approximately 10,275 individuals have completed training, and 7,155 have been placed in full-time employment in the environmental field, with an average starting wage of $14.12 per hour.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A June survey report says growth in rural areas of 10 Midwestern and Western states has slowed. The report released Thursday says the Rural Mainstreet Index hit its lowest level of the year, 56.7, compared with 58.5 in May.  But survey organizers say any survey index score above 50 on the 100-point scale suggests growth in the months ahead.
 
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey of rural bankers. Goss says the global economic slowdown, combined with a stronger U.S. dollar, have pushed agriculture and energy prices lower. He says downward pressure that weakens overall growth for rural parts of the 10 states.  The states are Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The Iowa State Patrol says an Adair woman injured during a single-vehicle rollover accident was later cited for Failure to Maintain Control. 73-year old Rosalie Jessen suffered non-incapacitating injuries following the crash which occurred Tuesday morning in northwestern Adair County.  The woman was transported by private vehicle to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, for treatment.

Officials say Jessen was traveling west on County Road G-30 at around 8:20-a.m., when the 2008 Toyota Corolla she was driving went off the road, to the north. When Jessen over-corrected, the car entered the north ditch where it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels, near a utility pole. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $10,500.