(Southwest Iowa) – Connections Area Agency officials say they are pleased to announce that the state is continuing the Farmers Market voucher program for older Iowans.  With this program, seniors meeting income requirements can obtain vouchers that they can use at participating area Farmers Markets to buy $30.00 worth of fresh, locally grown produce.  This year Connections will be asking individuals to call in to request an application. Beginning May 2nd, you may call 800-432-9209 x8888 and leave a message with their name and phone number.  All calls will be returned within five business days in the order they are received.  Applications will then be mailed out every Thursday with an addressed return envelope.  Once we receive completed applications, vouchers will be mailed out to applicant starting on June 1st, 2022.  Please note applications not completed will not receive vouchers until all information is provided.

Program Criteria:

• Must be at least 60 years of age or older, and, your Annual income must be less than: $25,142 for a Single person, or $33,874 for a Married couple.

When a staff member returns your call, please indicate whether you are applying as an individual or a married couple.

Outline of Process:

• Starting May 2, 2022, Connections Farmers Market line open for applicants to leave their name and number for an application call back.
• PLEASE LEAVE ONLY ONE MESSAGE PER INDIVIDUAL OR COUPLE. DO NOT LEAVE MORE THAN ONE MESSAGE. MULTIPLE CALLS WILL ONLY DELAY APPLICATION PROCESS.
• All calls will be returned within five business days.
• Applications will be mailed out on Thursdays of each week.

This method is the only way to obtain Farmers’ Market vouchers in 2022.

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Connections Area Agency is one of six Area Agencies on Aging in Iowa, and part of a nationwide network. With a mission of enhancing the quality of life for elders in 20 counties through education, planning and coordination of services, Connections Area Agency on Aging is the premier agency for assisting elders, caregivers, and their families to access the information and services needed for independence and life transitions. Offices are located in Council Bluffs, Creston and Sioux City. For more information, contact Connections AAA at 800-432-9209 or at www.connectionsaaa.org

April 25, 2022, Atlantic, IA – Officials with SHIFT ATL in Atlantic say they are excited to invite you to their annual fundraiser for 2022: Summer Soirée. Guests can expect the same great experience as last year including a steak dinner, three hours of dueling piano entertainment by Pianopalooza, full bar and a photobooth! This event will be held on July 16, 2022, on 4th
Street between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street.

4th Street will be blocked off from Chestnut to Walnut and tables will line the street so people can enjoy dinner and drinks from the beer garden with family and friends and then cap the evening off with dueling pianos! Cocktail hour begins at 5:30 with the dinner to follow. Dinner will consist of Noble Provisions steak, grilled on location, family-style sides and dessert. A beer garden will be available all evening with tickets available for purchase at the gate that evening.

Event tickets will be released at 10am on May 2, 2022, at shiftatl.org/dinner. Tickets are available for $60/person, which includes your dinner and entry to the dueling pianos. Tables of eight can be purchased for $400, which includes eight dinners and eight tickets to the dueling pianos. There is limited seating available, and this event is anticipated to sell out quickly as it did last year. This event is made possible through support of Executive sponsors like Cass Health, TS Bank, Atlantic Dental Center, Camblin Mechanical, AM Cohron and Son, Armour Insurance, Lindeman Tractor, and Special Occasions. Advocate sponsors include Rolling Hills Bank and Trust and Atlantic Rotary, with Supporting sponsors Elite Octane, Henningsen Construction, Robison Landscaping and Casey’s.

Tickets for just the dueling piano entertainment can be purchased before the event for $15/person or they will be $20/person the night of at the door. Gates will open for the dueling pianos at 7:30 p.m., following the Summer Soirée dinner. Funds raised from this event will help SHIFT ATL fully complete their renovations at The Telegraph building. This spring, construction began on the exterior of the building, including tuck pointing and skim coating. Following that, new stone and an updated awning will be installed on the face. Following those projects, a community patio will be built in the courtyard space, and then two murals will be installed – one on the west side of the building and one on the east side with the patio!

SHIFT ATL recently completed the interior rehabilitation of The Telegraph building, located at 14 e 4th Street in Atlantic. They are managing a fully operating AirBnB on the upper story, and they are currently using the main level as commercial space for pop-up shops, local events or as a flexible community space while they work to find a permanent commercial tenant.

SHIFT ATL, a 501(c)3 nonprofit formed in 2019, continues to build upon their broad but straightforward vision for the place they have made home: to shift the direction of Atlantic’s social and economic development opportunities by leveraging partnerships and strengthening social bonds within the community. They intend to revitalize Atlantic through projects, services and programs that will enhance the community and foster a sense of growth. To purchase tickets or a table for the event, visit shiftatl.org/dinner or contact Mallory Robinson at 712.249.1985.
To learn more about each project, to donate or to get involved, contact shiftatlantic@gmail.com, visit the website shiftatl.org or facebook page, @shiftatl.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, today (Monday), arrested 43-year-old Christopher Allen Spangler, of rural Shenandoah. He was taken into custody at the sheriff’s office, on a Page County warrant for a Controlled Substance violation, Failure to affix drug tax stamp, and Possession of controlled substance – methamphetamine. The warrant stems from a sheriff’s department investigation.

Spangler was booked into the Page County Jail and held on a $16,000.00 bond.

Christopher Allen Spangler

(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds of people attended the weekend ribbon-cutting and open house for the new UnityPoint Health-Marshalltown Hospital. It’s the result of a 38-point-4 million dollar expansion of the existing medical park on the south edge of town. Jenni Friedly is the facility’s chief operating officer and vice president. Friedly says, “We’re really excited about the design of this new health care facility in Marshalltown, the newest hospital in Iowa and hopefully, we’ll hold that title for a long time.”

Friedly says the new hospital has been a long-time priority for Marshalltown. “We really did a lot of digging into how to build a new, efficient, sustainable health care system for the community and we’re excited to show that off,” she says. “We built flexibility for health care in Marshalltown so we can continue to serve.”

UnityPoint Health’s support services began moving into the new facility on April 21st, while the remaining departments are expected to make the move in today (Monday) through Wednesday.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – An Atlantic man facing felony charges of Attempted Murder and Willful Injury-Causing Serious Injury, claims he’s not guilty by reason of self-defense. That’s according to court documents filed Friday. 19-year-old Michael Gehling is accused of stabbing a man during the late night hours of April 3rd. According to online court records, arraignment for Michael Gehling will be held May 2nd and a Pre-Trial Conference on June 6th. Both begin at 9-a.m. His trial is set to take place June 28th at 9:30-a.m.

Gehling was arrested without incident on April 4th, following an investigation that began with a 9-1-1 call about a man who had a stab wound. Officers learned the incident happened in the area of 6th and Pine Streets.

The victim (whose name was not released) was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital (Cass Health), in Atlantic, and was later transported to the UNMC in Omaha, for treatment of serious injuries.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports seven arrests from over the past few days. Early this (Monday) morning, 33-year old Whitney Christine Picard, of Louisiana, was arrested at 800 Laurel Street and charged with Driving with Suspended. Picard was cited and released from the scene. Late Sunday night, 36-year-old Douglas Edward Woodward III, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston Union County Law Enforcement Center and charged with Driving while Barred. Woodward was being held on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. And, 25-year-old Aaron Christopher Ortiz was arrested Sunday, at his residence in Creston. Ortiz was taken into custody on a Department of Corrections warrant for Violation of Parole. He was being held without bond in the Union County Jail.

Saturday afternoon, Creston Police arrested 27-year-old Chasity Cheyne Bolinger, of Creston. She was arrested at the Creston Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana 1st Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Child Endangerment. Bolinger was later released on a $5,300 cash or surety bond. That same day, 52-year-old Tony Dean Fizer, of Creston, was arrested for Driving while Barred and Eluding. He was later released on a $4,000 cash or surety bond.

Friday evening, 18-year-old Triston Thomas Barncastle, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Harassment/1st Degree-Sexting. He was later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. Friday night, 58-year-old Theodore Lance Giles, of Creston, was arrested at the intersection of Sumner and Townline with assistance from the Creston K9 “Baxo.” Giles was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of Controlled Substance 3rd Offense Methamphetamine. He was later released on a $5,300 cash or surety bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The second of two Cass County Republicans “Know your candidates” forums will take place next Monday, May 2nd, at the Cass County Community Center, in Atlantic. The event will begin at approximately 7-p.m. and conclude at 8:30-p.m. Whereas the last forum covered the candidates’ positions on Laws & Regulations; Energy & Labor, and Exploring Agriculture, the May second forum will lean more toward discussion concerning Government Control, Education, and Law and Order.

The following Republican candidates for office have been invited to attend:

• For U-S Senate: Incumbent Charles Grassley.
• State Senator – Candidate for U-S House: Jim Carlin
• Candidate for U-S House/3rd District: State Senator Zach Nunn; Nicole Hasso; Gary Leffler.
• Candidates for State Auditor: ToddHalbur; Mary Ann Hanusa.
• Candidate for State Attorney General: Brenna Bird.

(Radio Iowa) – While we’re more than a month into spring already, weather and soil conditions have been far from ideal for Iowa farmers to do much in the way of spring planting. Angie Rieck-Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension in north central Iowa, says a few farmers have started the process, but not many.  “We want to be patient,” Rieck-Hinz says. “Our soil temperatures are still not where we would like them to be for planting. The rest of the soil conditions aren’t too bad. It’s not overly wet.” Temperatures this week have rollercoastered from the 20s to the 60s and just last weekend, parts of Iowa got more than four inches of snow.

The spring season officially arrived back on March 20th so Rieck-Hinz says it’s no surprise farmers are getting itchy to fire up the tractors. “We’ve had such nice springs the last couple of years,” she says. “In fact, 2018 was the last time we hadn’t had major corn planting progress by the third week of April, so I can understand why everybody’s a little antsy.” Recent rains have helped to recharge soil moisture levels in parts of the state that were slipping into drought conditions a year ago.

“We’ve been through two relatively dry summers now,” she says. “Our soil moisture availability is a little bit higher now. That’ll help us going into the spring if it dries out a little bit more. Otherwise, things look pretty positive going forward in time.” Rieck-Hinz says farmers need to wait for good conditions before putting corn into the ground so it has a good chance of getting -out- of the ground, adding, even emergence leads to a more consistent yield.

(Radio Iowa) – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is hosting a hiring event at the end of this week in central Iowa. T-S-A spokesperson, Jessica Mayle, says the event is in West Des Moines, but they have jobs open statewide. “We’re hiring in Des Moines, Waterloo, Dubuque, Sioux City, Mason City, a couple of others. So, pretty much all of our airports are hiring right now. We’re ramping up travelers coming back here, we’re going into our heavy travel summer travel season,” Mayle says. There are two main qualifications. “You just have to be 18, a U-S citizen, you don’t have to have experience in this type of work before. Although if you do and you’re interested, that would certainly help you. But there’s extensive training,” she says.

Mayle says there are some attributes that would make you a good fit for these jobs. “Someone who’s very detail-oriented, who really has a lot of patience…. patience both for the kind of work, you’re looking at screens a lot, you’re looking at bags, that look the same a lot. And then patience for people as well, this is a public facing position,” according to Mayle. “So you should enjoy working with the public and interacting with people, I think those skills would really be helpful and would make you successful in the role.” Mayle says the event will showcase the benefits the job has to offer.

“We know, this is a time when people have a lot of a lot of choices, if you’re changing careers, or you’re starting a career. We know there’s a lot of opportunities right now for job seekers,” she says. “And, you know, I would just say to consider, you know, T-S-A really can be the first step towards a federal career, there are so many benefits to working for the federal government.”
Those benefits include paid leave, healthcare and a 401 K. There’s also another benefit to starting now.

“We have a bonus up to one thousand dollars for eligible new hires. And 500, you would get right away after onboarding and another 500 after one year of service. And that’s for everyone who would onboard before September 30th. So if you apply now, and you get started in the process, now you should be on board before September 30th,” Mayle says.

The event is Thursday and Friday (28-29) from 9 a-m. to 3 p-m both days at Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel.

Another event, for Epply Airfield in Omaha, is being held from 3-6-pm Thursday, April 28th, at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs

To find out more and register for the event, go to jobs.tsa.gov and look for the recruiting event section.

(Pleasantville, Iowa) – A collision between a pickup and a car Sunday afternoon in Warren County, claimed the life of a woman from Knoxville. The Iowa State Patrol reports 82-year-old Glenna K. Clarke died at the scene of the crash, at intersection of Highways 5 and 316, northwest of Pleasantville.

When Clarke attempted to cross Highway 5 from Hwy 316, her 2011 Chevy Cruze was struck on the driver’s side broadside, by a 2019 Ford F-350 pickup. The crash occurred at around 3:50-p.m.

Both vehicles then entered the median and came to rest, still attached. The driver of the pickup, 53-year-old Charles J. Spurling, of Goldfield, and his passenger, were checked out by EMS personnel and released with no reported injuries.