(Adel, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in Dallas County report a man died during a single-vehicle accident today (Thursday), south of Dawson. Dallas County Deputies and Dallas County EMS were dispatched at around 12:40-a.m. scene in the 12000 block of 160th Street. When Deputies arrived, they located a truck, on it’s top, in the north ditch of 160th Street.

Deputies located a single occupant inside of the vehicle who was deceased. The occupant was identified as Kurtis Gustaveson, 29 years old, of Perry, Iowa.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The Perry Police Department and the Perry Fire Department assisted in this investigation.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a man was arrested at his home Wednesday afternoon. 40-year-old Mark Anthony Weems, Jr., of Creston, was taken into custody on two Union County warrants charging him with 2-counts of Theft in the 1st Degree, Theft in the 3rd Degree and Theft in the 4th Degree. The second warrant was 2-counts of Theft in the 5th Degree. Additional details were not provided.

Weems, Jr., was being held in the Union County Jail on $23,600 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, passed resolutions on two separate bids for two separate properties. Both bids were One-dollar, for properties located at 1014/1016 E. 3^rd Street Place, the other at 1310 Chestnut Street. The latter was sold to Jay and Kelsi Eden, who, as previously mentioned, will begin the process of gutting a decaying, unsafe for occupation, home. The couple intend to “flip” the house, once extensive work is completed. The Council chose to allow them one-year for construction. Councilman Pat McCurdy..

Dexter Dodson, with Atlantic High School, placed a bid for 1014/1016 3^rd Street Place. He intends to build a single family home on this lot using the students in the building trades program. McCurdy said he thinks it’s a wonderful idea.

Councilperson Elaine Otte, agreed, and said the project should benefit the school district’s Building Trades program.

The Council issued a recommendation to have City Administrator John Lund to proceed with making a request by City Attorney Dave Wiederstein to work with the Atlantic Community School District on the sale of the properties on E. 3^rd Street Place.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday, approved the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget. Their approval followed a public hearing, during which there were no comments received.

City Administrator John Lund has said the proposed budget for FY 2024 totals $14,794,803, an increase of 4.36% – or $618,676 – over the City’s FY 2023 budget. He noted however, that the budget “Should be considered [to be] a tentative budget that may receive a total amendment shortly after it begins in July, 2023.” That’s because, he says, of the legislature’s failure to send a final budget with an overhaul to the property tax system in Iowa. Lun

Lund says “While this may seem like a modest change in budget, however, the one-time American Rescue Plan funding of $488,970 and unusually high local option sales tax dollars of $1,337,372 in the FY 2023 budget, which are not present in the FY 2024 budget, disguise several new structural revenues, new structural revenue losses, and new structural expenditures.”

Under the City’s budget, the combined property tax levy will increase from $16.56 to $16.79, in order “to favorably position the City if the Iowa State Senate’s version of property tax reform is implemented.” Lund says “The overall budget accomplishes key priorities of the Mayor and Council in funding for community beautification, housing economic development, and code enforcement support.” A seven percent increase in compensation to all City employees is included, along with MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) “allowing unionized employees to see this benefit.” The Council also approved the FY24 Ten Year Capital Improvement Plan following a public hearing in which there were also no comments. In other business, the Atlantic City resolutions adopting wages for seasonal parks and recreation and pool employees, and, setting salaries for appointed officers and employees of the City of Atlantic.

At the end of the meeting, the Council surprised City Administrator John Lund, by presenting him with a Gold Star Award plaque, thanking him for all of his hard work. Councilman Dana Halder….

Lund thanked the Council, shook hands with Halder, and hugged the Mayor.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa received approval from the Board of Regents facilities committee to move ahead with work on two prominent buildings on campus. U-I Vice President, Rod Lehnertz, says they plan to remodel the seventh floor of the Van Allen building, which was built in the 1960s. Lehnertz says the space science and spaceflight hardware work done in the building is renowned nationwide. He says NASA expectations are high for research space and they need to keep up.

The other project involves expanding the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital into the empty seventh floor of the hospital. He says it would be a 40 to 49 million dollar proejct — with the actual cost pinned down through the construction. The Children’s Hospital has gotten nationwide attention for “The Wave,” where fans and players in nearby Kinnick Stadium turn and wave to the patients following the end of the first quarter of Hawkeye football games.

The full Board of Regents is expected to approve the proposals today (Thursday).