An Atlantic man was arrested on theft charge, Monday. According to the Atlantic Police Department, 48-year old Mark Allen Anderson was taken into custody for 5th degree Theft. Anderson was booked into the Cass County Jail and later released on bond.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held this (Tuesday) morning in Lewis, for a new fire station that’s been over three-years in the making.

Lewis Fire Station, Jan. 2012

Lewis Mayor Don Cohrs said the preliminary design for the station was approved by the City Council in October 2009, after they took into consideration the costs and space required. When a committee was formed, it was determined the facility needed to be 6,500 square feet, if it was to store all the equipment necessary to respond to emergencies. Cohrs said the project got off the ground when the City applied and was approved for, a nearly $281,000 I-Jobs 2 grant, through the State of Iowa. Cohrs said in addition, with a grant from the Lewis Fire Association’s Building Fund, and funds from the City, the project was completed at a cost of nearly $420,000.

The Mayor said the City benefitted while construction was underway, from all of the construction crews who spent their money in town, at the local convenience store, café and Post Office.

Former IA Gov. Chet Culver listens as Lewis Mayor Donny Cohrs talks about the new facilty

Cohrs credited former Governor Chet Culver with creating the I-Jobs initiative that made a significant impact in financing, not only for the Fire Station project, but other needed projects within the community as well. Governor Culver, who was in attendance at the event, congratulated the Mayor and other City officials who worked long and hard to see the process through.

Culver said the purpose of the I-Jobs initiative, was to help eastern Iowa recover from the floods of 2008 and other natural disasters that year. He said they discovered during that process, that there were many communities with needs that had gone unmet, because funding was not available through Federal agencies. That’s when his administration created the Iowa Jobs and Infrastructure concept, the best part of which, he says, involves no taxpayer dollars. Instead, the money comes from bonds paid off through 17 casinos in the State.

Former Gov. Chet Culver talks about the I-Jobs Initiative in Lewis

Culver said the second part of the I-Jobs program was added to help communities with major infrastructure projects not associated with the floods and disasters. He says the result was a State that was transformed and modernized, and that includes the small community of Lewis.

Culver said people who put their lives on the line, like firefighters, deserve the most modern facility and equipment possible, so they can do the very best job possible.

Administrators at the Nodaway Valley Community School District in Greenfield are remaining mum on what disciplinary action has been, or will be taken, following an alleged hazing incident involving the school’s wrestling team. The School Board heard from parents who are furious over sexual abuse by members of the wrestling team against an 16-year old wrestler. 

The school’s athletic director, David Huff, sent a letter home to parents last Friday saying the school is aware of a hazing incident on the wrestling team and that the school conducted its own investigation. According to KCCI-TV in Des Moines, many of the parents who attended Monday’s night’s school board meeting called for administrators to not only fire the coaching staff but the suspend the rest of the wrestling season, but the board isn’t talking about what actions are being taken. 

One of the parents who attended the meeting Monday, said her son is a member of the wrestling squad. Dora Pudenz said her son had been threatened at least once by his teammates. In one instance, she says the wrestling coach allegedly stood by and authorized the wrestling captains to decide for themselves what they wanted for the punishment, while the coaches walked out of the room. 

Greenfield Police Chief Austin O’Brien isn’t talking about the situation, either. He reportedly kicked KCCI’s reporters off his property Sunday.