(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Community School District today (Wednesday) announced Superintendent Steve Barber has made the decision to resign as superintendent from the Atlantic Community School District effective June 30, 2023. The Board of Education said in their statement that they “would like to thank Mr. Barber for his years of service and commitment to the District. He has been a dedicated and conscientious leader who was committed to seeking improvement in all aspects of District operations and student achievement.

We wish Mr. Barber well in his future endeavors as we are already considering the next steps in the process of selecting our next superintendent. During this transition, we will seek community input and will keep our staff and the public updated throughout the process.”

No reason was given for Mr. Barber’s decision to resign.

(Carson, Iowa) – Riverside Community School District has announced that Casey Moran, Assistant Director of Special Education for the Council Bluffs Community School District and Dr. Stephanie Anderson, Director of Elementary Education and Student Services, Fort Dodge Community School District have been selected as the finalists for the Riverside Community School District Superintendent position. Stakeholder groups and the School Board will complete final interviews on Wednesday April 5, 2023.

The Board had sixteen applications and interviewed six semifinalists before selecting them for final interviews. Current Riverside Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Mitchell, announced his retirement in January and will be leaving the District at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

Read more about the finalists HERE.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-N-R was recently called to a hotel parking lot in Sioux City to remove a porcupine. D-N-R wildlife biologist Vince Evelsizer, says it’s pretty rare in today’s world to see them, but they do get around one porcupine call every three to five years. He says porcupines are are native to our state and are a species that was nearly wiped out or pretty well wiped out the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s.

Evelsizer says the porcupines were probably killed off because people thought they posed a danger, or they ate them. He says it’s likely porcupine wandered in from a neighboring state. Evelsizer says it’s not true that they can shoot their quills at objects like animals or people.

DNR photo

The quills do pose a problem if a dog or a person comes in contact with a porcupine because they are one way barbs that once they’re lodged in a dog’s mouth are pretty hard to get out.

(Radio Iowa) – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst will be hosting her annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser on June 3rd and it could be a showcase for some of the G-O-P’s 2024 presidential candidates.  In June of 2015, seven Republican presidential candidates appeared with Ernst at her first “Roast and Ride” fundraiser. A year later, Donald Trump was the event’s main speaker. Six years ago, Mike Pence — who was vice president at the time — rode a Harley down a path to the event’s main stage in Boone.

The Ernst campaign has announced tickets are now on sale for the event this June at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and “special guests” will be announced soon. When Ernst launched her annual “Roast and Ride” event soon after winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, she said her goal was to showcase the party’s top candidates, just as former Senator Tom Harkin had done with his annual “steak fry” for Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Ernst, though, serves up pork rather than beef and hosts a motorcycle ride in the morning before the rallies in the afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for six more counties in response to last Friday’s storms. The governor’s latest proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to recover from the effects of this severe weather in Appanoose, Davis, Iowa, Jackson, Lucas, and Monroe counties. The proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program for those counties.

The Governor already issued disaster proclamations for Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Johnson, Keokuk, Linn, Mahaska, Wapello, and Washington counties for the same storms.