[updated] (Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic breezed through part of their agenda Wednesday night, until City Administrator John Lund’s report. Lund was of the opinion, following a legislative briefing, that “Rural Iowa is really, kind of like under siege right now.”

He said there are no concrete proposals that he’s aware of, but…

He say working on the valuations with the Business Property Tax  Credits, “We saw a colossal loss in our taxable valuation.”

Lund said since he became City Administrator, Atlantic has only raised the levy once.

The only reason the City went down from the 27-cents was because the 2021 assessments “Were massive, and the City saw a lot of property taxes from that. It was really difficult to justify keeping that capped. So we lowered that down to five-cents.” He was planning on having it phased back in over the years, but at this point, he said, “We’re gonna need those resources sooner than we think, [because] between the inflation and the rhetoric at the Statehouse” and a possible levy freeze, rural communities will have to find ways to tighten their fiscal belts.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett said a property tax reduction may sound good to anyone who owns property…

She encouraged other Mayors from around southwest Iowa to go to the Iowa State House and make sure the legislators are comparing “apples to apples,” when it comes to cutting property taxes, especially when there is such a large population on the eastern side of the State, and a lesser, more rural population on the western side of the State.

In other business, the two candidates for the Parks and Rec Director are slated to be interviewed in-person. One of the candidates – John Wyatt Adderton, from Savannah, Georgia, will be here on Friday. He’s a Park Ranger, and his spouse is an airline pilot. Michelle Spunaugle – the other candidate – also has experience as a Park Ranger. She lives in Villisca and will be interviewed separately,

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan who was thought to be the oldest living person in the United States died Tuesday. The Lampe & Powers Funeral Home says Bessie Hendricks of Lake City died Tuesday at the Shady Oaks Care Center in Lake City. Hendricks celebrated her 115th birthday on November 7th, and lived 57 more days.

A funeral for Hendricks is scheduled for this Saturday in Lake City. She was reportedly the 10th oldest person in the world.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Police Department early this (Wednesday) afternoon, released additional details to their arrest report Wednesday morning. With regard to the arrest of 21-year-old Chanson Hans, of Atlantic, Police Chief Devon Hogue says that at approximately 8:29 p.m. on January 2, 2023 (Monday), the Cass County Communications Center received a call requesting officers respond to the Turkey Creek Lodge on East 7th Street, for an individual breaking into another room.

Officers on scene were informed that a male individual had broken into a room at the hotel and assaulted an individual inside. As the caller tried to intervene, they were also assaulted by the male subject and officers were told that they had left the scene before arrival. A search of the area was conducted and a male matching the description was located in the area of the Mulberry Mat.

That subject was positively identified by witnesses and subsequently, 21-year-old Chanson Hans was taken into custody and charged with Burglary 2^nd Degree, Criminal Mischief 4^th Degree, Public Intoxication, and Assault Causing Bodily Injury. An additional charge of Simple Assault has been added after further statements and investigation had been completed.

And, with regard to the arrest on December 26th of 50-year-old Barns Narios, of Atlantic, Chief Hogue says Officers responded to the Turkey Creek Lodge at around 3:21 a.m. that day, after the Cass County Communications Center received a call requesting officers investigate an incident that had occurred. Through their investigation, officers discovered an incident occurred after a disagreement between individuals. They were informed that an individual had gone from one room to another with a machete and subsequently threatened and caused injury to the victim.

Narios, was taken into custody on charges that include Going Armed with Intent and use of a Dangerous Weapon in the Commission of a Crime. An additional charge of Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury was added after further statements and investigation had been completed. The unidentified victim was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital to be seen for their injuries.

The Atlantic Police Department was assisted during both incidents, by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.  No other details are being released at this time. If you have information regarding either incident, please call the Atlantic Police Department at 712-243-3512.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty

(Radio Iowa) – It’s been nearly six months since the state launched the new 9-8-8 hotline number for people seeking crisis mental health support, and the call volume has doubled. Foundation Two Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids is one of the two non-profits contracted with the state to run 9-8-8 call centers. C-E-O Emily Blomme says though they are still behind initial federal call estimates — in part because the state hasn’t launched a major campaign to promote it yet. “And they’ve done that partially at our request, because we wanted to make sure that we could get up and be staffed and make sure the quality wasn’t decreasing, and that people were getting what they needed before the Department of Health and Human Services doing a giant media push,” Bloome says.

She says the organizations are starting to work on figuring out how to centralize dispatch for mobile crisis teams statewide and integrate the service with 9-1-1 dispatchers. “We’re just on the front end of this still. And so once we get things up and running a little bit more and do some of those, those projects and figure out what we need to do, I think we’ll continue to see an increase,” she says.

Blomme says she’s been pleased with her call center’s 9-8-8 operations so far. The vast majority of calls are answered in-state and in less than 12 seconds.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Cedar Rapids officials say their investigation continues after an explosive device was found in a residential neighborhood that’s about a mile northeast of downtown Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids Police say on Tuesday morning, a concerned citizen notified police there was something suspicious in an alley behind a home that’s near an elementary school. Technicians from the Cedar Rapids Metro Hazardous Devices Unit determined it was an improvised explosive device.

The immediate area was cordoned off, the device was safely removed and a statement released by city officials says the device was mitigated.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T is urging drivers to slow down and pay attention to what’s ahead after a D-O-T vehicle was heavily damaged Tuesday in a crash on Interstate 29 in western Iowa. According to a spokesperson for the Iowa D-O-T, a motor enforcement officer was inside his vehicle, providing traffic control at a crash south of Onawa, in the southbound lanes of I-29, when a semi hit his S-U-V from behind. The officer inside the S-U-V was injured, taken to a hospital and has been released.

The D-O-T says investigators do not know yet if the winter weather conditions at the time of the crash played a role in the accident — but the agency is urging drivers to slow down and focus on the task of driving, especially when conditions are less than perfect.

(Radio Iowa) – The Fort Dodge couple who allegedly drowned their infant daughter shortly after she was born on November 16th have pleaded not guilty to first degree murder. In a Webster County District Courtroom on Tuesday, 24-year-old Taylor Blaha and 31-year-old Brandon Thoma submitted written pleas of not guilty during their arraignment. Both were arrested and charged with first degree murder last month for the death of their infant daughter. Thoma faces an additional charge of abuse of a corpse after allegedly disposing of the baby’s body.

Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll says the search for the baby’s remains continues. There’s a $1500 reward through Webster County Crimestoppers for information that leads to the discovery of the baby’s body.

Court documents show Blaha gave birth in the bathroom of her apartment. Blaha told detectives she and Thoma panicked and drowned the baby to stop her from crying.