Three people were injured during a rollover accident late Monday night, in Lewis. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports Deputies, along with Cass County EMS, Griswold Rescue and Lewis Rescue, were dispatched at around 11:24-p.m. to a motor vehicle rollover on California Street in Lewis.  Officials say a 2005 Ford Explorer driven 20-year-old Ayden Rossell, of Lewis was westbound on California Street, when the SUV went out of control. It rolled several times and came to rest in the south ditch.

Rossell was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Griswold Rescue and later transported to an Omaha hospital by Cass County EMS.  A passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Thomas Bruning, of Clarinda was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Cass County EMS and later airlifted to an Omaha hospital by Life Net 13.  Another passenger in the vehicle, 18-year-old Sophia Shupe, of Council Bluffs, was airlifted from the scene by Life Flight 3 to an Omaha hospital.

The accident remains under investigation by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office

Members of the Atlantic School Board, Tuesday morning, approved the hiring of new teachers for the upcoming school year. One of them, Rob Astuni comes to the District from the eastern U-S. He will become a High School English/Language Arts Teacher. Superintendent Steve Barber said “We’re extremely excited about the folks coming to our team.”

Board member Kristy Pellett inquired as to why Mr. Astuni chose Iowa over New Jersey. She asked if he had family here or was uprooting and starting life elsewhere.

In addition, Barber had recommended (and the Board approved) the hiring of Rebecca Bird as Middle School Science Teacher.

And, Jon Peterson was approved as Middle School Language Arts Teacher. He comes to the Atlantic School District from AHSTW.

Separately, the Board approved the hiring of Jesse McCann as High School Special Education Teacher, contingent upon him being released from his contract with his previous school, Nodaway Valley. Steve Barber said that’s expected to take place in July. And, the Atlantic School Board approved the hiring of Tom McLaren in a VOLUNTARY position as Baseball Coach.

(Griswold) – The Griswold School Board held their regular monthly meeting, Monday evening. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said they approved several personnel changes for the upcoming school year. The approved resignations for the following:

The also approved the hiring of:

Henrichs said they are still short a Middle School/High School Social Studies Teacher and two Elementary Teachers. The struggle is real, he said to find qualified teachers.

In other business, the Griswold School Board approved activity pass fees for the upcoming school year., which Henrichs says is right in line with the Corner Conference as well as district football.

During the past couple of months, the Board has discussed taking out both the tennis and sand volleyball courts, which see limited use. They are looking into getting a grant to convert the tennis courts into Pickleball courts. The Board elected to leave the tennis court as it is, and remove the sand volleyball court and replace it with grass. There will also be a curb cut to allow for extra parking for bigger events. The tennis court will be rebid when the Board knows more about the potential of receiving a grant.

The Griswold Board received bids for two buses, but rejected them and will instead sell those buses for scrap. They also approved a Continued School Resource Officer position in agreement with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, with the terms the same as last year. A similar agreement was approved with Family Connections, which provides social and mental on-site counseling services for students.

The Board also established a list of 2022 Legislative Priorities and chose their top four: Mental Health; Teacher Recruitment and Licensure; Ensuring the Budget Guarantee stays the same or increases, and sharing reorganization. The latter sunsets in a few years. It enables districts to receive extra funding by sharing positions.

And, the Griswold School Board changed a policy to say a teacher may resign from their position before July 1^st, without any recourse. Previously, the policy said if a teacher resigns after they’ve signed their contract, the district must find a suitable replacement before they will be released from the contract. The new amendment makes the old policy unenforceable, because it essentially violates the law.

The 8:05-a.m. Newscast, w/Ric Hanson.

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The latest area news at 7:07-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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The teenage driver of a pickup truck died Monday afternoon in eastern Iowa’s Jones County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 16-year-old Lincoln John Gravel, of Wyoming, Iowa, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene, after the vehicle he was driving went out of control and entered a ditch, where it struck a utility pole.

The accident happened at around 2:50-p.m. as the teen was traveling eastbound on Jones County Highway E-45. Multiple agencies assisted at the accident scene.

(Radio Iowa) – John Deere is known for its green tractors and combines but is celebrating the anniversary of its first backhoe loader introduced 50 years ago in 1971. Deere Product Manager, Brian Hennings, says the loader on the front and excavator on the back, and the ability to drive it to and from job sites makes it popular. “The machine is really one of the most versatile pieces of equipment out on a job site. Some compare it to a Swiss army knife of construction equipment,” Hennings says.

The company makes backhoe loaders in Dubuque, Iowa, plus Brazil and China. Hennings says the general concept has stayed the same since 1971 — but nearly everything else has changed — including the engines, hydraulic systems, and transmissions to keep the machine a valuable tool. ” It can load trucks, it can stockpile materials, trench with the rear structure, dig holes and access utilities and other types of underground surfaces then you can turn it right around and backfill into the trenches,” Hennings says.

Deere does not reveal sales and production figures, but will say prices for its seven models range from 114-thousand to 222-thousand dollars. Deere has begun testing its first electric model, but any large-scale production is still some years away.

A woman from Adams County was arrested Monday night in Red Oak, on an Adams County warrant for Failure to Appear, on three felony counts of perjury. 42-year-old Joleen Mary Most, of Carbon, was also arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Barred charge in Adams County. She was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of Des Moines Area Community College says the institution’s insurance company continues to negotiate with hackers who shut down DMACC’s computer networks on June 2nd. Rob Denson says it does not appear any accounts were compromised. “Our insurance company is talking to the threat actor. We’re not a part of that discussion at this point,” They want to make sure they don’t tell us anything that we might share that could impact the status of any negotiations, but again we’ve not seen anything or been told of anything that’s of any real significance.”

Denson says it was a ransomware attack, but DMACC did not pay a ransom and has relied upon its insurer to handle the details. “They brought in all kinds of attorneys, consultants that have worked with us and have been through many, many of these,” Denson says. “at all. We had passwords and some emails that we believe were impacted. We’ve just reset all of those.” Experts have gone through six-thousand DMACC computers, searching for malicious software, but Denson says none was found.

Denson made his comments during taping of the “Iowa Press” program that airs this Friday on Iowa P-B-S. DMACC cancelled online classes on June 3rd and wound up closing the entire campus on June 4th due to the security breach. In-person classes resumed five days later, but online classes didn’t start back up until last week.

(Radio Iowa) – The Board of Regents will consider a proposal for tuition increases at the three state universities in a meeting Thursday. The board staff is proposing a three-point five percent increase in undergrad resident tuition at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University — with a one-point-five percent increase at the University of Northern Iowa.

The proposal also raises mandatory fees by 53 dollars at the U-I, 36 dollars at I-S-U, and holds fees the same at U-N-I. The Board of Regents requested an increase of 18 million dollars and a restoration of eight million dollars from the Iowa Legislature this year — but lawmakers held the line with no increase in funding.

The proposal would increase out-of-state tuition by the same as in-state at the U-I, raise it 906 dollars at I-S-U and 273 dollars at U-N-I.