The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:07-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Two people were arrested following a pursuit early this (Tuesday) morning, into Pottawattamie County. The Council Bluffs Police Department reports at around 1-a.m., Omaha Police advised they were pursuing a vehicle on I-480 into Council Bluffs. The vehicle had been stolen at gun point. Bluffs Police Officers responded to offer assistance. Authorities say Omaha Police had deployed a tire deflation device before coming into Council Bluffs, disabling some of the vehicles tires.

A Council Bluffs officer was also able to deploy a tire deflation device shortly before the pursuit ended at S. 19th St. and 8th Ave. The occupants were then detained without further incident. The driver, Christopher Petri, was arrested for Theft 1st and Felony Eluding. A rear seat passenger, Shaqula Rock, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Atlantic Parks and Recreation Director Bryant Rasmussen, Monday, reported to the Parks and Rec Board, that after talking with Atlantic YMCA Aquatic Program Director Chelsie Huddleson, it was decided to eliminate the membership aspect of Sunnyside pool, due to issues with people sharing memberships and other such issues. Those problems he said resulted in a loss of revenue. Instead, there will simply be a straight, reduced daily fee for now, to see how that works out.

They are also working on using the City’s seamless doc program that would enable users of the pool to pay for admission and concessions with a card instead of just cash and change.

Rasmussen said they are going to move forward with as many summer programs as possible, taking into account safety protocols. He reported also, the Parks and Rec Department will host its 2nd nnual Easter Egg Cruise, in partnership with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

The event takes place Saturday, April 3^rd. Details are forthcoming.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:20 a.m. CDT

DOW CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Crawford County woman has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death last month of her boyfriend. The Sioux City Journal reports that 44-year-old Beth Guzman, of Dow City, pleaded not guilty Friday to a count of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 46-year-old Jeremy Frank. Crawford County Sheriff’s deputies say they found Frank unresponsive and bleeding after being called Feb. 21 to the home he and Guzman shared. Frank was taken to a hospital in Denison, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound. Prosecutors say Guzman told investigators she and Frank had argued and that she shot Frank in a bedroom as he tried to leave.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in January as more residents joined the workforce. The state’s Workforce Development department reported Monday the rate was down from a revised 3.7% rate for December and compared to a 2.8% rate a year ago, before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a severe economic slowdown. Workforce Development says the state added 8,200 workers in January. There were 57,400 unemployed residents. Iowa was tied with Kansas for the nation’s sixth-lowest unemployment rate. South Dakota and Utah had the lowest rate, at 3.1%. The national unemployment rate for January was 6.3%.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Heavy snow blanketed much of northern Iowa, Monday, snarling traffic and closing schools and services, as a late winter storm moved through the region. Online reports issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation show snow and ice covering roads in north-central Iowa and partially covering roads for much of the rest of the northern half of the state. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for three dozen counties in Iowa’s northern half and a winter weather advisory for several more counties in the region. The weather service expects some areas to see up to 8 inches of snow by Monday afternoon.

MAXWELL, Iowa (AP) — Sudden meat shortages last year because of the coronavirus led to millions of dollars in federal grants to help small meat processors expand. The goal was to help the nation lessen its reliance on giant slaughterhouses to supply grocery stores and restaurants. However, the money flowing to small slaughterhouses shows no sign of solving the meat problem. There’s little doubt the grants will help small processors and in turn provide sorely needed rural jobs, but the economics of meat now centers on larger, highly efficient slaughterhouses, not smaller plants whose numbers have been decreasing sharply.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says the economic stimulus package will be a campaign issue for Republicans in 2022 even though it means many people are getting checks. Ernst says there are many people who think the relief should have been more targeted.  “They come to me. I heard even over the weekend when I was out doing county tours folks saying ‘you know I really don’t need this 14-hundred dollars payment, what do I do with it?,” Ernst says. “So you do have people who have been working and they don’t understand, why I’m getting a payment.”

Ernst says the euphoria of getting the checks will eventually wear off when people realize the long-term cost. “At some point in the future, very near future, we do expect that the Democrats to pay for all of this will end up raising taxes — and that will be extremely unpopular — for all the goodies that were handed out in this package,” according to Ernst. She says she’s also heard from government leaders who don’t like the bailouts in the bill for poorly run states and cities.

“That have said, hey we had to tighten belts during COVID, we did the right thing, we balanced our city’s budget, and now our taxpayers’ dollars are going to go to the city of Chicago or the state of Illinois,” Ernst says. Ernst says the enthusiasm seen as the payments start arriving this week will subside when people realize the real cost of the bill. “When all of that other stuff comes to light — that’s when it becomes extremely unpopular. And we have seen this in previous administrations too, if you go back to times when previous economic stimulus plans were used,” Ernst says.

The relief bill was pushed through by Democrats without any votes from Republicans. Ernst made her comments in a call with Iowa reporters.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that’s making its way through the legislature could expand the number of people eligible to serve as substitute teachers in Iowa. It would let the Iowa Board of Education Examiners authorize people to be substitute teachers if the person has earned as associates degree or completed at least 60 credit hours as an undergraduate. These AUTHORIZED substitutes would be limited to 10 days per month, while LICENSED substitutes have no such restriction. Representative Garrett Gobble, a social studies teacher in Ankeny, says if this bill had been law when he was a student, he would have had the chance to substitute.

“This bill will allow the next generation of teachers to have the opportunity to experience the classroom and develop into the teacher they want to be in a real world experience,” Gobble says. The bill would make permanent a provision in the governor’s public health emergency proclamation that was designed to help schools find substitute teachers during the pandemic. Margaret Buckton is a lobbyist of the Rural School Advocates of Iowa and the Urban Education Network. She says because of the governor’s emergency order, schools were able to find substitutes who hadn’t considered teaching before.

“So it was great to use that as not just fulfilling that need, but also recruiting new professionals to the classroom,” Buckton says. Senator Tim Goodwin of Burlington is a former teacher, coach and school administrator in southeast Iowa. “(The) teacher sub shortage has been around for quite some time and I can remember where it went from having to have teacher licensure to then a bachelor’s degree and now what’s being proposed now,” he says, “and so any way that we can help bridge that gap, I’m going to be in support of.”

The bill has no registered opposition. It has just cleared a Senate subcommittee and the full House approved it unanimously earlier this month.

ATLANTIC, IA (March 14, 2021) – Anyone thinking about being a vendor at Produce in the Park this summer is invited to attend the 2021 Vendor Meeting Friday, March 19 at 6 PM. The meeting can be attended in person or virtually. Those attending in person are asked to bring their own lawn chairs, and mask and distance. Those interested in attending virtually should contact Market Manager Brigham Hoegh at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-
249-5870 for connection information. RSVPs are appreciated but not required.

Produce in the Park is held every Thursday evening (4:30-6:30 PM) from the beginning of June through the end of September in the beautiful Atlantic City Park. Both food and craft vendors are welcome. Vendors can register for the entire season, or sign up for just a few weeks. Fullseason vendor registration fees are $75 for vendors registered by June 1. More information on Produce in the Park can be found at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

Spring Celebration Market
Produce in the Park continues to welcome vendors for Spring Celebration Market. Spring Celebration Market is a pre-order only market. Pre-orders will be accepted from March 25 –April 1, and customers will drive-through pick-up their purchases at the Cass County Community Center on Saturday, April 3 from 12-2 PM.

Spring Celebration Market is being held the day before Easter, so customers can pick up treats for Easter Baskets and local foods for Easter meals. The market will offer baked goods including Miss Nini’s pies and macarons and The Kringleman’s Danish Kringle, in addition to local meats, produce, eggs, and more.

Vendors interested in participating in Spring Celebration Market should contact the market manager at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-249-5870 by March 19. Spring Celebration Market event details, including vendors, and information on pre-orders will be posted on Produce in the Park’s website www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com and on the Produce in the Park Facebook page www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark.

Produce in the Park 2021 farmers markets are sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, First Whitney Bank & Trust, and Cass County Tourism.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa study finds things you post on social media could prevent you from getting your dream job, even though it’s a fuzzy, gray area for potential employers to be scouring your online accounts. Chad Van Iddekinge, U-I professor of management and entrepreneurship, says they reviewed the Facebook pages of 140 job applicants and compared it to recruiters’ evaluations of those applicants. “Recruiters tended to give higher ratings to people who were in a relationship or married than to single job seekers,” Van Iddekinge says. “They also gave lower ratings to people who included some information about their religious beliefs than to people who didn’t include any religion information on Facebook.”

The study found potentially job-relevant information, like education, work-related training, and written communication skills that were displayed on social media were associated with better evaluations. “More negative behaviors, such as profanity, substance use, information about sexual behavior, and even information about illegal activities,” he says, “recruiters picked up on these types of information and gave lower ratings to the job seekers whose Facebook pages included such information.”

Anyone who’s looking for a job would be wise to “scrub” their social media accounts before applying, he says, because potential employers will certainly be looking. “We would never ask applicants to report on an application information about their race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, political beliefs and so on,” Van Iddekinge says, “but all of this information is widely available on social media. There’s really nothing regulating or prohibiting employers from looking up this information.”

Caution is recommended on all sides, when you’re posting information about yourself online and for potential employers who are harvesting those personal tidbits. “It’s hard to blame organizations who very easily can look up a job applicant to see if there are any red flags,” he says, “but the problem is, once you get exposed to this information, it’s very difficult to set it aside and focus on more job-relevant information.”

The study is being published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

DOW CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Crawford County woman has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death last month of her boyfriend. The Sioux City Journal reports that 44-year-old Beth Guzman, of Dow City, pleaded not guilty Friday to a count of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 46-year-old Jeremy Frank. Crawford County Sheriff’s deputies say they found Frank unresponsive and bleeding after being called Feb. 21 to the home he and Guzman shared.

Frank was taken to a hospital in Denison, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound. Prosecutors say Guzman told investigators she and Frank had argued and that she shot Frank in a bedroom as he tried to leave.