(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a man was arrested early this (Thursday) morning. Authorities say 57-year-old Jon Eric Hightshoe, of Creston, was arrested at around 12:30-a.m. at Howard and Grand. He was charged with OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Hightshoe was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Late Wednesday night, 36-year-old Douglas Edward Woodward III, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred. He has since posted a $2,000 cash or surety bond. And, Wednesday afternoon, 36-year-old Heather Layne Green, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. She was cited and released from the scene on a promise to appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – Back-to-school shoppers will get a bit of a break when the annual tax free weekend starts tomorrow. Iowa Department of Revenue spokesman, John Fuller says “It starts Friday at 12:01 a-m and goes through Friday and Saturday.” Fuller says you can purchase clothing and shoes tax-free. “At tax.iowa.gov there’s a list of what is non taxable and what would be taxable,” Fuller says. “For instance, hiking boots, you can wear those pretty much every day. So if there are 100 dollars or less — that’s the key — these are items are 100 dollars or less — you will not have to pay state sales tax which is seven percent. But something like rollerblades you would have to pay sales tax.”

Fuller says he is often asked if the sales tax holiday includes online sales. “And the answer to that is ‘yes’, as long as you order and pay for the items during the two day period,” he says.  He expects a lot of Iowans to take advantage of the event. “So the Department estimates that the Iowans will save about five million dollars on this upcoming tax free weekend,” Fuller says.

Iowa’s tax free weekend ends at 11:59 p-m this Saturday.

(Radio Iowa) – A national parental rights group has filed a lawsuit challenging an eastern Iowa school district’s policy for transgender students. The lawsuit accuses the Linn-Mar School District of allowing children to make decisions about their gender identity without any parental involvement. Linn-Mar students in 7th through 12th grades may use different names or pronouns at school and use the restroom that matches their gender identity — and choose whether their parents are notified.

Linn-Mar School Board members who adopted the policy in April said the plan follows federal guidelines for supporting transgender youth in school. Parents Defending Education, the group that filed the lawsuit, is also alleging the district is violating the First Amendment by threatening to discipline classmates or school staff who refuse to call a student by their preferred pronouns or new name.

(Sheldon, Iowa) [Updated 8:19 PM, 8/3/22) – A teenager who suffered life-threatening injuries when his scooter was struck by a car in northwest Iowa, Wednesday, has succumbed to those injuries. The accident happened in O’Brien County. The Iowa State Patrol says a 15-year male was riding a 2018 Honda NPS-50 scooter north of Sheldon. The scooter was traveling westbound on 280th Street at around 12:32-p.m. when it entered he intersection with Highway 60, and was struck by a 2016 Hyundai Elantra, traveling southbound on Highway 60. The driver of the car was identified as 71-year-old Bonnie Jean Allison, of Spencer. She was not hurt.

Following the collision, the car came to rest 300-feet south of the intersection, and the scooter came to rest in the middle of the intersection. The unidentified operator of the Honda was transported by Sheldon EMS to the hospital in Sheldon, where he later died. The accident remains under investigation.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council met this (Wednesday) evening in their chambers at City Hall. During the Consent Agenda portion of the meeting, Councilman Dana Halder requested the topic of a Class C Liquor License for Weitzel’s Restaurant be pulled from that part of the agenda, so it can be discussed and acted on separately. The rest of the Consent Agenda was approved, including a Class-C Liquor License for the Atlas Atlantic Cinema. In asking for the item to be pulled from the Consent Agenda, Councilman Halder said he was not happy with the appearance of the property

Councilman Gerald Brink had another reason why the permit shouldn’t be approved.

Halder explained further, that he wanted to deny approval of Weitzel’s their liquor license “due to the fact they are not following our City Ordinances.”

There being no further discussion and no motion to approve the license, it was automatically denied.

Atlantic City Council mtg, 8/3/2022

In other business, the Council approved a change order for the Bull Creek Improvement project, which results in a net change in the amount of just under $6,100. The Council is pleased with the amount of work that has been done on the project. Snyder and Associates Engineer & Project Manager Jeff Godwin said the project is very close to being completed.

ARPA funds will address the cost of the change order. The Council held a Public Hearing on a proposed amendment to the Southeast Urban Renewal District. Having received no comments written or spoken, they approved the amendment which provides Tax Increment Financing (TIF) support to Boose Building Construction, L.C., in connection with the construction of public infrastructure necessary for the development of housing in the Redwood Subdivision, and ,uses TIF to pay the costs of acquiring property and constructing public infrastructure necessary for the development of the Prairie Hills Development.

The Atlantic City Council passed the second reading of an Ordinance pertaining to parking regulations, which allows parking for two-hours on Thursday’s, on the west side of Palm Street, between 6th and 7th Streets, for drive-through food distribution from the Atlantic Food Pantry. The hours affected are 11:30-a.m. to 1:30-p.m.