(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.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Public Health, Wednesday, confirmed the first positive case of MonkeyPox in Pottawattamie County. Pottawattamie County Public Health officials say they are working closely with the IDPH to conduct contact tracing. PCPH is also communicating with local health partners to identify anyone who may be at risk due to close contact with the patient while infectious. People who have been confirmed to have had direct close contact are instructed to watch for symptoms of illness, and are offered a vaccine series. The series is used to prevent symptoms from developing or developing severe illness.

According to the press release, the virus known as monkeypox is most commonly spread through skin contact or by way of shared items that have been contaminated by bodily fluids, but it can also make its way from person to person through “prolonged face-to-face contact” or other means of intimate contact. “Although monkeypox is not generally considered a sexually transmitted infection, it can be transmitted during intimate contact and sex by skin-to-skin and other intimate contact, regardless of gender or sexual orientation,” the release states.

The state and local health departments advise anyone who has had contact with a confirmed or suspected case — or has traveled to a country where monkeypox cases have been reported — to be mindful of symptoms, particularly rashes or lesions.

Symptoms of monkeypox can include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches and backache
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Chills
• Exhaustion
• A rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus.

The rash goes through different stages before healing completely. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks. Sometimes, people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash.

How it Spreads

The virus can spread from person-to-person through:

• direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids
• respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex

Health care providers

• A high index of suspicion for monkeypox is warranted when evaluating people with the characteristic rash, particularly for the following groups:
  • men who report sexual contact with other men and who present with lesions in the genital/perianal area,
  • people reporting a significant travel history in the month before illness onset or
  • people reporting contact with people who have a similar rash or have received a diagnosis of suspected or confirmed monkeypox.

Atlantic, Iowa – The owners of an Atlantic business made a generous donation towards improvements at the Sunnyside Park bandstand.  Doug and Joyce Bierbaum, with Bierbaum Electric said they wanted to “give back” to the city of Atlantic for all the support they have gotten for their business. They donated $5,000 last week for the bandstand improvement project. Atlantic Parks & Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen said the couple approached park staff about their idea, and they discussed different park projects.

“We talked through with them some of our upcoming projects that we have going on throughout all of our parks, and this is one that they felt passionate about donating towards,” Rasmussen said. He said also, leveling the floor of the bandstand would cost approximately $10,000, and the addition of a roof would cost close to $80,000. Bryant said at least two other organizations indicated they would be willing to search for grant funds or collect donations to contribute to the project.

Pictured presenting and accepting a $5,000 donation from Doug and Joyce Bierbaum of Bierbaum Electric to the Atlantic Parks Department are (from left) Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, Doug Bierbaum, Joyce Bierbaum, Atlantic Parks Director Bryant Rasmussen and Atlantic Assistant Parks Director Jeff Christensen. (photo by Jennifer Nichols, Courtesy of the Atlantic News Telegraph).

Rasmussen said a Jefferson resident who recently performed on the bandstand said he wished Jefferson had a similar structure because it was nice to have a permanent structure with electricity available for bands to use.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – An Omaha, Nebraska woman was sentenced on a drug charge Wednesday (Aug. 3rd) in Council Bluffs District Court. A judge ordered 33-year-old Anisha Ilene Luna to serve eight-years in prison, following her plea to a charge of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

In March 2021, the Mills County Sheriff’s Department received information that Luna and her co-defendant, Ronald Wayne Reed II, were planning to deliver an ounce of methamphetamine to a confidential source at a McDonald’s parking lot in Glenwood, Iowa. Deputies surveilled the McDonald’s and saw Luna and Reed arrive in a car. After a probable cause search, deputies found over five grams of methamphetamine in possession of Luna and Reed, which they intended to distribute. Investigation showed that Luna and Reed had distributed over a pound of methamphetamine.

Ronald Reed is scheduled to be sentenced October 5, 2022 in Council Bluffs.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Mills County Sheriff’s Department, Iowa State Patrol, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Ottumwa, Iowa) – An SUV that authorities say was traveling at an excessive rate of speed, went out of control and rolled through an intersection in Ottumwa before it came to rest in a house at 601 E. Williams Street. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of the BMW X3, 44-year-old Jason Tobek, of Ottumwa, died at the scene. He was wearing a seat belt. A passenger in the vehicle,  21-year-old Brianna McConnell, of Ottumwa, was injured in the crash and transported by ambulance to the local hospital.

According to police, there were two people inside the home at the time of the crash, but they were not hurt. The accident happened a little before 10-a.m. today (Wednesday), at the intersection of Williams and Weller Streets. The crash remains under investigation.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Ottumwa Police and Fire Departments, along with the Ottumwa Ambulance Service.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol has issued an alert for people to be on the lookout for a man wanted for murder in Adair County, MISSOURI. Jesse Rongey is #WANTED  is considered Armed & Dangerous. If you have any information, please contact Adair County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Office at 660-665-5621 or the U.S. Marshal’s Office at 877-926-8332 or usmarshals.gov/tips. (click on the image to enlarge)