(Atlantic, Iowa) – As a reminder, Atlantic Rising, in partnership with Hy-Vee, will continue to lead the Christmas Box Program this holiday season. The program was originally started by West Central Community Action over 20 years ago. The Jaycees took over the program soon after it started and then passed the program to Atlantic Rising in 2018. According to Kelsey Beschorner, Atlantic Rising Treasurer/Secretary, the program helps families and individuals in need of a Christmas dinner. “Atlantic Rising members, along with community volunteers, delivered boxes to 180 individuals and families last year. With today’s continued challenges, we expect to see a continued increase in nominations this year,” Beschorner said. 

Atlantic Rising hosted the 7th Annual Trivia Night this past St. Patrick’s Day. The event featured eight teams that went head-to-head competing in eight rounds of trivia that contained ten questions each. Categories ranged from math to movies to Disney and everything in between. There is a prize awarded to the winning team. Teams were also encouraged to create team themes to add to the fun of the evening. “Trivia Night…” Kelsey says “… is the organization’s main fundraising event for Christmas Boxes, and year after year participants enjoy a fun night while raising money for an impactful project. With the projected numbers of families served, we will also be reaching out to businesses and community members asking for donations and volunteers to help serve as many families as possible. Any time our community needs us, we are there to put in the work.”

On December 12th, members of Atlantic Rising and local volunteers will fill and deliver boxes of food items to families and individuals who can then use them to cook Christmas dinner. Beschorner says “Atlantic Rising is proud to carry on this tradition of the Christmas Box program, and we are thankful that we are able to partner with Hy-Vee and give back to the community in such a great way.”

To nominate a family or individual, or if you are interested in volunteering, contact Atlantic Rising at 712.243.3017 or chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Discount AtlantiCash event has been rescheduled from this Saturday, November 9^th, to Small Business Saturday November 30^th. “Due to unforeseen shipping delays with our cash, we’ve rescheduled the event to pair with Small Business Saturday. It will be a great morning to come out, get discount AtlantiCash, and then shop small,” Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce stated.

From 9 AM – 12 PM Saturday, November 30^th only, AtlantiCash will be available in packs of $100 for $80, a 20% discount. Shoppers can purchase up to three packs. Payment must be made at time of purchase in the form of cash or check only. There is a first-come, first-purchased basis with only a limited amount of AtlantiCash available. Purchase will not be allowed before Saturday and bundles cannot be reserved for later pickup. Discount AtlantiCash and the Holiday Open House are brought to you by First Whitney Bank & Trust, Cappel’s Ace Hardware, Rush CPA & Associates and Property Connection Real Estate.

Pick up your Christmas brochure from area retail businesses, ‘like’ the Chamber on Facebook or follow on Instagram to find dates and details to celebrate Christmas in Atlantic. You can find a complete list of activities and a printable version of the brochure at www.atlanticiowa.com.

Capture the Christmas magic with #MyAtlanticIA and post to the Atlantic Area Chamber’s Facebook page or Instagram (AtlanticIowaFan). Contact the Atlantic Area Chamber with any questions at chamber@atlanticiowa.com or call 712-243-3017. Christmas in Atlantic is presented by Gregg Young of Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned about online criminals who are threatening to expose people’s alleged shady internet habits. Lisa Schiller, at the Better Business Bureau, says they’re tracking a type of “sextortion” blackmail scam where con artists will claim they have evidence of you watching porn. “They’ll say they gained access to all of the websites that you visited,” she says, “and then they threaten to send embarrassing images or videos to your contacts, your family, friends, coworkers, if, of course, payment is not made.”

Image from FBI.gov

Schiller says these scams can be effective because no one wants to talk about this, much less if they’ve fallen for it. She says the crooks want to spook people into sending money immediately. “Scammers will contact somebody, anybody, whether or not they visited a pornographic site or sent any explicit photos anywhere,” she says, “and they’ll claim that they hacked your computer, they activated your webcam and recorded you.”

Schiller says this tracks along with other scams like the I-R-S or warrant scams, where callers try to scare you into immediate action. If you get one of these calls, she says to simply hang up.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The number of deaths by suicide in Iowa decreased in 2023 for the first time, significantly, in almost 10 years, according to updated data from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which also showed an increase in teen suicide rates. The data, as part of the Iowa Public Health Tracking Portal, also showed immunization rates, statistics around births and deaths in the state, rates of sexually transmitted infections and the top baby names for 2023. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says the portal is a centralized hub for public health data throughout the state. The majority of statistics monitored are Nationally Consistent Data Measures, which are set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and make it possible to compare data from state to state. The data visualizations are regularly updated with new figures as the department processes the information.

Below are some of the updates to the portal from fall 2024:

Immunization records

The percentage of the population who received a flu vaccination has declined since 2020 for Iowans under 65. However, 64% of Iowans over the age of 65 received a flu vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season, up significantly from the 2021-2022 year when just 41% of that age group received a flu shot.

The Iowa Public Health Tracking Portal has updated data visualizations on flu immunization rates in the state and by county. (Graphic courtesy of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services)

Nearly 34% of all Iowans, regardless of age, received a flu vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season. Less than 16% of Iowans received a COVID-19 vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season, with the majority of immunized Iowans residing in urban areas like Polk or Johnson counties.

Vital records

Maternal and paternal ages have increased steadily since 2006, with the average age for Iowa mothers, or parent A, at 29, and fathers, or parent B, at 31 in 2023. Nearly 100 more males than females were born in Iowa in 2023. Live birth and death rates have remained stable over the past 20 years in Iowa.

The percent of premature births remained the same from 2022 to 2023, but has increased 1.6% since 2000. And overall, there were 36,505 babies born in Iowa in 2023, about 1,000 fewer babies than were born in 2019, according to the department.

Heart disease was the number one cause of death in Iowa, followed by cancer in 2023. Cancer as a cause of death has decreased slightly from 2013, while the rate of death from diseases of the heart has stayed around the same, at about 18 per 10,000 people.

Other leading causes of death for 2023, and over the past 20 years, include cerebrovascular diseases (including stroke), chronic lower respiratory diseases and unintentional injuries, including transportation accidents and natural disasters. The 2023 data also show men were reported dying from most of these causes at higher rates than women.

Death by suicide went down in Iowa in 2023, to fewer than 500, for the first time since 2018. The number peaked in 2022, with nearly 600 reported deaths by suicide in Iowa. The teenage suicide rate for the state, however, increased from 3.1% in 2022 to 5.2% in 2023. County specific data is also available on the state data portal, which shows teens die by suicide at higher rates in Polk County than the state as a whole.

Sexually transmitted infections: The fall data update also included 2023 cases of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis in the state. Chlamydia is the most common out of the three, though cases declined from 2022 by about 1,000. Gonorrhea cases have similarly declined, but cases of syphilis in the state have drastically increased from fewer than 300 cases in 2018 to nearly 950 cases in 2023.

This is not unique to Iowa, however, syphilis cases have been on the rise nationally, and according to NPR is linked to increased substance abuse, decreased condom use and a lack of testing, or access to testing, for sexually transmitted diseases.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two people were arrested on separate charges Wednesday, in Red Oak. According to the Red Oak Police Department, 50-year-old Shannon Ray Porter, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 11:15-a.m., for 5th Degree Theft. Porter was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

And, at around 1:10-p.m., Red Oak Police officers arrested 56-year-old Peggy Jean Bradway, of Red Oak, for Assault on persons in certain occupations – bodily injury, 1st Degree Harassment, Interference with Official Acts, Disorderly Conduct, and False reporting to Emergency Communications. Bradway was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol says a trooper in Polk County recently pulled a driver over going 105 miles per hour on Highway 5. Troopers say the driver was a 16-year-old. In a social media post, the Patrol said “Imagine the disbelief on CMVU (Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit) Trooper Daniels’ face as a 16-year-old driver zipped past him on Hwy 5 (Polk County)! A great reminder…If you’re out late, remember to drive carefully on your way home—your parents will appreciate knowing you made it back safely!”

The speed limit on the highway is 70 miles per hour.

Iowa State Patrol photo