(Radio Iowa) – Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg, a native of Hawarden, says northwest Iowa is proof that private schools do not diminish the performance of public schools.  “The thriving public and private schools right here in this area I believe are proof positive that education and school choice are not a zero sum game,” Gregg says. “All can be winners in that.”

Gregg addressed a crowd in Sioux Center on Wednesday. “If there’s proof anywhere in the state of Iowa and maybe anywhere in the United States that public and private schools can live together harmoniously, it’s Sioux County,” Gregg said. “We’re here in Sioux Center. Sioux Center has an outstanding public school. It also has Sioux Center Christian.”

Sioux Center Christian is a kindergarten through eighth grade school with about 550 students. About three times that many students are enrolled in Sioux Center’s public K-through-12 schools. The governor’s plan to provide 55-hundred dollar state scholarships to 10-thousand private school students has stalled in the Republican-led Iowa House. Critics say it will shift state funding away from public schools in th e42 rural counties in Iowa that do not have a private school. Others say it will become an ever increasing entitlement for the parents of students who attend private schools.

The Page County Sheriff’s Department reports a traffic stop Wednesday on Highway 2, about three-miles east of Clarinda, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Clarinda. 48-year-old Christina Kay Johnston was taken into custody for Driving Under Suspension. She was transported to the Page County Jail and held on $491.25 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – This weekend will mark the 30th annual National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive in Iowa. Mark McNees is a supervisor with the Atlantic Post Office. He say non-perishable goods collected Saturday will benefit the Atlantic Food Pantry. It’s especially important because of the effect COVID had on collection efforts the past two-years. He says in the past the community was always supportive of the food drive.

Bags of food may be placed beside your mailbox — either by the house or at the curb on Saturday morning. McNees says this year, their focus is not so much on getting as many non-perishable goods they can gather, it’s about how much money they can get, in order to secure a grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). The Pantry needs $25,000 to qualify for the federal COVID-19 dollars.

Mark says if you wish to donate cash, please hand it to the carrier directly, or bring it down to the Post Office, which will be open on Saturday. For every $1 raised by the pantry, an additional $4 becomes available from the grant for food purchases by the pantry.

Since 2019, the local number of families served annually, in Atlantic, has tripled and the cost has increased by an even larger amount. The Atlantic Food Pantry has been serving the community since 1982. Donations to the Food Pantry are tax deductible. During its previous 29 years, the USPS food drive has brought in more than one-point-eight billion pounds of food nationwide.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), reports two people were arrested April 30th on drug charges, following a traffic stop at Highway 34 and Mulberry Avenue, in Adams County. Upon further investigation, 21-year-old Braxton Sydness, of Texas, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And 19-year-old Javon Wozny, of Urbandale, was arrested for PCS/Marijuana – 1st offense. Both were transported to the Adams County Jail.

On May 2nd, 38-year-old Alicia Ellen Lovell, of Creston, was arrested in Corning for Public Intoxication. She was also transported to the Adams County Jail.