Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber, Tuesday, released the District’s latest COVID-19 data. In his statement, Barber said “We continue to see positive cases and quarantined individuals, yet we have not experienced a breakout in any of our buildings.  Our absenteeism rate for students not quarantined is around 1% daily, which is really good.  We serve our quarantined students remotely, as each student has a device and internet is available to ensure that all have access.  Our staff continues to work hard at using the technology tools to enhance these experiences.”

He said also, “As a school district, we were fortunate to make it nearly four weeks before we were notified of a positive case requiring our nursing staff and Cass County to identify close contacts and quarantine those identified.  Since then we have had staff and students who have tested positive that required us to inform those affected that they must quarantine.  I realize that quarantine presents a lot of difficulties for parents, students, and staff and it is amazing to me how cooperative and understanding many have been when they receive a call from the school and/or Cass County Health.  Our data shows that this practice has been successful in preventing spreading within the school.”

“From day one,” Barber says, “we have gathered both school and county data to help us make decisions or modifications as we hold health and safety our top priority.  Starting on September 24, the week following our first case, we have kept data on the number of positive cases in the district as well as the number of students and staff quarantined.  These data points have been recorded each week at the same time to help make decisions.”

The Superintendent says “As new information becomes available to us in regards to COVID-19, we revisit and reassess how we can enhance the mitigation strategies that we have in place to help overcome the negative consequences associated with COVID-19 and maintain a high level of safety and health while our students are in our care.”

(The above information, Barber says, will be updated to the public each month to protect confidentiality of students and staff.)

Red Oak Police report two men were arrested on separate charges, Tuesday night. At around 7:30-p.m., 50-year old Kevin Wayne Watkins, of Red Oak, was arrested on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance/2nd offense. Watkins was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond. And, at around 10:50-p.m., 42-year old Matthew Larry Eichelberger, of Elliott, was arrested following a traffic stop in Red Oak. Eichelberger was charged with Driving Under Suspension, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on slightly more than $566 bond.

PATON, Iowa (AP) — For the second time in as many months, a huge blade has broken off from its wind turbine in central Iowa. Television station KCCI reports the latest incident happened Thursday near Paton in Green County. No one was hurt. That follows a similar incident in mid-September, when another blade dropped from a turbine near Adel and crashed into a corn field. Officials say the blades are 177 feet long and weigh 18,000 pounds.

Mid-American Energy tells the station that in both cases, the blades were equipped with a specific type of lightning protection system. MidAmerican said such incidents are “extremely rare,” but acknowledged that even one incident is unacceptable.

Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller reports club FFA member Malena Woodward presented a paper virtually to the Global Youth Institute on Tuesday, October 13th. Woodward’s paper was on malnutrition in Puerto Rico and provided several options to help solve this issue that affects 1.5 million Puerto Rican’s every year. Malena’s solutions included additional education for school age students with an emphasis on growing food on the island. Puerto Rico imports 85% of the food they need every year.

Malena Woodward (Photo submitted)

Malena said, “I really enjoyed the presentations, I thought it was interesting hearing the ideas of other students and experts trying to solve world hunger as well as hearing their input and giving me more ideas about my topic “. In addition to this experience Malena earned 2 scholarships for Iowa State University. The first was for $500 for participating in the Iowa Youth Institute in April and the second was for $2,000 for participating in the Global Youth Institute this week.

Malena had 8 other students in her roundtable discussion from 5 different states and 1 student from China. Each of these individuals had presentations on Water & Sanitation issues in Ireland, Infectious Disease in Burundi, Sustainable Agriculture in Guatemala, the Education Gap in El Salvador, Climate Volatility in Bangladesh, War and Conflict in Yemen, Policy and Governmental Conflict in Zimbabwe and Water Scarcity in Uganda.

Not only did Malena present to a group of students, she spoke to and was given feedback from 3 distinguished experts in a variety of different fields. Dr. Ruth MacDonald Iowa State University Professor and Chair, Food Science and Human Nutrition. Dr. Glenn Gregorio Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)Director and Mr. Stan Carlson Former Canadian diplomat and United Nations Official.

On Friday the Global Youth Institute wrapped up with a keynote address by His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan and a round table discussion with all of the student participants and more than a dozen government officials CEO’s of nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 business leaders from all over the world.

ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE: The World Food Prize is the foremost international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. The Prize was founded in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, the World Food Prize has honored 50 outstanding individuals who have made vital contributions throughout the world. The World Food Prize annually hosts the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium and a variety of youth education programs to help further the discussion on cutting-edge global food security issues and inspire the next generation to end hunger.

Griswold School District Superintendent Dave Henrichs reports the district’s spending authority has beaten 2016 financial projections. Spending Authority is the amount a district has the “right” to spend, but it does not mean it intends to do so. Four-years ago, Hendrichs said, it looked as though the District would have a substantial negative balance by 2020.

In other business, Henrichs said the Board approved Video Streaming Compensation for Teachers who have overseen the Communications Arts program, which includes live streaming of events. The grant has expired, and the Board agreed to compensate those teachers $25 per hour for their after-hours work. The Board also approved the 2020-21 Certified Enrollment Report, which Henrichs says shows the number of kids residing in the District, is 452 (down 5 from last year). The other enrollment number is called “Beds” (Basic Educational Data Survey).

Henrichs said they predicted the number would be around 15. Henrichs said also, the Board approved the offering of an Early Retirement package.

And, the Griswold School Board, Monday, approved the purchase and installation of a 12-foot by 18-foot roll-up flag that would be displayed

The flag was ordered today [Today]. They hope to have it installed by the start of the winter sports season.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped by more than one percent in September. Iowa Workforce Development reports the September rate is four-point-seven percent — down from six percent in August. It is the fifth consecutive month the state unemployment rate has dropped since peaking at 11 percent in April during the height of the pandemic. The number of unemployed Iowans is estimated at 111-thousand-400 lower than that April peak.

Leisure and hospitality gained the most jobs in September at 41-hundred — and Workforce Development says those were predominantly jobs at eating and drinking establishments. I-W-D says there are 64-thousand job openings across the state.

Law enforcement agencies across the country (including the Cass County Sheriff’s Office), have issued warnings with regard to schemes aimed at playing on emotions for the “Blue Lives Matter” movement. The schemes involve telemarketers who often target elderly donors. The callers claim to be from a variety of generic and similar-sounding alias organizations, such as The Police Officers Support Association, the National Emergency Responders Coalition and the National Coalition for Police & Troopers.

Many donors say they believed they were supporting a charity that helps local officers. But none of the money being raised actually goes to police departments, according to government records. Instead, their contributions end up with a super PAC, Law Enforcement for a Safer America, which has ties to a controversial union and spends the majority of its money on its own operating costs.

At least seven local police departments from around the country and a state attorney general have issued “scam alerts” and other notices about these fundraising efforts, warning residents in their communities as recently as this summer that they have no affiliation with this group.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests. At around 3:35-a.m. Tuesday (today), 48-year old Michael Dean Craig, of Lorimor, was arrested in Lorimor, for public intoxication. Craig was being held in the Union County Jail on $300 bond. Monday evening, 20-year old Marissa Kay Waigand, of Afton, was arrested in Afton for possession of paraphernalia. Waigand was being held for Union County in the Adams County Jail on $300 bond. And, Sunday evening, 63-year old Kevin Edward Connelly, of Lorimor, was arrested in Lorimor for Trespass. Connelly was released from the Union County Jail after pleading guilty to the charge.

A woman from Creston reported to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Monday afternoon, that sometime over the weekend, someone entered her storage unit in Creston and took $160 worth of Little Debbie products.

A new program aimed at helping persons with delinquent fines square their accounts away, was recently set into place in Audubon County. Acting Audubon County Attorney Brenna Bird says the new program makes paying what you much easier and less burdensome on your wallet. Bird says “The Judicial Branch allows the County Attorney’s Office to enter into payment plans with folks.” She says it’s a win-win for everyone. It benefits taxpayers, victims of crimes, the people who owe money, and Audubon County. The County, she says, gets 28% of the money that comes in, which is applied to the County’s fund set-up to help those operations.

The 28% does NOT reduce the money paid to victims. She said “Victims always get paid first. The first dollar right off the top.” There’s no discount to what they receive just because there’s a collections program.The court system handles a variety of offenses and fines, including traffic citations, expired license, restitution following a criminal offense conviction and court-appointed  attorney fees. Bird says getting those debts paid-off is important to keeping or getting your driver’s license.

Bird says they understand it’s very difficult for people to get their lives back together after they are arrested for drugs, OWI or other offenses. A lot of the cases they see are drug related. This program, she says, offers a way to for those persons to get back on track.

All you have to do is call the Audubon County Attorney’s Office at 712-563-2202 and let their staff research your case. They’ll call you back with an equitable solution to paying your fine(s) to the Clerk of Court. You can also e-mail them at audcoatty@auduboncountyia.gov.

Please note, you cannot have someone call for you, as the information they need and provide is personal and confidential.

There were three arrests recently and two accidents reported, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday (today), 24-year old Kylee Christine Goff, of Ashland, NE., was arrested at around 1:25-a.m. Sunday, for OWI/1st offense. She was taken into custody following an investigation into a suspicious vehicle on the railroad access road on the north side of Highway 34 at the intersection with Levi Road. Deputies were able to determine Goff’s 2012 Subaru Impreza struck a tree at that location, after failing to stop at the stop sign. The car had continued across Hwy34 before it ran through the access road gate and came to a stop against a tree, about 100-yards further up the access road. Her bond was set at $1,000.

At around 11:40-p.m. Saturday, 36-year old Shanna Marie Black, of Glenwood, was arrested in Glenwood for Possession of a controlled substance, two counts of Child Endangerment, and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $5,300. Friday evening, 36-year old Matthew Scott Lightly, of Clarinda, was arrested in Mills County, for Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000.

Authorities say 33-year old Kyle Davis, of Glenwood, was charged with OWI/1st offense, following an accident involving a patrol vehicle. Officials say a 2011 Chevy Caprice patrol vehicle was on a traffic stop at 5th and Locust Streets in Glenwood. The cruiser’s emergency lights were active, when at around 2:25-a.m., Davis, who was driving a 2017 Chevy Malibu, attempted to pass as Davis was traveling northbound on Locust. Davis failed to allow for sufficient space between his vehicle and the patrol vehicle. After his car struck the patrol vehicle, Davis was determined to be intoxicated. He was transported to the Mills County Jail.