(Radio Iowa) – The City of Ottumwa has a pit bull ban in place, but the city’s leadership are discussing some changes to the ordinance after hearing from some community members. Ottumwa City Council member Cara Galloway says while she can emphasize with the public’s feelings on both sides of the debate, some people are out of line. I don’t like the threatening emails, the bullying tactics and people being rude,” she said at this week’s city council meeting. “I’m sorry. I understand this is a heated issue, but threatening and bullying is not going to get anyone anywhere. It’s really just going to shut us down from listening and truly understanding what you’re trying to say.”

City Council member Marc Roe says some citizens have threatened legal action.  “People are taking pictures of litigation papers and (saying): ‘We’re just going to sue the city if we don’t get what we want,'” he said during this week’s council meeting. “Here’s my invitation: If the speed of this process to make sure it’s done correctly is not to your liking, please hire an attorney because we’re not going to be threatened by litigation.”

City Administrator Phil Rath did not directly mention the pit bull ban at the council’s meeting this week, but indicated council discussions about the ordinance began last fall. “We looked at other communities, the Iowa Humane Society, different resources,” he said. “The public weighed in, has been weighing in — the pros, cons, people for and against.”

A revised version of the ordinance is expected to be read during the Ottumwa City Council’s May 3rd meeting. It must be publicly read three times at these meetings before the city council can vote on it. The earliest that vote could happen is June 7th. Ottumwa has had a pit bull ban since 2002 after a child died following a pit bull attack.

(Neola, Iowa) – One person was transported to the hospital Wednesday morning by the Neola Fire Department, following a collision in front of the Tri-Center High School in Neola. The accident happened at around 7:45-a.m. No other details are currently available. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

Photo courtesy of Zach Ploen.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, welcomed the City’s newest Police Officer and his family. Nicholas Wimmer was sworn-in with the Oath of Office from Mayor Grace Garrett. Afterward, he spoke about his background and family. Officer Wimmer has two young girls. He and his wife Jamie have been married for nine-years. They moved to the area from Council Bluffs.

Officer Wimmer said his wife sent him a link to the Atlantic P-D job opening. The couple purchased a house in Elk Horn (Iowa), and moved-in Tuesday.

Newly sworn-in Atlantic Police Officer Nicholas Wimmer is congratulated by Mayor Grace Garrett.

Joining his wife and kids in the audience, Wednesday evening, was his mother, father, grandmother and great-great grandmother.

Police Chief Devin Houge said there remains one more position to be filled on the police force before he has a full complement of Officers.

(Breda, IA April 21, 2022) – In early 2021, Western Iowa Networks (WIN) announced fiber optic construction projects as part of a public-private partnership with Mills County. WIN and Mills County have teamed up once again to expand fiber optics even further in Mills County. An area just north of Glenwood has been mapped out which includes portions of Ellington & Gaston Avenues as well as 230th & 237th Streets and an area along and just east of 221st Street (s outlined in red on the map below.)

WIN CEO Jeff Roiland stated, “We are very happy to be working with Mills County again on this particular project that will make fiber available to almost 230 additional Mills County homes.” Roiland added “What we have been able to accomplish through this partnership is truly extraordinary and is a huge benefit to the residents of Mills County. The vision of the County Supervisors to see what this will do for their home and business owners in building towards the future is quite remarkable.”

Construction will be wrapping up in the Loess Hills fiberhood project this summer and the crews will then transition to begin construction in the Glenwood North fiberhood. Once a more accurate timeline is available, it will be posted on the Status of Fiberhoods page here https://fiber.westianet.com/mills-county-map/. This network will bring fiber internet with speeds of 100Gbps, 500Gbps and 1Gbps as well as Phone to residents in this area. WIN will be offering construction of a fiber drop to the home at no cost as well as free installation to everyone who signs up for services before the network construction is complete.

Mills County Supervisor Lonnie Mayberry stated “Mills County and Western Iowa Networks started our partnership a few years ago when we worked together on our Broadband Study. Since then, the partnership has grown exponentially. Mills County assisted in helping WIN acquire several grants to install fiber throughout the entire unincorporated part of the county.” Mayberry added “This will help the residents of Mills County both now and into the future. They’re a great company to work with and the staff and support is top notch. I can’t recommend them enough.”

Residents and businesses in any of the service area can sign up for fiber optic services online at www.westianet.com, by calling or texting 712-775-2946 or by calling toll-free at 888-508-2946.

CLIVE, Iowa — A southwest Iowa man woke up his wife to tell her he’d won a big Powerball prize, but neither of them realized it was $100,000. “She was still sleeping,”

Cody Marsh

Cody Marsh said he woke his wife Kylee up, and told her he thought he had won $20,000.” He says “She thought I was joking with her. It took us an hour to realize we’d won $100,000.” Marsh, 37, of Red Oak, matched four of five white balls and the Powerball in Monday’s drawing. He was one number away from winning that night’s $352.5 million jackpot.

Marsh bought his winning easy-pick ticket at Casey’s, 201 N. Broadway in Red Oak. He said he buys a Powerball ticket every now and then, but only when the jackpot is elevated. “The guy in front of me was buying some scratch-off tickets and reminded me nobody won the Powerball this last round,” Marsh said. “I ended up buying another two tickets.”

He checked his numbers the morning after the drawing. The more numbers he matched, the more excited he became. But it wasn’t until later, when he scanned the ticket with the Iowa Lottery mobile app, that he realized the size of his prize. “I was shaking. I was like, ‘Holy cow!'” he said. “I’ve got a few home projects that I’ve been working on saving up some money for and this will help out quite a bit. It’ll be really nice.”

Marsh’s initial $50,000 prize was doubled because he opted for the $1 Power Play^® add-on, which multiples non-jackpot prize amounts by up to 10 times. He claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Clive.

The winning numbers in Monday’s drawing were 8-33-55-59-62 and Powerball 18. The Power Play was 2.

Update 4/21/22: The Powerball jackpot remains unclaimed. The top prize for the next drawing Saturday, April 23^rd, is $400-million.