[Updated] (Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber reported to the School Board during their meeting Wednesday evening, that throughout the school year, they lost a few days of instructional time, due to inclement weather, and the State Wrestling Tournament. Given all the instructional time lost, Mr. Barber said the District will still meet the required 1,080 hours.

To finish the year, he said they would make up the student day on May 26, 2022, which is one of the two days lost to weather. There would be an early dismissal time on that day. Staff, he said, will be required to make up two additional days on Friday, May 27, 2022 and Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Hopefully, he says, some of  that time can be used by Middle School Teachers to pack-up materials that will be transferred by the the Middle School.

Steve Barber said also, a former AHS graduate is donating 81, three-year old, high-quality work stations that his company, Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., no longer has a need for.

Some of the tables will be used to replace older tables and other places, where collaboration is required. He mentioned also, that with the Federal Government ceasing to provide free breakfast and lunches to all school age students to reduce the financial burden on families over the past 18 months, the policy will go away beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

Mr. Barber said this will be a change for all of our families, and with everyone receiving free breakfast and lunches over time, some families have not taken the time to fill out the free and reduced application. Over the next few months, Barber said the District will continue to inform everyone of the changes that are coming, and the importance of filling out the paperwork, to see if you qualify to free or reduced lunches.

In other school board news…Following a public hearing, they Board approved a tax levy of $13.25 per one thousand dollars of valuation. The board agreed to lower the tax levy rate from $13.95 to $13.25 to offset the financial impact on property taxpayers due to the 7.09 percent increase in property valuations. The School Board also approved a $935,000.00 debt service payment, saving taxpayers money in interest payments.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Supreme Court justices are being asked to resolve a question that has sparked a legal challenge and has the potential to boot Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer from the June Primary ballot. “Does a signature on a nominating petition missing a date get to be counted?” Attorney Sam Langholz told the justices the list of disqualifying errors in one section of Iowa law does not mention the date on a petition’s signature line.

Langholz represents the State Objection Panel, which allowed three nominating signatures for Finkenauer that had a zip code instead of a date, had the wrong date and had no date listed at all. Alan Ostergren is the attorney representing two Republicans who challenged those three signatures, arguing there’s another section of state law which says a date is required on the signature line.

“Ordinarily these cases don’t reach this court because ordinarily candidates file more signatures than they need to and that’s why we’re here. You don’t come in right at the line,” Ostergren says. “Inevitably some signatures are not going to county.” During an hour-long hearing this (Wednesday) afternoon, Iowa Supreme Court justices quizzed the attorneys representing both sides in the dispute.

Gary Dickey, an attorney for Finkenauer’s campaign, was asked by a justice if the two Republicans who filed the challenge had legal standing to do so. “Before the district court, they didn’t allege any injury…They didn’t claim they’d register as a Democrat,” Dickey says. “What is their personal interest in the judicial review?” The court has not indicated when it might rule on the case.

State election officials say the printing deadline for the Primary ballot is Monday at 5 p.m., so absentee ballots can be mailed by April 23rd to overseas voters. If the Supreme Court’s decision doesn’t come before then, the district court ruling that knocked Finkenauer off the ballot will be in force.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen said Wednesday, the Parks Depart, in an effort to find and retain lifeguards for the Sunnyside Pool this season, the wage for those persons qualified to serve as a lifeguard, has increased to $11-per hour.

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CRESTON, Iowa – April 13, 2022 – A bridge deck overlay project on east- and westbound Interstate 80 between Iowa 173 (exit 54) three miles east of Marne, and Cass County Road N-16 (exit 57) five miles west of Brayton, will require reducing traffic to one lane in each direction controlled with temporary barrier rail beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, until Aug. 6, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office.

Work on this project will be completed in stages with the left lane closed first and then the right lane closed after work is completed in the left lane. A 13-foot-8-inch lane width limit will be in effect during this project.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

Algona, Iowa – Authorities in Iowa say an investigation into an April 9th shooting incident in Algona has resulted in the arrest of a man from Missouri. At around 10:25-a.m., Saturday (4/9/22), the Algona Police Department received a report of shots fired and a vehicle leaving the area of North Park Drive in Algona, at a high rate of speed.  Officers responded and located a male victim who had been shot at, but not hit, and identified other witnesses to the altercation.  Officers determined that the two men involved in the altercation knew each other.

An attempt to locate was broadcasted to area law enforcement agencies and the suspect vehicle was stopped by the Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement on Interstate 35 near Williams, Iowa.

Officers identified 20-year-old Michael Street, of Fredericktown, MO, as the subject who allegedly fired shots.  Street was arrested, charged with Attempted Murder, and is currently in custody at the Kossuth County jail.

The Algona Police Department was assisted by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement, the Clear Lake Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday afternoon, approved the sale of $5-million worth of General Obligation Urban Renewal Bonds, Series 2022, to 1st National Capital Markets (FNCM), of Omaha. Maggie Burger, Senior Vice President with Speer Financial, Inc., of Waterloo, said there were seven bids for the purchase of the bonds. FNCM, Burger said, offered a true interest rate of 2.5575%.

Burger said the 2.55% interest rate was slightly lower than what they were running projections on when they were were talking about the final Debt Service schedule. She said the County’s rating is a Aa3.

A-/A3 are medium investment grade credit ratings offered by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Both ratings signify that the issuer has financial backing and some cash reserves with a low risk of default. A-/A3 is the seventh-highest rating a debt issuer can receive and is four rankings above the cutoff for junk bonds. The investor/bidders were pleased with the way the County’s taxable valuation has grown over the past five-years.

Other factors, such as unemployment data that is below the State and National level, and all of the County’s Debt is fixed, attributed to the favorable interest rate. The bonds are callable after June 1st, 2029.  In other business, the Adair County Supervisors passed a Resolution with regard to a stop light and stop signs on a Farm to Market Road, in the City of Orient.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says based on the federal investigation of problems at the state-run facility in Glenwood that provides residential care for Iowans with intellectual and developmental disabilities — closure was really the only choice left to state officials.”This was a really, really tough decision, but after two years of COVID and after the DOJ’s findings and what their recommendations are, after continually trying to look for ways to make that work, we can’t,” Reynolds says.

The Department of Justice released a report in December that concludes the majority of residents at the Glenwood Resource Center could be cared for in private, community-based facilities instead and the state would spend less money on that care compared to the institutional setting at Glenwood. “Honestly, their objective is to go to community based living,” Reynolds says. “That’s where they believe the residents should be and so when you take all of that into account, we didn’t have a choice,”

Last Thursday, Reynolds announced the Glenwood Resource Center would close in two years after some residents are transferred to a similar state facility in Woodward, but the majority go into private care settings. Staff who stay during the transition will be paid retention bonuses and other employees are being offered job search assistance. “That really gives the respect and dignity to the residents and to the people that work there and have served these residents for years,” Reynolds says.

The governor says it was growing more difficult to find staff, plus she says there had been legitimate questions raised in 2019 about the care and safety of residents — leaving closure as the final option. “We have to move forward and so I appreciate all of the efforts that’s been put into doing that in a respectful manner because I’m telling you no one wants to make that decision and it’s hard,” Reynolds says. “Really hard.”

Iowa Department of Human Services director Kelly Garcia met with the family members and guardians of Glenwood residents this weekend and other state officials have been in Glenwood to talk about what’s next.

Reynolds made her remarks to reporters after attending an event on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

IOWA — Officials with tech giant Google today (Wednesday), announced plans to invest more than $50 million in Iowa in 2022. Nationally, Google plans to invest approximately $9.5 billion in offices and data centers and create at least 12,000 new full-time Google jobs across the U.S. this year. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet says “Google’s offices and data centers provide vital anchors to our local communities and help us contribute to their economies. As we embrace more flexibility in how we work, we believe it’s more important than ever to invest in our campuses and that doing so will make for better products, a greater quality of life for our employees, and stronger communities. That’s why we’re planning to invest approximately $9.5 billion in U.S. offices and data centers this year, creating more than 12,000 Google jobs in communities across the country.”

Google has called Iowa home for more than a decade with a data center in Council Bluffs that has created jobs for over 900 people in a variety of full-time and external supplier roles, including computer technicians, engineers and various food services, maintenance and security roles. Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh says “Google’s new $50 million investment announced today underscores their commitment to our Council Bluffs community. Building upon the $5 billion already invested in the Council Bluffs data center facilities, this new investment will continue to provide a ripple of economic impact throughout the state.” Google’s data center in Council Bluffs came online in 2009.

Google also released their 2021 Economic Impact Report today, sharing how Google helped provide $1.45 billion of economic activity for thousands of Iowa businesses, nonprofits, publishers, creators and developers last year. More than 187,000 Iowa businesses received requests for directions, phone calls, bookings, reviews, and other direct connections to their customers from Google in 2021. The company has awarded more than $3 million to local schools and nonprofits in Iowa.