The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, heard from City Administrator John Lund, who told them he’s been stressed out from crunching the budget numbers to make it work for the City. Lund said “We’ve had a really good run the past six-years of being basically on a property tax starvation diet, and not raising our utility fees, but the budget is really not fun for me anymore. It used to be…when I felt like if I spent all my time and creativity that there is a solution that is going to make a win-win for everyone, I actually enjoyed it no matter how many hours I spent working on it.”

Lund said he’s not getting to that point anymore, and the stress level is getting to high for him. Councilman Gerald Brink said “This too shall pass,” and that “We’re not always going to be stuck in the situation that we are right now. We’re all aware of what the financial woes are going to be. We’ll be very supportive of what you do.” Councilman Pat McCurdy agreed they would help him all they can.

Mayor Dave Jones said compared to other cities of our size, “There are a lot of cities that are worse [off] than we are.” He said we can get by without all the “Bells and whistles” we’ve been doing. Lund said on the bright side, it appears the City’s Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenues will not be as drastically off as feared at the onset and height of the coronavirus. He said State calculations show a LOST decline of just 4.2-percent, which surprised him, and is in-line with the modest growth the City has experienced over the past 10-years.

He said “Atlantic’s incredibly stable and predictable. There’s very little that happens here that you can’t immediately point to… that explains any explosive growth.” He said recovery falls into the same pattern. Lund said an official with the Iowa Department of Revenue said Cass County has not been nearly affected as other areas of the State in terms of sales tax, and that there may actually be a reconciliation check in November, which Lund said he was not expecting, and there may even a been a slight amount of growth over the past fiscal year.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council approved the final readings of amended ordinances pertaining to:

1. A curfew for persons under the age of 18 (a change in wording from Midnight to 6-p.m. for the end of curfew instead of 6-a.m.)
2. The division of taxes levied on taxable property in the June, 2020 addition to the North Urban Renewal District (with regard to the Whitney Group’s Historic Hotel Whitney Building project).

The Council also approved the second reading of amended ordinances that include:

1. Licensing of Tree Trimmers (to include proof of Worker’s Comp Insurance [if applicable])
2. Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants (to include mobile food vendors & insurance requirements)
3. Truck and Large Vehicle parking (to allow boats, boat trailers, campers, RV’s or travel trailers to be parked on the front yard of a property, but behind a sidewalk on private property, and not projecting into the right-of-way).
4. and, an amended Ordinance requiring specific types of insurance and a dollar amount of coverage, for individuals and businesses who wish to perform work for the City.

They also approved an Order to close 9th Street between Plum and Cherry Streets on July 18th, for a Neighborhood Block Party. The street will be closed-off to vehicle traffic from 5-until 9-p.m. on that date.  They approved Mayor Dave Jones’ nomination of Neal Webb to the Board of Adjustment. Webb replaces Dave Knudsen, who has resigned from the Board. He will hold the position until at least February, 2023. His appointment also preserves the gender balance on the Board.

NEW YORK (AP) — Author Joanna Cole, whose “Magic School Bus” books transported millions of young people on extraordinary and educational adventures, has died at age 75. Scholastic says Cole, a resident of Sioux City, Iowa, died Sunday.

This handout photo provided by Scholastic shows author Joanna Cole, right, and illustrator Bruce Degen. Cole, whose “Magic School Bus” books transported millions of young people on extraordinary and educational adventures, has died at age 75. With the ever maddening but inspired Ms. Frizzle, based in part on a teacher Cole had growing up, leading her students on journeys that explored everything from the solar system to underwater, “Magic School Bus” books have sold tens of millions of copies and were the basis for a popular animated TV series and a Netflix series. Plans for a live-action movie with Elizabeth Banks as Ms. Frizzle were recently announced. (Annabelle Helms/Scholastic via AP)

With the ever maddening but inspired Ms. Frizzle leading her students on journeys that explored everything from the solar system to underwater, “Magic School Bus” books have sold tens of millions of copies and were the basis for a popular animated TV series and a Netflix series.

Ms. Frizzle was based in part on a teacher Cole had growing up. Plans for a live-action movie, with Elizabeth Banks as Ms. Frizzle, were recently announced.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two bodies were found in a Des Moines home and police are investigating the deaths as homicides. Officers were called to the home on the city’s southside on Wednesday afternoon and found that those killed had suffered traumatic injuries. Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says a homicide investigation was underway. He says there didn’t appear to be a threat to the community.

(Radio Iowa) – Going-out-of-business sales are underway at J-C Penney stores in Carroll and Marshalltown — and the company announced today (Wednesday) it will shed a thousand jobs, mostly from its corporate office in Texas.

J-C Penney filed for bankruptcy in May and announced then that it would close 152 stores. The company operates 11 stores in Iowa, nine of which will remain open under its current reorganization plan. Those nine stores are in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, Sioux City, Spencer and West Des Moines.

WASHINGTON – Today (Wednesday), U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding $13.1 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants to capitalize and administer Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs) that will provide critical gap financing to small businesses and entrepreneurs that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic across Iowa.

Among the grant recipients, in southwest Iowa:

• The Southwest Iowa Planning Council, based in Atlantic, will receive a $550,000 EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to capitalize and administer an RLF that will provide loans to support businesses disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Page counties.
• The Region XII Council of Governments, in Carroll, will receive a $2 million EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to foster recovery and resiliency in the business community by capitalizing and administering an RLF that will provide loans to coronavirus impacted businesses in Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie, and Sac counties.
• The Southern Iowa Development Group Inc., in Creston, will receive a $1.529 million EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to by capitalizing and administering an RLF that will provide loans to coronavirus impacted businesses in Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold, Taylor and Union counties.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said “President Trump is working diligently every day to support our nation’s economy following the impacts of COVID-19 through the CARES Act. These investments will provide small businesses across Iowa with the necessary capital to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and, in turn, create a stronger and more resilient state economy for the future.”

The current EDA RLF grantees are some of the more than 850 existing, high-performing EDA RLF, Economic Development District, University Center, and Tribal grant recipients invited to apply for supplemental funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The CARES Act, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump, provides EDA with $1.5 billion for economic development assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Montgomery County Public Health, today (Wednesday), confirmed an additional, positive case of COVID-19 in the County, for a total of 16. The latest person confirmed to have the virus is an adult age 18-to 40, who is isolating at home.

As of today, 10 persons affected by the virus in Montgomery County have recovered, and two have died. Officials say 911 individuals have been tested for COVID-19.

Serology testing data* show 3 individuals are positive for COVID-19, 70 are negative, and 73 have been tested.

(*Serological tests measure the amount of antibodies or proteins present in the blood when the body is responding to a specific infection, like COVID-19. In other words, the test detects the body’s immune response to the infection caused by the virus rather than detecting the virus itself.)

Here are the results from Wednesday’s rabbit show from Red Oak:

• Breeding Buck:  Champion – Corbin Wolfe  Reserve- Lilly Anderson
• Breeding Doe:  Champion – Corbin Wolfe  Reserve – Corbin Wolfe
• Breeding Pair:  Champion – Corbin Wolfe
• Breeding Rabbit: Grand Champion Overall – Corbin Wolfe  Reserve – Corbin Wolfe
• Meat Rabbit Fryer:  Champion – Ella Peterson  Reserve – Anistyn Poston
• Meat Rabbit Roaster:  Champion – Olivia James. Reserve – Natalie True
• Meat Rabbit:  Grand Champion – Ella Peterson. Reserve – Olivia Jacobs
• Pen of Three Fryers:  Champion – Ella Peterson. Reserve – Alyssa Strebe
• Pen of Three Roasters:  Champion – Corbin Wolfe. Reserve – Olivia Jacobs
• Pen of Three Meat Rabbits:  Overall Grand Champion – Ella Peterson. Reserve – Corbin Wolfe
• Showmanship Winners:  Senior – Corbin Wolfe, Junior/Intermediate – Lilly Anderson, Beginner – William Pollock, Overall Grand Champion – Corbin Wolfe

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests took place Tuesday. 42-year old James Allen Stanley, of Omaha, and 42-year old Sean Michael Gochenour, of Woodbine, were taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Stanley was wanted for being a Fugitive from Justice, and on a warrant for Violation of Probation. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail on the Fugitive warrant, and on a $2,000 bond for Probation warrant. Gochenour was arrested on two warrants for Pretrial Release, the bond for which was set at $20,000.

And, 26-year old Dante Decarl Dirks, of Kansas City, MO., was arrested at the Mills County Jail Tuesday afternoon, for being a Fugitive from Justice. He was being held without bond in the jail.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials in central Nebraska have identified two men killed in a head-on crash involving a car and semitrailer as Iowa residents. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that the crash happened Tuesday evening on U.S. Highway 83 about seven miles north of North Platte. Investigators say a northbound car crossed into the southbound lanes directly into the path of the truck, which tried but could not avoid a head-on crash. Deputies say both vehicles caught fire, and two men in the car died at the scene. Authorities later identified the driver killed as 32-year-old Robert Islas and his passenger as 59-year-old Gilbert Vasquez, both of Sioux City, Iowa. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart has become the latest major retailer to require customers to wear face coverings at all of its namesake and Sam’s Club stores. The nation’s largest retailer said the policy will go into effect on Monday to give the company time to inform stores and customers. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said that currently about 65% of its more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is already some form of government mandate on face coverings.

The retailer also said it will create the role of health ambassador at its Walmart stores and will station them near the entrance to remind customers without masks of its new requirement.