(DES MOINES) – This week, Representative Tom Moore (a Republican from Griswold) welcomed students involved in Creston and Southwest Valley FFA programs, to the Iowa House of Representatives. The students were visiting the Capitol for the Legislative Symposium, which is designed to build character and promote citizenship, volunteerism and patriotism.

Pictured here is Rep. Tom Moore (Griswold) and students with the Creston FFA.

Pictured here is Rep. Tom Moore (Griswold) and students with the Southwest Valley FFA.

LUCAS, Iowa (AP) – A judge has ordered a lumber company to pay the state nearly $28,000 for timber harvested without permission from a state forest in south-central Iowa. The attorney general’s office also said Thursday that Moravia Hardwoods, of Moravia, lied to the state on a bond renewal application, so the judge banned the company from buying timber for a year. A company representative said he couldn’t immediately comment. The trees were cut down in the Chariton Unit of Stephens State Forest. The state sued the company, and a trial was held this past August. The judge issued the ruling Monday.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa D-N-R is asking you to take make a donation to help the state’s wildlife when you file your state taxes. D-N-R wildlife biologist, Stephanie Shepherd, says the number of people who donate through the “Chickadee Check-off” has been dropping. “In 2003 we had almost 13-thousand people donating. In this last year — in 2018 — roughly 73-hundred folks donated to the checkoff,” Shepherd says.

She says the amount of money has fortunately not dropped as much as the amount of donors. Shepherd says the donations go to species that don’t get funds from dedicated sources like hunting and fishing licenses. “We have a thousand plus other species in the state that also require habitat, and require research and conservation,” according to Shepherd. She says there are probably several reasons the Chickadee Checkoff gets missed at tax time. “We don’t spend a lot of money on marketing — we want most of the money that comes in for the checkoff to go towards wildlife conservation,” according to Shepherd “We don’t do a ton of market besides word of mouth or putting out a press release or two. So, maybe that’s just not bringing in a lot of new folks who aren’t aware of the Fish and Wildlife on the state tax form.”

The check-offs are one of the last things you have to do in filling out your return, and Shepherd says that may work against them. “A lot of times folks can be in tax return preparation fatigue by the time you get to the bottom of the state tax form where the checkoff line is — so a lot of times it just gets overlooked,” Shepherd says.  Shepherd says you don’t have to donate thousands of dollars to help out the cause. “I always like to point out that we have about one-and-half million taxpayers in the state of Iowa and so if every one of them just donated one dollar on the checkoff that would be one-point-five millions for wildlife conservation in the state,” Shepherd says. “So even a little bit can make a huge difference — especially if we can get more people donating.”

The Fish and Wildlife Check-Off, line 57 on Form 1040. Or tell your tax preparer you’d like to donate to the fund.

Atlantic School District Agriculture Instructor/FFA Advisor Eric Miller reports five members of the Atlantic FFA and other FFA members from across Iowa, converged this past Tuesday on the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, to build character and promote citizenship, volunteerism, and patriotism. Atlantic FFA members Alyssa Derby, Tate Den Beste, Corri Pelzer, Taylor McCreedy, and Craig Alan Becker attended the event. Approximately 560 high school students wearing blue corduroy from 87 schools flooded the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines. The students visited with legislators, exhibited skills learned in the agriculture classroom, and learned the importance of citizenship.

Left to right Craig Alan Becker, Taylor McCreedy, Alyssa Derby, Senator Tom Shipley, Tate Den Beste, Corri Pelzer

Sitting in chair Tyler Comes; middle row Taylor McCreedy,Corri Pelzer, Alyssa Derby, Craig Alan Becker and Tate Den Beste; Back row Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller and Representative Tom Moore. (Photos courtesy Eric Miller)

The event was all part of the 35th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol. During the morning, FFA members heard from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President, Craig Hill, about the important roles young agriculturalists can play in the agriculture industry. Then, Julie Kenny, Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, addressed students about the importance of agriculture in Iowa and abroad. Kelsey Tyrrell of the World Food Prize addressed students about the future of Iowa agriculture and the importance of being involved with statewide issues.

Governor Kim Reynolds presented and signed the FFA Week Proclamation, declaring February 22-29 FFA week in Iowa. The proclamation signing took place in the State Capitol Tuesday afternoon with the Iowa FFA state officer team. After the event, Taylor McCreedy said she was glad that she took part in the event. McCreedy said “I thought it was a lot of fun, and it was a good opportunity for kids to meet with state representatives.”

The 35th Annual Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium and FFA Day at the Capitol was made possible with support from Iowa Farm Bureau Federation through the Iowa FFA Foundation.

The Iowa Department of Education on Wednesday January 29, 2020 released new results and features in an online school accountability reporting system called the Iowa School Performance Profiles. The Iowa School Performance Profiles, launched in 2018, meets state and federal requirements to publish report cards reflecting the performance of all public schools.

The website shows:

• Updated scores and ratings for all public schools based on how they performed on a set of accountability measures in the 2018-19 school year
• Schools that have been identified for additional support and improvement based on their performance
• Additional data that are required by law but do not count toward accountability scores

The latest scores reflect results of a new state test that was administered for the first-time last spring. The website also includes some new features, including a measure of postsecondary readiness for high schools, and new data, such as science assessment results and educator effectiveness. Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise says “This is an important tool for parents, educators and other stakeholders to understand how their schools are performing.”  Wise said also, that “While the Iowa School Performance Profiles does not tell the full story about schools, the website can enhance conversations in local communities about the work to prepare students for success.”

Riverside Elementary which includes students educated at Carson and Oakland was ranked as “High Performing” with a total ranking of 62.84. This ranking is the top ranking of any elementary school in the Western Iowa Conference. The school was above the state average on all indicators. Riverside Middle/Senior High was ranked “Acceptable” and the school was above the state average on six indicators with a total ranking of 54.31. The district overall was above the state average on nine indicators and below the state average on three indicators (Growth Math, Conditions for Learning Composite and Post-Secondary Readiness ACT/SAT).

Riverside Superintendent Tim Mitchell says “This report is very positive for Riverside as we continue to move in the right direction on multiple indicators included in this report. This is the first time a state accountability report card has rated any of our schools as High Performing. This is reflection of the hard work of our staff. If we continue to dedicate and commit to professional learning, implementing research-based strategies in the classroom, using data to guide our instruction, and work collaboratively we will continue this upward trend on these indicators of school and district success.”

Report cards provide an overall view of school performance as well as more detailed information, making it easier for stakeholders to understand how each school is serving its students.
Having access to clear and detailed information enables parents and other stakeholders to ask questions and better contribute to local conversations about school improvement. Educators, parents and other stakeholders can use information in the Iowa School Performance Profiles to celebrate achievements, to pinpoint areas for improvement, and to ask questions.

For more information, visit iaschoolperformance.gov.

The Atlantic Police Department reports two local juvenile males were arrested on 1st Degree Armed Robbery charges, following an incident late Wednesday night. Authorities say Atlantic Police were dispatched at 10:57-p.m., Wednesday, to the Casey’s General Store at 1408 E. 7th Street, for a hold-up alarm. While on the way to the scene, officers were updated that an armed robbery was confirmed, and that a weapon was displayed. No injuries were reported.

Through an investigation of the incident, two (unnamed) juveniles were apprehended and are being held on the charges mentioned. The A-PD was assisted by deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, and, the Iowa State Patrol. Authorities say no further information will be released at this time, as the investigation is ongoing.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa State Patrol is unveiling a squadron of drones which can help minimize highway disruptions and provide quicker clearances of crash scenes. Troopers are incorporating a new Small Unmanned Aircraft System into their technical crash investigation program. State Patrol Sergeant Alex Dinkla says their current technology does a good job of documenting a crash scene, but the drone system can do it faster.  “Sometimes, it could take several hours to investigate a crash scene,” Dinkla says. “So as we are out there, if we’re out there on the interstate and we have maybe the interstate shut down for several hours, we know that there’s a lot of people that are affected by that. This new technology, once we become fully proficient with that, our hope is to maybe be able to map a crash scene in 20 to 30 minutes.”

Dinkla says the pictures the drones take are all meshed together to create a 3-D rendering of the crash scene to scale. “This takes only still pictures and the still pictures are all activated by the pilot as they are flying it taking the still pictures,” Dinkla says. “Then all of those images, once they are loaded into our program behind the scenes, then all of those images are what we call stitched together, and so then they make kind of a big plot where they can be able to see all those images.”

Trooper Mark Anderson, of the patrol’s Fort Dodge office, is one of eight full-time collision reconstructionists who are assigned to use the new technology. He says once he arrives at a crash scene, he can start documenting things.  “If I can get deploy it right away, I can take photographs while they’re still working at the scene, it doesn’t have to be emptied with the emergency personnel or anything to that effect,” Anderson says. “I can fly the scene, take my photographs from the air, we can get the vehicles removed, and clear the roadway and open it up to the public, which is our main goal, to get everything back to normal as quick as possible.”

Anderson says crash scene investigations have come a long ways from using tape measures to now using drones.  “Technology is awesome. The end product is just spot-on. Measurements we can do on the computer are just phenomenal,” Anderson says. “What we can do with the 3-D model to show our county attorneys and their juries in a criminal setting what it looks like from drivers’ perspectives, it’s just that much better to help in court purposes.”  Two of the new drones will be implemented in each quadrant in the state.

DAVENPORT – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections, Wednesday, said 20-year old Kendall Markell Lundrigan, who was convicted of Burglary 1st Degree and other crimes in Clinton County, failed to report back to the Davenport Work Release Center as required, Wednesday.

Kendall Markell Lundrigan (IA DOC photo)

Lundrigan is a black male, 5-feet 11 inches tall. He weighs about 195 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on September 16, 2019.  Persons with information on Lundrigan’s whereabouts should contact local police.

MUSKEGON, Mi (AP)- An Iowa man accused of stealing several artifacts from a western Michigan museum that’s housed on a World War II-era warship, has pleaded guilty to trespassing and won’t face any jail time. Sixty-two-year-old John Zaputil had been charged with felony theft for allegedly taking about a dozen items, including medals and lapel pins, from the USS LST 393 Veterans Museum in Muskegon last August. But The Muskegon Chronicle reports that he pleaded guilty Wednesday to trespassing, a misdemeanor. Zaputil’s plea states that won’t face jail time when he’s sentenced March 25. All of the stolen items have been returned.

Zaputil is a licensed osteopathic physician in Michigan and a licensed anesthesiologist in Iowa, according to the states’ records. He previously worked for the University of Iowa. Zaputil was identified by a number of medical professionals from the hospital, who saw surveillance video and photos in news reports.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man has been convicted of child sex trafficking, gun and drug charges. Federal prosecutors say 52-year-old Andrew Streb, of Hills, was found guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines of three counts of child sex trafficking, two counts of distributing methamphetamine to children, and of other crimes. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

Prosecutors say Streb trafficked three teenagers in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Iowa City from November 2018 to February 2019. He paid the girls cash and methamphetamine in exchange for sex acts.