The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting a meeting on Monday evening to discuss the future of Sunnyside Pool. The meeting will take place in the Council Chambers at City Hall at 5:00 p.m.

Parks and Recreation Director Bryant Rasmussen said he really hopes the public comes out to let them know what amenities and improvements they are looking for at the pool. They would like to get a firmer idea of what projects to work into proposals from companies that would bid on the potential project.

(Radio Iowa) An Ohio-based company called CareSource plans to submit a bid to be among the private companies managing Iowa’s Medicaid program. In 2016, the State of Iowa switched to privately managed care of Medicaid, which currently covers health care costs for 750-thousand poor, elderly and disabled Iowans. Two companies — Amerigroup and Iowa Total Care — have existing contracts to manage care for those Iowans. CareSource, based in Dayton, Ohio, has rented office space in Des Moines and hiring Iowa staff, preparing to submit the paperwork for an Iowa Medicaid managed care contract. State officials likely will decide next fall if another company will be added to Iowa Medicaid’s program. CareSource already oversees Medicaid coverage for residents in five other states.

(Radio Iowa) The Iowa Department of Public Health’s weekly Covid update shows 60 percent of Iowans over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate among Iowans who are 65 or older is 83 percent. Over the past even days, 24 percent of the Iowans who’ve tested positive for Covid are under the age of 18. Dan Diekema (DEEK-uh-muh) is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

He says the spread is largely driven by virus activity in schools where students under age 12 aren’t eligible for a Covid shot.

The total number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has dropped slightly for the first time in 12 weeks according to state data. However, there are more Covid patients in intensive care now compared to last Wedneday and nearly 85 percent of them were not vaccinated.

(Radio Iowa- Woody Gottburg) A Celebration of Life is planned for the 12-year-old who died after falling from a float in the Westwood High School homecoming parade.
Kage McDonald of Salix was riding on the back of a float last Friday when he fell off and later died in the hospital. The service for McDonald is set for 11 a-m Saturday in the Westwood Community High School East gym. Kage’s family requests those in attendance wear their favorite sports team attire or casual clothes. A memorial for the junior high student is set up outside the high school A GoFundMe account for McDonald has raised almost 31-thousand dollars in contributions.

The Iowa Department of Revenue and other state agencies are getting closer to unveiling a new online portal where you can conduct business with them. Department of Revenue spokesman, John Fuller, says it’s called GovConnectIowa.

The Department of Revenue, the Iowa Lottery, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, and the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division partnered to create the new portal.

He says the website will be a place to get the process started.

Iowa Lottery C-E-O, Matt Strawn talked about the pending rollout with the Lottery Board at their meeting. He says he looks forward to replacing the paper system they now use.

Strawn says. Fuller says this has been a four-year project, and the first rollout is a starting point for bigger things ahead.

The rollout of the first services is slated for November 15th.

Mills County Emergency Management Coordinator Larry Hurst recently put in a request on behalf of area fire departments to the State Fire Marshall to institute a temporary burn ban in the County. A ban on open burning will go into effect at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, October 1st and continue until conditions are deemed by fire departments to have improved.