(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones and City Administrator John Lund, Wednesday, dispelled rumors the City is discussing the annexation of an area northwest of Atlantic. At the start of the City Council’s meeting, Jones said “The City is not annexing [anything.” During the Public Comment period at the end of the meeting, Nathan Berg, owner of Berg Electric, asked what many in the audience were wanting to know, what discussions are going on, if any.

(Mayor Jones said he only found out about the matter earlier in the day, Wednesday.)

The issue of annexation was brought up in City Administrator John Lund’s agenda notes, both ahead of the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting on Monday, and in the City’s Council’s packet ahead of today’s (Wednesday’s) session. In both cases, it was with regard to 60365 Glacier Road, and in reference to a Resolution the Council approved 6-to 1 Wednesday, granting permission to connect to the City’s Sanitary Sewer System at that location. John Lund said annexation was included in the agenda notes, but it was for historical reference, and never discussed in Monday’s meeting.

Councilman Pat McCurdy said any discussion about annexation should have taken place years ago, when Mahle hooked-up to City Water and Sewer, but now it’s too late. John Lund agreed.

Lund said the City’s Comprehensive Plan doesn’t even mention the City expanding its boundaries. The sewer and water connections in the area on Glacier Road that was mentioned, will be paid for by the property owner, and not the citizens of Atlantic. In other business, the Atlantic City Council approved a request by Produce in the Park (PIP) organizers, to extend the closure of 6th Street, from Chestnut to Poplar, through Oct. 14th. The street will be closed for the event on Thursday’s at the downtown City Park. PIP was set to end on Sept. 30th.

The Council also approved a change order pertaining to the Downtown Revitalization Project, in the amount of $5,065, and is with regard building improvements previously mentioned on KJAN News and on our News page at kjan.com. The Council also appointed At Large Councilperson Grace Garrett to the Beautification Committee, which has been dormant since the addition of banners and street signs they had requested, were implemented a few years ago.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Another hat was tossed into the ring when it comes to the Mayor’s race, in Atlantic. The Cass County Auditor’s Office, Wednesday afternoon, said Tim Teig, of Atlantic, filed nomination papers to have his name on the Nov. 2nd ballot. There are currently four candidates for Mayor in Atlantic.  Teig, who is retired, formerly worked as a Regional Manager for Snyder and Associates Engineers in Atlantic.

As of Wednesday Sept. 1st, the following candidates have filed to run for offices in Cass County:

Mayor of Atlantic:

Tim Teig

Pat McCurdy

Grace Garrett

Kathy Somers

Atlantic City Council, 5th Ward (Vote for 1):

Dick Casady (Incumbent)

Mayor of Anita (to fill a vacancy):

John Knutson (Appointed – term ends 11/2021)

Anita City Council (Vote for 3):

Simon Jensen (Incumbent)

Anita City Council (to fill a vacancy) – Vote for 1):

Mark Harris (Incumbent)

City of Atlantic Parks and Recreation Board (Vote for 1):

Shirley Jensen

Cumberland City Council (Vote for 3):

Mike Hill (Incumbent)

Darrin Hardisty (Incumbent)

Cumberland City Mayor

Nancy Virginia Coughlin (Incumbent)

Nomination papers may be filed with the Cass County Auditors Office until 5-p.m., Sept. 16th.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Public Health today (Wednesday) released new COVID-19 data for the past 7 days. IDPH reported 8,907 additional positive COVID-19 tests, for a total of 441,889 positive tests since the start of the pandemic. The health department reported 39 additional COVID-19 deaths, totaling 6,307 since the pandemic began.

Hospitals in RMCC Region 4 (western and southwest Iowa) report:  29 patients are hospitalized with COVID; 9 patients are in an ICU; 6 were admitted and one person was on a ventilator. The latest data on deaths in Cass & surrounding counties (since the beginning of the pandemic) show:

• Cass County: 56
• Adair: 32
• Adams: 4
• Audubon: 14
• Guthrie: 32
• Montgomery: 38
• Pottawattamie: 180
• Shelby: 39

The state’s 14-day positivity rate is up from 8.2% to 8.6% in the last 7 days, and the 7-day rate is up from 8.3% to 8.6%. There are COVID-19 outbreaks in 16 of Iowa’s long-term care facilities. That is twice as many outbreaks as last week’s total of 8.

The number of people completing a vaccine is 1,612,253, up from 1,593,557. As of Sept. 1, 49.2% of all Iowa residents are now fully vaccinated. Iowa’s hospitalization data has not yet been updated by the health department. IDPH has been releasing COVID-19 data on a weekly basis since July 1.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber, Wednesday, said “Thanks to the DOT and Kirk Knutsen for getting the Achievement Center classified as a school zone with a 35 mile per hour speed zone. Starting tomorrow (Thursday) morning, the flashers will be flashing from 7:45 to 8:15 in the morning and 2:45 to 3:15 in the afternoon.”

Barber urges motorists to “Please take notice of these flashing lights and slow your speed down through the school zone.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who want to help residents on the Gulf Coast recover from the destructive Hurricane Ida may need to do a little homework before making a donation, according to Susan Bach, at the Better Business Bureau.
* “You want to make sure that you are researching those charities before giving,” Bach says. “We recommend that you use our Wise Giving Alliance to see if those charities meet our standards for charity accountability.”

You can check out charities — good and not-so-good — at the Better Business Bureau’s “GIVE-DOT-ORG” website. “When you are researching charities that you would like to donate to, if you’ve never heard of the charity, it really deserves a second or third look,” she says. If you’re going beyond the well-known large relief agencies like the Red Cross, United Way or Salvation Army, Bach says to be very careful where you send your donations.

“You want to make sure that it’s an experienced group, that they have the means and are already ready to provide quick and effective assistance to the affected area,” Bach says. “You want to make sure that you give money instead of goods.” Bach says donating money is the quickest way to help as it provides charities the flexibility to channel the most-needed resources to impacted areas.

(Radio Iowa) – A 39-year-old Georgia woman has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for stealing the identities of dozens of University of Iowa employees to claim their tax refunds. Court records indicate Florence Rosale Julio was able to illegally obtain more than 450-thousand dollars in tax refunds that were owed to University of Iowa staff in 2015. The money was deposited in bank accounts in Georgia she had opened under a fake business name.

A total of one-point-four million dollars was laundered through those fake accounts. According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Julio used 44-thousand dollars worth of funds from one account to buy a Mercedes Benz from a dealership in Nashville.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa City police say a fraternity house was damaged during a protest last night. Police say a crowd of more than one-thousand people gathered at the Phi Gamma Delta or FIJI Fraternity in response to an online petition that accuses two members of the fraternity of rape last year. Police say windows and doors were broken and graffiti was written on the house.

Much of the crowd then went to another residence and did the same type of damage, as well as overturning cars. Police say the crowd broke up and no one was injured. They are asking for anyone with video of the protest to contact them. The department also says it takes all allegations of sexual assault seriously and investigates them to the fullest extent possible.