(Atlantic, Iowa) – Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds are being applied for to help pay for two projects aimed at allowing more people to live in the hub of Atlantic. SWIPCO’s Alexsis Fleener and Dr. Matt Weresh informed the City Council during their meeting Wednesday evening, that if approved, CDBG funds of up to $9,000 will be used to help renovate the upper floors of Weresh’ buildings at 509 and 511 Chestnut Street. The plan is for those sections of buildings to be renovated into apartments similar to what was accomplished at the Whitney Building, at 3rd and Chestnut.

Fleener said officials with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) are excited to see Atlantic grow, and are highly interested in funding housing development projects in the downtown business area.

The first phase of grants allowed for participating merchants to update or replace their building facades. Fleener says if the grant request is approved, this latest round will make it less costly for building owners to renovate their downtown buildings’ bottom and top floors.

Dr. Weresh has used the first round of CDBG grants to tear off the tin from his building facade and install new windows. He’s ready now to move onto the next stage. SWIPCO is ready to apply for a grant that would cover half the project cost for 509 Chestnut.

(The City will only be used as a “flow-through” agency, by which any funds are passed. It will not have a financial stake in the projects.)

Dr. Weresh describes the project in more detail.

(One apartment will be above 511 Chestnut. The building at 509 Chestnut would have two apartments: One two-bedroom, one with a single bedroom. There will also be a new garage in back.” He also plans to make the store front on both buildings as attractive as possible and get the drop ceilings down, similar to what has taken place at the Hansen’s Jewelry building.)

Fleener says the grant application is due at the end of August. She asked for, and the City Council authorized, SWIPCO to pursue the funds.

(Radio Iowa) – A Nebraska man died while trying to save his son at East Lake Okoboji Wednesday morning.  An investigation determined 41-year-old Brandon Urban of Omaha had swum to help his son who had fallen off a paddleboard and he became entangled in weeds. Brandon Urban then got caught in the weeds — and after freeing boy was unable to keep himself above the water’s surface.

Urban was located and pulled from the water by some friends and lifesaving measures were attempted but he died later at Lakes Regional Healthcare. Authorities say Urban was NOT wearing a lifejacket.

(Radio Iowa) – Students will be heading back to school across the state soon — and Governor Kim Reynolds says she hopes the school year will be fairly normal despite COVID-19. “We absolutely do, we have to learn to live with that, with this, we can do it safely and responsibly. It’s slowed a little bit, but we are in a pretty good place. Our vaccination rates continue to increase,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds says the vaccination rate is at 62 percent for Iowans and 66 percent for the same group that has had at least had one single dose. The governor says there’s some encouraging news too for younger Iowans. She says she just learned that 13 to 81-year-olds are at 57 percent for being fully vaccinated. “So, we are seeing the numbers move in the right direction,” she says.

Reynolds says the whole COVID picture should include more than vaccination numbers. “There’s a natural immunity when you have COVID-19, and that should be a part of the narrative, and so I’ve asked them to run those numbers. And let’s take a look at what that looks like in addition to those who have already been vaccinated as well,” Reynolds says.

Reynolds says the vaccine will be available at the Iowa State Fair, and the state is continuing to work with communities to provide them vaccines.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Insurance Division is using civil penalties and licensing fees paid to the agency to fund a financial literacy program aimed at women. The program is called SmartHER Money. The Iowa Insurance Division paid an Iowa-based consulting firm called AMPERAGE a quarter of a million dollars to create, advertise and manage the program. A SmartHER Money conference is planned for August 19th in Cedar Falls, plus the firm has created a new state website under the SmartHER Money brand.

The company conducted an online survey last fall that found 93 percent Iowa women who responded have a role in managing their finances, but only half of the women described their household as financially secure.

According to the consulting firm, younger women who responded to the online survey were more likely to report stress about saving for retirement and having enough money saved up to deal with emergencies. Eight percent had saved nothing in the past year and 45 percent said they are not confident they’re saving enough for retirement. Half of the women who responded to the online questionnaire said they didn’t have the time or knowledge to be more involved in making decisions about household finances.

(Radio Iowa) – The pace of vaccinations appears to be trending up slightly in Iowa as the number of patients hospitalized in Iowa for treatment of Covid grows. In the past 40 days, the number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has grown from 46 to more than 200 — a 77 percent increase.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s weekly report shows the state averaged about 500 new cases of Covid in each of the past seven days. That’s about seven percent higher than daily case counts a year ago. The state website shows just over 47 percent of Iowans are fully vaccinated — a three-tenths of a percent increase from the previous week.

Leonard Management Group, a family-owned company that owns local McDonald’s restaurants, is donating more than 75 school supply kits to local teachers. In Atlantic, the giveaway takes place Thursday, August 5th, from 9-a.m. until 11-a.m., at the McDonald’s located at 1510 E. 7th Street.

Management Group officials say this donation is a way to show appreciation for teachers and all they provide for their students. The kits include pencils, dry erase markers, hand sanitizer, tissues, paper, post-it notes and more. Quantities are limited; to receive a kit, teachers must sign up for a time slot.

In addition to the school supply kits, teachers will have a chance to win prize giveaways. In all, Leonard Management Group is donating more than $30,000 in school supplies to teachers across Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested Wednesday (today), after Deputies followed-up on an anonymous tip about illegal drug activity in Shenandoah. They observed a large Marijuana plant that did not appear to be a wild plant. The resident of the property was confronted about the growing plant.

A subsequent search of the residence and property conducted by the Page County Sheriff’s and Shenandoah Police Department resulted in the arrest of the resident, 29-year-old Corbin Mackenzie Moody, of Shenandoah. He was charged with Possession of a controlled Substance – Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and False Report to Law Enforcement.

Corbin Moody

Moody was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $1,600 bond, pending further court proceedings.