Atlantic City Councilman Chris Jimerson informed the City Council during their meeting Wednesday evening, that Fire Chief Mark McNees would be stepping down from his lead position with the AFD. McNees, who has served the City as a fireman for 29 ½ years, and the past 13-years as Chief, explained why he’s decided to switch gears and return to being a firefighter.

He says there are other things he needs to take care of in life and to work on that he has neglected because of his current duties. He began to think about stepping down a couple of years go.

Under the by-laws, an Atlantic Fire Chief is elected every two-years. The department will vote on the new Chief at their first meeting in December, and pending City Council approval, the new Chief will take over their duties on January 1, 2020.

His advice to his successor:

During his tenure as Chief, McNees also served on the Iowa Fire Fighters Association and was elected as the President during his time with the Association.

Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees (File photo)

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — General Mills and union officials say they’ll meet today (Thursday), to work on a contract that would avert a strike following the union’s rejection of the company’s latest offer for the Cedar Rapids plant. Officials say 99% of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union’s Local 110 workers who voted Wednesday said no.

The two sides have been negotiating since January, when workers voted for the union representation. The workers voted Oct. 3 to authorize a strike. The union represents 520 workers, who perform production, sanitation and maintenance work.

Union Vice President Roger Grobstich says workers object among other things to General Mills’ proposed scheduling changes and raise proposals.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A 68-year-old man with felony convictions who voted last November has pleaded guilty to election misconduct in eastern Iowa. Buchanan County prosecutors say William Gibson, of Hazleton, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of election misconduct and a drug possession charge. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 17.

The prosecutors say Gibson lied on his voter registration application when he attested that he’d never been convicted of a felony. And prosecutors say Gibson cast a provisional ballot in the November election. Poll workers suspected he was a convicted felon. Prosecutors say Gibson was on probation for a felony drug offense at the time and has had at least seven felony convictions.

Iowa bars felons from voting unless the governor or president individually restores the right. Legislative efforts to change those laws have been stymied.

Atlantic Rising, in partnership with Hy-Vee, will continue to lead the Christmas Box Program this holiday season. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce says “The program was started by the Atlantic Jaycees over 20 years ago and helps families and individuals in need of a Christmas dinner.” Ashley Hayes, Program Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce says “Atlantic Rising took over the program, officially, last year and had a great first season. We delivered boxes to 86 individuals and families.”

Hayes says also, “Trivia Night was continued this year as the organization’s main fundraising event and saw another packed venue, filled with excitement in February. Hy-Vee is partnering with us again this year to help with promotion of the project to reach out to as many people as possible and to supply the food items that will be in the boxes.” On December 19th, members of Atlantic Rising will help fill and deliver boxes of items families and individuals can use to cook Christmas dinner to those who have been nominated.

To nominate a family or individual, or if you are interested in volunteering, contact Atlantic Rising at 712.243.3017 or chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

The Creston Police Department reports 25-year old Jordanne Rae Beardsley, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday afternoon. Beardsley was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended, and was later released on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — A spacecraft carrying instruments designed and built at the University of Iowa is now the second man-made object to leave our solar system and it’s heading off into interstellar space. Don Gurnett, a U-I professor emeritus, helped craft the plasma wave instrument onboard Voyager 2, which has passed the outer boundary of the sun’s influence, what’s known as the heliosphere. That’s a long, long way away. “Think of the speed of light, that’s the speed at which a radio wave propagates, and it takes 19 hours now for the radio signal to get from Voyager 1 back to the Earth,” Gurnett says. “It’s just out there at a staggeringly large distance.”

This artist’s concept shows one of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft entering interstellar space, or the space between stars. This region is dominated by plasma ejected by the death of giant stars millions of years ago. Hotter, sparser plasma fills the environment inside our solar bubble. (JPL/NASA)

Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched within weeks of one another in 1977 and the first spacecraft reached interstellar space in 2012. Gurnett and his research team now confirm, Voyager 2 has joined its twin in going beyond the solar system. It’s unclear how long the sub-compact-car-sized craft will continue to send messages we can receive. “They have a nuclear power supply onboard, that’s how we get the electricity to run the transmitter,” Gurnett says. “It’s going down at the rate of about four watts per year and the best testaments might be we can continue to operate for another ten years but that’s not really certain.”

One of the Mars rovers, Opportunity, was designed to explore the Red Planet for about 90 days but managed to continue gathering and sending back data for more than 14 years. Likewise, the Voyagers are proving very long-lived. “It is amazing,” Gurnett says. “The spacecraft, we originally designed it just to get to Jupiter and Saturn. That was about a four year trip, if I remember right.” The Voyagers have enduring that four years — times a factor of ten and then some — now at 42 years and counting. They’re now traveling at roughly 34-thousand miles an hour. While deep space is very cold, perhaps 450-degrees below zero, Gurnett says now that the Voyagers are beyond our solar system, they may continue to thrive. “Once you get this far from the sun and we’re no longer flying by other planets, the temperature is very stable and that’s an important factor for the longevity of electronics,” Gurnett says. “What you don’t want is a lot of temperature variation, cyling up and down. That tends to break solder joints, in case you wonder why.”

Astronomer Carl Sagan successfully pushed NASA to have the Voyagers stocked with Earthly audio recordings, photographs, writings and even a map of our solar system, should the spacecrafts ever be encountered by other-worldly beings. The fictional Voyager 6 was the subject of the 1979 movie, “Star Trek, The Motion Picture,” as alien life forms found the far-traveling probe and sent it back toward Earth on a deadly, new mission. Gurnett says there are clear lines that draw distinctions between science fiction and science fact. “Of course, I think the chances of an alien life finding it out there are probably nil to none,” Gurnett says. “It’s really kind of a romantic idea.”

After a 60-year career at the U-I, Gurnett retired earlier this year at age 79. He says the Voyagers’ accomplishments are a milestone given their longevity — and he laughs — “the longevity of people like me.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of using bogus cards to steal money from ATMs in the Cedar Rapids area has taken a plea deal. The Gazette reports that 21-year-old Romica Martuica, who is from Romania, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The charges: illegal transactions with an access device and aggravated identity theft. He originally was charged with 10 related counts. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

A court document shows that Martuica and another man used more than 50 magnetic strip cards on Feb. 16 to steal nearly $8,700. Authorities say the magnetic cards contained the account numbers of different victims.

(Radio Iowa) — This is Winter Weather Awareness Day in Iowa and while the cold temperatures have made everyone well aware the season is coming — there are still some reminders of things to prepare. National Weather Service Meteorologist Kenny Podrazik says one thing you should do is to be sure the winter survival kit in your car is fully stocked for any trips. “You know if you’re doing some travel over the holidays. Pack your first aid kit, flashlight, shovel, some extra clothing, blankets, bottled water, some non-perishable food, things like that,” Podrazik says.

He says those items may’ve been removed from your car during the summer, and you should check to be sure you have everything you need. Podrazik says you should also make a plan for any winter weather that might knock out your power by being sure you have a backup heat source and working flashlights in your house. He says you should check everything now so you aren’t caught up with everyone else in line trying to do this as a storm approaches. “It’s better to get some things prepared now before that big winter storm comes. That way you are not caught up in the big traffic or things like that,” Podrazik says.

He says conditions can change quickly and it’s important to keep track of the forecast and changing conditions — especially if you are going to travel. “Definitely always check the forecast before you go out….you can check weathter-dot-gov for the latest forecast. We also recommend checking the latest conditions — that’s 5-1-1 for the Iowa D-O-T,” according to Podrazik. He says winter weather is going to hit sometime, but there’s no way to know when and how hard it will hit this year. He says there’s really no significant indicator one way or the other about the type of winter will have.

Podrazik says we’ve only had a taste of winter weather thus far and hopefully we won’t see a lot of storms until later on in the year.