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

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The City of Atlantic’s Board of Adjustment, Monday morning, unanimously approved a conditional use permit application submitted by Schildberg Construction. The permit allows surface mining on the Tieg Family property at 2301 SW 7th Street just north of Schildberg’s current underground operation.

Mark Schildberg has said the changes will be minimal and gradual over the next 20-25 years. During that time span, the open pit will be moving west towards Highway 6 and then north parallel with the highway. As it becomes depleted, it will be filled in and another pit will be mined.

Gravel truck activity is expected to remain consistent with current levels. Officials say stockpiles and processing will remain in place and not change. As previously mentioned, Schildberg Construction has been working with Snyder and Associates on concept plans for a visual buffer of the area similar to what was seen in the 2003 conditional use permit.

Mark Schildberg has also stated his company is open to allowing the future, depleted site, to be transformed into another multi-use area that would service both private commercial businesses along the highway, in addition to the public recreation space to the west.

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

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The Cass County Democratic Party is preparing for the 2020 Caucus, which will be held on February 3rd. Party Chair Sherry Toelle says “Caucuses are gatherings of neighbors where Democrats meet to organize their precinct for the upcoming election, discuss important issues; and declare their Presidential preference. In addition to electing delegates to the county convention, caucus goers address key issues that are important to their communities, and elect local party leadership.” Cass County’s Caucus will be held on Monday, February 3, 2020. Doors will open at 6 PM and you must be registered or in line by 7 PM in order to participate in the caucus.

In Cass County, you must attend the caucus at the caucus site for your precinct. Caucus sites are: Anita, Grant & Lincoln Townships—Anita High School; all Atlantic wards—Atlantic High School; Benton & Franklin Townships—Wiota Community Building; Griswold, Pleasant & Noble Townships—Griswold High School; Lewis, Cass & Bear Grove Townships—Lewis Community Building; Marne, Brighton, Pymosa, Washington, & Grove Townships—Atlantic High School; Cumberland & Union Townships, Edna & Victoria Townships, Massena & Massena Township—CAM Middle School.

There are five main goals for the caucus: conduct party business, determine Presidential preferences, elect delegates to the county convention and committees, elect representatives to the Cass County Democratic Central Committee, and discuss resolutions to the Party platform. Toelle notes that there are two important changes to the caucus this year: Voters can sign in early on-line, avoiding lines at the caucus site; And, in the way Presidential choices are determined. To sign in early, voters MUST sign in by January 17th, at https://idp-2020-prereg.firebaseapp.com/ and then present your registration card at the caucus.

Anyone who is eligible to vote in Iowa can caucus but voters must be registered Democrats to participate in the Democratic caucus. Voters must be 18 years old by November 3, 2020 and youth who have registered to vote at age 17 can participate in the caucus. Voters can register to vote, change their address, or change party affiliation at the Caucus.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Nurses have authorized their union leaders to call a strike at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City. The union must give the hospital at least 10 days’ notice before picketing could start. The nurses also rejected MercyOne’s most recent contract offer. The two sides have been negotiating since at least June. The local’s current contract expired Sept. 1. The nurses union last authorized a strike in June 2010 but settled with the hospital before a walkout began.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds will deliver the annual “Condition of the State” message to the Iowa General Assembly later this (Tuesday) morning (at 10-a.m.) — the third year she’s done so. Reynolds offered a bit of a preview a week ago at a statehouse forum organized by The Associated Press. “We have a diverse and growing economy, even with some significant challenges, but I’m proud to say that Iowa is in growth mode,” Reynolds said. “We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, more Iowans working today than at any time in our state history.”

This past summer, Reynolds indicated finding new ways to improve access to quality child care, particularly in rural Iowa, would be a priority issue for the 2020 legislative session. She’s been non-committal about what plans she may have when it comes to tax policy. “Stay tuned,” Reynolds said last week, laughing. “…We’re looking at all of it.” Reynolds has met privately with groups to discuss revamping the way the state might allocate new revenue if the state sales tax was raised — and a constitutional amendment requires a portion of that money be spent on water quality and outdoor recreation projects. “We’ve worked very hard to incorporate or hear from anybody who has ideas or interest in addressing that,” Reynolds told reporters last week.

Reynolds and Republican leaders in the legislature have repeatedly said if the sales tax goes up, it must be part of a package that winds up lowering the total amount of taxes the state collects.

(Radio Iowa) — On the first day of the 2020 Iowa legislative session, Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate called for more income tax cuts. Two years ago, the Republican-led legislature passed the largest state income tax cut in state history. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says it’s time to cut more. “We can continue to do more to simplify and make taxes lower, fairer and more efficient,” Whitver said, “but the ultimate goal is to ensure that people who work hard for their money are going to keep more of it.”

Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, says state income taxes ARE gradually being reduced through the legislature’s 2018 action, but they’re still too high.  “The more we can lower income taxes the sooner Iowans will be able to pay off student loans, buy a home, start a family, save for their children’s education or put aside money for retirement,” Schneider says. The top Democrat in the Senate called for guaranteeing paid family leave for Iowa workers. Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines says the state’s unemployment rate may be low, but too many Iowans who ARE working are paid too little. “Let’s raise the minimum wage and end welfare practices that prop up low-wage employers who trap Iowans in chronic poverty,” Petersen said.

House Minority Leader Todd Prichard of Charles City suggested he and other Democrats in the House will call for a significant increase in state spending on Iowa’s public schools. “Democrats understand that to build a better future and grow our workforce, we must educate the children and students of today to work and lead the state tomorrow,” Prichard said. In addition, Prichard says House Democrats will offer proposals to address Iowa’s housing shortage.

(Update 8:25-a.m.) The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a rollover accident south/southwest of Marne, this (Tuesday) morning. Marne Rescue and Medivac Ambulance were called to the scene at 590th and Fairview, at 5:53-a.m. According to dispatch reports, a vehicle rolled into a field and through a fence. The driver, who was said to be 25-year old Matthew Allen Cook, person was said to have been out of the vehicle, walking around, when authorities arrived. The accident was reported at 5:52-a.m.  Dispatch advised at 6:04-a.m., that there were in fact NO injuries, and Marne Rescue was told to disregard.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A Central City woman accused of running over and killing a bicyclist has taken a plea deal. Melinda Lawrence took the deal before jury selection was to begin Monday in Cedar Rapids. She pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while intoxicated and other crimes. Her murder charge was dropped. The agreement calls for her sentences to run consecutively, for a total of 40 years. Authorities say Lawrence drove over Jeffrey Scott on his bicycle on Aug. 30, 2018, in a Central City parking lot. A court document says a friend of Scott told investigators Lawrence had been stalking Scott.

(Iowa News Service)  Ames, IA — Going into 2020, there’s continued excitement for alternative meat products and their benefits. But an Iowa-based expert says consumers should learn more about them. Over the past year, the food world buzzed over marketed items such as plant-based hamburgers, which are designed to taste like meat but don’t come at the cost of hurting the environment because of how they’re produced. There’s also the perception that they are healthier to eat.

Ruth Litchfield is a professor of food science and human nutrition at Iowa State University. She says the environmental benefits are there, but not necessarily the health benefits. “My biggest concern about some of these products is not what the constituents are for, so it’s not the ingredients that are of concern to me, but it’s the consumer perception that these are going to be nutritionally very similar to the traditional product. ”

For example, Litchfield says some plant-based burgers on the market are higher in saturated fat and sodium. She says they also have less protein and a lower-quality protein. She says a lot of the perception mirrors what happened when many different styles of milk hit the market in recent years.

The Impossible Foods company recently unveiled plans for an alternative form of pork. That has some worried about how this might harm producers in Iowa, which is the leading pork-producing state in the U.S. But Litchfield says it’s too early to say how this might affect them. “It really could go either way, and it’s really going to depend on the consumer demand and the acceptance of these products.”

Despite some of the hype and popularity surrounding alternative meat products, research has shown the U.S. consumption of traditional meats has rebounded in recent years.