The Atlantic City Council is set to meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday in their Chambers at City Hall. Among their action items, is the second reading of an Ordinance that would strip the Parks and Rec Department Board of its authority to hire, fire, discipline and otherwise manage City Employees in the Department. It would also essentially take away their authority to handle its budget expenditures. In both instances, those duties would be turned over to City Administrator John Lund.

Word of the Amended Ordinance didn’t reach the Parks Board until minutes before their meeting last month, which is something the Board was not happy with. The expressed their frustration during the Nov. 20th City Council meeting. Their chief complaint was the lack of communication from Lund, and having to read or hear about the proposed changes from the media.  The first reading of the Amended Ordinance was approved during that Nov. 20th meeting.

In other business the Atlantic City Council will consider approving an Order to approve an Engineering Work Order for Additional Bull Creek Engineering Services. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers would allow the city to proceed with plans for dealing with erosion along the banks of the creek, once the studies are complete, but even when the studies are finished, obtaining a permit to assess the amount of work to be done will take time due to the backlog of permit requests. And, once the proposed improvements are given the green light, construction would not likely begin until the Spring, or possibly even the Fall, of 2021.

The Council will also, as a matter of formality and by Iowa Code, pass a Resolution approving the CY 2020 Budget for Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU). AMU is an entity of the City, but is governed by its own oversight Board, Atlantic’s Utility Board of Trustees. AMU General Manager and or Comptroller Jennifer Saathoff are usually on-hand to answer any questions the Council may have, prior to their action to approve the budget.

(Radio Iowa) Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, is calling on House Democrats to “be reasonable” and “act quickly” to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement before the week is out. “The agreement would create hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Grassley says. “The agreement would help raise wages for Americans. The agreement would be particularly beneficial for Iowa farmers and the state’s overall economy.” It’s been more than a year since the leaders of the three nations signed the agreement, but it still needs Congressional approval. Grassley says a compromise is close. “But I am worried that if a deal cannot be reached by the end of this week, the USMCA will not be ratified this year,” he says.

Grassley says the scope of the trade deal is far-reaching, and for example would pump a 30-billion dollar investment into the auto industry, while also bringing a significant boost to farmers. “It gets our agricultural dairy products into Canada, a place they’ve been practically banished under NAFTA,” Grassley says. “It’s been very difficult to get our quality wheat into Canada. That will be helped.”

Grassley met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi four months ago and he says she was very much in favor of ratifying the U-S-M-C-A. Some critics say the Democrat-led House is dragging its feet on the agreement in order to keep the Trump Administration from claiming it as a victory. “There’s a lot of things you could put in the category of the Democrats not wanting the president to have a win, but I don’t think this would be one of them,” Grassley says. “On the other hand, I think voters would hold the Democrats accountable if they don’t act.”

Grassley says passage of the trade deal would be much larger than any one political party, saying it needs to be delivered for the benefit of the American people.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says this Saturday, December 7th, the Sheriff’s Office will hold its 21st Annual “Shop with the Sheriff,” at the Target Store (3804 Metro Drive) in Council Bluffs. The event takes place from 6:30-until 8-a.m.  The Sheriff says there are fifty-six children scheduled to participate in the event. Another twenty families with infants will pick-up gifts, food and necessities from Target that morning.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy on patrol in Council Bluffs at around 2:30-this (Tuesday) morning, saw a car traveling recklessly on East Kanesville Blvd., and continue past McKenzie Avenue. Following a traffic stop, 31-year old Joshua Josiah Reiss, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) — More than two MILLION Iowans are registered to vote in Iowa — a new milestone for this point in an election cycle. There have never been this many registered voters in Iowa at the beginning of December, heading into a General Election year. Secretary of State Paul Pate cites a variety of factors, like the new law that lets 17-year-olds register to vote if they’ll be 18 by Election Day next November. He also noted people can register online and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking can register to vote now and keep their address confidential.

Here’s how the voter registration numbers break out for the political parties:

Democratic Party: 613,899
Republican Party: 640,180
No Party:                743,885
Other:                        16,262

TOTAL:               2,014,226

Independent or “no party” voters are the largest block of voters in three of Iowa’s four congressional districts. Democrats lead Republicans in voter registration totals in the first, second and third congressional districts. In the fourth district, Republicans hold a voter registration edge over both no party and Democratic voters.

The raw vote totals for each congressional district are listed on this map.

CENTER POINT, Iowa (AP) — Police say an eastern Iowa woman has died and a man was injured, when a sport utility vehicle hit them in a bar parking lot and sped away. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Bully’s North in Center Point, about 20 miles north of Cedar Rapids.

The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says 50-year-old Kimberley Swore, of Center Point, died at the scene. Another pedestrian suffered minor injuries in the hit-and-run. Police have information on a suspect, but no charges had been filed by late Monday.

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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has pleaded guilty in what authorities have called a human trafficking case in which a teenage Guatemalan girl was raped. The Sioux City Journal reports that 38-year-old Cristobal Francisco-Nicolas pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to a smuggling count and unlawful possession of identification documents. In exchange, a third smuggling count will be dropped.

Prosecutors say Francisco-Nicolas helped pay smuggling costs for the girl and her father to get from Guatemala to the U.S.-Mexico border and then travel to Sioux City. Francisco-Nicolas’ wife, 40-year-old Amy Francisco, pleaded guilty last week to helping her husband in the scheme.

The 17-year-old girl was found wandering Sioux City streets on June 5 and told authorities she had been repeatedly raped by Francisco-Nicolas before she escaped.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man injured in a shooting near the Coe College campus in Cedar Rapids has died from those injuries. Station KCRG reports that 20-year-old Levi Hunter Allen Holten, of Cedar Rapids, died Monday from injuries he received in a shooting on Nov. 25. Police say Holten was found in an alley around 5:15 a.m. that day with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Cedar Rapids police say an autopsy has been scheduled. No arrests in the shooting have been reported. An investigation into the shooting continues.

A man and woman from Lenox were arrested today (Tuesday) in Creston, on warrants out of Missouri. 29-year old Kristen Oliphant and 40-year old Thomas Lee Zelasko II, were taken into custody at around 12:27-a.m. at Highway 34 and Patriotic Avenue. Oliphant was wanted for Failure to Appear on an original, Felony, Possession of a Controlled Substance charge. She was being held in the Adams County Jail, while awaiting transfer to the Stone County, MO., Jail. Zelasko was wanted for Failure to Appear related to a Tampering with a Motor Vehicle charge. He was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting transfer to Clay County, MO.

And, 44-year old Misty Daughtery, of Lenox, was arrested Monday in Creston, for Driving While Barred. She was later released on a $2,000 bond.