With Jim Field.
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Members of the Atlantic School Board, Wednesday evening, received a special presentation from High School Principal Heather McKay and Councilors Alyssa Dovenspike and Sarah Rose, with regard to [student] College and Career Readiness. Superintendent Steve Barber explains….
In other business, the Board approved a phone system upgrade.
The cost of the system is $46,350. And the Board approved the District’s “Return-to-Learn” plan, modifications.
He mentioned also, they are still looking to fill certain positions within the District.
The Board approved the resignations of Elizabeth Reid, TLC Instructional Coach, and, Pamela Klar, Bus Monitor/Car Driver. They also approved Contract Recommendations for: Bryce Smith, Assistant 9th Grade Football Coach, and Derek Hall, Head Boys Basketball Coach.. They also act to approve 2021-22 TLC Contracts for 19 teachers and the TLC roles they will serve in 2021-22, at a cost of $94,985, to be budgeted for through the General Fund for Teacher Leader Compensation Funds.
The 7:07-a.m. broadcast News from Ric Hanson.
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Red Oak Police Wednesday afternoon, arrested 23-year-old Dawson Allen Squires, of Red Oak. Squires was arrested on a Montgomery County warrant for Harassment in the 2nd Degree. His cash-only bond at the Montgomery County Jail, was set at $2,000.
(Radio Iowa) – The deadline is next Tuesday for Iowa farmers who planted cover crops last year — things like cereals, grasses and legumes — to get some money back through a new federal program which has Iowa roots. Sarah Carlson, strategic initiatives director for Practical Farmers of Iowa, says the U-S-D-A announced the Pandemic Cover Crop Program on June 1st, offering a premium of five-dollars-per-acre. Carlson says, “If farmers planted cover crops in fall of 2020, they can go into their FSA office by June 15th and certify their acres just like they would certify their crop acres through the 578 process, and then that $5 discount will show up on their 2021 crop insurance bills for those cover crops last year.”
While five dollars per acre may not sound like a lot, Carlson says for some farmers, it could mean the difference between losing money and making money. “If we look at the total cost to do a cover crop, this is around $25 an acre, and if farmers are able to make some cuts in their herbicide program or maybe feed some of the cover crops to livestock, the $5 helps us basically just get over the break-even point and they’re probably in the black then with those extra $5,” she says.
The Pandemic Cover Crop Program is modeled on a state-level program that’s been online in Iowa for several years, one which the Practical Farmers of Iowa helped launch. “The origins were to think about those farmers who’ve tried cover crops for a long time, been wanting to still support them and keep derisking that practice, so $5 was a good investment in them from the state,” Carlson says. “That’s just paid off in extra acres that farmers plant, more nitrogen cleaned up in our waterways, and now, this program going federal.”
If there’s strong interest in the program from farmers across the country, Carlson says it’s hoped the same program will be rolled out again this coming fall.
(Radio Iowa) – A new report finds many Iowa farmers are having to shell out more money to cover a significant increase in land rent rates this year. Iowa State University Extension ag economist Wendong Zhang says it’s the first big boost in rental rates in eight years. “What we saw is a 4.5% growth to about $232 per acre,” Zhang says. “What is noticeable is that this is probably the first major increase in cash rent since 2013 when we had the land value peak.”
Better crop and land prices, along with lower interest rates and government payments were all factors, he says, in generating the land rent rate increase. Zhang says the rates vary based on the region. “In northwest Iowa, they’re seeing the average cash rent essentially show modest increase of $239 to $242, but in north-central Iowa, the increase is more, from $225 dollars to $238,” he says.
The 2021 cash rent survey is based on more than 13-hundred responses from Iowa producers and landowners.
Today: Party-to Mostly Sunny. High 94. S @ 10-15 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 70. S @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to cldy w/scattered showers & thunderstorms. High around 86. S winds shifting to the N @ 10-15.
Saturday: P/Cldy. High 88.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High 89.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 94. Our Low this morning, 66. Last year on this date, the High was 75 and the Low was 56. The Record High was 104 in 1933, and the Record Low was 40 in 1966.
Police in Red Oak have arrested a man from Stanton on a harassment charge. Authorities say 46-year-old Marshall Larry Adams was arrested late Wednesday afternoon, on a charge of Harassment in the 2nd Degree. Adams was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate.
Marshall L. Adams
(updated) Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber reported during a meeting of the School Board Wednesday evening, that work is on track for play to begin in the next five-days or so, at the renovated baseball-softball fields
That includes installation of padded backstops on both the baseball and softball fields. Those are currently are on back order out of New York. Barber said it’s not clear when they will arrive.
(Radio Iowa) – Officials say two employees recently saw a bear on John Deere’s property north of Dubuque and Vince Evelsizer of the Iowa Department of Natural Resource suspects it was a male bear — since this is breeding season for bears. “It’s usually young males — 2-4 year old males — moving around and actively looking for females this time of the year,” he says, “even though it’s so hot out.” The bears tend to move at night, though, when it’s cooler, he says. There have been several recent black bear sightings in Dubuque County. “Even a couple of sightings where we got trail camera photos,” Evelsizer says.
Evelsizer, a furbearer biologist, says the animals are likely coming from Minnesota and Wisconsin. If they’re not looking for a mate, Evelsizer says they’re probably looking for food. “They’re most likely at this time of year to get into bird feeders or smelly garbage or people’s barbecues, that type of thing,” Evelsizer says.
As Radio Iowa reported last month, experts like Evelsizer say it’s likely black bears will start to have cubs in Iowa and groups of bears eventually will repopulate in the state. There’s been no recent confirmation baby bears have been born in Iowa, however. “We anticipate getting some more bears,” Evelsizer says. “There’ll be problems at times with them, but there’ll be fewer problems if we all kind of get used to the idea of living with more bears or trying to coexist.”
Evelsizer says over the next few years the Department of Natural Resources plans to use information from a program called “Bear Wise” to help Iowans get used to having black bears in their neighborhood.