(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County (IA) Extension Office is excited to be partnering with Leah Brooke, Extension Food and Health Specialist, to host a Gardening with Children childcare provider training on Thursday, April 25th, 2024. The training will be offered from 6:30 – 8:30 PM and will be held at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic, IA.

Can digging in the dirt be good for children? Yes, when it encourages children to taste new vegetables that they’ve helped to grow. Gardening with children promotes a healthy lifestyle, early learning experiences, social development, and environmental stewardship. Participants will engage in hands-on-learning gardening activities through stations featuring crafts, literacy, container gardening, and taste testing.

Partial funding for this training is provided by Boost 4 Families Early Childhood Iowa. All participants will receive a FREE kids’ gardening tool set for attending! Participants can register for the training at: https://go.iastate.edu/YUEA6U. Registration deadline: April 22nd. Cost is $10.00 per trainee. Registration in I-PoWeR is also required.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach offers regular professional development training for childcare providers, outlining best practices relative to nutrition, physical activity, health, and safety for children in their care. The trainings are appropriate for staff at childcare centers, preschools, and home childcare providers. Each training offers 2 hours credit for childcare license renewal approved by Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). A full list of all upcoming trainings, offered both online and across the state, can be found online at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/cc-provider.

To learn more or to ask questions, contact Leah Brooke, Food and Health Specialist, at lbrooke@iastate.edu or call (712) 623-2592. You may also contact the Cass County Extension Office at (712) 243-1132 or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Last week it was announced an Atlantic resident was the victim of a BitCoin scam, now another Cass County resident has come forward to say they too have become a victim of the same type of scam. Rural Atlantic resident Denise O’Brien told KJAN NEWS she wants to warn people that the scam started with a message on her personal Facebook page that resulted in O’Brien’s page being hacked.

She says anyone who goes to her personal Facebook page is seeing an imposter. She says you can help her deal with the scammers, by simply blocking the page.

A message on her now fake Facebook page says “Congratulations to me!!! So this just came in today after months and months of endless study and training. I’m happy to announce that I’ve been certified as an Expert Crypto Trader after undergoing the rigorous training which lasted for over 24 months. I’ve been keeping this secret for a long time. Getting here wasn’t that easy but l’m not a quitter. I always work hard so I can achieve my goals . I’m really thankful to my family for supporting me throughout the whole process . A CERTIFIED CRYPTOCURRENCY EXPERT (C.C.E)”

It also shows a fake Trading Certificate. O’Brien says people may think she’s selling BitCoin, but that is absolutely NOT TRUE. She does however, have a legitimate business on her farm.

She says if you’re a Facebook user and you see a suspicious message pop-up on your timeline, don’t click or respond to it.

Atlantic business owner Ann Bruck was also the target of a BitCoin scam. She wants her customers, prospective clients and followers of her business “Designer Portraits,”to know both her personal and business Facebook paged were hacked. Scammers began sending similar messages and tagging her customers and friends about BitCoin. Like Denise O’Brien, Bruck has been trying to get her pages back but she faces the same brick wall.

If any of her followers have been affected by the scam, an FBI form is available to fill out to try and clear things up. She too, stressed Ann Bruck and Designers Portraits are still in business, but she is not selling cryptocurrency, and that she is currently unable to book appointments through social media.

(Radio Iowa) – The longest-serving member on the state board that oversees the operation of the Iowa Lottery is retiring. Mary Junge is a certified public accountant and practicing tax attorney from Cedar Rapids who didn’t expect to end up with the longest tenure on the board when she started in May of 1999. “I don’t know, it just happened I guess, it’s just I came to enjoy it so much it was something so different than what I was doing in my work,” she says “… and the knowledge just kept building year after year and then…. it takes a while to really think that you kind of understand what’s going on. And then you get to that point and then you get to that point and you want to continue to contribute.” She served until 2014 and then was off the board for a time before being reappointed in 2016. Junge says a lot changed through those 23 or so years.

“Technology and just the, I mean I was just commenting to some people just the changing locations…first there was the old really old building on Grand Avenue and then moved into the Insurance building and then here, all that progression and the growth that went with that,” Junge says. She says there’s one thing she will really miss about being on the Board. “Well definitely the people, I mean you can’t be on the board this long and that develop friendships and relationships with people here it’s just been really monumental,” Junge says. Junge was honored at this week’s Lottery Board meeting.

Iowa Lottery C-E-O Matt Strawn told Junge the Iowa Lottery is grateful and it “is stronger and improved because of your service.”

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests:

On Tuesday (March 26th), 72-year-old Daniel James McDermott, of LaVista, NE, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Failure To Appear. His bond was set at $2,000.

On Wednesday (March 27th), 41-year-old Jeffrey Dale Hankins, of Malvern, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $10,000.

(Mills County, Iowa) – The former Superintendent for the Atlantic Community School District is among three Superintendent finalists for the shared East Mills and Sidney School Districts. In a press release (shown below), school officials with the two districts announced Thursday they had narrowed their search to Steven Barber, Michael Brown, and Troy Damman. Barber served as the Atlantic School District Superintendent for six-years before resigning in June, 2023. He currently serves as the interim superintendent of the Grinnell-Newburg School District.

Barber holds superintendent licensure in advanced studies and a master’s degree in education from Iowa State University.

Michael Brown previously served as superintendent of Boyd County Public Schools in Spencer, Nebraska. He currently the director of the Quest Forward High School in Omaha, and holds an education specialist degree in school administration from Wayne State College and a master’s in education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Troy Damman is currently superintendent of the Erie-Galesburg School District in Erie, Kansas and was also previously superintendent of the Waconda School District in Cawker City, Kansas. He holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Baker University.

Both school boards contracted with Grundmeyer Leader Services to assist in the search and plan to conduct final interviews with the three candidates on Wednesday. The boards plan to discuss and reach a final decision soon after the formal interviews.

The next superintendent would officially begin leading the two school districts July 1st, succeeding Tim Hood who announced his retirement as superintendent of the two schools last month.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors met in special session Tuesday morning, and held a public hearing on the proposed property taxes. Members of the public expressed interest in how to interpret the School, County and City Budget Year Statement to Owners and Taxpayers mailing sent as required by Iowa Code (24.2A).

The board explained that the mailing does not reflect the actual amount the taxpayer will pay for the coming fiscal year.

The hearing concluded with no action taken on the proposed taxes.