The Atlantic Area ATHENA award recipients have announced a scholarship to the Iowa Women Lead Change (IWLC) Conference in Des Moines in November. The scholarship will be given to a woman who is interested in improving her leadership skills while in college or in her career. The Iowa Women Lead Change conference will be held November 6th & 7th in Des Moines. It will include speakers Cy Wakeman, Elias Johnson, Gale V. King, Geena Davis, Jeannette Walls, Jeffery Tobis Halter, Joanne Lipman, Sabrina Ahmed and Stedman Graham. Past conferences have included introductions by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.

Interested applicants, or those interested in nominating an individual, can pick up a nomination form at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, 102 Chestnut Street, or visit www.atlanticiowa.com. Nominations are due Friday, September 28th to Dolly Bergmann at bsktcola@gmail.com or the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

The ATHENA Leadership Award identifies eight distinct attributes that are reflective of women’s contributions to leadership: living authentically, learning constantly, advocating fiercely, acting courageously, fostering collaboration, building relationships, giving back and celebrating. Over 7,000 recipients around the world have been honored with the ATHENA Leadership Award since its inception in 1982. Presented to leaders, woman and men, in the professional sector, the ATHENA Leadership Award is on of the most prestigious leadership awards one can receive – and Atlantic is one of the few communities in Iowa with an active ATHENA Leadership group.

Local winners include: LaVon Eblen, Judy Marnin, Leanne Pellett, Denise O’Brien, Margaret Slepsky, Glenda Farrier, Carole Schuler, Jan Kinnison, Janelle Hansen, Ann Pross, Wendy Richter, Dolly Bergmann, Pat Markham, Lanette Plambeck, Kathie Hockenberry, Dr. Tressa Wilcox and Heather McKay.

During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September, the American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to give blood to support kids, teens and young adults battling cancer, as well as others in need of transfusions. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 15,000 children and adolescents in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year. Childhood cancer patients may need blood products on a regular basis during chemotherapy, surgery or treatment for complications.

Blood and platelet donors of all blood types, especially type O negative and O positive, are urgently needed to replenish the blood supply following a critical summer blood shortage. Make an appointment to donate by downloading the free American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Atlantic

9/13/2018: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., Atlantic YMCA, 1100 Maple Street

Council Bluffs

9/13/2018: 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Mercy Hospital, 800 Mercy Drive

Mount Ayr

9/11/2018: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., First Christian Church, 201 W Monroe

How to donate blood

A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass^® to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.

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

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OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — An 18-year-old man already facing a murder charge has been accused of another shooting. Police have charged Jacob Heckethorn with attempted murder, saying he shot Clifford Collett Sr. on Aug. 16 in Ottumwa. Wapello County District Court records say Heckethorn already has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the original case. Police say he killed William Shettlesworth and shot at Dustin Greene on Aug. 23 in Ottumwa. Heckethorn is due back in court Sept. 17. He lives in Ottumwa.

This Saturday and Sunday, the air near Shelby will be filled with smoke, steam and excitement, as part of the 36^th Annual1880 Carstens Farmstead Days Show. One of the organizers, Terry Torneton, who’s been involved in the event as a volunteer for more than 25-years, says Farm Days is an event that aims to preserve and celebrate Iowa’s Farm History through live demonstrations of antique farm equipment and a blend of unique exhibits and crafts.

It’s a tractor and threshing show and so much more. The two-day show is held on the historic Carstens 1880 Farmstead just south of I-80 Exit 34, Shelby, Iowa. The hours are 6:30 am – 7:00 pm both days. Torneton says there are over 250 Vintage tractors and implements on display. Oliver tractors and implements, along with dozens of gas “hit and miss” engines will be featured at this year’s show. Nearly 100 carefully restored Oliver tractors will be on display. Anyone who would like to add his or her Oliver or hit and miss engine to the exhibit is welcome. Register at the registration building near the front gate when you arrive. 

Hit & Miss Engine

A parade of classic cars, implements, tractors and trucks also will take place both days beginning at 2-p.m. Joining the power equipment will be many antique/classic cars and trucks. Traditional demonstrations will be on-going throughout the weekend. Visitors can expect to see threshing machines in action, antique tractor plowing, corn picking, straw baling, blacksmithing, corn binding, and a working sawmill. Admission to Farm Days also allows visitors to wander through the four-acre corn maze which contains nearly two miles of pathways. There will be a number of musical acts under the shade trees. On the main stage near the Carstens’s family home, colorful and talented cloggers will kick up their heels to entertain the crowd.

Nearly 100 vendors are expected to be selling a wide range of crafts, tools, toys and novelty items. Raffle tickets for a beautiful hand-stitched quilt, which will be raffled during Farm Days will be available during the quilt show.  This (Friday) evening pulled pork sandwich dinner will be hosted by the Friends of the Shelby Stone Arch Trail Committee. Proceeds from the dinner will go to the trail committee. The dinner will be served from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

All good days begin with a good breakfast and to start Farm Days off right, a pancake breakfast is planned at 6:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Snacks and lunch options will also be available. Various non-profit local groups will be offering refreshments and delicious desserts all weekend.  On Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. enjoy Staley’s Chicken for a delicious dinner at the farm.Proceeds from the dinner will go toward on-going maintenance at Carstens 1880 Farmstead.Admission to Farm Days remains one of the best values for any show of its kind. Admission is $5 per day for everyone nine years and older.

Authorities in Taylor County executed a search warrant at around 12:45-a.m. today (Friday), at residence in the 600 block of East Ohio Street, in Lenox. Subsequent to the search warrant, 31-year old Kevin Jungers, of Lenox, was arrested on two Class-D Felony counts of Unlawfully Manufacturing Marijuana, A Class-D Felony charge of Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp, Possession of a Controlled Substance, a “Serious Misdemeanor”, and two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, (Methamphetamine and Marijuana) both “Simple Misdemeanors.” Jungers was being held in the Taylor County Jail on $16,000 bond.

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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A law firm has sued two clients for more than $2.5 million the firm says it’s owed from the more than $7.6 million the clients have recovered from Sioux City for a 2016 collision with a city bus. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Munger, Reinschmidt & Denne firm sued Chad and Rosanne Plante on Tuesday, saying they’d agreed to pay a one-third contingency fee if their claims against the city pertaining to the collision were settled without filing a lawsuit against the city. They were. The firm’s Stan Munger says the Plantes told him the contingency agreement “is against public policy.”

Rosanne Plante says she and her husband have paid Munger’s firm $380,000, and “he has apparently determined that is not sufficient.”

(Radio Iowa) — The University of Northern Iowa is reporting a drop in fall enrollment. The school’s associate vice president for enrollment management, Matt Kroeger, says they anticipated the drop. “Total enrollment from last year is down 695 students and I want to say it’s 444 undergraduates and 251 graduate students,” Kroeger says. Kroeger says the number of new students was down. “And also our incoming transfer students were down around 85 or 90 or so. So, the number of new students definitely had an impact on the total,” according to Kroeger. The drop has been figured into their budget.

He says they anticipated the decline in new students and they had a record graduation rate for students who graduated in three years or less. The Cedar Falls school has struggled to keep its enrollment up and he says that will again be a focus. “We’re planning on doing that with both expanding our reach and increasing our market share of Iowa high school graduates. And those students coming from Iowa community colleges as well,” Kroeger says. “But also looking out of state. We feel that we have the opportunity to grow our non-resident freshmen and transfers as well — so it will take a combination of both of those.”

The University of Iowa also saw its enrollment drop. But had the U-I’s Brent Gage, says that was by design. “We had several years where we were bringing in some of the largest classes we had ever brought in in the history of the university,” Gage explains. “And as we developed our strategic plan we really looked to more right-size the university to where we felt we could provide the optimal student experience. The incoming freshman class has 48-hundred-six students and Gage says it falls in the range they’ve been working on. “Which is kind of between 47-hundred and five-thousand new incoming students. So, that is something that we’ve been kind of strategically working on doing the last couple of years,” Gage says.

The U-I saw a drop in international students, and he says the competition for those students has gotten tougher. “We’re also seeing that the dollar is just incredibly strong right now. So the buying power that the families had anticipated having — when it’s time for those students to leave — that’s not always the case that they thought it was going to be,” Gage says. Total enrollment this fall is 31-thousand-656 students — which takes some 13-hundred postdoctoral students out of the count from last year under a new counting system now used by the Board of Regents.

Gage, who is the school’s associate vice president for enrollment management, says downsizing a bit has advantages. He says it gives the students better course selection and more open beds in the residence halls, which allows for returning and transfer students to live on campus. “For our physical plant and for our resources and our faculty we want to make sure that with the resources that we have that we’re providing the best possible education experience for the people who choose Iowa.”

The third state school — Iowa State University saw a drop of one-thousand-and one students. A spokesperson says they saw a decline primarily in international and transfer students. I-S-U had seen eight years of record enrollments before a decline last fall of 339 students.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a body found in a rain-swollen Cedar Rapids stream may be that of a missing kayaker. The man’s body was pulled from Indian Creek on Thursday afternoon. Officials on the scene couldn’t verify that it was that of 34-year-old John Conley. His wife, 30-year-old Samantha Conley was rescued Monday from the stream after their kayak overturned. The body was found less than a mile downstream. Tests will be conducted to confirm the victim’s identity.