United Group Insurance

USDA Report 5-28-2020

Ag/Outdoor, Podcasts

May 28th, 2020 by Jim Field

w/Max Dirks.

Play

Atlantic A-D discusses DOE Baseball/Softball Return-to-Play

Sports

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Atlantic School District Activities/Athletic Director Andrew Mitchell, reviewed the District’s Baseball/Softball Return-to-Play plans during a school board meeting Wednesday night. The Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, earlier this week, released guidance procedures and provided a frequently asked questions list for the upcoming baseball and softball shortened seasons. Mitchell said Atlantic’s plan is “A fluid plan. This is not set in stone. I think we were one of the first schools to do something like this.”

Mitchell said as part of the plans to adhere to DOE guidelines, the district has ordered metal signs from JJ Graphic Design that should be in-place by the first practice. The signs, which should be arriving still this week, will indicate persons with any COVID-19 symptoms should not attend practice or games. They will be installed at the Little League Diamond. Mitchell says the signs have drawn the attention of other district’s.

Yard signs will also be spread out asking people to practice social distancing. Coaches will need to have a plan for players to keep their equipment outside of the fence and dugout, thereby maintaining the social distance guidelines during practice and using dugouts for games only.

The guidelines state also, players should use their own gloves, helmets and bats as much as possible. Mitchell says softball should be covered, but baseball may need to order more helmets. The District will develop practice plans to address potential situations involving social distancing between players. Coaches will sanitize equipment before and after each practice and game. Mitchell says Atlantic will either use a contact spray or another product, in addition to using paper towels to wipe down equipment and areas, if needed.

Mr. Mitchell said the DOE documents have been shared with coaches and staff. Superintendent Steve Barber said a permission slip has been established, outlining the risk of being involved in baseball and softball. Players and parents of players will need to sign-off on the form. Mitchell said the district appears to be “ahead of the game, with what other district’s are doing.”

Rescue & emergency crews called to GSW incident in Griswold

News

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Rescue crews and law enforcement were called at 5:15-a.m. today to a residence in Griswold, for a report of a 30-year old male who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was in a vehicle in front of the residence. The Medical Examiner’s Office was also notified.

KJAN is withholding the street and house number information at this time, pending further details from law enforcement, and out of respect for the family.

CHERYL LINN CARTER, 60, of Sioux Falls, SD [& formerly of Guthrie Center] (Graveside Svcs. 6/1/20)

Obituaries

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

CHERYL LINN CARTER, 60, of Sioux Falls, SD [& formerly of Guthrie Center], died Monday, May 25th, at Avera Heart of South Dakota. Graveside services for CHERYL CARTER will be held 2-p.m. Monday, June 1st, in the Union Cemetery at Guthrie Center. Twigg Funeral Home in Guthrie Center has the arrangements.

There is no visitation.

CHERYL LINN CARTER is survived by:

Her mother – Patricia Monthei.

Her children – Joshua Underwood and Jessica Carter.

Her brothers – Lucky (Daisy) Underwood;

Her sisters – Robin (Randy) Somers; Stacy Martines, and Wendy (Merle) Laswell.

Her step-brothers: Mike, Tony, Rich, and Dale Monthei.

3 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends.

Skyscan Forecast for Atlantic & the area: 5/28/20

Weather

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Today: Partly cloudy to cloudy w/scattered showers. High 75. Nw @ 10-15.

Tonight: Clearing skies. Low near 50. NW @ 5-10.

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. High 75. N @10.

Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/scattered light rain. High 72.

Sunday: P/Cldy to Cldy. High around 75.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 77. Our Low was 63. As of 5-a.m. (5/28), we had received .04″ rain since 7-a.m. Wednesday. Last year on this date the High in Atlantic was 65 and the Low was 54. The Record High on May 28th in Atlantic was 97 in 2018. The Record Low was 29, in 1894.

Sports Headlines: 5/28/20

Sports

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

NASCAR race rained out…Players pondering MLB offer…Basketball Hall ceremony postponed

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday night. The starting order for the second Cup race at Charlotte this week was set based on the finishing order of the Coca-Cola 600 but with an inversion. Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman will start from the pole, while Coca-Cola 600 winner Brad Keselowski will start 20th.

UNDATED (AP) — Baseball players will take at least a few days and possibly until next week to respond to Major League Baseball’s proposed sliding scale of salary slashing. But people familiar with their deliberations tell The Associated Press that players appeared likely to propose increasing the number of regular-season games this year while holding to their demand for full prorated salaries. One of the people said many players were angered by the proposal teams made Tuesday.

UNDATED (AP) — Basketball Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo told ESPN that the enshrinement ceremony for Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and five others will be delayed until the spring of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony was to have taken place in Springfield on Aug. 29. Bryant, Garnett and Duncan all got into the Hall in their first year as finalists, as did WNBA great Tamika Catchings.

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is keeping coach Jeff Blashill  despite missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Yzerman told reporters his previously announced plans to keep Blashill behind the bench have not changed. The Red Wings won an NHL-low 17 games this season and are 153-194-52 under Blashill.

UNDATED (AP) — The final deadline to nominate horses to the rescheduled Triple Crown series is June 3. Owners and trainers can make 3-year-old thoroughbreds eligible for the three-race series at a cost of $3,000. That’s half the original price as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which is forcing the series to be run out of order for the first time since 1931. The late nominations were originally due March 30 but were postponed until the Triple Crown races were rescheduled.

Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, May 28, 2020

News

May 28th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa county that is home to a meatpacking plant has seen nearly 500 coronavirus cases in the past week but state officials and the company say they can’t confirm an outbreak at the facility. The state health department reported 493 cases since Friday in Buena Vista County, where a Tyson pork processing plant is located in Storm Lake. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Wednesday the state hasn’t confirmed an outbreak related to the plant but that testing is underway. A Tyson spokeswoman says the company is awaiting complete data. Iowa posted 595 new cases statewide Wednesday. There were 21 more deaths for a total of 485.

WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — The National Weather Service says at least four tornadoes raked parts of Iowa on Tuesday for a second day of severe weather in the state. The first tornado was reported around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday four miles west of Waukee in central Iowa, where it touched down briefly and damaged a car dealership. The second occurred minutes later just east of Dallas Center. Later in the afternoon, tornadoes were reported simultaneously just northwest of Woolstock in northern Iowa and northeast of Adair in west-central Iowa. Meteorologist Roger Vachalek in Des Moines says all of the tornadoes appeared to be weak and in mostly uninhabited areas that caused little damage and no injuries.

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says a more than month-long investigation has shown that a woman found dead inside her house near Grimes died of natural causes. The sheriff’s office made the pronouncement in news release Wednesday on the death of 35-year-old Melanie Scheuring. Scheuring was found dead in her house on April 19 after deputies, firefighters and medics were called to the home. Scheuring’s 46-year-old fiance was also at the home. Other than to declare her death was from natural causes, officials did not say Wednesday what caused Scheuring’s death.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The daughter of an Iowa nursing home resident who died suddenly in a coronavirus outbreak says the state could have done more to stop the spread and protect vulnerable citizens such as her father.Roger Coe, 86, died Friday at the Crystal Heights Care Center in Oskaloosa after the virus quickly spread through the home. The center said Monday that 48 residents and 13 employees have tested positive over roughly the last two weeks.Sherrie Coe of Fort Collins, Colorado, said her father was known for wheeling himself to the nurses’ station every day and playing his harmonica for anyone who would listen. She says his death is sad and tough to take because she believes it could have been prevented with stricter mitigation strategies.

Atlantic School Board discusses Internet Accessibility/Infrastructure needs

News

May 27th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic Community School District held an electronic session Wednesday evening and heard about the Teacher Leadership Program (TLC), as well as from Technology Coordinator Roger Warne and NishnaNet’s Scott Bennett, with regard to options for student/faculty internet access/infrastructure.

Warne said regardless of what option the District chooses, or even if a combination of options is offered, the service will not be a replacement for any current internet service students or staff may have. It is intended to serve those who do not have direct access to the internet, and who need to take lesson plans remotely, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Option #1: The District will Provide a 4G LTW signal from the south water tower to supply cellular hotspots. This would offer the benefit of: content and internet being provided by the school and monitored by the existing firewall and content filter; The equipment could be deployed and gathered back fairly quickly if need be; It would include a one-time cost, and the district would own the equipment; it would cover most of Atlantic, and can move with the student. Drawbacks include: An initial cost estimate to $45-to $50,000 for the first 100 hotspots, while 200 more is $40,000; The signal can be weak or non-existent in low lying area and/or heavy trees; There needs to be an exact address of the user to determine access, or the dependability of the signal cannot be guaranteed. And, it will NOT reach rural students.

Option #2: Mediacom’s “Connect to compete” program. That would cost $10 per month; The school chooses who gets it; A VPN can be used to route internet access through the school’s firewall. Drawbacks include: Deployment can take time; There are data and speed limits; the modem stays in the household; There is a need to have an exact address to determine access; requires a 1-year commitment and a $120 minimum; and the user must have access inside the City Limits of Atlantic.

Option#3: Verizon Hotspots. This has the advantage of: Easy deployment; Fairly easy to gather equipment back in; Good coverage for the area; The school owns the device moving forward; The signal can move with the student; and it is an option for rural students. The drawbacks include a required six-month contract; $30 per device and $40 per month, for a total of $270 minimum.

Option#4: NishnaNet. The standard price for the service plus install is $55 per month, but Scott Bennett said the district would be charged a lower rate. Warne and Bennett said this is a good option for rural customers – IF there is a line of site from the point of signal. Conversely, it is not a good option for city dwellers, due to terrain and vegetation concerns. The customer pays the bills and chooses to use the service.

Option#5: Satellite Internet ($75-100 per month). This would not be a good option for school funded internet, but it is an option for someone in a remote location.

Option#6: School Parking Lots – WiFi Access. There is essentially no cost to the district or user; Content and internet is provided by the school and monitored by the existing firewall and content filter. Locations at the Washington Elementary and Achievement Center has greater signal strength than the High School and Middle School, but it is nonetheless receivable. The drawbacks are the range is limited to a 150-foot radius and the user (student/teacher) must travel to the location where it is available.

Warne and Bennett will work together to send out surveys to students and staff to see where the need is, which will help to determine which option or hybrid of options might best suit the District’s need to provide an alternate source of learning if the district is shut down in unforeseen circumstances (like COVID-19). When those questions are answered, the district will need to determine which devices (laptops) will be needed in addition to those currently being rotated through the grades, and how many will be needed to fill the demand.

Mills County Sheriff’s report (5/27)

News

May 27th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, said two men were arrested recently, on separate charges. On Wednesday (5/27), 25-year old Dylan Ging Fleuren, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 1:33-a.m., following a traffic stop on I-29. Fleuren was charged with two-counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance. His bond was set at $2,000.

And, at around 10:20-a.m. May 23rd, 34-year old Shane Scott Oliver, of Omaha, was arrested for Providing false information, Interference with Official Acts, and Failure to Provide Financial Liability [proof of insurance]. His bond was set at $900.

WAYNE NEWELL, 77, of Greenfield (5-30-2020)

Obituaries

May 27th, 2020 by Jim Field

WAYNE NEWELL, 77, of Greenfield died Tuesday, May 26th.  A Graveside Memorial Service with full military honors for WAYNE NEWELL will be held on Saturday, May 30th at 1:00 pm in the Greenfield Cemetery.  Johnson Family Funeral Home – Stuart Chapel has the arrangements.

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Visitation will be held on Saturday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Greenfield.

A time of fellowship and gathering will be held following the graveside service at Wayne & Joan’s home.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Wayne Newell Memorial Fund and sent in care of the funeral home.

Online condolences may be left at www.johnsonfamilyfuneralhome.com.