Members of the Griswold School Board, Monday evening, acted on personnel changes. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said there was one new hire. Steve Vance was hired as Assistant High School Wrestling Coach. They accepted the resignation of Ashley Cibic as Elementary School Para-Professional, and Troy Quick as Midle School/High School PE Teacher and Coach. The changes are effective at the end of the current school year.

The Griswold School Board also received updates from KPE and Estes, the two firms helping with the District’s building projects. The timeline for the projects include: a pre-bid meeting 3:30-p.m. on Dec. 5th; Bid openings on Dec. 21st at 2-p.m., and consideration of the approval of bids contracts by the Board on Jan.15th. Construction would begin as soon as the weather allows. And, the Griswold Board had asked for bids on either a Suburban and/or a van. They received two bids back on the potential purchase Suburban, but none on the van. Since the District may need an additional vehicle to transported Special Education Students, and since Suburbans cost more than a van, the Board instructed Henrichs to approach other dealerships and send out another request for bids, especially with regard to vans. With the bidding process, Henrichs said they gave the dealers the option of trade-in allowance for the van the District is trying to sell, but they did not received any outright bids to buy it. That process will also start anew.

Last Summer, the District’s sign was damaged during a storm. The District has since received an insurance payment amounting to $3,200 for a replacement. Henrichs said the Board wants to hear from some sign manufacturers during their next meeting, to learn more about what’s available, what the restrictions are, and related issues.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Student veterans from Nebraska and Iowa have joined together in a nine-day march to raise awareness of veteran suicide ahead of a football game between the two universities. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the student veteran organizations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Iowa organized the 347-mile march from Iowa City, Iowa to Lincoln, Nebraska. The march started Wednesday and will conclude Thursday, just before Friday’s football game. They passed through Atlantic, Monday.

The groups hope to bring attention to the problem of veteran suicide. Studies show that about 20 veterans die by suicide every day. This is the second year the groups have marched. Veterans march about 20 miles every morning and afternoon while carrying 20 pound (more than 9 kilogram) backpacks with their personal belongings.

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

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Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports that at around 8:50-p.m., Monday, the Clarinda Academy informed authorities that two male students had absconded from campus. Both students were found together at approximately 7:00 a.m. today (Tuesday), around Schenck Road and the U.S. Highway 71 and State Highway 2 East bypass.

The students were taken into custody by the Clarinda Police Department with assistance from personnel at the Clarinda Co-Op and a bus driver from the Clarinda Community School District. The two students have been returned to authorities at the Clarinda Academy. One student is a 15-year-old African-American male from Omaha, Nebraska, the second student is a 16-year-old Hispanic White Male from San Diego, California.

The Clarinda Academy is a residential foster care facility that provides residential treatment to at-risk and delinquent male and female youth from several states.

The harvest of soybeans in the state is done, while work remains when it comes to corn. The U-S-D-A crop report released Monday shows most of the beans are in the bin — while 92 percent of the corn has been gleaned from the fields. The report says the northeast, southwest and south-central sections of Iowa continue to lag behind in the corn harvest — with 15 percent of the corn still remaining to be harvested in those areas. The corn harvest that was hampered by weather, remains eight days behind the five-year average. The bean harvest had been very near the end heading into last week — as the report last Monday showed that there were only three-percent of the soybeans remaining in the fields. That was five weeks behind the five-year average.

(Radio Iowa)

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A man in Creston reported to the Police Department there, Monday, that someone had stolen his wallet. The wallet was missing from the area of Union and Elm Streets, and may have been taken sometime between Sunday and Monday. Inside the wallet were several items of identification, bank cards and cash. The loss was estimated at $200.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha schoolteacher and area youth softball coach accused of child sexual assault has taken a plea deal. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 47-year-old Daryl Clark pleaded no contest Monday to enticement by electronic device and to attempted visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors had already dropped three counts of child sexual assault when they determined the girl had been 16, the age of sexual consent in Nebraska. They amended other charges in exchange for Clark’s pleas.

At the time of his arrest last year, Clark was a business education teacher at Omaha’s Monroe Middle School and a girls softball coach in Papillion and Bellevue. Court records say he lives in Crescent, Iowa.

Members of the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Board of Directors, Monday evening, heard various seasonal activities related updates from Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm. The Board was expected to vote on a Vice-Chair to succeed Mary Strong, but tabled the motion because newly elected Board member John Krogman was not able to attend the meeting. In other business, Director Staashelm spoke first with regard to the Schildberg Rec Area Development Project. He said the playground equipment has arrived and is being kept in the newly renovated Parks and Rec shed until it’s installed sometime next Spring or Summer.

He mentioned also that designs are underway for the 30×50 west side shelter at the Schildberg park, the installation of which would also take place next Spring, weather permitting. With regard to the Sports Complex (Across the street from the KJAN Studios on N. Olive), a meeting was held to look over various plan options for what’s needed and what’s possible for the future. He says the preliminary plan incorporates space for soccer, flag and possible tackle football. In addition to the other sports the area is currently being used for during the Spring, Summer and Fall.

Staashelm said the Department is currently taking a look at improvements to Cedar Park and Mollett Park, including Public Gardens. That could include, in the case of Mollett Park, having plottable raised garden beds rentable to organizations or individuals, a walking trail with edible landscaping spread through different beds. Preliminary plans also call for a shelter and playground at that park located in the cul-de-sac of East 3rd Street Place. Those and other preliminary plans will be made available for public feedback online and elsewhere, in the coming weeks. He says they have in their 5-year plan budgeted $15,000 each year for community parks and $10,000 for trees.

The Parks and Rec Board’s Jolene Smith reported during the meeting Monday evening, that they had received $50 from the “Bikers for Bikers” group that held an event last month, to benefit local biking and walking paths. After the event was held, the Parks and Rec Board received a check for around $120 from the group. And, as previously mentioned Sunnyside Park remains open for activities. Once the weather turns bad, the roads inside the park will be closed until Spring, for safety reasons.

A woman from southern Iowa was injured in a single-vehicle accident Monday afternoon, in Page County. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver of a 2008 Ford F-350 pickup, 78-year old Dixie Fritz, of New Market, was injured when her truck left the road and hit a cable barrier. The woman, who was wearing her seat belt, was transported by Clarinda Rescue to the Clarinda Regional Hospital, following the crash.

The Patrol says after the pickup struck the first cable barrier, it bounced across the road and hit the opposite cable barrier. The pickup managed to cross over that barrier and into the south ditch, where it came to rest on the driver’s side, facing north.

The accident happened at around 3:10-p.m. on eastbound Highway 2, in Page County.