Rex Pharmacy’s locations on Chestnut Street in downtown Atlantic and at the Atlantic Medical Center will be closing next week, in preparation for their move to the former Sears Store at 1607 E. 7th Street. On March 1st, Josh Borer, the President and owner of Rex Pharmacy in Atlantic, announced plans for its two current Atlantic locations, Rex Pharmacy downtown and the Atlantic Medical Center Pharmacy, to merge and become one pharmacy located in the former Sears building across the street from the Atlantic Shopping Plaza. Borer says progress on the refurbished building has been progressing nicely.

He says they’re on-track for a “go-live” date on Sept. 16th. The current Atlantic locations will be closing late next week, beginning with the Atlantic Medical Center site. Borer said they will do everything they can to minimize a disruption in service. The AMC Pharmacy site will remain open until 5-p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12th. Afterward, all the data will be merged to the downtown store. Prescriptions can be filled from that location by calling 243-2110.)

The downtown store will close at Noon on Friday, Sept. 13th, in preparation for technology transfers the to new location. The pharmacy will still be available for emergency needs, but if you see you are running low on prescriptions or medical supplies, be sure and order those as soon as possible, in advance of the closing. The new pharmacy at the former Sears store will be open for business Sept. 16th. As for the downtown pharmacy, Borer said they’re still exploring options for the building so it doesn’t stay vacant too long.

In March, Borer said the plans were the result of Rex Pharmacy’s desire to make community pharmacy a more viable part of patient outcomes in Atlantic and the surrounding area. Rex Pharmacy has been in it’s current 6,000-square feet location on Chestnut Street in downtown Atlantic, for more than 75-years, which is why, Borer says, it was a tough decision to make the change. He said they’ve had a lot of feedback since their announcement of the move. He said the new location at 7th and Hospital Drive will open-up more opportunities to serve their current and future customers. He said he always thought that would be a good location for a pharmacy, and they wanted to improve their overall access to the community, including a drive-thru prescription pick-up window.

The new Rex Pharmacy/Atlantic Medical Center Pharmacy will also offer private clinical rooms for patient medication reviews, education, consultations and immunizations. It will be a full-service pharmacy with all the over-the-counter medications and supplements as well as in-home medical equipment and supplies.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Sioux City man looted the checking account of a nursing home resident. Woodbury County court records say 52-year-old Ronald Taylor is charged with dependent adult abuse. Taylor’s next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Court records say Taylor held a power attorney for the man, who has dementia and can’t handle his finances. The records say Taylor spent nearly $23,000 of the man’s money since July 28, 2017, wiping out the man’s account.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded more than two million dollars to seven towns Thursday in what are called Community Development Block Grants. Authority spokesperson, Nicole Hansen, says the grant money is provided by the federal government for water and sewer system improvements. “It is a competitive program — we do receive more requests than we are able to fund — unfortunately,” Hansen says. She says they always try to fund as many projects as they can because there is a big need for water and sewer improvements.

Anthon, Blairstown, Fontanelle, Guttenberg, Lake Park, Massena and St. Olaf all were awarded the grants in this round. Fontanelle received a $300,000 grant for a local match of $1,627,500 for Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements. Massena’s grant of $300,000 plus a local match of $1,852,000 is also for Wastewater Plant Improvements.

Hansen says there are several factors involved in the selection process. “We take a look at project need, we take a look at project impact and readiness. We also take a look at the benefit to low and moderate income persons,” according to Hansen. “One of the national objectives with the federal C-B-G program is benefit to low and moderate income individuals.” The grants are targeted to the smaller communities in the state. “The largest communities in Iowa, Davenport, Des Moines — those communities with populations over 50-thousand — they receive their own Community Development Block Grant allocation from the federal government. So, they are not able to apply for the state program because they receive their own allocations,” Hansen explains.

Communities that didn’t get grants this time have another chance before the end of the year. “We are accepting applications currently. That application window will close on October 1st. And then we’ll make awards in November for the fourth quarter,” Hansen says. “And then we’ll open it up again on January first for 2020.” Hansen says they usually have around ten million dollars to award each year.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa have charged a man with kidnapping and abusing a 4-year-old girl. Council Bluffs police say officers were investigating a report of a missing child when 28-year-old Michael Brandstrom brought the girl to officers, saying he had found her outside and brought her into his apartment to keep her safe. But police say Brandstrom had kept the girl in his apartment for more than an hour without called authorities and that he had taken several nude photos of the girl.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agriculture land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the flood plain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices are accepting applications through Oct. 18.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas health and human services official has been named the new director of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Thursday she has appointed Kelly Kennedy Garcia to head the department that oversees the state’s Medicaid program, mental health centers and child welfare services. Former DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven was ousted from the job in June for reasons Reynolds has not fully disclosed. He’s filed a $2 million wrongful termination claim.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a pilot suffered minor injuries when his airplane crashed in a south-central Iowa cornfield. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office says a 911 caller reported Wednesday that a man had walked to the caller’s home, saying the small plane he’d been flying had gone down. First responders found the single-engine plane lying on its top about a mile northwest of Greenfield. The pilot was taken to a hospital and soon released. He’s been identified as 59-year-old Eric Chrystal, of Jefferson.