Red Oak Police say a woman was arrested on an assault charge at around 11:35-p.m., Wednesday. 39-year old Rose Amber Eppenbaugh, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street, and charged with Domestic Assault. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond, pending a court appearance.

A traffic stop late Wednesday night near Sidney, in Fremont County, resulted in the arrest of 61-year old Terry Shere, of Sidney, on a Class D Felony charge of OWI/3rd offense. Shere was being held at the Fremont County Jail on $5000 bond.

Terry Shere

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, approved the closure of certain city streets along with parking restrictions that will be in effect from 6-a.m. Sunday, July 21st through 2-a.m Monday, July 22nd, for the upcoming RAGBRAI event that will bring thousands of bicyclists and their support vehicles into town. We mentioned the streets that will be affected, earlier this week online and on the air (but the list can be found at the end of this story if you missed it).

Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson said additional temporary street closings or parking restrictions would be implemented on an as-needed basis. The Council also approved an Engineering Agreement with Snyder & Associates, for the Atlantic Animal Shelter Building addition. Funds for the addition, which will allow cats to be held in separate quarters from dogs, was made possible through a gift of $135,000 from the estate of Ms. Lorene Eppelsheimer. She specifically requested the new addition be built in accordance with her wishes. The addition will be 18-by 36-feet, or 648-square feet in all. Estimates are that the engineering and project management costs will run $120,350. The balance of the funds will be used for additional cat cages and comforts for the cats.

In other business, following a public hearing, the Council passed a Resolution that allows the final property process to proceed with regard to 411 Walnut Street (The Atlantic Senior Center). During their meeting June 5th, the Council accepted a bid of $55,445 from the Elks Club for the purchase of the facility.

In his report to the Council, Mayor Dave Jones said there were four reported grass clipping notices issued to residents, who allowed their clippings to be tossed on city streets by mowers. Code Enforcement Officer Kris Erickson said the notices went to four new offenders. If those persons repeat their actions, they will receive a citation.

During the Public/Council Forum, Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson said there were about 40 complaints with regard to fireworks from June 15th through Monday of this week. There was no indication any citations were issued.

Councilman Dana Halder commented that the Massena City Council is looking into having a Splash Pad built near their ball fields. Halder said “We’re putting up more playground equipment on the west side of [The] Schildberg [Recreation Area]. I would really like to see the Parks and Rec Department focus on a Splash Pad. We have playground equipment all over this town. And we have people asking and begging for a Splash Pad. We can draw people from other towns that are going to buy gas when they get here…” and when they are ready to leave, can get something to eat at a local restaurant.

Halder said “We need to re-focus on some things here, and let’s get doing some things people are asking for.” Councilman Chris Jimerson agreed. Mayor Dave Jones said the Parks and Rec is working on it, but it will probably take a bond issue to approve it. Jimerson said his fear is that they will probably try to attach a new pool to any plans. The City Administrator will talk to Interim Parks Director Bryant Rasmussen about bringing the matter up to the Parks Board again (It was brought up in previous discussions this year, but the parks board wanted to focus on other areas).

And Councilman Chris Jimerson addressed concerns by some Atlantic residents that the tornado sirens didn’t go off Tuesday afternoon. He explained that in years past, when the National Weather Service issued a Tornado warning, it was for the entire county. Over the past few years, they changed to a “Polygon” formula, that narrows down the area and direction of a severe storm, so it doesn’t panic the entire county. He said the theory is, if you continually warn somebody to go to the basement, pretty soon people will ignore it.

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Here are the approved Street Closures for RAGBRAI, effective 6-a.m. Sunday thru 2-a.m. Monday:

• Chestnut Street from the Court House Driveway access (in the 700 block) to 2nd Street, to allow set-up of a stage and vendor access).
• 6th Street from Locust to Walnut (The entry point to the entertainment area, bike parking, and vendors)
• Poplar Street from 7th to 5th (for bike parking & portable restrooms)
• 7th Street, from Poplar to Walnut (which will serve as the entertainment area and crowd area, while the bands play).
• 10th St., at the intersection with 7th, for eastbound traffic (only at the peak times for riders getting to, and leaving, Atlantic).
• 14th Street, from Olive to Plum Streets (On Monday, July 22nd, while the riders are leaving town).

The order to temporarily restrict parking those days will affect:

• 10th, from 7th to Olive, on the north side.
• Palm, from 9th to 10th, on the west side.
• E. Mahogany at 9th Street, north & west sides.
• W. Mahogany at 10th St., west side.
• Ed Podolak Drive, from Linn to Olive, north side.
• Linn Street, from 10th to Ed Podolak Drive, east & west sides.
• 14th Street, by the Heritage House, south side.
• Olive Street & Roosevelt Drive, 100-feet north on the east side.
• and, 10th and Olive, one-half block in all directions.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man Wednesday afternoon for Simple Domestic Abuse Assault, and Obstruction of Emergency Communications. Officers called at around 12:20-p.m. to a residence in the 100 block of E. Prospect Street, arrested 33-year old Salvador Ramos-Zuno, of Red Oak, following an investigation.

Ramos-Zuno was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate. Red Oak Police were assisted during handling of the incident, by Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Two men from Illinois were sentenced Tuesday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. 41-year old Cameron Felder and 37-year old Nathaniel Thomas were sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance. Felder was sentenced to 70 months in prison and Thomas was sentenced to 150 months imprisonment. They will each serve a term of supervised release of four years when released from prison.

In August 2018, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop of Felder and Thomas’ vehicle for speeding on I-29 in Fremont County. As the trooper approached the vehicle, the occupants were uncooperative and required numerous commands to shut the car doors and turn the car off. The trooper immediately detected the odor of burnt marijuana. Thomas handed the trooper a baggie of marijuana out the passenger window. A search was performed on the vehicle and officers located over 200 grams of methamphetamine in pill form.

The case was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) — State health officials report a rise in the number of foodborne illnesses involving a bacteria called campylobacter (CAM-pee-loh-bak-tur). Cases topped one-thousand statewide for the first time in 2016 with more than 600 cases reported in the first half of this year. Barb Fuller, a human sciences specialist with the Iowa State University Extension, says it’s usually associated with chicken.

“The biggest cause is eating raw or under-cooked poultry or things that are contaminated by raw poultry — so if you didn’t wash your cutting board or change your plate when you take something out to the grill,” says Fuller. “It can also come from things like raw milk or unpasteurized milk, but chicken is the biggest cause.”

The campylobacter bacteria is present in the intestines, liver and giblets of poultry and can be transferred to other parts of the animal when it’s slaughtered. Fuller says the bacteria is common, but it can be eliminated with proper cooking. “About 33% of chicken that you buy in the grocery store is probably contaminated with bacteria,” said Fuller. “You can’t see it, you can’t smell it, you can’t taste it, so sometimes we think about chicken with salmonella, but campylobacter is a big problem.”

Symptoms of the illness can be severe in people with weakened immune systems, but she says most people only develop a mild reaction to the infection. “It does cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps and maybe nausea or vomiting,” said Fuller. “It causes those general sort of things you might think of when you ate something. It takes about two-to-five days and the symptoms last about a week.”

Even though you may recover in about a week, you can still be contagious for several weeks, so Fuller says you need to be careful being around other people — especially those who may be at a higher risk for a foodborne illness. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control estimates there are 1.3 million cases of campylobacter infection every year.