The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regularly scheduled session 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall. Among the items on their agenda are Public Hearings on the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020) 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, and FY 2020 Budget, which sets the tax rate at $16.86 per thousand dollars valuation. City Administrator John Lund says key elements of the FY 2020 CIP include:

• The City’s big capital projects that will start in the FY 2024 Budget and last through FY 2030.
• In 2017 dollars, $8.31-million worth of Street Improvements and $1.62-million for two fire trucks are scheduled, for a total of $9.94-million. By 2024 the costs will be $12.43-million, and by 2030 it will reach $15.57-million. Lund says construction inflation has traditionally outpaced everything but healthcare costs.
• Lund says also, no maintenance will be deferred, but nothing will be accelerated, either. All preventative maintenance will occur as scheduled by the engineers. He says “We will not be ripping-up working streets just ‘save future money.”
• The Street Work will be done over six-years, borrowing money in two bonds.

Prior to all of that, Lund says he will recommission the 2017 study in 2023 to get updated cost estimates and street conditions, so there is sufficient time to adjust the financing. And, with the exception of the second phase of the Library, all Capital Improvements are fully funded. As for the FY 2020 City of Atlantic Budget, Lund says “No substantive changes have been made” since the draft budget was submitted to the Council on Feb. 6th. He notes:

• Nearly all departments other than Finance and Administration have a capital equipment and vehicles reserve fund now, which should help department heads further prioritize their expenditures, especially since ongoing deposits into those reserve funds are NOT a given.
• Employee benefit costs will be moved into a separate account, with funds deposited annually.
• A Police Training and Recertification Fund was also established for occasional, necessary expenditures.

And, Lund says unsustainable growth in the City’s labor costs has ended, with all positions at or above the median of 33 cities in Iowa with a population between 5,000 and 10,000 (as outlined in a 2018 survey), will be set at 2.4-percent. Positions below the median are set to be fully equalized by FY 2021. The public has the chance to comment or ask questions about the budget during the meeting, Wednesday, before the Council acts on approving it. The Budget is due into the State by March 15th. In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on a Resolution setting the salaries for appointed officers and employees for the Fiscal Year that begins July 1st, 2019 and ends June 30, 2020. There will also be a Public Hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement between the City and the Cass County Landfill. The Landfill has instituted a per-capita fee of $12 per resident, to be assessed annually.

And, the Council will act on an order to appoint Megan Roberts to the Community Promotion Commission.

The Harlan Police Department has issued a weekly report on arrests. Authorities said Officers arrested 39-year old Jason Robin Conway Emery, of Harlan, Monday, following a call for suspicious activity. Emery was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with theft 2nd, burglary 3rd, and driving while barred. On Saturday, 48-year old Terri Lynn McCord, of Harlan, was arrested following at traffic stop. McCord was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possessing contraband, operating while intoxicated, prohibited acts penalties, possession of drug paraphernalia, and improper rear lamp.

On Feb. 27th, 54-year old Randall Brett Hess, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Hess was transported to the Shelby County Jail. And, on Feb. 26th, 21-year old Chelsea LeeAnn Adams, of Atlantic, was arrested on an active Audubon County warrant. Adams was turned over to a deputy for transport the Audubon County Jail.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors in Davenport are disputing allegations that they allowed a key witness to give false testimony at three trials of a man charged with killing a girl in 1990. Scott County Attorney Michael Walton acknowledges in a filing that Antonio Holmes was required to testify at the trial of Stanley Liggins under his plea agreement on theft and burglary charges. But he says the deal only required that Holmes testify truthfully and not in any particular way against Liggins. Walton says Holmes testified to his opinion when he told jurors that he didn’t receive any benefit for his cooperation.

Liggins is set to stand trial next week for a fourth time in the death of 9-year-old Jennifer Lewis. His defense has asked for the case to be dismissed, alleging that Holmes has been allowed to falsely tell jurors he didn’t get a benefit for testifying. Holmes says he saw Liggins and Lewis together shortly before she was kidnapped. A judge is holding a hearing Tuesday to consider the matter.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill that would have raised insurance coverage requirements on Uber and Lyft in Iowa has been permanently shelved at the statehouse. Republican Representative David Sieck, of Glenwood, says a state law passed in 2016 just established statewide standards for ride-sharing services. Sieck says “If we do this, it’s going to completely throw everything in a tail spin and we’ll have to start all over. They were pretty intense negotiations and every seemed pretty happy, so I don’t know what the impetus on trying to do this is.”

Representative David Maxwell, a Republican from Gibson, agreed to table the proposal. “Right now, I’m going to mark it for indefinite postponent,” Maxwell says.  The bill would have shifted insurance requirements from drivers to the ride sharing companies. Maxwell says he and two other legislators on a House subcommittee didn’t have enough time to review a proposal they received minutes before they were to vote on it. Plus, Maxwell says he’s not that familiar with how ride-sharing companies work. Sieck has used both Uber and Uber Eats. “That’s pretty amazing because you can see the vehicle, where it’s at, when it’s at the restaurant, projected time when it’s going to be at your place,” Sieck says. “I was sitting at a hotel and really didn’t want to go out and I thought that was pretty nifty, so I’m pretty impressed with their services.”

The current state law requires Uber and Lyft drivers to have personal insurance on their vehicle and the ride-sharing companies have insurance covering the duration of the passenger’s ride.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — A July trial has been scheduled for a man accused of killing his former girlfriend in the southeast Iowa city of Keokuk. Lee County District Court records say 25-year-old Adam McCain is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors have said McCain stabbed 27-year-old Calove Sackman once on Feb. 5, got into his vehicle and ran her over, and then got back out and stabbed her several more times.
Officers found Sackman lying on a sidewalk. The court records say she identified her attacker as McCain, who lives in Fort Madison. On Monday he filed a written plea of not guilty. His trial is set to begin July 16.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) 2018 Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) shows in general, underage drinking continues to decline. Alcohol use among Iowa 11th graders was down from 26.4 percent in 2012 to 20.4 percent in 2018. Binge drinking fell from 19.2 percent in 2012 to 12.0 percent in 2018. An exception to the overall decline came among eighth graders, who reported a significant increase in drinking from 2016 to 2018, from 5.4 percent in 2016 to 7.3 percent in 2018 – a level not seen since 2012.

In multiple questions on suicide, Iowa youth reported increasing rates from previous surveys. Overall, the percentage of students who reported having a plan to kill themselves increased by 53 percent from 2012 to 2018. One in 10 students reported having a plan and 1 in 20 reported a suicide attempt within the past year. Tobacco use appears similar to other substance use, remaining stable or declining from previous surveys. The exception to this is e-cigarettes. Almost one-quarter of 11th grade students (23 percent) reported use of e-cigarettes in the past month on the 2018 IYS, along with 8 percent of eighth graders and 2 percent of sixth graders.

IDPH IYS coordinator Pat McGovern says “The Iowa Youth Survey gives us a glimpse into the lives of our young people. While the answers represent a moment in time and do not give a complete view of the pre-teen and teenage mindset, they do give us a glimpse into their actions and beliefs. This enables us to tailor our programming and services in the most effective ways.” In 2018, 70,451 students representing 68 percent of Iowa’s 330 public school districts participated in the IYS.

The 2018 IYS is the 17th in a series of surveys that have been completed every two or three years since 1975. The survey is conducted with Iowa public and private students in grades 6, 8, and 11. The IYS includes questions about students’ behaviors, attitudes and beliefs, as well as their perceptions of peer, family, school, neighborhood and community environments. The Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation generates the IYS reports. To view the 2018 report and other information about the IYS, visit www.iowayouthsurvey.iowa.gov/.

(Radio Iowa) — The death of an elderly woman at a north-central Iowa nursing home, allegedly from abuse and neglect, is subject of a U-S Senate panel hearing on Wednesday. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Finance Committee, says they will consider the case of 87-year-old Virginia Olthoff, who died in February of 2018 at the Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center. “That’s a very hard thing for any family,” Grassley says. “The people responsible for any abuse or neglect should be held responsible.”

A state inspection report said Olthoff was in severe pain for days before she died, and she went several days without water, suffering from critical dehydration. Grassley has called the report “very disturbing” and “heartbreaking.” “What makes it even worse is that this nursing home had received the highest possible rating from the Centers for Medicaid Services,” Grassley says. “It even got a five-star rating, despite being fined for verbal and physical abuse.”

Grassley says his panel will hear testimony from Iowa Public Radio reporter Pat Blank, of Cedar Falls, who is Olthoff’s daughter. The committee will also hear from federal officials on how the nursing home ratings system is being upgraded. “Testimony will give our committee some first-hand insight into what needs to change for patients and family,” Grassley says, “and how we can improve accountability.”

The Winnebago County nursing home was fined more than $77,000 last August by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in part, over the treatment of Olthoff.