Cass County Auditor/Election Commisioner Dale Sunderman has released the list of candidates for the September 8th School Board elections in Cass County.

Atlantic School Board Member At Large – 3 to be elected: The seven candidates include Douglas Bierbaum, Alison A Bruckner, Bob Drogo, Mark C Foegen, Dennis Schwanke, Keith R Swanson, and Jenny Williams, all of Atlantic. Current Board members Dennis Davis, Rod Hartwig and Phill Hascall are not running for re-election.

In the CAM School District, where School directors are voted upon at large, the lone candidate for the North District is Julie Williamson, of Wiota. In the South District, where one seat is available, your candidates are Todd McKee, of Massena, and Emily Rouse, of Cumberland.

In the Griswold School District, there is no candidate for the Griswold School Director 1 seat. The candidate for the Griswold School Director 2 seat is: Scott Hansen, of Griswold. The lone At Large candidate is Heather Pelzer, of Griswold.

In addition, patrons of the Atlantic Community School District will have a public measure in front of them on election day with regard to renewal of the 10-year PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy).

The ballot will say “Shall the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Pottawattamie, and Audubon, State of Iowa, be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy and impose a voter approved physical plant and equipment tax not to exceed Eighty-five cents (85¢) per one thousand dollars ($1,000) of assessed valuation of the taxable property within the school district, and be authorized annually, in combination, as determined by the board, to levy a physical plant and equipment property tax upon all the taxable property within the school district commencing with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and to impose a physical plant and equipment income surtax upon the state individual income tax of each individual income taxpayer resident in the school district on December 31 for each calendar year commencing with the 2016 calendar year, or each year thereafter, (the percent of income surtax not to exceed twenty percent (20%) to be determined by the board each year), to be used for the purposes permitted by Iowa law, it being understood that if this proposition should fail to be approved by the voters, such failure shall not be construed to terminate or restrict authority previously granted by the voters to levy a special tax for any one or more of the purposes permitted by Iowa law?”

A motorcycle accident in western Iowa’s Monona County has claimed the life of a Nebraskan, and resulted in injuries to another person, who is also from Nebraska. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1994 Honda motorcycle was traveling north on Interstate 29 just before 8-a.m., Thursday, when for reasons unknown, the cycle drifted into the right lane, then into the left lane, before it kept going into the median, where it crashed.The accident happened about a mile south of the Onawa exit.

Both victims on the cycle are from Omaha. An 81-year old died, while the other person, who is 78, was flown by helicopter to Burgess Hospital, in Onawa. No other information was released about the accident victims.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nineteen Iowa counties will be getting federal help in their recovery from severe storms last month that delivered high wind, tornadoes, heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms A statement from the White House released Friday says President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration to help share the cost of emergency work, repair and replacement of facilities including roads and bridges with state and local government agencies and some nonprofit organizations.

The counties included are Allamakee, Appanoose, Butler, Clayton, Dallas, Davis, Des Moines, Guthrie, Howard, Jefferson, Lee, Lucas, Marion, Mitchell, Monroe, Warren, Wayne, Winneshiek, and Wright. A state preliminary damage assessment found the weather system in Iowa June 20-25 caused more than $5 million in damage.

Iowans are being warned against using free public wireless networks at airports, hotels and coffee shops. A-A-R-P is launching a campaign called “Watch Your Wi-Fi” to raise awareness of the risks of using those free networks. Spokeswoman Devorah Lanner says a lot of people set themselves up to fall victim to hackers.

“AARP recently conducted a survey of internet users across the country and we found a quarter of those surveyed use free public wi-fi once a week or more,” Lanner says. “That does pose all kinds of risks.” It’s not a good idea to let your mobile device automatically connect to nearby wi-fi networks and you should be especially careful if you do decide to use one.

“Banking online, making credit card transactions online using free public wi-fi,” Lanner says. “It’s not a secure network and can be very easily hacked and your information and identify stolen by cyber-thieves.” The survey also found 27-percent of respondents say they’ve banked online using public wi-fi in the last three months and the same percentage purchased items with credit cards. Lanner says to never even check your e-mail using public wi-fi.

“Typically, people will access public wi-fi at an airport, a hotel, a coffee shop, which is very convenient,” she says, “but without a secure network, people risk oversharing and leaving themselves vulnerable to attacks by con artists and hackers.” She also recommends changing your online bank account passwords every 90 days.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker is not ruling out the possibility a clear winner will fail to emerge after next year’s primaries and caucuses around the country — and delegates at the G-O-P’s 2016 national convention will have to pick the party’s White House nominee. “It’s possible. I mean, it’s a great field, a lot of great candidates…Sooner or later it will be easier to tell how many are not running in the Republican field than those that are,” Walker jokes.

Walker, who is the governor of Wisconsin, says he will not “speak ill” of his Republican competitors, but he’s telling audiences he’s a “doer” who can get the job done. “I just didn’t win three elections in four years in a blue state,” Walker says. “I won on the issues that people care about.” Walker’s most high-profile fight was his successful effort to roll back the collective bargaining rights of unions the represent government employees.

“Unions are just fine. What we did is we took on the big government union bosses and we put the power back firmly into the hands of the hardworking taxpayers,” Walker said. “That was good for the taxpayers. It was pro-worker.” Walker signed a “right to work” law in Wisconsin early this year. It forbids organized labor from forcing non-union workers to pay union dues or fees in a workplace where employees have voted to unionize. Walker is on a campaign swing through southwest Iowa today (Friday), with stops scheduled in five counties. He’ll be in Atlantic at the Masonic Lodge for a fundraising campaign, this evening.

(Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is warning of a scam targeting Iowans involving the DCI. The Iowa DCI has received reports in the last two weeks from citizens receiving threatening phone calls from scammers posing to be DCI Agents.  The scammers claim there are active arrest warrants issued and demand money to avoid being arrested.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety, and all Divisions within DPS, will never ask for money nor make threats of this nature. If you receive a phone call similar to those mentioned above, you are asked to contact your local law enforcement and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Hotline at (515) 281-5926 or (888) 777-4590.

Listed below are some helpful tips to prevent being targeted by fraudulent calls.

• If you get a call from someone who claims they are collecting money on behalf of the DPS—even if a caller ID device shows the DPS—hang up.
• The DPS does not demand immediate payment via prepaid debit cards.
• Do not provide or confirm personal information or financial information to anyone who calls.
• You do not need to report the scam if you receive a call. However, if you lost money through the scam, report it to your local police department or sheriff’s office.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Department of Veterans Affairs officials say funding of adult day care and other skilled and nonskilled services for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans has been bolstered by belt-tightening and will continue through Sept. 30, past the scheduled cutoff. The VA’s Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System said Friday that it will pay for all current authorizations for those services for eligible veterans enrolled in VA health care.

Because of funding shortfalls, the system had planned to stop paying for those services provided by community agencies as of Saturday. But the system says its fiscal management team found ways to control expenses so the system could continue paying for the services. In addition, President Barack Obama is expected to sign a new funding bill covering the VA shortfall.

Deputies in Cass County arrested a man from Shelby County Wednesday. Officials say 22-year old William Eugene Dunlap, Jr., 22, of Harlan, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Dunlap was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held on $5,000 bond.

The Department of Natural Resources says it’s checking on a manure spill from a hog farrowing operation that occurred in Adams County, Thursday afternoon. Officials say at about 3:45 p.m., manure backed up and ran out a pipe at a New Fashion Pork facility near Nodaway. The spill occurred during a routine transfer of manure from a barn to a storage lagoon.

Staff immediately shut off flow, but estimate 15,000 gallons may have been released. The manure flowed under a county road and across a pasture with some reaching a ditch that flows to the Middle Nodaway River.

Farm staff built a temporary dam with hay bales and dirt, quickly stopping the manure flow at the edge of the pasture by 5:20 p.m. when DNR staff arrived. The DNR collected water samples Thursday evening. Field tests in the ditch and a tributary to the river showed slightly elevated levels of ammonia and no signs of dead fish.

A contractor was working Friday to excavate manure and saturated soil from the pasture, expecting to complete cleanup by early morning. The DNR will monitor cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action.