(Radio Iowa) – The head of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges has resigned after a little less than a year as chancellor.
Sonya Williams started as chancellor of the Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges on August 8th of last year. The board of trustees for the colleges accepted her resignation yesterday (Tuesday) and announced she was leaving for personal reasons.

Williams, an Air Force veteran, was an administrator at the College of Lake County in Illinois and chief academic officer for that school’s 15-thousand students when she was hired for the job in eastern Iowa. The president of Muscatine Community College has been appointed as temporary acting chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system.

It has satellite sites in Maquoketa, Wilton and in Davenport as well as the main campuses in Muscatine, Clinton and Davenport. The Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system was formed nearly 60 years ago when junior colleges and vocational schools were merged and the state’s 15 area community colleges were created.

(Radio Iowa)  – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirms seven athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are facing sports gambling charges. The D-C-I says three current and one former Cyclone are charged — with the most prominent being starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers. Three from the U-I are charged, including former baseball player Gehrig Christansen, backup kicker Aaron Blom, and former basketball player Ahron Uhlis.

All seven are charged with tampering with records related to the investigation, as the D-C-I alleges that each tried to hide they were using a sports betting account by claiming the account belonged to someone else. The D-C-I says more charges may be filed as the investigation continues.

ATLANTIC — Heavy precipitation is causing a bypass of untreated wastewater from the City of Fontanelle. It is flowing from Washington and Main Street in town to an unnamed tributary which runs over a mile before reaching the Middle Nodaway River. The bypassing began at 2:51 a.m. The amount of the discharge is unknown at this time.

DNR is monitoring the situation and seeking more information about the extent of the discharge. It is recommended to stay away from this area until the bypass has stopped.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released a report on five arrests conducted from Monday through today. There were two arrests Monday, in Mills County:

• 18-year-old Skyler Ann Mixan, of Elkhorn, NE, was arrested Monday morning at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, for  Theft in the 1st Degree. Her bond was set at $10,000. And, 47-year-old Simon Christopher Elias, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m., Monday, in the area of Levi Road and Highway 34. Elias was charged with OWI/ 2nd Offense, and Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $3,000.

Early Tuesday morning, deputies in Mills County arrested 27-year-old Brittany Marier Barrett, of Omaha, NE, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Driving Under Suspension. She was arrested on I-29 at mile marker 36, at around 2:14-a.m. Bond was set at $2,000; 25-year-old David Glen Combs, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday night at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on a Mills County warrant for Failure To Appear on an original, Violation of Probation, charge. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, at around 1:23-a.m. today (Wednesday), 27-year-old Nicolas Preston Ramirez, of Omaha, NE, was arrested at Highway 34 and I-29 in Mills County, for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at  $1,000.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Firefighters in Harlan was dispatched a little before 7-a.m. today (Wednesday), to a structure. The fire was reported at Brockelman & Associates, PC, at 1301 Hawkeye Avenue in Harlan. Upon arrival crews determined the fire was in the attic of the building, where electrical wiring had overheated and started the insulation on fire.

Firefighters started cutting holes in the roof and pulling down parts of the ceiling to get to the base of the fire. Fire fighting crews from the Westphalia and Avoca Fire Departments responded to a call for mutual aid. The Harlan Fire Department was on scene for about three hours. Their effort and the other fire departments, resulted in the damage being contained to about 25% of the building.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Iowa Aviation Museum’s 30th Annual Wings Fly-In/Drive-in and Hall of Fame Induction will be held Saturday, August 19th 2023.  A pancake breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 10 am by the Fontanelle Lions Club.  Price of breakfast, which includes museum admission, is $10 for adults, $5 for 1st to 12th grade students, preschool children and pilots in command eat free.

The Hall of Fame induction of James Zangger will be held following breakfast.  For more information, contact the Iowa Aviation Museum at 641-343-7184.

(Radio Iowa) -Many Iowans were awakened by unfamiliar noises this (Wednesday) morning, claps of thunder and raindrops on the rooftop. Some communities that have seen precious little precipitation in weeks — even months — were hit with a deluge. Hydrologist Jeff Zogg, at the National Weather Service, says multiple flash flood warnings were issued early today as rainfall totals reached seven and eight inches in a few locations. “That’s a combination of some radar estimates as well as some rainfall reports that we received,” Zogg says. “The heaviest rainfall fell in a stripe from southwest into south-central Iowa and amounts there were as high as four to six inches with some locally higher amounts.”

Traffic was slowed on many roadways, including Interstate 29 in western Iowa, due to a combination of standing water and a lack of visibility during the downpour. “We’re not hearing a whole lot in terms of major damage from the rainfall,” Zogg says, “mainly just some road closures, maybe some basements with water in them, but in most places, the rainfall was pretty welcome.” The old adage of “When it rains, it pours,” had dual significance today, as drought-stricken areas badly needed the rain, just not quite so much of it over such a short period of time.”The rainfall fell pretty intensely in some locations,” Zogg says, “so while the rainfall was welcome, in some cases it fell a little too fast for it to soak in, and it ran off and caused some of the problems that we were seeing.”

Wide sections of Iowa have been in drought for a few years now, and this precipitation is coming at a crucial time for farmers. “The rainfall that we’ve received will definitely help,” Zogg says. “It won’t end the drought conditions, but as far as for the rest of the day, the chances for showers and storms will be greatest pretty much across the southern half of the state, basically south of Highway 30. It’s kind of winding down in some areas but better chances as you go further south.”

The long-range forecast calls for at least a chance of rain every day through Sunday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Small non-farm businesses in 20 Iowa counties and neighboring counties in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Director Tanya N. Garfield with the SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West, says the loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in the following primary counties that began June 6th

Primary Iowa counties:  Cass, Lee, Lyon and Montgomery;
Neighboring Iowa counties:  Adair, Adams, Audubon, Des Moines, Fremont, Guthrie, Henry, Mills, O’Brien, Osceola, Page, Pottawattamie, Shelby, Sioux, Taylor and Van Buren;

“SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster,” Garfield said. Small non-farm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.

“Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 4 percent for businesses and 2.375 percent for private nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and are available to small businesses and most private nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,” Garfield said. By law, SBA makes Economic Injury Disaster Loans available when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster. The Secretary declared this disaster on July 31.

Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the Secretary’s declaration. However, nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance in drought disasters. Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/.

Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX  76155.

The deadline to apply for economic injury is April 1, 2024.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A reminder from Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns: The First day to file nomination papers for the upcoming City/School Election is Monday, August 28, 2023. The last day to file is Thursday, September 21, 2023. Nomination papers may be circulated prior to first date for filing as well as during the filing period. Nomination papers and candidate information are available at the office of the county auditor and from the secretary of state:www.sos.iowa.gov

Signature requirements for Cities are as follows:
City of Atlantic (Runoff Provisions)
• Council At Large Position-21 signatures
• Wards 1-2-3-4 Positions-10 signatures
• Park & Recreation Board-25 signatures

All other cities in the county require 10 signatures for each position.

Signature requirements for School Districts are as follows:
Atlantic School District Positions- 50 signatures
CAM School District Positions- 20 signatures
Griswold School District At Large Position- 16 Signatures
Griswold School District Director 1- 10 signatures
Griswold School District Director 2- 10 signatures

For more information contact the Cass County Auditor’s Office at 712-243-4570 or email to auditor@casscoia.us.

The city positions to appear on the Cass County ballot for the 2023 City/School Election are:
Anita:
• Council Member- 2 Positions
• Mayor
Atlantic:
• City Council At Large
• Atlantic 1st Ward Council Member
• Atlantic 2nd Ward Council Member
• Atlantic 3rd Ward Council Member
• Atlantic 4th Ward Council Member
• Park & Recreation Board-2 positions
• Park & Recreation Board-Vacancy Position
Cumberland:
• Council Member-2 positions
• Mayor
Griswold:
• Council Member-3 Positions
Lewis:
• Council Member-3 Positions
• Mayor
Marne:
• Council Member-3 Positions
• Mayor
Massena:
• Council Member-3 Positions
• Mayor
Wiota:
• City Council-2 Positions
• Mayor

The school positions to appear on the Cass County ballot for the 2023 City/School Election are:
Atlantic School District
• Board Member At Large-3 Positions
CAM School District
• Board Member North District
• Board Member South District
Griswold School District
• Board Member-At Large
• Board Member District 1
• Board Member District 2

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa man pled guilty, Monday, in Des Moines, to charges of Willful Failure to Pay Over Employment Taxes. and Willful Failure to File an Income Tax Return.
As described in public court records, 50-year-old Thomas James Morford, operated a concrete construction business within the Southern District of Iowa. During the fourth quarter of 2019, Morford collected and willfully failed to pay more than $9,000 in employee Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes to the United States. Additionally, for the year 2020, Morford willfully failed to file a federal tax return.

Morford is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1, 2023. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the case.