The president of North Iowa Area Community College is announcing his retirement. Steve Schulz is a native of the Franklin County town of Geneva and he’s worked in the public education field for 40 years. Schulz predicts the state’s community colleges will be dealing with lower student counts in the years to come.

Schulz says younger people still need to consider pursuing careers in education.

The presidential search process will involve the formation of a search committee, while the NIACC (NY-ack) Board of Directors is considering engaging with an executive search firm to identify potential candidates. Schulz is retiring in about eight months.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds and other state officials held an hour-long briefing this (Wednesday) morning to discuss the work over 100 Iowa Guard soldiers and 31 state law enforcement officers did at the southern border in August. Reynolds says it’s a crisis that the Biden Administration has ignored.  “It is an open border policy…There’s not another country in the world that would allow this to happen,” Reynolds told reporters. “…When you see the number of terrorists that they’ve have apprehended that are crossing our borders — my God! Think of the ones that got by us.” Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Stephen Osborn says his soldiers found their Texas counterparts were exhausted.

“Texas has been kind of fighting this on their own for a long time,” Osborn says. “Our soldiers volunteered because they believe they’re contributing to the security not just of Texas and those border communities, but the United States and that’s what they swear to protect and defend.”

The 109 Iowa National Guard soldiers the governor deployed to Texas were involved in the capture of 17-hundred illegal immigrants and the surrender of 12-hundred others. State troopers patrolling alongside Texas officers focused on smugglers bringing drugs and humans across the border.

(Sac City, Iowa) – Officials with the Sac City Police Department say Officer responded last Sunday (Oct. 22nd) to a call about a man who had been stabbed, and was outside the Sac City Fire Department yelling.

During the investigation, it was alleged that a male subject and his long term girlfriend, 61-year-old Corrina Evens, had gotten into an altercation at 607 Leonard Street in Sac City. The male subject alleged that during the altercation, Corinna threatened to kill him and then stabbed him. The man then left the residence to get help and was later transported to Loring Hospital by private vehicle for treatment.

After an investigation, Corinna Evens was charged and booked into the Sac County Jail for Attempted Murder, a Class B Felony, Willful Injury-Causing Bodily Injury, a Class D Felony, and Domestic Abuse Assault Display or use of a Weapon 1ST Offense, an Aggravated Misdemeanor. She remained in the Sac County Jail on a $55,000 bond, with her preliminary hearing set for November 3rd.

The case is still under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The Marshalltown city council has approved the purchase cameras that will scan license plates. Police Chief Mike Tupper says the cameras will help his department. “That’s one of the advantages to these cameras, because if we’re looking for stolen car we’re looking for a wanted person that information is always attached to the license plate, so we get that instantaneous hit on something if again the car is stolen or somebody’s wanted,” Tupper says. Chief Tupper says officers will be able to react if the cameras identify a stolen car or someone with a warrant.

“Our police officers in the field would receive immediate notification that your car is at whatever intersection,” he says, “and so if somebody was closely my head over that way to try to find you.” The money used to pay for the cameras is coming from the revenue received from the speed cameras that were put up earlier this year.

(Radio Iowa) – Some trick-or-treaters in Iowa -could- be crunching through new-fallen snow this Halloween, though the forecast is still a bit shaky for the weekend. Meteorologist Kristy Carter, at the National Weather Service, says some Iowa cities set record high temperatures just yesterday (Tuesday) in the low 80s, but a big cool-down will likely be arriving on Friday. “We’ll be looking at high temperatures in the 30s to 40s on Saturday and Sunday,” Carter says. “There are some precipitation chances this weekend as well, which could come in the form of the dreaded snow word.”

She says there’s at least a chance of falling flakes this weekend across much of Iowa’s northern half as a storm front arrives. “That would be Saturday night into Sunday at this point,” Carter says. “It’d be over northern areas but details are a little bit more uncertain at this point. We don’t have any amounts or anything. It’s just something we’re watching.” Winter doesn’t officially arrive until December 21st, a little under two months from now, but Carter says snowfall isn’t out of the question in October. “The normal amounts for roughly this time of year is actually point-one (inches) for say Des Moines,” Carter says, “so it’s certainly not uncommon to see a trace or so, a very light amount of snow this time of year.”

The long-range forecast says the cold weather is expected to stick around into early next week, before the next chance at a warm-up.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday), approved a request from Recorder Janelle Schneider, for the cropping and enhancement of previously scanned images, at a cost of about $320.

They also approved a request from Treasurer Brenda Wallace, to begin the search for a new employee. The move follows the recent resignation from the Treasurer’s Office, of Beth Smith. The Board then motioned and approved the renewal of a VA Building Lease for another year (through Sept. 30. 2024), in the amount of $450/month. And, they approved a holiday lighted displays for the Adair County Courthouse, from November 10^th through January 31^st.

The Adair County Supervisors acknowledged the receipt of a letter from the City of Adair. Auditor Mandy Berg explains….

And, they approved a Letter of Support with regard to an application pertaining to a North and Middle River Watershed. The matching grant, through Mid-American Energy, is for $100,000.

In other business, Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman presented for the Board to approve and the Chair to sign, a Right-Of-Way contract for the N-36 Culvert Project.

The Board passed a Resolution for an Adair County Integrated Roadside Vegetation funding grant application in the amount of $30,000. The funds would pay for a new hydro-seeder. Kauffman updated the Board on Secondary Roads Department projects/maintenance and other activities.

Kauffman said a meeting was set to take place with A.M. Cohron with regard to the Section 32 Washington Bridge deck pouring. The pre-pour meeting will probably be canceled, he said, due to the anticipated weather next week, and temperatures too cold for concrete work.

Atlantic, IA— Officials with Cass Health have announced that Michael Egertsen, DPM, FACPM, AACFAS joined the medical staff full-time this month. He will offer clinic appointments and perform surgeries at Cass Health. Since 2016, Dr. Egertsen has worked for the Washington DC VA Medical Center providing foot and ankle surgery, advanced wound care, limb salvage, sports medicine, and more.

Dr. Egertsen is a member of the American Podiatric Medical Association, a board-certified Diplomat of the American Board of Podiatric Medicine, an Associate of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, and board-qualified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

“When I was considering different careers within medicine, the podiatry providers I met were the happiest doctors, and patients absolutely loved them. Plus, I liked the complexity of what they did — there is a lot going on in your foot — so I knew it was a good fit for me,” said Dr. Egertsen. A native of Laurens, Iowa, Dr. Egertsen graduated from the University of Iowa and the Des Moines University College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery. He completed his residency with the Department of Veterans Affairs — Maryland Health Care System.

“It has always been my plan to come back to Iowa. A lot of my fellow residents and friends were shocked that I stayed in DC after residency and didn’t immediately head to a rural area. I’m thankful for the years I had with the VA, and the timing is finally right for me to move home. I’m excited to be at
Cass Health because I like to work in a hospital setting. I think it’s what is best for the patient, and it is important to me that the patient always stays the priority.”

Dr. Egertsen will begin seeing patients by appointment in early November.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak this (Wednesday) morning, arrested a woman wanted on a warrant. Authorities say 27-year-old Tori Shanelle Bergerson, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:45-a.m., in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, in Red Oak, on the Red Oak P.D. warrant for OWI/1st offense. Bergerson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors visited with Jennifer & Mike Adkins, owners of The Rusty Lantern, and their family on Saturday, October 21st, 2023, to celebrate the Grand Opening of their new vintage store located in Downtown Atlantic. Jennifer and Mike moved to Atlantic in August of 2023. While settling in, the couple connected with Amanda Graham about a piece of furniture and inquired about her business she had for sale. After talking it over, the couple decided to purchase the business and quickly jumped in making the space their own.

Fast forward a few months, and The Rusty Lantern is now home to 15 vendors and 8 independent consigners that carry anywhere from primitive antiques, floral arrangements, wooden bowl, yearn, vintage jewelry, soaps, candles, and more. Baked goods along with canned and bottled beverages can be purchased to be enjoyed while shopping or to be savored in the cozy lounge area next to the custom-made fireplace.

The Rusty Lantern is an “occasional store” with hours of Thursday-Saturday 10am-4:30PM and occasionally on Sundays. Jennifer plans to adjust the hours of the store to accommodate holiday shopping based on customer demand. The Rusty Lantern is located at 402 Chestnut Street in Atlantic.

To learn more about the Rusty Lantern, call 612-400-5602 or visit their Facebook page.

(Afton, Iowa) – (UPDATED) – A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found a custodian hired to clean the preschool rooms in a southwest Iowa school district was paid for over 300 hours when he did not work. The Early Childhood Center is located on the East Union Community School District’s campus in Afton. According to a report released by the state auditor, the center’s director was not satisfied with the cleaning done by school custodians, so she hired her son in August of 2020 to clean the preschool area. After a tip last summer, district officials confirmed via security video that Hope Hall had clocked in for her son and Grant Hall was seen on video arriving to work several hours later. District officials fired the Halls. The state auditor’s special investigation concluded Grant Hall was paid for 217 regular hours and 85 hours of overtime he did not work. That’s about 44-hundred dollars of improper payroll payments over two years according to the auditor’s report.

The state auditor recommends that East Union Schools develop policies to prevent the appearance of favoritism and conflicts of interest when a relative of a district employee is hired and that relative is their supervisor.

A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Special Interest Reports.