Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Roger Herring reports the Sunnyside Tennis Court reconstruction project is near completion, and the tennis courts will be open to public play (with some restrictions in place until signage is established), beginning today (Tues., Sept. 10th). Herring says until all the rules can be posted, there will be only one gate available for entrance to the courts. The southeast corner gate by the restrooms will be available to enter, which will still provide access to all courts.

Herring asks persons wanting to play at the facility to use common sense, as the courts have a special surface and is to be used for tennis only. Some of the rules include: The use of tennis shoes only; A one-hour time limit for singles play, 1.5-hours for doubles; The gates must be kept closed at all times; No bicycles, skates, skateboard, in-line skates, hockey, ultimate frisbie or other activities will be permitted.

In addition, no pets are allowed on the courts, sitting…pushing or pulling on the tennis nets, screens or gates is prohibited, as well as climbing on, hitting, or kicking balls, or running into the fences. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Roger Herring at 712-254-0637. And, if you observe any individuals misusing or abusing the facility, contact Herring with a description of those persons, their vehicles.

Herring adds that the restrooms at the Sunnyside Tennis Courts are open for public use.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers says no injuries were reported following an accident Monday evening at the intersection of West Clark and South 18th Streets. The accident happened at around 5:05-p.m., when vehicles driven by 84-year old Lloyd Cavner and 18-year old Caleb Ennen, both of Clarinda, collided after Ennen failed to stop at a stop sign. The 2005 Kia Sedona he was driving hit Cavner’s 2010 Dodge van on the left rear side, causing $13,000 damage altogether. Ennen was cited for Failure to obey a stop sign, Failure to provide proof of insurance and driving while suspended.

Discussions about potential Capital Improvement Projects designed in-part to help deal with increased enrollment in the Atlantic Community School District, will continue over the next few months before a final plan is presented to the community and a vote on an $11-million bond issue is put before patrons of the District sometime early next year.

During Monday evening’s meeting of the Atlantic School Board, Design Alliance Architect Jerry Purdy reported input from parents, teachers and others during the recent open house at the Middle School, and during other discussions, revealed some surprising ideas about how the District should deal with increased enrollment, in terms of its facilities.

He says some people questioned why and expansion of the high school was needed. He says there are parts of AHS that can handle an increase of up to 100 students, but the fact remains there are some teachers still sharing classrooms. That’s especially true, he says, with regard to the art and industrial arts programs. He said also he spoke with some teachers about ideas on how to deal with classroom size as the number of students increase throughout the grades. During some workshop discussions, there were suggestions by teachers on how to deal with increased classroom size.

He says they suggested “Pulling the 9th grade out of the High School and building a seventh, eighth and ninth grade building [at the high school},” then shifting the Schuler Elementary students to the middle school, and take a couple of grade levels out of Washington and move them to Schuler and move pre-school to Washington. Purdy says State of Iowa guidelines says Elementary classrooms must meet a certain size requirement. If those classes are moved to the old high school or the Middle School, the classrooms are not big enough to meet the minimum guidelines. He says if the district wants to reduce classroom size from the current 23-25 students down to 15 per classroom, that presents a “different scenario.”

Original plans for the Capital Improvement Projects included an expansion of instructional space at each of the district’s facilities. Included in the discussion, was the possibility of: Adding a new cafeteria and additional classrooms at the Washington School; a new cafeteria and commons area in the Middle School in an area between the gym and auditorium; seven new classrooms at the high school; and 11 more classrooms at Schuler Elementary.

Other meetings designed to gather input on the Capital Improvement Projects will take place this week and next week, with the Atlantic Booster Club and Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Once all the suggestions are extrapolated into a summary form, that information will be presented to the School Board, sometime within the next couple of months.

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

w/ Ric Hanson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The number of students enrolling in the Atlantic Community School District continue to increase. That was the word Monday night from Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, during his report to the school board. Amstein says the district “Is up about 30 students. That’s very good. We continue to be somewhat of an anomaly in southwest Iowa [because other districts are not picking up students like Atlantic is].”

He said as of Monday, there were 1,492 Kindergarten through 12th grade students in enrolled. The biggest increase is between the incoming Kindergarten Class and Senior Class. He said it marks the fourth consecutive year that the school district has shown an enrollment increase.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board Monday, approved a sharing agreement with the Harlan Community School District for a Curriculum Director. Amstein says Harlan wanted to share services with regard to their ESL – English as a Second Language – program, with the curriculum delivered under the guidance of Atlantic’s curriculum director.

Amstein said there are some operational sharing dollars available to Atlantic the agreement, which allows 100-percent for 5-years, as long as the agreement continues for that time frame. The agreement would allow Atlantic’s ESL Director to communicate via Skype with the Harlan District three Friday’s per month, and be on-site for a half day on Friday’s, once a month. It’s estimated 12 students in the Harlan District would be served by the arrangement, for a total of 28 between the districts.

And, the Atlantic School Board Monday, approved a School Resource Officer’s (SRO) Agreement for the 2013-2014 school year. The agreement is in-line with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Cass County County Sheriff’s Department, CAM, Griswold and Atlantic School Districts, as far as cost sharing is concerned.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report the arrest Monday evening of a woman who allegedly destroyed a television set. 18-year old Melody Marie Bentley, of Glenwood, was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 5th degree, for allegedly destroying a t-v belonging to Country Haven residential care facility, in Corning. Bentley was taken into custody at around 7:50-p.m. and brought to the Adams County Jail, where her bond was set at $300.

A teen charged with the murder of a 5-year old boy from Atlantic had his pre-trial hearing moved to another date. The hearing was to have been held on Monday for 17-year old Cody Metzker-Madsen, but the Daily NonPareil reports that’s been moved to 1:30-p.m., October 14th.  An arraignment for Metzker-Madsen will be held on Sept. 30th. He faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his foster brother, Dominic Elkins. Metzker-Madsen, will be charged as an adult,  according to Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. His trial is set to begin 9:30-a.m., Nov. 5th.

Late last month, Metzker-Madsen led his family to Elkins’ body, which was located at the bottom of a ravine in rural Harrison County.The teen remains in the Harrison County jail on $500,000 bond.

A new survey shows fewer Iowa businesses are planning to boost employment levels compared to three months ago. Karen Miller, a spokesperson for Manpower, says their latest Employment Outlook Survey indicates hiring should slow down between October and December. “We’re still looking at solid numbers though,” Miller says. “We’ve got 67-percent of employers looking to maintain their staffing levels and 21-percent looking to increase their staffing levels.”

Another 10-percent of the Iowa companies surveyed plan to trim their workforces over the next three months. That places the fourth-quarter Manpower Net Employment Outlook for Iowa at 11-percent. That compares to a 10-percent net outlook one year ago. “What’s unusual is the fourth quarter hiring outlook is really (down) compared to the third quarter, when we had a net outlook of 21-percent,” Miller says. Employer confidence has clearly taken a hit in recent months, according to Miller.

“At this point right now, I think it’s just kind of indicator as to what’s happening in the economy and understanding what might be happening with health care. We see a lot of employers being a bit more conservative in their approach and in their staffing plans,” Miller says. Nationally, 18-percent of the companies surveyed plan to add more workers in the fourth quarter, 8-percent expect to let staff go, and 72-percent plan to maintain current staffing levels.

The Manpower report claims the “best states for jobs” include Nebraska, Maryland, Idaho, Florida, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowans statewide can get some help understanding the state’s new health insurance exchange. The Iowa Insurance Division says the federal government has approved an awareness campaign aimed at helping residents better understand the health insurance marketplace that is part of the federal overhaul. The division will help lead town hall presentations about the marketplace beginning this month. Open enrollment for the federal marketplace begins Oct. 1.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Rapids’ science museum has a new, permanent home after several years of a temporary setup following the 2008 flood. The Science Center that has for years been inside Lindale Mall will be closed for several days this week so staff can move equipment into a building on Council Street. The space once housed a grocery store and later office space for military contractor Rockwell Collins. Museum organizers hope to reopen sometime next week.

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack says the U.S. Department of Transportation has approved nearly $420,000 to pay for a fence around the Ottumwa Regional Airport. Loebsack says the money will pay for a 26,000-foot wildlife perimeter fence that will prevent unauthorized entry onto the airport grounds in southeast Iowa. Ensuring wildlife are kept out of the airport should improve safety for planes landing and taking off.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A mobile home fire in Waterloo has killed two people. Capt. Ryan Mahood of the Waterloo Fire Rescue says the fire on the city’s south side was reported Monday afternoon. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that at least one neighbor tried to rescue one of the victims, but the flames and heat were too intense.