The Iowa Dept. of Public Safety said Thursday, that 11 State Police/Highway Patrol Agencies concluded the eight day effort to eliminate fatalities across the nation along the 2900 miles of Interstate 80 at midnight on July 31st.  The Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau has received information indicating two fatalities occurred during the eight day enforcement and education program.  These fatalities occurred in Nebraska and Ohio.  Officials say fortunately, Iowa did not experience a fatal collision during the I-80 Challenge.

Motorists surveyed in Iowa reported a noticeable increase in the law enforcement presence along I-80 and complimented the use of the Iowa Department of Transportation’s dynamic messages boards to stress safety.
Over the next several days, the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau will receive data from each of the participating agencies, covering more than a dozen categories.  Once the data is collected, a comprehensive report will be released, both to the public and to the state/federal partner agencies.

The report will include detailed information concerning the number/type of collisions, enforcement outcomes, criminal activity, and commercial vehicle involvement.

Officials with the Southwest Iowa Mental Health Center (SWIMHC) in Atlantic announced today (Thursday), Lila Stephens a provisionally Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), has been hired to provide services. Karen Gard, LMHC, will continue to provide services to the CAM school district. Other therapists/counselors will be utilized depending on the demand for services. SWIMHC has been providing school-based mental health services for a number of years to the CAM and Atlantic school districts. This past spring an opportunity to expand services to other area school districts was identified. Superintendents of Griswold, Audubon and Exira/EHK school districts were contacted ad agreed to participate.

School-based mental health services are very similar to the outpatient mental health services provided at SWIMHC’s main office. A therapist or counselor is assigned to the school district and will spend time on campus providing therapeutic services to children. Officials say a significant benefit, is that children who would typically miss more than an hour of the school day to attend a session at the main office will now miss less than an hour but receive the same service. Additionally, parents will not have to miss work to retrieve their child from school and take them to the main office. For parents of children in school districts outside of Atlantic, this could mean not missing two to three hours of work as well as saving in transportation costs.

Parents are interested in having their child participate are encouraged to contact SWIMHC at 712-243-2606 or 800-458-4403 to begin the enrollment process.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said Thursday (Today), three men from Maryland have been charged in connection with the discovery Wednesday afternoon, of marijuana in a vehicle, following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Adair County. Officials say a State Trooper discovered more than 50 pounds of marijuana after he pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation,  just after 12-p.m., Wednesday.

After approaching the vehicle to address the traffic violation, the State Trooper smelled the odor of marijuana and asked the driver if he had marijuana in the vehicle.  The driver, 22-year old John Fell, from Quincy, MD, admitted to possessing marijuana. The Trooper discovered more than 50 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle.  The subsequent investigation resulted in the arrest of Fell on charges that include Possession of Marijuana with intent to Deliver, Failure to affix Drug Tax Stamp and Prohibited Acts.  His passengers, 22-year old Kevin Ciardi, and 23-year old Adam Salhaney, both of Weymouth, MD, were charged with Conspiracy to commit a felony by delivering more than 50 pounds of marijuana.

State Troopers continue to participate in the investigation with the assistance of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

The State Board of Education voted 5-2 today (Thursday) against moving forward with a change in rules that would have made it tougher for schools to get a state waiver to start school in August. The vote was preceded by comments from representatives of the tourism industry who favor the change, and educators, who have been against it. Daniel Smith, director of the School Adminstrators of Iowa, said the state should keep the current approach as it is a matter of local control over the issue.

“It also appears that the proposed rule change does not take into consideration the negative or potential negative impact on the coordination of calendars between school districts, community colleges, universities and the many student activities that routinely begin in early August,” Smith said. “At a time when there is a renewed commitment to excellence in Iowa schools, it is important that local schools have the flexibility in their calendars to promote student achievement.” David Cunningham of Norwalk spoke to the board as a parent, and agreed individual districts should make the decision.

“The educational excellence of our schools should be left up to those who we as communities hire and entrust with the purpose of educating our children. Not with the tourism business and the tourism lobbyists of the state of Iowa, Cunningham said. Iowa State Fair lobbyist, Brian Johnson sat down with a law book and made his argument. “We wouldn’t be here if it hurt education, and I would be happy to sit down at anybody, anytime, anywhere and talk about studies — hard facts that show that. We just heard that this ought to be left up to local representatives and those that are elected. It is, it is in 270-point-10 of this code book. And it’s existing law,” Johnson said.

The new rules would’ve required schools to show why they needed to start early. Johnson said that’s the problem with what’s happening now, waivers are granted by the Department of Education director without an explanation from school districts. “There is no process now. We talk about the processes working, there’s never been a process. We don’t know who, why. what, where, why, the decision was made not to follow state law,” Johnson said. “We respectfully ask you to follow the state law and the rules that exists in the state of Iowa.” Board of Education member, Charles Edwards, said he was upset the board had been placed in a position to choose tourism over education. He said he believed education should take priority.

“As much as I respect those folks who have spoken on tourism and the impact of tourism in Iowa –and certainly understand and respect what they are saying — and don’t want that to be an outcome of this. But I think we have to look at what’s in the best interest of Iowa students,” Edwards said. Board member Mike May is a retired teacher who now runs a resort. He defended the tourism industry.

“Tourism people are good people, they don’t want to ruin education, they don’t want to hurt kids as is being suggested. They don’t put money before kids, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact the truth is, I think the better part of their education in many cases is achieved through that summer job that they have,” May said. He said he knows from personal experience as he hires 25 kids to work for him every summer. May also said he sees the impact on his resort as the bookings drop off in mid-August now that many school districts are starting school earlier. May and LaMetta Wynn were the only two board members to vote to move forward in the rule process.

Mike Cormack with the Iowa Department of Education said the rule came after much discussion and he thought it presented a fair compromise for both sides. He said after the vote he was disappointed that it will not move forward. “There’s legitimate arguments for both sides of this. We believed that for all of Iowa it would have been a benefit to go forward with these and we would have heard more in the public hearing process. But, that’s the way it is, sometimes you win in this process and sometimes you don’t,” Cormack said. He says today’s vote doesn’t put the issue to rest. “The one thing that I can assure you, is this issue is not going away,” Cormack said. “This issue is going to come back again and again until it is ultimately decided by the legislature or ultimately decided by the courts.”

If the rule had been approved today, it would have moved forward to a public hearing on September 10th. The new rule would have required schools to demonstrate an academic need or hardship before they could get a waiver to start school earlier.

(Radio Iowa)

An accident involving a motorcycle and a semi on Interstate 80 in Adair County, resulted in an Ohio man being sent to the hospital late this (Thursday) morning. The Iowa State Patrol says 60-year old John L. Harris, of Springfield, OH, was riding his 2012 motorcycle east on I-80 about a mile west of the Casey exit at around 11:10-a.m.

As he was in  the left lane passing a non-contact orange-colored semi, the semi moved into the side of the cycle. When he attempted to avoid a collision, the cycle entered the median and went out of control and came to rest on its side in the median. Harris was transported to the Guthrie County Hospital by Adair Rescue.

The patrol says the semi failed to stop and continued eastbound on I-80.

Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors welcome new business Renew Ag Supply to 811 Sunnyside Lane in Atlantic. Owner and manager Peggy Beschorner hosted the group and shared her story of 30 plus years in the ag supply industry serving the Atlantic Area.

Pictured are: Lana Westphalen, Carole Schuler, Jolene Roecker, Nedra Perry, Deb Leistad, Sue Muri, Peggy Beschorner, Arlene Drennan, Bil Saluk, Dolly Bergmann & Tessa, Pat McCurdy, Connie Wailes, Donnie Drennan, Gerald Brink, Russell Joyce, Jim Kickland, Chip Hansen, Kathie Hockenberry, Rich Perry, Karl Aldag, JoAnn Runyan, Tammy Waters, Melanie Petty, Diane Harris, Lucas Mosier, Keith Leonard, Josh Dvorak, and Sara Nelson.

Renew Ag Supply offers products for large animals including antibiotics, vaccinations and many other products necessary for farming operations. Beschorner said they hope to expand and fill their new space as the business grows.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest this (Thursday) morning, of a Page County man on a warrant for Simple Assault. 34-year old Jeremiah Joseph Hicks, of College Springs, was taken into custody at around 9:45-a.m. on the warrant issued out of Union County. Hicks was being held for Union County authorities, on $300 bond.

The Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources reports the State’s 15-day annual pheasant population survey began with tempered expectations on Aug. 1, after a record setting wet spring, with cool temperatures that followed a snowy winter. Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources , coordinates and collects the data from the 208, 30-mile survey routes.

Bogenschutz says “When our pheasants do best, it’s after mild winters with less than 30 inches of snow followed by a warm, dry spring nesting season where we receive less than eight inches of rain. We had that scenario last year and our birds responded. But that is not the case this year.”

The nesting season is April 1 to May 31 and during that period, the average temperature was 51 degrees and Iowa received 15.4 inches of precipitation, including a significant snowfall during the first weekend in May. In years with similar weather, the pheasant survey found declines ranging from 4 percent to 51 percent. “It’s probably assured that the pheasant count will decline, the only question is by how much,” according to Bogenschutz, who says “We will know soon.”

The 30-mile routes are driven at sunrise on gravel roads preferably on mornings with heavy dew and little wind. The surveyors watch for hens moving their broods to the road edges to dry off before starting to look for insects. Surveyors note the number in the brood, any adult pheasants present and the size of the chicks, which tells Bogenschutz if this was an initial nest or if the nest was washed out and this brood was from a second or even third nest attempt. Each attempt after the first has fewer eggs than the previous attempt. They are the same routes each year.

The survey also collects data on cottontail rabbits, jack rabbits, quail and Hungarian partridge. The information will be available online at www.iowadnr.gov/pheasantsurvey by the middle of September.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Conductors of a monthly survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states say the region’s economy will grow in the coming months, despite a fourth month of decline in the survey’s overall index.  The overall economic index for the region declined to 53.5 in July from June’s 55.6, but any score above 50 suggests growth.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey. He says the regional economy will continue to add jobs, but at a slow pace. The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth, while a score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

w/ Ric Hanson

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