A company that makes wind blades in central Iowa will begin manufacturing bus bodies as well, adding hundreds of jobs. T-P-I Composites started producing wind blades in Newton nearly 10 years ago. Now, Newton Development Corporation Executive Director Frank Liebl says they’ll be making composite bus bodies for California-based Proterra, Incorporated. “Fortunately, for Newton, TPI decided to open a second facility. They’ll be leasing about 100,000 square feet at the former Maytag Plant Two,” Liebl says.

The supply agreement requires TPI to provide Proterra with up to 3,350 bus bodies over a five-year period. The Newton bus manufacturing operation is expected to be up and running in the first half of next year with 75-to-100 employees.”Eventually, the plan calls for three-year employment numbers that will exceed 350,” Liebl says.

T-P-I currently employs nearly 1,100 people in Newton at the plant that makes wind blades. Liebl says the bus bodies will be taken by semi to Proterra factories in South Carolina and California to be finished out. Proterra designs and manufactures battery-electric vehicles.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office will be closed on Friday, November 17th, from 8 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for training purposes. It will re-open at 1:00 p.m. and stay open until 4:30 p.m.

Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU) and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce announce the Annual Holiday Christmas Lighting Contest “Deck the Homes”. This contest encourages the community to nominate their favorite merry and bright home. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce said “We love partnering with AMU on this project. It really encourages community pride and everyone loves twinkling lights,” mentioned Smith.

To nominate your favorite merry and bright home, call Atlantic Municipal Utilities at 712.243.1395. Winners will receive an Atlantic Municipal Utilities Voucher. Nominations are due December 11th.

Pick up your Christmas Brochure from area retail businesses, like the Chamber on Facebook or follow on Twitter to find dates and details to celebrate Christmas in Atlantic. You can find a complete list of activities at www.christmasinatlantic.com. Capture the Christmas magic with #MyAtlanticIA and post to the Atlantic Area Chamber’s Facebook page or Instagram (AtlanticIowaFan). Contact the Atlantic Area Chamber with any questions at chamber@atlanticiowa.com or call 712.243.3017.

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) — A state board has suspended the teaching license of a northern Iowa teacher and coach was accused of being intoxicated at school. The Globe Gazette in Mason City reports that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners ordered the suspension of Chad Ahlers’ teaching and coaching licenses for two years. He also was ordered to complete a 15-hour ethics course for educators.

Ahlers was a math teacher and track and cross country coach at Algona High School. He says he has struggled with depression and alcohol use and apologized to his friends, family and former co-workers. Ahlers resigned in May after an investigation found the 46-year-old had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit to drive while he was at work.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests and several incidents of theft and/or vandalism took place over the past week. On Sunday, a woman from Des Moines reported that sometime between 7-pm Saturday and 10-am Sunday, someone slashed a driver’s side tire on her vehicle while it was parked at 411 S Birch. The damage was estimated damage at $150. Friday morning, a man who resides in the 200 block of N. Division Street, in Creston, told police that sometime between 8-pm Thursday and 7-am Friday, someone broke into his vehicle that was parked in the parking lot of 210 N Division. Items taken include an Ipod, , Ipod charger and adapter and sunglasses. The loss was estimated at $115. And, the Farmers Co-Op in Creston reported on Friday,  that sometime between 7-pm Thursday and 7-am Friday, someone broke into the business and stole medicated feed. The loss, including damages, was estimated at $1,030.

Taken into custody, Friday, was 65-year old Diane Worthington, of Valley City, ND. She was arrested for OWI/1st offense and later released on $1,000 bond. On Thursday, 26-year old Meggen Richards, of Des Moines, was arrested in Creston on a Polk County Warrant for Violation of Parole. She was being held in Ringgold County Jail without bond while awaiting transport to Polk County.

The show won’t go on until the summer of 2018, but tens of thousands of single tickets will go on sale this Friday morning for the popular musical “Hamilton” and a complete sell-out is likely within a matter of hours. Denise Smithson Green, director of ticketing for the Des Moines Civic Center, says ticket sales will be extremely brisk and she wouldn’t try to predict just how quickly they’ll all be gone.”We don’t know if they’re going to line up overnight but we do expect long lines at the ticket office itself and we also do expect a lot of online traffic and a lot of phone traffic,” Smithson Green says. “All three of our avenues for purchasing tickets in the past have always been high-volume when we have a popular show go on sale.”

There are tickets for three weeks of shows, eight shows a week. That’s 24 shows in a facility that seats 27-hundred-54. Smithson Green says she’s bringing in plenty of reinforcements to handle the crush. “We’ve got four ticket windows that are going to be going. At the same time we have about 14 people answering calls, and then online, we’ll be filtering through as many as we can,” Smithson Green says. “We will have people that will stand in line, be on their cell phones and they’ll have a tablet to be online, all at the same time.”

Winning the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2008, it’s the story of America’s founding father Alexander Hamilton who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. The Civic Center has hosted some wildly popular shows over the years, including “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Phantom of the Opera,” but will “Hamilton” be the biggest ever?”Biggest is relative. Is it biggest in how fast it sells out? Is it biggest in dollar volume? Is it biggest in did we sell every single seat and how fast did we sell them?” Smithson Green says. “I will tell you, this will be our Super Bowl.” Tickets range in price from 54-dollars to 303-dollars. What does that most expensive option bring? “It gets you a seat right smack dab in the middle front of the hall,” Smithson Green says. “Those are what we consider the best seats in the house with the best visibility of the entire stage.”

There is a maximum purchase limit of four tickets per household. Smithson Green has already seen “Hamilton” twice, once in New York and again in Chicago, and she plans to see it twice more in Des Moines, if possible.”It’s that good of a show,” she says. “I love that it gets a group of people who might not be your typical Broadway viewer excited about Broadway. It gets people learning about our history. It is a fun show with a lot of energy. I’m really excited and I’m a huge fan.”

Tickets go on sale at 9 AM Friday online, in person and on the phone. Service fees will apply to phone and internet orders. Smithson Green suggests if you don’t have an existing account with Des Moines Performing Arts, create one this week — before Friday. The performances will run June 27th through July 15th.
https://desmoinesperformingarts.org/

(Radio Iowa)