Deborah L. Petersen, Trustee in the Bankruptcy case for G & R Feed and Grain Co., Inc., in
Portsmouth, reports the Meeting of Creditors was held last month (February), and the bankruptcy case is progressing. The deadline for filing claims in the Bankruptcy is May 20th, 2013. If you have a claim for a deferred price contract, or other amount due you, you should take action to timely file a claim with the Bankruptcy Court. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is processing the payments for producers who held warehouse receipts for stored grain. It is anticipated that checks will be mailed by April 1st, 2013.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture is processing claims for producers who sold grain to G & R for cash or who sold grain on an unsigned contract and were not paid. The first batch of claims has been processed. Confirmations have been sent to 19 claimants. Once the paperwork has been
returned by the claimants and processed, checks will be issued within 2 – 3 weeks thereafter.

The Trustee has been unable to obtain a bid for the contracts for future delivery of grain. According to the Bankruptcy Code, if the contracts are not accepted or rejected by March 2, 2013, they are deemed rejected. The Trustee is taking no action to extend this date, so in her opinion, the contracts are rejected effective March 5, 2013.

The Trustee is accepting bids for the entire facility and all equipment as a package deal. If an
acceptable bid is obtained, the Court’s approval will be sought. If not, then the Trustee will look at
scheduling an auction. Letters have been sent out to collect all accounts due G & R. The Trustee
is still seeking recovery of the proceeds for the grain delivered in December.

G & R Feed and Grain filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on January 1st, 2013, leaving some 60 families or businesses, most of whom are located in Shelby County, to taked stock of their losses. Court records show the company’s debts range from$1-million and $10-million, while its assets were up to $50,000.

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The Young Professionals of Atlantic group is planning a March Mystery Tour on Thursday, March 14th.  Organizers say although the stops and activities cannot be revealed at this time, they promise an “adventurous experience for the brave riders who will partake in the tour. “

The tour participants will begin at the Rock Island Depot at 6 p.m. then travel to their first stop for dinner and an activity, then make their way on the journey. At least three destinations are planned.

Travelers will ride in style on their “tour bus” with Luxury Limobus out of Audubon. Ages 21 to 40 are welcome as with most YPA events. The Young Professionals of Atlantic March event is sponsored by Atlantic Nursing and Rehab Center.

Cost for the event is $20 per rider with a limited capacity of 14. Tickets can be purchased online at AtlanticIowa.com/store or at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce in the Rock Island Depot at 102 Chestnut Street.

For more information contact the Chamber at 712.243.3017 or email chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

An upper level area of low pressure is forecast to push across the Northern Plains through the weekend and enter the Midwest by late Sunday night. The low will continue to track eastward throughout the day Monday and clear the area by Tuesday. Snow is forecast to develop late Sunday night in northwest Iowa and spread south and east during the day Monday. Snow is likely to continue, especially across northern Iowa Monday night into Tuesday. Moderate to locally heavy snowfall is possible across northern Iowa late Sunday night through Tuesday and lighter amounts are forecast further south. However, uncertainties still remain with the exact track of the low pressure and may lead to a significant change in the location of the heaviest snow. An upper level ridge of high pressure is expected to build into the Central U.S. by mid week and will provide a gradual warming trend beginning Thursday.

Authorities in Fremont County say a Hamburg man was arrested on a charge of 1st degree arson, following an investigation into a fire that occurred late Wednesday night. Sheriff’s officials say 34-year old Kevin Lewis Cully was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $25,000 bond. The fire that lead to his arrest took place at 1107 Washington Street in Hamburg, at around 11:50-p.m., Wednesday. The Hamburg Fire Department assisted the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Marshal in conducting the investigation.

An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s office determined the fire was intentionally set by someone outside the home breaking a window and then spraying or pouring a liquid accelerant inside the home. Damage to the house was minimal..at around $8,000 at the most…because the fire didn’t burn for very long, and was limited to a single room deprived of oxygen thanks to a closed door.

No one was home when the fire broke out. Anyone with information pertaining to the incident should contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 712-308-3977 or the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424.

354 AM CST SAT MAR 2 2013

TODAY…CLOUDY THROUGH MID MORNING THEN BECOMING PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH AROUND 30. NORTHWEST WIND AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE WEST IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW AROUND 20. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SUNDAY…CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.

SUNDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN…FREEZING RAIN…SNOW AND SLEET THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.

MONDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGH IN THE MID 30S. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.

MONDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S.

TUESDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW. HIGH AROUND 30.

February ended on a snowy note across sections of Iowa, and that helped make the month overall a little wetter than normal. State climatologist Harry Hillaker keeps track of the precipitation. “Statewide about a quarter inch more than usual, nothing really greatly out of the ordinary as far as totals go…basically about the southeast half of the state has an unusually wet February. Unfortunately parts of west-central and southwest Iowa in particular were on the dry side of normal there,” Hillaker says.

In Atlantic, the average High for Feb. 2013 was 36-degrees, which is in line with the normal High for the month. The average Low last month was 15, which was just one degree shy of the normal 16-degree average. Hillaker says temperature readings didn’t show anything that stood out. He says he doesn’t have all the numbers in yet, but things will be very close to normal. “Preliminarily I’ve got us at two-tenths of a degree above normal, that’s about as close to normal as we can get it. Pretty much it was kind of warmer the first half of the month and consistently on the cool side the second half of the month, and basically canceled each other out and very close to normal overall,” Hillaker says.

Hillaker says the snow late in February turned around what had been a lack of the white stuff for most of this winter. One storm dumped a statewide average of just over five inches of snow, while another left an average of four inches across the state. In Atlantic, we received a total of 5.6-inches of snow in February, which had a liquid precipitation value of just under one-half inch, or .46″.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

County officials, surveyors and other members of the public met Thursday during the Cass County Board of Supervisor’s meeting, to discuss the County’s Division of Land Process which was implemented after the passage of a resolution in January of 2012. According to the Minutes of the meeting prepared by Auditor Dale Sunderman, surveyors and land owners commented that the process was more complicated than the previous process and sometimes increased the cost of surveying and the time needed to complete the process.

The main item of concern was the requirement to survey the remainder of a rural tract (most often 40 acres) when the tract is divided into more than two parcels. County Engineer Charles Marker said he believed Iowa law (Code and Administrative Code) required the survey of the remainder of the tract when that tract was subdivided into more than two parcels. Surveyors disagreed. At the end of discussion: Consensus was that the review part of the process (to check for accuracy, etc) was a positive step and the process should be left in place; county officials will work to complete the process as quickly as they can; and the issue of whether or not the survey of the remainder parcel is required will be researched.

The matter was taken under advisement.

Officials with the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn are pleased to report Dr. John Mark Nielsen, Executive Director of  the museum, was recently awarded “Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog,” by Ambassador Peter Taksøe-Jensen, representing Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Ambassador Peter Taksøe-Jensen presents The Danish Immigrant Museum Executive Director John Mark Nielsen with the badge of the Order of Dannebrog in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

The ceremony took place at the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 27th, while Nielsen was there representing the Iowa Museum Association at Museum Advocacy Day 2013. The Queen bestowed the award upon Nielsen on December 19, 2012, however he wasn’t notified of the honor until his trip to Washington had been confirmed.

The Order of the Knight of the Dannebrog was instituted in 1671 by King Christian V.  The Order is used to decorate a select group of people who, through selfless deeds, have helped advance the interests of Denmark.  Nielsen’s award is based on almost 90 letters of support from both Danish and American citizens who felt that Nielsen merited official recognition for his work on behalf of Denmark.  The process was initiated by his colleagues at The Danish Immigrant Museum and coordinated by the Danish Consul for Iowa and former board member, Lynette Rasmussen of Johnston.

The letters all describe his professional success as well as his volunteer work for a number of Danish and Danish-American organizations.  Many of the letters echoed similar statements that Nielsen is “always willing and enthusiastic about sharing his great knowledge of all things Danish” and “impresses all with his warm and friendly personality.”

A celebration in honor of the award will be held on June 22nnd in Elk Horn, concurrent with the museum’s 30^th anniversary and Sankt Hans Aften festivities. For more information about the museum, call 712.764.7001 or visit www.danishmuseum.org