The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, approved the final plans and specifications for reconstruction and renovation of the Sunnyside Tennis Courts. Mike Jorgenson with Snyder and Associates Engineers in Atlantic, told the Council only one bid had been received for the project last July, which was considerably more than the engineer’s cost estimate. Jorgenson attributed the lack of bids to the timing of the project. Changes have since been made to the plan, with cost savings realized through work done by crews with the City’s Park and Recreation and Street Department. The work involved removal of the fence, light poles and the old asphalt surface, which was huge part of the process. The project was then sent out to be re-bid. The bid date was tentatively set for Feb. 19th, with the results be known the following day.

The Council passed a motion setting the date for a public hearing and bid letting for February 20th, and a resolution authorizing the receiving of bids. They also approved an agreement with Snyder and Associates for engineering services for the 2013 Sanitary Sewer Improvements. City Administrator Doug Harris said sewer lines that will be worked on include those under Cedar Street, from 2nd to 10th…Locust Street, from 2nd to 7th…Linn Street, from 2nd to 8th, and Locust Street, from 7th to 14th Street. The lines are being infiltrated with tree roots. The service includes cleaning the affected lines, conducting point repairs and doing a televised inspection. The total estimated cost for which (including 12% for engineering fees), amounts to an estimated $238,000. Bids will be requested later this Winter.

And the Council passed a resolution setting February 20th as the date for a public hearing and bid letting for the 7th Street Traffic Signal Improvement Project, which is expected to cost around $179,000. The project will be funded out of bond proceeds and some operating funds.

Todd Knox, with Snyder and Associates, said the project includes needed modifications and improvements to stop lights along 7th Street, at the intersections of Plum, Olive, Walnut, Chestnut and Poplar. By far, the most frustrating intersection for motorists, is 7th and Olive Streets. Knox said the current 3 light, 4-way configuration will be replaced with a 4-light, 4-way system. He said the 3 section heads over the left turn lanes will be replaced with a section using 4 arrows, all pointing left: 1 Red, 2 yellow arrows – the lowest of which will flash when you are able to turn left while opposing traffic is coming toward you – and one green. The current configuration is protected only by solid red and yellow signals, plus 1 green turn signal.

The timing of the signals will be adjustable locally and in-sync with each other along the affected stretch of 7th Street.

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening passed a motion in support of efforts by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, to begin the process of securing a dog park for the Schildberg Recreation Area. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring explained the Board thinks a nearly 2.4-acre off-leash dog park is necessary and beneficial in the grand scheme of recreational development in the area. He said it would be a great amenity to the campground (the pads and roads for which are under construction), and will draw more people to the area, much like the walking trails have done.

Herring says a fenced-in dog park will also offer safety and security for dog owners and their dogs, in a controlled environment. He says large and small dogs will have their own compounds. Dogs will be able to exercise and socialize in their respective areas, and the park will promote responsible pet ownership. He said Trees Forever will work to provide over a dozen shade trees for the area, and, a dog park would make Atlantic the first city of its size in southwest Iowa, other than Council Bluffs, to have a dog park.

Herring said the 14-to 15,000-dollar project would be paid for through fundraising efforts, and not through local tax dollars.
Fencing accounts for the bulk of the costs. Fundraising would be accomplished by applying for corporate grants, local sponsorships, and through donations from the community. Herring said the Parks and Rec Department would be responsible for maintaining the facility.

He said also, the Parks and Rec Board will work to put together a proposal for a Master Plan for the Schildberg Rec Area as an official Municipal Park, and present it before the council during a public hearing at a later date. A formal Master Plan for the area has never been adopted by the Council since discussions began in 2003. Only a general concept for how it would be developed has been followed by the City.

Officials with the Stuart Police Department said Wednesday three people were arrested Tuesday, during the culmination of a year-long investigation to the supply of drugs to persons under age in the Stuart area. Search warrants served at two locations in Stuart resulted in the recovery of methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Taken into custody at one residence was Nina Wagner and David Sherwood, of Stuart. The pair both face charges which include: possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of marijuana; possession of prescription drugs without a prescription; child endangerment; possession of methamphetamine; and, distribution of a schedule One controlled substance to a person under age18. Also taken into custody, at a separate residence, was Gerald Waltz.

Waltz faces charges that include: possession of drug paraphernalia; distribution of a prescription drug; possession of marijuana; possession of methamphetamine; and, distribution of a schedule One controlled substance to a person under age 18.

Officials say the investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are possible. Anyone with information regarding the sale or use of illegal drugs in the Stuart area, especially information pertaining to the sale of drugs to minors, are encouraged to contact the Stuart Police Department at (515)-523-1896.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County say a Red Oak man, 30-year old Jason Kyzer, was arrested Wednesday, on warrant for Assault, a Serious Misdemeanor. His arrest stemmed from an incident authorities say happened on January 21st. Kyzer was being held in the Adams County Jail on $1,000 bond, pending an initial appearance before the Adams County Magistrate.

Authorities in southern Iowa are asking for the public’s help in finding a man wanted in connection with an assault early this (Wednesday) morning, in Creston.

William Michael Bird

According to the Creston Police Department, 20-year old William Michael Bird is wanted on charges of Attempted Murder, Burglary in the 1st Degree, and Domestic Assault by Strangulation. Officials say an unnamed female assault victim was able to get away from the residence where the incident took place, and run to a neighbor’s home.

The suspect, William Bird, chased the victim to the neighbor’s house, eventually catching her. He allegedly stabbed her in the upper chest before fleeing the scene. Creston Police and Emergency Medical Services personnel were called, and the victim was transported to Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston.

Bird was described as being a white male, about 5-feet 9-inches tall, 189-pounds. He has green eyes and black hair. Anyone with information on his location or about the incident, is urged to contact the Creston Police Department at 782-8402.

Officials at Cass County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) have announced four more departments will be moving into newly remodeled areas over the next week. The move affects Rehab Services (physical, speech and occupational therapies), Hospital Pharmacy, Respiratory Care and the Diabetes Center.  The four departments will move into newly remodeled areas that formerly housed the Obstetrics, Surgery, Same Day Surgery and Emergency Departments.

The Hospital Pharmacy will move the morning of Friday, January 25^th.  Rehab Services will move that afternoon, and begin seeing patients in the new therapy center Monday, January 28^th.  The location for patients checking in for Rehab Services will not move at this time; the therapy areas have moved into the old OB and Surgery Departments.  The west parking lot and entrance are closest to this area.

Respiratory Care and the Diabetes Center will move to their new locations on Tuesday, January 29^th.  Patients coming to these departments will want to use the north (atrium/Atlantic Medical Center) or east parking lots and entrances.  The departments will be located across from the Emergency Department, but the Emergency parking needs to be left open for those patients.  Both the north and east entrances lead to the atrium; proceed south toward the gift shop and elevator; bear right and follow the signs.

Officials with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Wednesday, report the Guthrie County Agri Drain Corporation in Adair, has been named the “Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneuer Award” winner for February, 2013. The IFBF says Agri Drain, founded in 1976, has played a vital role in helping generations of farmers manage water and reduce erosion. The company operates an 80,000 square foot manufacturing company and provides jobs for more than 50 people, many of them, longtime employees.

The IFBF says the company’s farm tile innovations, erosion control products and drainage systems make them a leader in the industry. Renew Rural Iowa (RRI) is an IFBF initiative supporting new and existing businesses through education, mentoring and financial resources. The next Renew Rural Iowa Business Success Seminar takes place March 5 at Iowa Central Community College in Ft. Dodge. For more information, go to www.renewruraliowa.com.

U-S Attorney Nicholas Klinefedlt said Wednesday that a Council Bluffs man, 32-year old Jonathan Dale Campbell, was sentenced Tuesday in United States District Court in Council Bluffs on a charge of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property regarding the theft of copper from center-pivot irrigation systems. Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner sentenced Campbell to 37 months (just over 3-years) in prison, and ordered him to serve 3 years of supervised release following his imprisonment. The Court ordered that the 37 months federal sentence of imprisonment be served consecutively to, that is, in addition to, State of Iowa sentences currently being served by Campbell. (Campbell is currently serving terms of imprisonment in Iowa for theft and burglary charges unrelated to the federal interstate transportation of stolen property case.)

The Court also ordered Campbell to pay restitution amounting to slightly more than $174,000 to identified victims of the theft scheme in which Campbell was involved, and to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Campbell remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility where he will serve his federal sentence, or return to the custody of the State of Iowa to complete serving sentences from Mills and Pottawattamie counties, which he was serving when taken into federal custody on the interstate theft charges.

Campbell was sentenced upon his plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. The charges arose from a prolonged series of thefts of copper from control cables for center-pivot irrigation systems. The cable was stolen from farming operations stretching from near Sioux City, Iowa, to near St. Joseph, Missouri, with a concentration of the thefts in Harrison and Monona counties in Iowa. Campbell was a part of a conspiracy involving three or more people, which operated from late in 2009, until the summer of 2010. The sentences imposed in this case were in part based on co-conspirators receiving an estimated $70,000, to $120,000.00.00, from a salvage yard in Omaha, Nebraska, for the copper cable.

Records established that persons involved in the conspiracy delivered copper from the center-pivot irrigation system control cables to the salvage yard in Omaha, Nebraska, on at least 73 occasions. The sentences were also based in part on the number of victims identified in the case, with approximately 28 farming entities and a number of insurance companies being identified as victims in Harrison and Monona counties.

Previously convicted in this conspiracy were 35-year old Charles Douglas Nichols,  and 30-year old Joseph Daniel Falknor, both of Council Bluffs. Nichols was sentenced to 31 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Falknor was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day of imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Nichols and Falknor were also ordered to pay restitution and to pay an assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. The investigation was conducted by the Harrison and Monona County Sheriff’s Departments,  the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County arrested a Red Oak woman this (Wednesday) morning, on a valid warrant out of Page County, for Contempt of Court. 21-year old Desiree Willis was turned over to the Page County Sheriff’s Office, and held on a $500 cash bond.