Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce said Friday, that their “Scrooge” contest, which serves to raise funds and collect non-perishable good for the Atlantic Food Pantry, is over, and the winner of this year’s contest is Melanie Petty, representing the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund, who collected 6,367 donations.  Oddly enough, her donations represented the lowest cash total of all the candidates, with 6,017 of her points coming from food items. Each food item counts as one unit and each dollar counts as one unit. Overall, the Scrooge contest brought in a total of 17,542 donation units. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans donated supplemental funds to each candidate for the benefit of the food pantry.

Atlantic’s 12th Scrooge will take her place at the head of the Lighted Christmas Parade on Saturday (Dec. 1st) at 6 p.m. on Chestnut Street. Petty will be leading Saturday’s lighted parade as Grand Marshal on the Wal-Mart sponsored float. The other four Scrooge candidates (Frank Rizzo, Mark Jacobsen, Greg Franken and Bruce Kreutzer) will also be featured behind her in a limousine. Eleanor Hoover, Scrooge contest coordinator, said many thanks go out to the five candidates for their tireless efforts in the contest which benefits the Atlantic Food Pantry and many community members throughout the whole year.

Prior to the parade on Saturday, there will be carriage rides, Santa will be in his cabin at the City Park, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and there will be living window displays, which are available for viewing beginning at 5-p.m., in downtown Atlantic.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A thickly coated sheep has been captured after an hour of freedom in downtown Des Moines.  The Navajo-Churro ram jumped from a trailer near the Capitol on Friday morning and led police, Animal Rescue League officials and Capitol workers on a chase.  It finally was cornered and controlled near the power plant south of the Capitol.

Authorities say the ram was being taken from Creston to Cedar Rapids.

His visit Friday morning to Cass County marks the 99^th county visited this year for both Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who visited Plastic Professionals in Atlantic, and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who wraps up her tour with a STEM Community Conversation at the Rock Island Depot in Atlantic on Tuesday, December 11th at 11 a.m.

The Governor says “Each year, I am committed to visiting every Iowa county because I want to hear directly from Iowans.: He said also, “When I put together my legislative proposals for the upcoming legislative session, I rely upon these visits to truly understand what Iowans wish to see in moving this state forward. I am grateful for each and every Iowan who turned out for our events, and I look forward to starting all over again this January.”

Lt. Gov. Reynolds’ travels this year included a number of town halls with Gov. Branstad, dozens of solo STEM appearances and joint STEM presentations with University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen, and visits to dozens of Iowa small businesses throughout the state.

Branstad and Reynolds have each committed to all of Iowa’s 99 counties every year.

The Iowa National Guard says funeral services have been set for a 23-year old Algona native who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month, in Afghanistan. Sgt. Joseph A. Richardson died while serving on active duty in the U.S. Army on Nov. 16th, during a patrol in Paktika province, Afghanistan. His unit was attacked by enemy forces using an Improvised Explosive Device and small arms fire.

Also killed in the attack was Sgt. Channing B. Hicks, age 24, of Greer, S.C. Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan., as infantrymen. Richardson was assigned to the 1st I-D in October 2008 and had previously served a tour in Iraq with them. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Visitation for Sgt. Richardson will be held from this (Friday) evening, from 5-to 8, at the Oakcrest Funeral Home (218 S. Moore Street), in Algona. The funeral service will be held 10:30- a.m., Sat., Dec. 1st, at the St. Cecilia Catholic Church, (715 E. North St.,) in Algona.

A collision Thursday morning in Atlantic caused $4,000 damage altogether, but no one was injured. According to the Atlantic Police Department, a vehicle driven by Ruben Weirich, of Atlantic, was turning right onto 8th Street from the Iowa Western Community College parking lot, when Weirich failed to yield to a westbound vehicle driven by Ethan Nachtman, of Atlantic. During the collision, the Weirich vehicle hit Nachtman’s vehicle on the right front corner. Weirich was cited for Failure to Yield upon entering a through street. The accident happened at around 9:30-a.m., Thursday.

Deputies and staff with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department will hold their 14th Annual Sheriff’s Office sponsored “Shop with the Sheriff” program, Saturday, Dec. 1st.  The shopping event, which is held at the Target Store in Council Bluffs, will benefit twenty-eight children this year. Target opens their doors at 6:45 a.m. to allow uninterrupted shopping before the store opens at 8:00 a.m.  About 43 employees and families from the Sheriff’s Office volunteer their time to assist with the program.

This program is funded by donations from individuals and businesses throughout Pottawattamie County and surrounding areas.  The Iowa Department of Human Services provided names of the families who would benefit from the program.  Each child will receive $175.00 to spend and is encouraged to use most of the money on clothing, shoes and other necessities, but are allowed to purchase toys.  Each family will receive a food basket.

Repairs on the Keg Creek bridge along 1100th Street in Shelby County will result in the closure of that street for about two-weeks, beginning Monday, December 3rd. Shelby County Emergency Management officials say the bridge is located in the 700 block of 1100th Street, between Lincoln Townships 7 and 18, and east of all residences in the area.

Emergency responders need to plan alternate routes nearby residences, should they be called to homes in the area. If you have any questions, call the Shelby County Engineer’s Office at 712-755-5954.

A male juvenile died during a rollover accident Thursday afternoon, in Audubon County. Sheriff’s officials say 12-year old Austin Lane Vais, of Exira, was not wearing a seat belt when the 2003 Ford F-150 pickup he was driving, crashed about seven-miles east of Exira. The truck was traveling east on 290th Street near Swift Avenue, at around 4:30-p.m., when it went out of control, slid sideways into a ditch and rolled over. Vais was ejected from the vehicle. He was transported from the scene by Exira Fire and Rescue to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital, where Vais died from injuries he suffered during the accident.

The crash remains under investigation.

w/ Ric Hanson

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