Atlantic, Iowa) – Roughly two dozen people attended this (Wednesday) evening’s meeting of the Atlantic City Council. Most of the audience was there to oppose getting rid of the Parks and Recreation Board, and Park Director’s position. First to speak was Vicki Nordskog, of Atlantic. She said the City needs someone to be an effective leader of the Parks Department. She acknowledged Assistant Parks Director Jeff Christensen’s role in taking the lead since recent the departure of Wyatt Adderton.

Nordskog said former Parks Directors set the bar for those who followed in their footsteps.

She submitted a four-page petition to the Council with 48 signatures, asking for the Parks and Rec Board and Parks Director’s position to be maintained, not dissolved. Roger Herring, who was the Parks and Rec Director from 2011 through 2016, acknowledged the City of Atlantic has made “great strides to improve our parks and draw people to the Atlantic area for family gatherings, and more.

Herring said the improvements and renovations were accomplished through the support of the Mayor, City Administrator, and the City Council, to support the initiatives, and helping to bring a parks department out the slump it was in up until 2009. That collaboration, he says, was one of the keys to the success of the parks board.

He said the other key to success was having a parks director.

Roger Herring said with no director or park and rec board, “the value of parks recreation in Atlantic has been diminished to a maintenance crew and to maintain status quo. I don’t’ believe that’s what we’re about.”

Others who spoke included Parks Board member Jeremy Butler, Scott Bennett with Nishna Net, and Atlantic School Board member Nick Hunt. They essentially reiterated the need NOT to dissolve the Parks Board and Park Director’s job. Each member of the Atlantic City Council said they had received calls and/or e-mails in support of keep the Parks Board and finding someone for the Park Director’s position. As we’ve previously reported, the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee submitted a recommendation to the Council, saying “with all respect due to the Board and the service of its members,” the Parks Board should be dissolved. Their recommendation followed the Committee’s meeting on July 10th, when they reviewed the situation of losing yet another Director for the Parks & Rec Dept, with regard to last month’s resignation of Wyatt Adderton.

Since then, the City Council has passed a Resolution that creates the position of Parks and Recreation Coordinator, including the job description and compensation for 2024. The Parks Director’s position will likely be divided between Public Works Director Kirk Knudsen and the new Parks Coordinator position, with the stipulation the Coordinator reports directly to the Public Works Director.

Following today’s (Wednesday’s) hearing, the Council must now wait 30-days before acting on the first-reading to repeal Chapter 24 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, and discontinue the Board.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak arrested a Page County man this (Wednesday) afternoon. Authorities say 35-year-old Bryce Michael McKinnon, of Clarinda, was arrested in the 100 block of N. 5th Street, in Red Oak, for Public Intoxication. McKinnon was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman from Mills County was arrested this (Wednesday) afternoon on a drug charge, in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 49-year-old Lorelei Pierce, of Hastings, faces a Possession of Methamphetamine charge/1st offense, following her arrest during a traffic stop at around 2:50-p.m., at W. Coolbaugh and W. 4th Streets, in Red Oak.

Pierce was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond. Deputies were assisted during the arrest by the Montgomery County K-9 Unit.

DES MOINES – Governor Reynolds has announced that 109 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard will deploy today to Texas in support of Operation Lone Star to help secure the U.S. Southern Border following the end of Title 42.

The deployment will last until Sept. 1, 2023, with the mission of deterring illegal border crossings and preventing the trafficking of illegal substances by cartels through Texas. This is the Guard’s third deployment to the U.S. southern border since 2020, but the first pursuant to a state mission.

Following the deployment of Iowa National Guard soldiers, the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) will deploy Iowa State Patrol officers on August 31, 2023, to support Texas State Troopers with criminal interdiction, crime prevention, traffic enforcement, and law enforcement assistance. An investigative team will also support Texas investigations of narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking. The Iowa DPS deployment will end on October 2, 2023.

All costs will be covered by federal funding allocated to Iowa from the American Rescue Plan. States are given flexibility in how this funding can be used provided it supports the provision of government services.

Gov. Kim Reynolds released the following statement regarding the state’s support of Operation Lone Star:

“On his first day in office, President Biden reversed commonsense policies that protected the U.S. Southern border and American citizens. Since that time, our country has experienced a historic rise in illegal immigrants and illicit drugs entering our country. Two years later, every state is a border state, and Iowa’s unique location at the intersection of two major interstates makes it a target for human traffickers and drug cartels.

“The Biden Administration has failed to respond to the crisis at the border and, in doing so, has failed the American people – Iowans included. They have created one of the most significant national security and humanitarian crises of our generation and are blatantly ignoring the impact it’s having on our states, cities, and our people.

“Since the administration refuses to invest in securing the border and protecting its citizens, Texas has asked other states to help, and Iowa is ready and willing to assist.

“Iowa is deploying National Guard troops and personnel from the Department of Public Safety to protect the citizens and interests of our state by supporting Operation Lone Star and helping secure the U.S. Southern border.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS – D’Jay Baxter Betts, convicted of Theft 1st Degree and Robbery 2nd Degree in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required the afternoon of July 31, 2023.

Betts is a 29-year-old black male, height 6’1″, and weighs 222  pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on July 18, 2023.

Persons with information on Betts’ whereabouts should contact local police.

D’Jay Baxter Betts

(Radio Iowa) – The head of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges has resigned after a little less than a year as chancellor.
Sonya Williams started as chancellor of the Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges on August 8th of last year. The board of trustees for the colleges accepted her resignation yesterday (Tuesday) and announced she was leaving for personal reasons.

Williams, an Air Force veteran, was an administrator at the College of Lake County in Illinois and chief academic officer for that school’s 15-thousand students when she was hired for the job in eastern Iowa. The president of Muscatine Community College has been appointed as temporary acting chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system.

It has satellite sites in Maquoketa, Wilton and in Davenport as well as the main campuses in Muscatine, Clinton and Davenport. The Eastern Iowa Community Colleges system was formed nearly 60 years ago when junior colleges and vocational schools were merged and the state’s 15 area community colleges were created.

(Radio Iowa)  – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirms seven athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University are facing sports gambling charges. The D-C-I says three current and one former Cyclone are charged — with the most prominent being starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers. Three from the U-I are charged, including former baseball player Gehrig Christansen, backup kicker Aaron Blom, and former basketball player Ahron Uhlis.

All seven are charged with tampering with records related to the investigation, as the D-C-I alleges that each tried to hide they were using a sports betting account by claiming the account belonged to someone else. The D-C-I says more charges may be filed as the investigation continues.

ATLANTIC — Heavy precipitation is causing a bypass of untreated wastewater from the City of Fontanelle. It is flowing from Washington and Main Street in town to an unnamed tributary which runs over a mile before reaching the Middle Nodaway River. The bypassing began at 2:51 a.m. The amount of the discharge is unknown at this time.

DNR is monitoring the situation and seeking more information about the extent of the discharge. It is recommended to stay away from this area until the bypass has stopped.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released a report on five arrests conducted from Monday through today. There were two arrests Monday, in Mills County:

• 18-year-old Skyler Ann Mixan, of Elkhorn, NE, was arrested Monday morning at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, for  Theft in the 1st Degree. Her bond was set at $10,000. And, 47-year-old Simon Christopher Elias, of Glenwood, was arrested at around 6:30-p.m., Monday, in the area of Levi Road and Highway 34. Elias was charged with OWI/ 2nd Offense, and Driving While Revoked. His bond was set at $3,000.

Early Tuesday morning, deputies in Mills County arrested 27-year-old Brittany Marier Barrett, of Omaha, NE, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Driving Under Suspension. She was arrested on I-29 at mile marker 36, at around 2:14-a.m. Bond was set at $2,000; 25-year-old David Glen Combs, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday night at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on a Mills County warrant for Failure To Appear on an original, Violation of Probation, charge. His bond was set at $1,000.

And, at around 1:23-a.m. today (Wednesday), 27-year-old Nicolas Preston Ramirez, of Omaha, NE, was arrested at Highway 34 and I-29 in Mills County, for OWI/1st offense. Bond was set at  $1,000.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Firefighters in Harlan was dispatched a little before 7-a.m. today (Wednesday), to a structure. The fire was reported at Brockelman & Associates, PC, at 1301 Hawkeye Avenue in Harlan. Upon arrival crews determined the fire was in the attic of the building, where electrical wiring had overheated and started the insulation on fire.

Firefighters started cutting holes in the roof and pulling down parts of the ceiling to get to the base of the fire. Fire fighting crews from the Westphalia and Avoca Fire Departments responded to a call for mutual aid. The Harlan Fire Department was on scene for about three hours. Their effort and the other fire departments, resulted in the damage being contained to about 25% of the building.