(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak this (Wednesday) morning, arrested a woman wanted on a warrant. Authorities say 27-year-old Tori Shanelle Bergerson, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:45-a.m., in the 2400 block of N. 8th Street, in Red Oak, on the Red Oak P.D. warrant for OWI/1st offense. Bergerson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors visited with Jennifer & Mike Adkins, owners of The Rusty Lantern, and their family on Saturday, October 21st, 2023, to celebrate the Grand Opening of their new vintage store located in Downtown Atlantic. Jennifer and Mike moved to Atlantic in August of 2023. While settling in, the couple connected with Amanda Graham about a piece of furniture and inquired about her business she had for sale. After talking it over, the couple decided to purchase the business and quickly jumped in making the space their own.

Fast forward a few months, and The Rusty Lantern is now home to 15 vendors and 8 independent consigners that carry anywhere from primitive antiques, floral arrangements, wooden bowl, yearn, vintage jewelry, soaps, candles, and more. Baked goods along with canned and bottled beverages can be purchased to be enjoyed while shopping or to be savored in the cozy lounge area next to the custom-made fireplace.

The Rusty Lantern is an “occasional store” with hours of Thursday-Saturday 10am-4:30PM and occasionally on Sundays. Jennifer plans to adjust the hours of the store to accommodate holiday shopping based on customer demand. The Rusty Lantern is located at 402 Chestnut Street in Atlantic.

To learn more about the Rusty Lantern, call 612-400-5602 or visit their Facebook page.

(Afton, Iowa) – (UPDATED) – A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found a custodian hired to clean the preschool rooms in a southwest Iowa school district was paid for over 300 hours when he did not work. The Early Childhood Center is located on the East Union Community School District’s campus in Afton. According to a report released by the state auditor, the center’s director was not satisfied with the cleaning done by school custodians, so she hired her son in August of 2020 to clean the preschool area. After a tip last summer, district officials confirmed via security video that Hope Hall had clocked in for her son and Grant Hall was seen on video arriving to work several hours later. District officials fired the Halls. The state auditor’s special investigation concluded Grant Hall was paid for 217 regular hours and 85 hours of overtime he did not work. That’s about 44-hundred dollars of improper payroll payments over two years according to the auditor’s report.

The state auditor recommends that East Union Schools develop policies to prevent the appearance of favoritism and conflicts of interest when a relative of a district employee is hired and that relative is their supervisor.

A copy of the report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at Special Interest Reports.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services (IVRS) last Thursday October 19th. The Ambassadors welcomed the staff into their new office space, and learned more about the services IVRS provides. IVRS specializes in helping individuals with limitations to meet their employment goals. IVRS helps individuals identify occupations, community organizations and resources including financial assistance for education, to meet their individual employment goal. IVRS also provides employers with assistance in meeting their employment needs by matching individuals to open job positions.

Counselors work one on one with individuals to determine their needs and have opportunities that will help them thrive in areas of interest.

Ambassadors (Left to Right): (Front Row) Melissa Stevens-Shudac, Kelly Stoll, Stephanie Bernal, Peg Christensen, Rehna Lensch, Alyson Peters, Ellen Sokolowski, Katie Shaw, Amy McNeese, Gina Scheidle
(Back Rows) Emily Kennedy, Jim Kickland, Alex McAfee, Beth Speiker, Todd Gross, Keith Leonard, BJ Hart, Frank Hardee, Jennifer Easten-Hutchinson, Peg Christensen, Sally Rolf, Lana Westphalen, Steven Stott, Jeremy Butler, Tori Gibson, Rick Miricle, Kathie Hockenberry, Julie Waters, Dolly Bergmann, Megan Sramek, Ruth Sears, Anne Quist

IVRS begin outreach efforts before individuals enter the workforce by working closely with the schools in Cass County. IVRS help students transition into the workforce or help prepare for college assisting with resumes, college and job applications, and help once the individual has made the decision for their future. IVRS teams cane make the necessary accommodations to help the individual be successful.

Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services is located at 704 Walnut Street, Suite 3 in Atlantic. For more information about IVRS call 712-304-0067 or visit their website at https://ivrs.iowa.gov

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, approved the bid of slightly less than $2.19-million dollars for a bridge replacement project. Four contractors submitted bids for the 250^th Street bridge project over the Nishnabotna River. The winning bid – which was under the engineer’s estimate, came from A & M Cohron and Son, at $2,189,000.

The bridge was damaged by what was termed a “bomb cyclone,” in March, 2019. The same storm caused flooding in Montgomery County, and elsewere.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report the arrest on Tuesday, of 47-year-old Lori Lynn Gilleland, from Elliott. Gilleland was taken into custody in the 1600 block of North Broadway Street. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and booked on a charge of Theft in the 5^th Degree. Bond was set at $300.

OSCEOLA, Iowa (KCCI) — City officials in Osceola say a town hall meeting will be held Thursday evening to discuss a water shortage that has resulted in about 5,500 people possibly being left without reliable running water in just a few months. Businesses and homeowners now must conserve water or face penalties on their water bills.West Lake provides drinking water for the town. The water levels are so low that the spillway is dry. Osceola Water Superintendent Brandon Patterson says the lake is at the lowest level he’s seen in 20-years. The water level is down 75 inches.

Patterson has asked the town to make some hard choices, including mandatory conservation. Now, he’s set up a town hall this week to talk about the water shortage and what’s next. One idea is to change the West Lake underwater intakes to suck in more water. The other is to build a new $100 million reservoir, but that could take years.

The town hall meeting is at 7 p.m., Thursday at the Clark County Fairgrounds event center in Osceola.