(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Director the Atlantic Public Library, this (Wednesday) evening, informed the Atlantic City Council, about a national grant the library has received. Michelle Andersen said the grant is from the American Library Association (ALA), and is for small and rural libraries, to help them be more accessible. Atlantic’s Library received a grant last year, as well.

Atlantic was one of 310 libraries selected to participate in round two of the Libraries Transforming Communities initiative. Part of the conditions to receiving the grant, is to hold a Community Conversation about ways the library can better serve persons who may have trouble accessing services the library provides, either because they don’t understand technology, or they have learning issues.

Atlantic Public Library Director Michelle Andersen (8-7-24_)

Some of the ideas she suggested in order to get the grant, include beginning a “Next Chapter Book Club.”

Everyone is invited to visit the library to attend one of the conversations, which will be offered: Tuesday, Aug. 13^th at 2-p.m.; Wed., Aug. 14^th, at 10-a.m., and Thursday, Aug. 15^th, at Noon. If you are interested in getting involved or taking part in the conversation, and cannot attend one of the three meetings, please call Michelle Andersen at 712-243-5466, or email atlanticpubliclibrary@gmail.com

Atlantic City Council meeting, 8-7-24

In other business, the City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday evening took action on approving an Order to close certain streets in Atlantic on Saturday, Aug. 10th, for AtlanticFest. The list of streets can be found in our story posted Monday night on the kjan.com News page (See the list below if you missed it). The streets will be closed from 5-a.m. until 6-p.m.

The Council also passed a Resolution “Setting the date for a Public Hearing on a proposed Ordinance vacating the 66-foot wide street Right-Of-Way (ROW),” beginning west of the ROW line of Laurel Street extended, then west to the east property line of the Iowa Interstate Railroad (a parcel approx. .7″ of an acre). The request (Which was previously heard during the Council’s meeting on May 1st), was from property owner Rob Stamp, who wants to have additional access to his property by means of cutting the curb on the vacated area, pouring a driveway, and maintaining it as another entrance.

The Council also held and passed the 3rd and final reading of an Ordinance that rezones the Camblin Hills Subdivision from R-2 (Low Density/Single Family) residential to R-4 (Multifamily) residential. The first reading was passed during the Council’s meeting on July 10th.

In other business, the Council acted on an Order approving a bid from Tim Beadle, for 411 Birch Street, in the amount of $5,350. The City’s Personnel and Finance Committee has endorsed his bid. City Councilperson Elaine Otte said Beadle intends to demolish the house currently on the property, and build a new, modern home. The final order of business is action on a proposal to move the Sept. 18th City Council meeting to Sept. 16th, due to the Annual Iowa League of Cities Conference.

Street closures for AtlanticFest:

• Chestnut Street (both lanes), from 6th to 7th St.
• Chestnut (both lanes), from 2nd to 6th.
• 6th Street (Both lanes) from Walnut to Chestnut.
• 6th Street (Both lanes) from Chestnut to Poplar.
• 5th Street from Chestnut to 1/2 block east of the alley before the Post Office.
• 5th Street from Chestnut to Poplar.
• 4th Street from Chestnut to 1/2 block east, right before the alley.
• 4th Street from Chestnut to Poplar.
• 3rd Street from Walnut to Poplar.

Walnut Street will remain open.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa investors are watching carefully as the global stock markets begin to rebound, following Monday’s sweeping selloff. Financial planner Jim Tausz of Clarion says things are beginning to move more positively for Iowans who follow the stock market, though there are still some looming clouds.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of volatility between now and maybe a month or two at the most,” Tausz says, “before we end up having Election Day.” While there are concerns, Tausz says the market’s shifting can also be seen as an opportunity, though he notes the tech sector has been dramatically impacted.

“What you’re seeing is the reaction that we’re getting to inflation and interest rates right now, and also the comments that are being made by each side, I’m talking about Democrats and Republicans right now, which are very contradictive of each other,” Tausz says, “and so I think people are getting just a little bit frustrated.”

Tausz says investors need to monitor their portfolios, though he says the Dow Jones was in positive territory at midday (Wednesday).

(Radio Iowa) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced it has so far approved $61 million in assistance for Iowans dealing with damage from this spring’s flooding, tornadoes and severe weather.

According to a news release from the agency, FEMA has approved assistance for more than 5000 Iowa households. That includes $56 million in Individual Assistance to cover home repairs and other expenses that are not covered by insurance. Renters and home owners in 28 Iowa counties that have been declared Presidential Disaster Areas are eligible to apply for FEMA’s Individual Assistance grants. The deadline for applications is Friday, August 23.

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance program has paid over $5 million to Iowa policyholders.

(Radio Iowa) – First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Davenport says Democrats making abortion a key issue in their campaigns have nothing else to run on. “They have high gas prices, high food prices, high interest rates so young people can’t buy a house and don’t think they can get ahead in the United States,” Miller-Meeks said yesterday during a campaign stop in Mount Pleasant. “They have open borders with record amounts of fentanyl coming across the border.”

Christina Bohannan, the Democrat running against Miller-Meeks, has just released a campaign ad accusing Miller-Meeks of “pushing to ban all abortions nationwide with no exceptions for rape or incest.” On the campaign trail, Bohannan cites Miller-Meeks’ previous support of a constitutional amendment that says life begins “at fertilization,” which would ban all abortions. Miller-Meeks did not sign on as a co-sponsor of the proposal during the current two-year session of congress. “I am pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother,” Miller-Meeks said. “I’ve been very consistent on that.”

Last year, Miller-Meeks voted to set five-year-old prison sentences for health care providers who do not try to save the life of a baby that’s born alive during an attempted abortion. The bill was opposed by Democrats. “That is an extreme position such as North Korea and China have,” Miller-Meeks said. “That is not in keeping with the majority of Americans and the majority of Iowans.”

A 2003 federal law bans so-called “partial birth” abortions and it is considered murder to kill a baby that is born alive.