Officials with ISU Extension in Montgomery County report an afterschool STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering & Math) program held on Wednesday early outs at the Montgomery County Family YMCA for students in 4th through 6th grade, starting on September 28th. The afterschool program will run for six consecutive weeks. Youth do not have to be a member of the YMCA to participate. The afterschool STEM program will be coordinated by ISU Extension and Outreach Montgomery County in partnership with Montgomery County Family YMCA, Anderson Conservation Center, Southwest Iowa STEM Hub and Johnson Controls, INC.

Chelsea Cousins, Program Coordinator at ISU Extension and Outreach Montgomery County, says “Youth will engage in hands-on experiments about science, technology, engineering and math as they relate to real world topics. Activities will vary each week including strawberry DNA extracting, building rockets, and understanding the impact of pollution and recycling – just to name a few.”

Youth may register for the afterschool program by contacting the Extension office at 712-623-2592. The program is funded by a Blue Sky Grant from Johnson Controls, Inc. and the collaborative efforts of each partner. For more information, please contact ISU Extension and Outreach Montgomery County at 712-623-2592 or 400 Bridge Street, Suite 2, Red Oak, IA.

Three Cass County men were critically injured during a single-vehicle accident early this (Thursday) morning, in Pottawattamie County. Pott. County Sheriff Jeff Danker says the driver of a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, 20-year old Jacob Johnson, and his passengers, 20-year old Adam Bolton, and 20-year old Dacoda Schwarte, all of Atlantic, were injured and transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, before being flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Danker says the crash happened at around 12:20-a.m., in the area of 510^th Street and Sumac Road.  An investigation determined the pickup was traveling northbound on 510^th Street when Johnson failed to negotiate the curve at Sumac Road.  The pickup traveled into the ditch and struck an embankment. Adam Bolton was ejected from the vehicle during the crash. While the incident remains under investigation by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Danker say alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

(9-a.m. News)

A long-time employer in Atlantic with a facility also located in Waukee, has announced a major expansion project. Jim Tyler, Executive Chairman of the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, told KJAN’s “Heartbeat Today” with Jim Field, that a three-year project culminates October 1st, and will see the company grow literally overnight, from 200 to 700 employees. He says instead of just two locations – Atlantic and Waukee – they’ll have a total of nine locations: SpiritLake, Mason City, Ames, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and the Quad Cities. They’ll do business in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.

Tyler said the Atlantic Production facilities will become larger. He said their employees are excited by the change.  He says the 107-year old family-owned business is working to stay in business another 100-years. Tyler said over 25-percent of their employees have been with the company for more than 20-years.  85-percent of what’s produced in Atlantic is distributed by their Waukee facility. Part of the expansion includes the purchase of several new tractor-trailers.

They purchased 16 new Kenworth tractors, 17 new trailers, and are increasing the number of routes from 95 to around 120. The goal he says, is to improve service to all of their current and future customers, that includes the use of a service call-in center in Waukee, instead of Tampa, Fl. The expansion effort was approved by Coca-Cola’s North American Corporate offices in Atlanta, GA. He said the company has been extremely helpful and representative this week were in Des Moines to meet with employees about the changes.

Tyler says at one-time, there were more than 1,000 independent Coca-Cola bottlers in the U-S, but that dwindled down to 60. The company decided about three-years ago to consider re-franchising. Tyler and his son made a trip to Atlanta and spoke with the President of the Company and expressed their efforts in expanding their current franchise to several points in Iowa, but Coke President Sandy Douglas suggested they should think “A little larger.”

Tyler said they showed him an expanded map of the service area they need to cover. He said the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling is ready for the challenge. Tyler says they intend to be active in every community they serve.

(You can hear the full interview with Jim Tyler at kjan.com. Click on the “Programs” section on the home page, and then the link to “Heartbeat Today.”