The Exira-EHK School Board will meet this evening at 6:00 p.m. in the conference room in Elk Horn.

On their agenda is discussion of a weight room renovation proposal from Push, Pedal, Pull. The board is also set to act on 2023-24 milk, bread, and fuel bids. Setting substitute and activity trip rates.

They are also set to act on a design services proposal from Invision Architecture for building updates.

They will also review a large number of policy measures and discuss personnel changes.

At their meeting on Wednesday night, the Atlantic City Council passed a resolution for a Revenue Purpose Statement for a Natural Gas Service Franchise Fee.  The new fee will fund Atlantic Police Department pay increases.

Atlantic City Administrator John Lund said the Personnel and Finance Committee had a meeting in April to discuss personnel and pay issues with the Atlantic PD. They found that during the current union agreement the wages for a senior officer were $1.70 less per hour than the average wage of a pool of similar population communities. The committee felt this doesn’t make Atlantic competitive in the job market.

In order to boost wages, Lund proposed a 13-step wage schedule that will follow each year of service. Lund said the ten-year cost of the proposal will be a total of $533,696. The annual cost will range from $31,121 to $58,017 depending on retention of officers.

Lund said putting a five-percent natural gas franchise fee in place was the best way to pay for the increases. He said the committee also felt that revenue would make the city less dependent on property taxes to fund the PD and other city departments.

Alliant Energy customers will see an average bill increase of $4 per month. The franchise fee will replace the city’s local option sales tax that is currently charged to Alliant customers.

DES MOINES – Today, Governor Reynolds has announced a change in leadership at the Department of Education, appointing McKenzie Snow, presently Deputy Secretary of Education in the Commonwealth of Virginia, to replace Chad Aldis as department director.  Aldis, who was named director in March of this year, has resigned for family reasons.  

Snow’s appointment as Director of the Iowa Department of Education is effective Monday, June 26. Aldis will remain through June 30 to assist with the transition. 

“While a leadership change at this time was unexpected, I respect why it’s necessary. I want to thank Director Aldis for his service, and I wish him and his family the very best,” Governor Reynolds stated. 

“I’m confident that McKenzie Snow is the right leader for this promising time at the Department of Education. Her leadership experience over state education departments in both Virginia and New Hampshire, at the U.S. Department of Education, and for the White House has earned her the respect of educators and policymakers alike. She has worked to expand career and technical education opportunities that empower students to earn a credential or credit, implement the Science of Reading to drive literacy, and promote transparency and student-centered funding. She will be a tremendous asset as we continue to expand opportunity in Iowa’s education system.”  

“Governor Reynolds is an education champion, and I am humbled by her appointment to serve Iowa’s students in partnership with families and teachers,” Snow said. “All children—regardless of their background or zip code—deserve a great education that inspires and prepares them for the future. Together, we will continue to build upon Iowa’s commitment to educational excellence for all children.” 

Snow is a national education leader and dedicated public servant who has served students in the classroom, two states, and the federal government. Prior to serving as Virginia Deputy Secretary of Education over early childhood education through postsecondary pathways, she was confirmed and served as New Hampshire Division Director of Academics and Assessment, Special Education, Career Development, Adult Education, Wellness, and Nutrition. 

She also served in the federal government as a Special Assistant to the President at the White House Domestic Policy Council, Senior Adviser at the Office of Management and Budget, and Policy Director at the U.S. Department of Education. 

In the classroom, Snow taught remedial courses at the University of the Free State in South Africa. She has been named a Fulbright grantee, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and Bush Institute and Clinton Foundation Presidential Leadership Scholar. 

Snow is a fifth-generation Kansan. She and her fiancé are excited to return to the Midwest. 

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests.

On June 18th Deputies arrested 23-year-old Brett Mikel Case of Omaha, NE on a charge of Theft 1st. He was arrested at 8:35 p.m. on Interstate 29 near mile-marker 44. Case was taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $10,000 bond.

On Wednesday, June 21st Deputies arrested 35-year-old Nicole Katherine Spracklin of Plattsmouth, NE on a Warrant for Failure to Appear. She was arrested at 10:22 a.m. a the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Also on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. 46-year-old Justin Dean Miller of Lenox was arrested at the Taylor County Jail on a Warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $5,000.

On Thursday morning at 12:58 a.m. Deputies arrested 29-year-old Patrick Clayton Giesting of Malvern on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance on East 4th Street. Geisting was booked in to the Mills County Jail on $1,000 bond.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released details on an accident that occurred on June 9^th, 2023. At approximately 10:20 p.m. that day area first responders were called to the intersection of Lewis Road and Oxford Road in Lewis for a single vehicle motorcycle accident.  Investigation found that a 2022 Honda Sport Bike was operating westbound on Oxford Road approaching the turn onto Lewis Road.  The operator, later identified as 28-year-old Christian Contreras-Pinera, of Schuyler, NE, failed to negotiate the turn and lost control. The sport bike left the roadway and struck a bumpy area in the adjacent grass and ditch.  This caused the motorcycle to flip end-over-end several times, ejecting the operator.  Contreras-Pinera was flown to a regional hospital for serious injuries.

The Iowa D-N-R says swimmer’s itch is starting to show up in some Iowa lakes. Environmental specialist, Daniel Kendall, says we see it every year.

Kendall says the flatworm can’t live in a human and they quickly die, causing an allergic reaction below the skin resulting in welts and itching. He says the parasite eggs are spread by bird droppings that hatch in the water and infect snails.

He says swimmer’s itch has turned up in north central and northwest Iowa lakes.

He says there are steps you can take
steps to try and avoid getting the itch.

Kendall says the health risk isn’t major — just uncomfortable.

The welts and itching caused by the parasite can last for several days to about one week and usually don’t require a visit to the doctor. An antihistamine along with calamine lotion can be used to treat the affected areas.

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council and two others will be paid 175-thousand dollars to settle two lawsuits that accused Governor Reynolds and her staff of violating open records laws. The settlements were approved by the state treasurer and the director of the Iowa Department of Management, who are members of the State Appeal Board. The only no came from State Auditor Rob Sand, who is the only Democrat in statewide elected office.

The lawsuits stemmed from public records requests made to state agencies over a year and a half, starting back in April 2020. Attorneys for the governor argued in court that there is no specific deadline in state law for fulfilling public records requests. In April of this year, the Iowa Supreme Court called the delayed responses unreasonable.

Sand says the governor’s office failed to reply to some public records requests for up to a year.

Kollin Crompton, deputy communications director for Governor Reynolds, says the COVID-19 response put unprecedented demands on the governor’s team to meet the immediate needs of Iowans and public records requests were unintentionally delayed. Crompton says those delays were not acceptable and the governor’s office continues to reevaluate the process to improve timeliness.

For a world that sometimes seems filled with war, hatred and violence, a dozen Iowa State University faculty members have come together to write about the topic of peace. The book, “Building Positive Peace,” is a collection of essays created by a diverse group of I-S-U experts. Professor Simon Cordery, who chairs the I-S-U Department of History, co-edited the book and contributed the chapter called “History and Positive Peace.”

Each contribution offers suggestions on how to shift away from our current road, he says, and find the path to peace instead. Cordery says the goal of creating the book was to share expertise and contribute something that would be useful for people interested in more than just peace studies.

He says the target audience for the book is peace activists, environmentalists, climate scientists, and academics with an interest in peace. The authors, Cordery says, see positive peace as a way to encourage people to actively create a peace-filled world.

Cordery says I-S-U now has an honors course on sustainable peace, and he adds, the Ames campus will host the annual meeting of the Peace and Justice Studies Association in September. The 275-page book is available through Amazon and the publisher, Cambridge Scholars.
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/

The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final rule for biofuel blending requirements over the next three years, with ethanol production targets that are not as high as initially proposed in December. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says this latest E-P-A decision fails to meet the intent of the Renewable Fuels Standard.

The rule does increase production requirements for biodiesel and renewable diesel, but Naig says those levels are below current usage. The state ag secretary is also accusing the E-P-A of pitting one sector of the renewable fuels industry against another by lowering the ethanol numbers.

Naig says the Biden Administration has failed to support the benefits of renewable fuel production.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, says for an administration obsessed with reducing carbon emissions, this rule makes absolutely no sense. Senator Joni Enrst, a Republican from Red Oak, says the Biden Administration is refusing to recognize that biodiesel and ethanol are homegrown cleaner fuel solutions that are available today. The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the proposal fails on all fronts and the head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the E-P-A has set up a lose-lose situation for ethanol and biodiesel producers. Critics say the Renewable Fuels Standard diverts too much prime farmland to produce fuel rather than food.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Adair and Cass County is offering the Iowa Master Conservationist Program as a joint program between the two county Extension Offices this summer and fall. Classes will take place at local outdoor parks and public areas, providing participants with hands-on interaction with the diversity of the state’s natural resources. The program teaches about Iowa’s natural ecosystems and the diversity of conservation challenges and opportunities that exist in the region. Graduates of the course learn to make informed choices for leading and educating others to improve conservation in Iowa.

The program consists of approximately 12 hours of online curriculum and six face-to-face meetings. The online modules will include lessons and resources by Iowa State subject-matter experts to be reviewed at the participants’ own pace at home or at their local County Extension office. Module topics include conservation history and science, understanding Iowa ecosystems, implementing conservation practices in human dominated landscapes and developing skills to help implement and educate others about conservation practices.

The first hands-on learning program will be a partnership program with Harrison County Extension on Thursday evening June 29^th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will take place at Willow Lake Recreational Area, near Woodbine where participants will learn about the different landforms of Iowa, specifically the Loess Hills of Western Iowa and what makes them unique to Iowa and the world! Subsequent meetings will be held at different locations in Adair and Cass County one Tuesday evening per month from July-October of 2023. All local meetings will begin at 6 PM and last from 2-3 hours depending on the topic. Each face-to-face meeting will be led by local subject-matter experts to demonstrate how the principles covered in the online curriculum play out locally.

Registration for the course is $50 per person and is due at the time of registration. To register or with questions, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Adair County at 515-231-2741 or Cass County at 712-243-1132 or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or www.extension.iastate.edu/adair for registration forms and details. The deadline to register is Wednesday, June 28^th.