COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Council Bluffs man has been charged with child endangerment after authorities found that 11 children were living in filthy conditions.
The Daily Nonpareil reports Richard Simet is charged with neglect of a dependent person and a dozen counts of child endangerment. Those are the same charges facing 34-year-old Bobbi Simet, who authorities say isn’t married to Richard Simet.

The charges stem from an investigation done by the Iowa Human Services Department and Council Bluffs police. Officials say they found the children’s home to be very dirty, infested with cockroaches and smelling like urine. The children range in age from 2 to 14.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday evening, discussed but took no action on their plans to hold a special election in September, with regard to the voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and PPEL Income Surtax. The Board did, however, agree to have the district’s lawyer look over a draft resolution for placing the Income Surtax before the voters, only. The idea is to have the resolution ready by their next meeting on July 13^th, so that it can be submitted to Cass County Election Commissioner Dale Sunderman by July 25^th, the deadline for a next special election to be set.

The current, draft Resolution of Election calls for a vote on the PPEL Income Surtax, only, which if approved, would begin July 1st, 2017. The language states “The percentage of Income Surtax will not exceed 20-percent (to be determined by the Board each year), with the total taxation not to exceed 85-cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in any one tax year. If the measure fails, it would still not “Terminate or restrict authority previously granted by the voters to levy a special tax for any one or more of the purposes permitted by Iowa law.”  A similar Measure placed before the voters last fall, failed. School Board members hope to have the matter explained in more detail at future, public meetings.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board voted 4-to 1 in favor of a 3% salary increase beginning with the 2016-17 School Year, for School District Administrators and Supervisors, with Dr. Swanson voting against. They also approved, by a vote of 4-to 0, a 3% salary increase for Central Office clerical staff, with Board Chair Josh McClaren abstaining due to a conflict of interest.  Prior to the vote, School Board member Jenny Williams requested to have Business Manager Mary Beth Fast’ increase removed from the group increases. She said that’s because compared with the State average pay for District Business Managers, Atlantic’s is pretty high.

Atlantic Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein had requested both increases. The cost of the salary increase for Administrators and Supervisors amounts to $29,108, which includes IPERS and FICA. Amstein noted that during the 2015-16 school year, the Administrators and Supervisors did not receive a raise, but were given five additional vacation leave days that they were allowed to exchange for cash at the end of the school year. The same offer does not apply to the coming school year, but Amstein requested those individuals be able to retain the option to be paid for up to 5 days unused vacation leave at the end of the 2016-17 school year. With regard to the Central Office clerical staff, Amstein says the cost of their salary increase would amount to $9,377, which again, includes IPERS and FICA. It affects four clerical positions, two tech support and one grounds maintenance positions.

The 3% increase is less than the total package agreement negotiated with the non-certified employees association for the 2016-17 year.

A teenager was killed in a traffic crash Wednesday morning in central Iowa’s Jasper County. It happened shortly after 7:30 a.m. when a car and truck collided at an intersection in Kellogg. The truck caught on fire, but the three people inside were able to escape. The driver of the car, 16-year-old Trenton Brady of rural Kellogg, died at the scene. A passenger in the car and three occupants of the truck, were taken to hospitals.

(Radio Iowa)

Traffic safety officials are looking at possible changes to a construction zone on Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. Jim Schnoebelen, the Iowa DOT’s District 6 engineer, says around a half-dozen semis have crashed in the work zone near Ladora within the last week. “I can confirm there’s been at least five and maybe as many as six or seven,” Schnoebelen said.

Ladora I-80 construction area wreck

The Department of Transportation is fixing decking on a bridge, which is forcing traffic to use temporarily shifted lanes in both eastbound and westbound directions. The speed limit on I-80 in the construction zone is reduced to 55 miles an hour. There’s a narrow shoulder in the right lane in both directions and, apparently, it’s causing problems for semi drivers in particular.

“We’re looking to see if we may even have some camera footage that would allow us to review the accidents,” Schnoebelen said. “It seems like most of them appear to be (semis) just slipping off the side of the road. I’m not sure about the cause of that…whether it’s just distracted driving or not enough margin of error for the room available there.” So far, there have not been reports of serious injuries in the crashes. Since there is a narrow shoulder, the DOT installed signs telling truck drivers to use the left lane.

“It may be an issue, at times, where trucks don’t have that opportunity to get over to the left lane. So, we’re taking a look at whether there needs to be more advanced warning to make sure they’re aware of that upcoming work zone,” Schnoebelen said. The construction work in the area started last week and is expected to last until September.

(Radio Iowa)