The Atlantic School Board will hold a work session this (Wednesday) evening in the High School Media Center, beginning at 5:30-p.m. Special presentations leading-off the meeting will cover the AHS Silver Cord Program and School Property/Casualty Insurance. But the most interesting part of the meeting will likely be with regard to Board Member Communications.

That’s because School Board Member Dr. Keith Swanson wrote an article in the “Speak Up” section of the Atlantic News Telegraph last week, where he indicated he was embarrassed to be on the Board, in light of recent issues with the District’s buses and concerns about a number of financial issues. Atlantic Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein wrote a response to Dr. Swanson’s letter, which was published in Tuesday’s paper.

In it, Amstein claimed “Many of the comments made by Mr. Swanson regarding the operation of the District were quite inaccurate.” Amstein said Swanson wrote his comments without confirming the facts, and said he should have addressed his questions and concerns to the Board in an open forum, where they could be answered directly. Amstein said he also thought Swanson’s assertion that District’s fine arts and athletic programs have deteriorated, “Insulting and disrespectful” to the students, coaches/sponsors.”

Police in Council Bluffs say two people suffered non-life threatening injuries during a single-vehicle accident early this (Wed.) morning. The accident was reported at around 2:15-a.m. on the Avenue G to southbound Interstate 29 on-ramp. Officers arriving on the scene located a white Nissan that had rolled off of the interstate and into the median just north of Ave G.

The Council Bluffs Fire Department removed the two occupants from the vehicle, who were transported to CHI Creighton Hospital. The Council Bluffs Police Departments Special Operations unit is investigating the cause of the accident.

Trial in the case of a Council Bluffs woman accused of fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend began Tuesday and will continue Thursday, in Council Bluffs. Jodie Sherman is charged with 1st degree murder in connection with the July 4th, 2014 death of Douglas Richt, who authorities say was stabbed in the throat by Sherman after he picked her up in a car. Richt died while on the way to a hospital. The Daily NonPareil reports prosecutors spent the first day of Sherman’s first-degree murder trial admitting evidence and calling witnesses and law enforcement to the stand.

The prosecution, which consists of Pottawattamie County Attorney Matthew Wilber and Chief Deputy Attorney Jon Jacobmeier, called eight people to the stand. With Sherman’s defense team expected to push for not guilty by reason of insanity, the prosecution also made a point to try and prove that Sherman’s behavior was more about her love of peppermint schnapps than possible insanity.

The trial started with two witnesses, who live at a residence where Richt ended up after being stabbed, taking the stand. Both witnesses said they saw Sherman take a swing at Richt, get out of the car and walk down the street. They further testified that they saw Richt get out of the 1999 Saturn and walk to their porch, spilling blood along the way. A third witness, who lives nearby, told prosecutors that she saw a knife on the floorboard of Saturn.

Council Bluffs Police Department Officer Miranda Adams took the stand and discussed how she stopped Sherman after the altercation and transported her to the department’s criminal investigation division. Adams said that on July 4, 2014, Sherman made verbal threats, and also Sherman said Richt kidnapped her and that she was being held hostage. Adams further testified that Sherman was concerned about the FBI and people coming out of the police cruiser’s radio.

Jacobmeier and Wilber spent much of the day asking about Sherman’s drinking habits and whether or not she was intoxicated at the time of the alleged stabbing. Mark Elonich, a former Council Bluffs police detective, said Sherman was not given any sobriety tests on July 4th, while Sherman was at the police station. Although no tests were given, Elonich said he felt Sherman was under the influence of some type of prescription drug or alcohol.

The trial, which is slated to end on Friday, is being conducted without a jury. Fourth Judicial District Judge Kathleen Kilnoski will render the verdict from the bench. If Kilnoski does find Sherman guilty of first-degree murder, Sherman faces a sentence of life in prison without parole.

A traffic stop early this (Wed.) morning in Villisca, resulted in an arrest. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 23-year old Makayla Dawn Hudson, of Red Oak, was pulled over at around 2:40-a.m. and subsequently arrested for Driving While Suspended. Hudson was brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $300.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The Iowa Senate has unanimously approved a bill designed to accelerate the access terminally ill Iowans have to medications being tested in federally-approved drug trials. Republican Senator Rick Bertrand sponsored the bill after Todd Oss — a Sioux City native who’s been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease — told Bertrand this so-called “right to try” legislation was being considered in other states. “He currently is in let’s just say the sunset of life,” Bertrand says, “and I think that with the passage of this gives him some satisfaction that there’s going to other options for patients that are terminally ill in the state of Iowa.”

Terminally ill Americans can seek a “compassionate care” waiver from the federal government to try medications that have gotten initial approval for clinical trials, but aren’t yet available by prescription. That process, however, requires a lot of paperwork and a lot of time. Senator Jeff Danielson, a Democrat from Cedar Falls, says this bill would speed access not only to medications, but to devices being tested as treatment for incurable illnesses like Huntington’s Disease, A-L-S, and advanced forms of cancer.

“I think we all know an Iowan who’s been in a circumstance with a terminally ill diagnosis,” Danielson says, “and we’d do anything we can to improve their quality of
life.” In other action Tuesday, all 50 senators approved a bill that would allow pharmacists to dispense a 90-day supply of prescription drugs. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says there are thousands of Iowans who have taken the same drug for years as treatment for a chronic condition like high blood pressure.

“Allowing a pharmacist to dispense a 90-day supply will reduce the number of trips Iowans have to make to the pharmacy, decrease out-of-pocket expenditures,” Bolkcom says. Walgreens is the country’s largest retail drug chain and the company has found that patients who are able to buy a 90-day supply of their prescription drugs are more likely to use cheaper generic medication and have saved an average of 23 dollars a year.

This bill AND the “right to try” bill must clear the Iowa House and be approved by the governor before the policies would become state law.

(Radio Iowa)