Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker is pleased to announce that this Saturday, December 12, the Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with Target at Metro Crossing, will hold the 17th annual “Shop with the Sheriff.” The event begins at 6:30-a.m.

17 years ago, Lt. Larry Brown had the idea to start helping residents of Pottawattamie County that are in need during the Christmas season. With Lt. Brown’s idea in mind, Sheriff Jeff Danker began the ‘Shop with the Sheriff’ campaign. Over the last 17 years, the Sheriff’s Office has had the privilege of bringing joy to over 400 children living in Pottawattamie County. Last year employees both sworn and civilian from the various Sheriff’s Office Divisions shopped with 36 children.

Shop with the Sheriff (Pott. Co. S/O photo)

This year, 45 children will be shopping for outerwear, clothing and toys with employees and family members from the Sheriff’s Office. Each family of the participating children will also receive a food basket for the holiday season. The  Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office “Shop with the Sheriff” event is made possible by the generous donations from citizens, organizations and businesses throughout the area.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office said today (Thursday), a Creston man was arrested Wednesday evening on a Union County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. 30-year old John David Foster was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, where he was being held without bond until his appearance before the Magistrate.

And, authorities say three people, including two infants, suffered minor/possible injuries Wednesday morning, after a van went out of control, and swerved back and forth, before entering a ditch and rolling over several times before coming to rest on its side.

The accident happened at around 8-a.m. Wednesday, as 21-year old Brittanee Short, of Osceola, was traveling east on 130th Street in a 2000 Toyota Sienna van.  Short, and her passengers, one-year old’s Mayclynn McKinney and Aydon Parrigo, both of Osceola, complained of pain or possible injury, but were not transported to the hospital. The children were secured in their child safety seats.

The vehicle sustained $4,500 damage. No citations were issued.

The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday evening, passed an Early Retirement Plan and a policy pertaining to the use of unmanned aircraft (or, drones) over school property. Superintendent Mike Amstein said the opportunity to take early retirement won’t be offered again for another three-years, and the Board capped the number of retirees who would be eligible, at 10. He says the offer includes a $25,000 insurance payment over a period of three-years to lessen the tax liability for any participant in the program. The District pays that money to a Third-party vendor, who handles the funds for insurance.

The Administration will meet with any eligible persons next week, with regard to filling out the necessary paperwork. And, the Board passed a policy on the flying of drones or other, unmanned aircraft over school property. Amstein said “School Districts across the country have been experiencing more situations with them and incidents with them. We actually had an incident this fall, where we had an unauthorized drone fly over the football field while we had a game in process.”

The drone was operated by a former student. Amstein said the District’s insurance representative explained the liability risks of allowing drones to fly overhead. That was all it took for the School Board to pass on the first reading and waive the second reading of the policy, which is now in effect. The policy basically states the use of unmanned aircraft over school property is not allowed without express, written permission from the Superintendent.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board discussed but didn’t take action on, the use of online course for high school students. And, the Board approved an exclusive vendor contract with the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

Police in Creston have received numerous reports of vandalism perpetrated on vehicles and homes. On Monday, a resident in the 100 block of W. Irving Street reported someone shot out the front, driver’s side window of two vehicles parked near his home during the previous night. And, a woman who resides in the 600 block of N. Maple Street reported two windows on her vehicle were broken out during the same time frame.

On Tuesday, four residents reported damage to their homes or vehicles. The incidents took place in the 500 block of N. Pine Street, the 600 block of N. Walnut Street, and in the 300 block of W. Fremont Street, in Creston.

Altogether, the damage amounted to $1,400.

The Atlantic City Council held a work session Wednesday evening to discuss housing needs and a vision for the City’s 5-year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). City Administrator John Lund said the City has more than 10.27-million dollars in proposed Capital Improvements, but the resources available (including incoming revenue) to cover about 8.68-million dollars worth, without raising taxes. That leaves a deficit of 1.596-million dollars the City will need to trim from its project wish list.

A list of priorities was included in the draft, FY 2017-2021 plan. The list was created through a survey of Council members and Mayor. Lund said those surveyed didn’t want to let equipment and vehicles for the fire, police and street department fall into disrepair, especially in a tight budget situation, so those items were high in the priority list.

The storm sewer system also rated high on the list, especially with regard to Bull Creek. Mayor Dave Jones said there are some safety issues pertaining to the creek, especially in the area of 17th to 9th Streets, where children are at play. He said steep drop-offs in the creek are dangerous and in the downtown area, enclosing the creek to prevent kids playing in it is being studied.

Lund said they are waiting on estimates from Snyder and Associates Engineers on the cost of the clean-up project. The Storm Water Fund, which is supported by user fees, will help to deal with the project and future housing developments will benefit from the Fund as the City deals with storm water mitigation prior to property completion.

The main area of discussion Wednesday night focused on the streets and roads, the improvements for which would cost more than $6.375-million under the draft CIP. Councilman Bob Cord said the list created is a start for the Council to make decisions, but the City shouldn’t be “micromanaging” the list of priorities, because Street Department Superintendent Derald Anderson and his crew are more aware of what streets need to be taken care of first.

Synder’s Dave Sturm and Anderson, said they’ve made a great deal of progress on maintaining and repairing City streets over the past few years. That being the case, Mayor Dave Jones and the Council suggested the Department should focus next on the downtown alleys resurfaced or repaired. Anderson said a few of the City’s Streets will need major work in the next five-years, including Plum Street, from 10th to 14th, which handles a great deal of high school traffic.

In other business, the Council approved the appointment of Jennifer Miller to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Miller replaces Denise Masker on the Commission.