The Atlantic City Council is set to meet on Wendesday, June 21st at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.

Among the items on their agenda is consideration of a request to close 6th Street between Chestnut and Poplar on September 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the Nishna Valley YMCA’s Community Appreciation Event.

The council is set to hear from CADCO’s Jennifer McEntaffer on industrial development progress and Atlantic Chamber’s Bailey Smith on commercial development progress.

A second reading of two separate ordinances will take place with regard to discontinuing the Cable Television Commission and Community Promotion Commission.

They are also set to discuss a revenue purpose statement for natural gas service franchise fee and discuss entering into a non-exclusive twenty-fiver year franchise with Interstate Power and Light Company to supply natural gas to the city.

The Adair County Board of Supervisors are set to meet for their regular session on Wednesday, June 21st at 9:00 a.m. at the Adair County Courthouse Boardroom.

On their agenda is Sheriff Jeff Vandewater discussing Sheriff Vehicle Funds. Gwen Johnston with County Veterans’ Affairs will discuss a VA Commissioner Appointment. County Engineer Nick Kauffman will discuss a secondary roads benefit policy and sign a contract and performance bond for W14 Jefferson Bridge Project. He’ll also deliver his regular maintenance report.

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest of an Omaha man on Monday. Officers arrested 48-year-old Robert Mukka of Omaha for Felony Eluding, Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Offense, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Reckless Driving. He was also issued several traffic citations. Mukka was taken to the Mills County Jail and held on $11,600 cash or surety bond.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests on Monday, June 19th.

At 8:28 a.m. 36-year-old Jeffrey Michael Donald Drake of Creston was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County Warrant for Violation of a No Contact/Protection Order. Drake was taken to the Union County Jail and held on no bond until seen by a Magistrate.

At 10:34 a.m. 22-year-old Blaine Tristan McIntosh of Orient was arrested the Creston Union County LEC and charged with Enticing a Minor under 16-Sexual Purpose and Lascivious Acts with a Child- Solicit Child for Sexual Activity. McIntosh was taken to the Union County Jail and held on no bond until seen by the Magistrate.

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is hosting a clinical trial for a vaccine that promises to protect senior citizens against the respiratory disease known as R-S-V. Dr. Patricia Winokur, executive dean of the U-I Carver College of Medicine, says many of the trial’s participants are grandparents.

The Centers for Disease Control is expected to meet this week to make recommendations on the usage of the G-S-K and Pfizer vaccines. Both were approved by the Food and Drug Administration for adults 60 and older last month. Winokur says the vaccine might be best for seniors who have underlying conditions.

During the past few winters, the U-S has experienced an unusually high amount of respiratory virus activity driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine could be available as soon as this fall.

The five-year framework for federal farm and food assistance programs expires September 30th, but development of the 2023 Farm Bill was delayed by this spring’s debt deal negotiations. Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican Bondurant, is a member of the House Ag Committee.

He says the committee has an aggressive timeline to advance the Farm Bill in early September, so a House vote could follow.

Five years ago, lawmakers temporarily extended programs covered in the 2018 Farm Bill for a couple of months until negotiations were completed in December. For the 2023 Farm Bill, Nunn says he’s indicated to the House Ag Committee chair that rural development, federal crop insurance and conserving natural resources are priorities for Iowans.

Some lawmakers from both parties say they’ll press to exclude high income farming operations from federal crop insurance. And some House Republicans have indicated they’ll press for stricter work requirements for food stamps, or SNAP, than were included in the debt deal.

Nunn says he’s collaborating with like-minded House Republicans as well as House Democrats who represent rural districts in Illinois and North Carolina on Farm Bill priorities. Nunn represents Iowa’s third congressional district, which includes Ottumwa on the southeast corner and half of Shenandoah on the southwest, as well as Atlantic, Guthrie Center and the Des Moines metro.

Thirty-five daysfrom now Carroll will be the overnight host for thousands of participants in the 50th annual RAGBRAI — the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Lynda Dukes Franey (FRAN-ee) is on Carroll’s host committee and she says it’s crunch time.

Carroll has formed 15 different groups or committees to plan for hosting.

Musical performances will start at 4 p.m. in Carroll, with a Midwest band called “The Pork Tornadoes” as the headliners that evening. Dukes Franey says there will be kid-themed activities throughout the day, too.

The RAGBRAI committee in Carroll is seeking more volunteers to offer up their homes for RAGBRAI riders or their yards for participants who pitch their tents. Dukes Franey says some Carroll residents have started putting up decorations to welcome the RAGBRAI riders.

RAGBRAI will start in Sioux City on July 23rd. Storm Lake is the first overnight stop, then it’s on to stops in Carroll, Ames, Des Moines, Tama-Toledo and Coralville before the final trek to Davenport.

The mosquitoes are biting and state health officials have already confirmed Iowa’s first human case of West Nile virus this year, which is several weeks early. The first day of summer is Wednesday and epidemiologist Elizabeth Schiffman says West Nile cases don’t typically start showing up until mid-summer.

The state’s first case was reported Friday in an older adult, between 61-and-80 years, from northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County. A total of nine Iowans were diagnosed with West Nile virus last year, with no deaths. The peak months for West Nile in Iowa are usually August and September. Schiffman says it’s difficult to predict if we’ll see a lot of cases because of mosquitoes’ short life cycle and their sensitivity to weather conditions.

The experts say Iowans who spend time outdoors should wear insect repellant, and dump out any standing water where mosquitoes might breed. Those infected with West Nile may show no symptoms, or they may have a fever, headache, disorientation and muscle weakness. Learn more at: https://hhs.iowa.gov/cade/disease-information/west-nile-virus

This is the final month of the fiscal year for Iowa’s state-licensed casinos, and it appears competition across the boarder will impact the year-end revenue total. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko.

Harrah’s Casino and the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs in southwest Iowa both saw revenue drop in April and May.

Harrah’s was down roughly 634-thousand dollars in gross revenue in May of this year and around 300-thousand in April compared to last year. The Horseshoe Casino was down around three million dollars in May, and one-and-a-half million in April of this year. Ohorilko says the drop is not a major concern.

The 19 state casinos brought in more than one-billion-766-thousand dollars in the last fiscal year.

Atlantic, Iowa – Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), Southwest Iowa’s public transportation system serving all residents in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby counties, received the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 2023 Regional Transit System of the Year award.

“The Iowa DOT was pleased to honor SWITA with the 2023 Regional Transit System of the Year award at last week’s Iowa Public Transit Association meeting,” stated Kristin Haar, Public Transit Director with the Iowa DOT. “Using FY2022 statistics and equally weighting a combination of rides per person in the region, percentage increase in ridership from 2021 to 2022, and rides per dollar of operating expense, SWITA took the top spot among the 16 regional transit agencies in the state. Congratulations to SWITA!”

SWITA has shown growth whereas other transit agencies across the state have seen declining ridership. SWITA is projected to provide over 515,000 rides for FY23, which is a significant increase from 305,932 rides in FY20, 377,547 rides in FY21, and 480,229 rides in FY22. We have also seen our in-town routes and taxi rides almost doubling what they were in FY15. FY22 SWITA taxi rides were 42,836 and we are projected to provide over 55,000 taxi rides for FY23. Workforce ridership is one specific area of growth for SWITA, and ridership nearly doubled from fiscal year 2020 at 43,363 rides to fiscal year 2022 at 85,131 rides.

Also presented at last week’s Iowa Public Transit Association meeting was the Operations Person of the Year award which was awarded to SWITA Transit Coordinator Kristen Templeton. Kristen was given this well-deserved award based on the impact she has made on the agency with her willingness to learn, go-getter attitude, and her friendly demeanor. Kristen currently oversees six transit office staff and around 75 transit drivers. Kristen is also responsible for keeping track of a fleet of approximately 110 vehicles. The position of Transit Coordinator requires Kristen to be one of the first calls when weekend and off-hour issues arise. Kristen does the majority of the scheduling for the agency, which is no easy feat. It would be near impossible to provide the large number of rides annually here at SWITA without Kristen’s attention to detail, ability to match the right drivers with the right routes, and ability to juggle and adjust on the fly when things go wrong, which happens very quickly. Kristen has played an integral role in the growth of the agency and the number of rides we provide yearly. SWITA’s growth has made her job considerably more difficult but she has risen to the challenge and excelled in her role. When Kristen started, SWITA only had one true 24/7 service but now we operate five. This is only one example of the growth we have seen here at SWITA since Kristen started. Throughout it all, Kristen has continued to be a valuable part of our SWITA team. She keeps a positive and friendly attitude every day and works day in and day out to get the people of SW Iowa where they need to go.

Iowa Public Transit Association also held the annual Driver of the Year awards dinner during the annual meeting last week which was a great opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of transit drivers across the state. SWITA’s 2023 Driver of the Year, Dean Driskell, was recognized for his award at the dinner.