(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Board of Adjustment for the City of Atlantic will hold a public hearing, following by consideration and action on, a Dimensional Variance application for 1200 Roosevelt Drive. Jon Schmidt has applied for the the Variance, with regard to the construction of a garage in an R-2 Zoning District with a corner lot, street yard setback of eight-feet, which is currently in violation of two sections of the City’s Zoning Ordinance.

In addition to the Public Hearing, there will be a Question and Answer (Q&A) period between Schmidt and the Board. The meeting takes place 5:30-p.m. Monday (May 22, 2023), in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports two separate crashes this weekend claimed two lives. At around 9-p.m. Saturday, 19-year-old Reese Jones, of Ottumwa, died when the 2006 Yamaha motorcycle he was operating collided with a pickup truck in Davis County. The crash happened while Jones was fleeing from law enforcement. The Patrol says Jones was traveling at a high rate of speed south on Highway 63 in Bloomfield, when his cycle hit a 2007 Ford F-150 pickup that was stopped at intersection of Highway 63 and Highway 2. Jones died at the scene. The driver of the pickup, 17-year-old Jason Rich, of New London, Iowa, was not injured.

And, at around 11:15-a.m. Saturday, a man when the John Deere tractor he was operating, was struck from behind by a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The accident happened as the van was traveling south on Highway 330 in Marshall County. The tractor – driven by 86-year-old Clarence E. Borton, of Albion – was southbound on the highway after turning from a private driveway.

After the van – driven by 22-year-old Morgan Weiglet, of Albion – hit the tractor from behind, the tractor left the road to the right and overturned in the ditch. Borton fell off the tractor and died at the scene.

Morgan Weiglet and a passenger in the van, 22-year-old Dylan S. Dare, of Albion, were transported to Unity Point Hospital by ambulance.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 9-p.m. Friday, of 68-year-old Patricia Hartigan, of Papillion, NE.  The woman was taken into custody following a traffic stop near the intersection of Highway 34 and Ironwood Avenue, following a brief investigation. Hartigan was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. She was booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Police Department reports four recent arrests. Authorities say 36-year-old Sarah Kay Reafleng, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 8:15-p.m., Saturday, on active Adams County warrants for Failure to Appear on charges that include possession of a controlled substance-marijuana, and on three counts of child endangerment. She also had a separate warrant through Adams County, for FTA on an original Poss. of paraphernalia, charge. Reafleng was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

A little before 7-p.m. Saturday, Officers arrested 49-year-old Jerry Lee Dawson, of Red Oak, on an active Montgomery County warrant for Violation of Parole. Dawson was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail.

Red Oak Police report also, 67-year-old Linda Kay Becerra, of Red Oak, was arrested Friday evening, following a traffic stop. She was charged with Driving While Suspended. Bond was set at $491.

A traffic stop Friday in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest Friday night, of 33-year-old Kiley Brian Caron, of Red Oak, for Driving While Suspended. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $491 bond, also.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The (Atlantic) Senior Alumni Scholarship Foundation has presented four $2,500 scholarships to Atlantic Seniors during their recent Class Night. Those receiving the scholarships were Rio Johnson, Jayden Proehl, Nina Welter, and Jadyn Reid.

The SASF was started in 2003 as alumni recognized the need to assist students to enable them to further their education.  Generous donations to the SASF from alumni have allowed the foundation to continue to increase the number and size of the scholarships.

R to L …SASF board member Mark McNees, Rio Johnson, Jayden Proehl, Nina Welter and Jadyn Reid. (Photo courtesy Mark McNees)

Those wanting more information can contact Linda Robinson at 1st Whitney Bank or alinda@metc.net. Alumni or friends of the SASF wishing to donate may send to SASF PO Box 205 Atlantic, Ia 50022.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – An incident in Mills County at around 7:30-p.m. on May 14th lead to a pursuit, a crash and the arrest on a man from Nebraska, five-days later. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Saturday), said that on May 14th, the Sheriff’s Office was advised of a possible “Rolling” domestic violation incident taking place on southbound Interstate 29. Callers advised a female in the vehicle was being assaulted, and had actually tried to jump from the Ford Taurus with Nebraska plates.

Deputies were able to locate the car, and attempted to make a traffic stop, but the vehicle took-off at a high rate of speed. A pursuit was authorized, and deputies continued to try and stop the vehicle. Authorities say, at one point, the car crossed the median and proceeded head-on towards on-coming traffic, almost striking several vehicles, including a Sheriff’s Deputies’ vehicle, head-on.

The Taurus eventually crashed through a fence and drive through a field by the southbound rest area. Deputies were unable to get turned around in-time, and lost sight of the car. Multiple attempts were made to locate the suspect, who had already pushed the female victim out of the vehicle. Drones and K-9 Units were deployed, but were unable to locate the suspect, who was later identified as 33-year-old Darontae Orduna, of Omaha.

The female victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries. Deputies immediately applied for, and were granted, multiple arrest warrants for Orduna, who was taken into custody on Friday, May 19 in Omaha. He faces multiple charges, including Kidnapping and Felony Domestic Assault.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office extends a special “Thank you” to the U-S Marshal’s Service for the Southern District, and the Omaha Police Department’s Fugitive Task Force/Gang Unit, for apprehending Orduna, who authorities said “was a dangerous fugitive.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa politicians and the pork industry are taking another shot at California’s law banning the sale of pork from the offspring of pigs kept in spaces smaller than 24 square feet. Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she’s reintroducing her bill which would ban state and local governments from imposing standards on the production or manufacture of ag products like pork that are sold across state lines.

The U-S Supreme Court recently upheld the California law. Hinson calls it a “bacon ban.” Iowa Pork Producers Association president Trish Cook says there are still many unknowns if the law stays in place.

California accounts for 15 percent of the U-S pork market and 87 percent of that comes from outside the state. The Iowa Pork Producer Association say the state’s regulations have an outsized impact on business in states like Iowa.

(reporting by Zachary Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Cass Health in Atlantic, have announce that Brenna Irlmeier, RN was honored with the DAISY Award during Nurses Week.  Irlmeier has had her sights set on becoming a nurse since she was in kindergarten. Brenna was inspired by her dad, who was a volunteer EMT and firefighter in the Elk Horn community. She became a nurse in January of 2019, and after working in Omaha at a large hospital, she returned to the area and began working in the Cass Health Surgery Department in August 2021.

“It is an honor to receive the DAISY award. The hard work you put in going to school, the hard work you put in each day, it’s just awesome to have someone remember what you did for them,” said Irlmeier. This case in particular was special. “I was shocked, because of the nature of our job most people don’t remember us. This was an on-call case, and knowing it was a pediatric case, it pulls at the heart strings more. As a mom, it’s hard to put your child in someone else’s care,” she said.  She says being in surgery is a great fit for her, and she loves the team she works with. “It takes all of us a whole to do what we do, and it’s something new every day. I love it,” she said.

Brenna Irlmeier

Irlmeier’s nominator wrote: “Rising above all the amazing caregivers we encountered that day, was Brenna Irlmeier. Brenna was the surgery nurse that took my daughter down for her appendectomy. She came to the room, gathered a quick report, did the time out, the whole nine yards. She made sure to explain to my daughter what was going to happen and addressed her directly making sure she didn’t have any questions. Although my daughter is stoic and brave, it was then that the tears began to well and reality hit her. I looked into her eyes and could tell that she was scared, nervous, and crying. As her mother, I had to say goodbye and release her into Brenna’s care trusting that she would be in good hands. In that moment, I could see Brenna making it her highest priority to make my little girl feel safe. Although I couldn’t be present with her in the OR, I am confident that Brenna gave her best to my little girl. The first thing my daughter said to me when she woke up after surgery was, “that nurse was so nice mommy, she held my hand the whole time.” That is when the tears started welling in my own eyes because I knew in my heart that my baby felt safe and was well cared for. I’ve been to larger organizations with my children before and I never felt that they were cared for with the same compassion and empathy as was shown to us here at Cass Health and especially shown to my daughter by Brenna.”

Nurses at Cass Health are honored twice annually with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.® The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate care nurses provide to patients and families every day. The DAISY Award committee at Cass Health thanks all nominators for their submissions. Each nurse who was nominated will be presented with a special pin and a copy of the nomination.

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.)  The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation to express gratitude to the nursing profession.  Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, The DAISY Faculty Award to honor inspiring faculty members in schools and colleges of nursing, and The DAISY in Training Award for nursing students. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org. An online nomination form is available at https://www.casshealth.org/daisy.

The weather experts say we’re fully out of the La Nina pattern now but haven’t yet transitioned into El Nino, which could gradually bring about significant changes in Iowa’s seasonal temperatures, rainfall and snowfall. State climatolgisist Justin Glisan says an El Nino Watch is now posted and sea surface temperatures are near-normal, but changes are coming.

An El Nino pattern typically means Iowa sees more moderate temperatures and better chances for precipitation. Glissan says the computer models show it will arrive soon, perhaps within weeks.

Glisan says forecasters are getting a better idea of the intensity of the incoming El Nino.

Past El Ninos have led to cooler and wetter summers, with milder and less snowy winters in the Northern Plains. Glisan moderated this month’s North Central Regional Climate update for the National Weather Service.

Sioux City police found several hundred fentanyl-laced pills on a man who was stopped following a chase. Sergeant Tom Gill says the chase started in Nebraska and ended in Iowa when they used “stop sticks” to disable the car.  “Upon searching the driver, officers located a plastic baggie that contained 434 pills — they were blue pills. The officers tested the pills and it came back positive for fentanyl,” he says. Gill says the number of pills seized is a concern.

“It’s becoming a problem and it’s becoming a concern because it’s very dangerous drug. We’ve had several fentanyl related overdoses just in the past year, people that we’ve had to Narcan to bring back to life,” Gill says. “I was on scene of a 17 year old girl that she didn’t know she was taking fentanyl. She thought she was taken another type of drug, illegal drug, and turned out it was fentanyl. She overdosed and it took four doses of Narcan to bring her back to life.”

Benito Curiel

The driver, 23-year-old Benito Curiel was already wanted on fentanyl charges. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, failure to affix drug stamp, felony eluding, no drivers license or registration, interference with official acts and several traffic related counts. He is being held in the Woodbury County jail on 55-thousand dollar bond. A passenger in the car, 19-year-old Carson Klassen, is charged with interference with official acts and is free on bond.