(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken today (Tuesday) updated the Cass County Board of Supervisors on current bridge projects. The good news, he said is that Bridge # 289 over the East Nishnabotna River on W. 6th Street, in Atlantic’s, may open as soon as the end of today.

Wolken said progress on other projects will be let and/or are in the process of being contracted for.

He said they have a Maintenance Superintendent position open, and there’s a conference coming up next week.

In other business, the Board of Supervisors approved the FY 2021-22 Urban Renewal Report, and the hiring of Tamara Devall as Auditor’s Clerk. The Board spent nearly a hour discussing 2023 Cass County Employee Health insurance renewal options with Ryan Berven, from Group Benefit Partners, with regard to the FY ’24 renewal. Cass County is the first of 28 Counties in the ISAC plan the review encompasses.

No action was taken on any changes, pending further information from ISAC and other necessary data.

(Radio Iowa) – A federal report finds a vast majority of colleges and universities mislead prospective students about the true cost of an education, a report Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley calls “alarming.” Grassley says the report from the Government Accountability Office studied financial aid offer letters from dozens of institutions, letters students use to compare prices and to determine where they might go to college. Grassley says, “In these letters, 91% of the colleges understated true costs, 65% left out important details about financial aid packages, and almost a third listed loans as grants.”

Grassley says the G-A-O report highlights the “deceptive practices” being used by so many colleges, demonstrating Congress needs to act. The Iowa Republican is co-sponsoring a bill called Understanding the True Cost of College Act. “The bill would require colleges to follow well-documented best practices for information contained in all financial aid offer letters,” Grassley says. “It would create a universal financial aid offer letter, so students can easily compare financial aid packages between schools.”

He says the need for an apples-to-apples comparison is critical. Grassley did not know which, if any, Iowa institutions were studied. The G-A-O report compared the financial aid offers from 176 colleges and assessed them against ten best practices from the Department of Education and a commission comprised of 22 federal agencies. None of the colleges followed all ten recommendations.

Click to access gao-23-104708.pdf

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A program entering its 10th year in Atlantic, serves to benefit the Atlantic Food Pantry, and reward children in the Atlantic School District. In the past, the Atlantic Police Department has offered trips to the zoo and other rewards, but COVID and staffing issues made that difficult. Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue said this year, the kids’ effort to raise the most items to stock the Pantry in the contest, could win them a pizza party. Hogue said the kids are all-in for the win.

The Chief said canned goods and other non-perishables are worth points. Last year, nearly 40-thousand items were collected. Hogue says they hope to eclipse that amount in this year’s food drive. He says the program has the support of parents, who might just happen to see some items missing from their cabinets or the home pantry.

Aside from the goal of winning a pizza party for their efforts, the kids, he says come away with a sense of giving and helping others less fortunate. Hogue says his officers are all about helping others.

Items for the Atlantic Food Pantry are being accepted through December 12th.

[7:05-a.m. News ](Creston, Iowa) –  Police in Creston, Monday afternoon, arrested a man for Failure to Appear (in court), on an original charge of Indecent Exposure, a Serious Misdemeanor. 58-year-old James Chandler Sash, of Creston, was arrested at his residence. Sash was transported to the Union County Jail, where he was being held without bond.

(Audubon, Iowa) – The Audubon County Conference Board has voted to appoint Janell Bluml as Assessor, in Audubon County. Bluml has served as Deputy Assessor for many years and is certified for the job. She succeeds Deb Umland, who retired at the end of November. Bluml officially took over the post on December 1st.
It’s expected an additional employee will be hired, which will make the Assessor’s Office fully staffed.

Janell Bluml

[Updated 12/6/22] (Corning, Iowa) – A plane that took-off from the Corning Municipal Airport in Corning, Monday afternoon, struck a power line, and crashed. The accident happened at around 12:38-p.m., according to the Iowa State Patrol. The pilot, and only occupant of the aircraft, died at the scene. Their name was not immediately released.

The aircraft was said to be a fixed, single-wing ERCOUPE 415-C, manufactured in 1946, registered to a man from Corning. The plane clipped powerlines and impacted the terrain during the takeoff sequence (initial climb).

The incident was under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.  Additional information is currently not available.

(Radio Iowa) – Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald has ruled on the Iowa Senate Majority Leader’s residency following a challenge. Grimes resident Ann Gale filed the challenge to Republican Jack Whitver’s use of a Grimes address for a newly-drawn Senate district in the November election. He won the race and she argued that Whitver still lists his Ankeny address for his businesses and utility bills for his Grimes condo showed little water was used there this fall.

Fitzgerald says the evidence submitted before Whitver’s September 2022 move to Grimes is insufficient to overcome the presumption that Whitver’s declared residency is valid. Whitver’s spokesman issued a statement saying, “Senator Whitver appreciates his decision to set partisanship aside and follow the law. Now, two different Democrat-controlled hearings have determined Senator Whitver’s residency and voter registration are legal.”

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says three people were arrested last week, on separate charges. At around 3:42-a.m., Friday, 28-year-old Jonathan Joseph Fleener, of Bacliff-Galveston, TX, was arrested at a location on Hanna Avenue, and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault. Fleener was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

34-year-old Aaron Wade Opdyke, of Malvern, was arrested at around 11:39-a.m. Nov. 30th on charges that include Driving Under Suspension, Fraudulent Use of Registration, and Failure to Provide Proof of Liability. His bond was set at $300.

And, at around 1:55-a.m. on Nov. 29th, Mills County Deputies arrested 41-year-old Eurvin Ray Morgan, Jr., of Omaha, for Theft in the 2nd Degree. He was taken into custody at the I-29 Rest Area.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – A collision north of Malvern, Friday night, resulted in three people being transported to the UNMC in Omaha. According to the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, a 2005 Nissan driven by 45-year-old Joseph Bredberg, of Council Bluffs, was traveling north on 315th Street and approaching the intersection with Highway 34, to turn west onto the Highway. A 2004 Dodge driven by 52-year-old Melissa Pedersen, of Council Bluffs, was traveling east on Highway 34, and approaching the intersection with 315th Street.

A witness in a vehicle stopped facing west on Highway 34 in the turning lane, was waiting to turn south onto 315th Street, and the intersection with Highway 34. The individual said the Bredberg’s vehicle failed to yield upon making a left turn, and was struck broadside by Pedersen’s Dodge. Due to incapacitating injuries, both drivers and a passenger in the front seat of the Dodge, were not able to be interviewed by authorities for this report.

(Washington, D.C.) – The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today announced the resolution of a racial harassment complaint filed against Ottumwa Community School District in Iowa.   

OCR determined that during the course of school years 2020-21 and 2021-22 district students subjected a Black middle school student to racial harassment so pervasive that it constituted a racially hostile environment and that the district failed to take necessary steps to protect the student, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations. 

The harassment included repeated use of racial slurs including calling the student the N-word and a “slave” to white students as well as calling the student “blackie” and “cotton-picker,” targeting the student with monkey noises in class and students raising their fists to mock Black Power during class, a white student using the term KKK and then referring to it as the “Kool Kids Klub,”  and telling racially derogatory jokes about, for example, killing a Black man and not being able to see Black people at midnight.  

In one instance, a white classmate knelt on a Gatorade bottle in the student’s presence and said, “It can’t breathe,” to mimic George Floyd’s death. The harassment the student experienced and the district’s failure to provide the student with a safe school environment caused him to suffer significant and enduring emotional harm.    

OCR also found that even though the district had notice of possible ongoing harassment, the district disregarded its obligations to investigate whether its response to the reported harassment was effective in eliminating the hostile environment, whether it addressed the cumulative effect of the incidents on the harassed student, and addressed the impact the verified wide-spread conduct may have had on other students. 

In so doing, the district did not take effective school-wide measures to address and remedy the racially hostile environment, which continued to exist at the school.  

The resolution agreement commits the district to take steps to ensure nondiscrimination based on race, color, or national origin (including based on shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics) in all of its education programs and activities.  

“Federal civil rights law has for decades promised that no student should experience the racially hostile environment that the young person in this investigation endured,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “I thank Ottumwa Community School District for committing today to take the steps necessary to ensure that in future it will respond appropriately to reports of racial harassment so every student in the district’s schools will experience the nondiscriminatory learning environment that federal law guarantees.”  

The district’s commitments in the voluntary resolution agreement include:  

• Reimbursing the student’s parent for documented expenses incurred related to past and future therapeutic services resulting from the racially hostile environment. 
• Publishing an anti-harassment statement stating that the district does not tolerate acts of harassment, including acts of harassment based on a student’s race, color, or national origin.  
• Reviewing and revising its policies and procedures to address Title VI’s prohibition of harassment based on race, color, or national origin. 
• Providing training to district staff regarding the district’s obligation to respond to complaints of harassment based on race, color, or national origin. 
• Providing age-appropriate information programs for students to address harassment based on race, color, or national origin. And, 
• Conducting a climate survey to assess the prevalence of harassment in the student’s former school and provide suggestions for effective ways to address harassment. 

The letter to Ottumwa Community School District is available here and the resolution agreement is available here.