(Radio Iowa) – Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg is urging Iowans to vote for a proposed amendment to Iowa’s Constitution. “You might remember, back when Governor Reynolds ascended, there was a dispute about whether she could appoint a new lieutenant governor,” Gregg said. “There’s a constitutional amendment that’s going to be on the ballot in November that’s going to clarify that.” Reynolds was sworn in as governor in mid-2017 after long-time Governor Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China.

Tom Miller, who was Iowa’s attorney general at the time, issued an opinion saying Reynolds — who was lieutenant governor — did not have the authority under the state’s constitution to pick a successor in mid-2017. Reynolds said she disagreed with the attorney general’s assessment and picked Gregg to take the role of lieutenant governor. The proposed amendment makes it clear governors have that authority.

“I think it’s important for good government that we have absolute clarity on the line of succession here in Iowa,” Gregg said.  Gregg is Iowa’s 47th lieutenant governor. The state’s lieutenant governors used to be elected independently, but after the passage of a constitutional amendment in 1988, candidates for governor AND lieutenant governor have been running together as a team, just like presidents and vice presidents.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports two arrests took place Monday (May 6th):

• 35-year-old Amanda Elrod, of Glenwood, was arrested on two Mills County warrants. Her cash-only bond was set at $12,000.
• 32-year-old Matthew Prunty, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Mills County warrant. His bond (Cash/Surety) was set at $2,000, but Prunty was released on his Own Recognizance.

The Guthrie Center School Board today (Tuesday), announced the appointment of Mr. Brian Sauser as the new 9-12 Principal for AC/GC High School. Mr. Sauser currently serves as a Special
Education Teacher and Head Football Coach at Ames High School. He brings with him over 25 years of teaching and leadership experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education
from Loras College, and a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Grand Canyon University. Mr. Sauser is excited to use his experiences and background to lead our high
school.

In his personal life, Mr. Sauser is supported by his wonderful family: his wife Mandy, who works as a special education consultant for Heartland AEA, his daughter Emma (24) who is a CPA in Dallas, TX, his son Dodge (21) who attends Kennesaw State in Atlanta, GA on a football scholarship, and his son Dallas (19) who attends Iowa Central and plays football there. They also share their home with two beloved dogs, English Bulldog “Frankie” and French Bulldog “Chico”.

GC CSD new 9-12 Principal Brian Sauser & his family. (Photo supplied)

Mr. Sauser states, “When we’re not traveling the country to see our kids we absolutely love country music and attending concerts when we can! Football has been and continues to be a huge part of our lives, but personally I also really enjoy Powerlifting, officiating high school and college basketball, umpiring high school baseball, and decked out pickup trucks! 🙂 I am incredibly excited to be a part of an amazing, high achieving, very successful school district. The amount of pride the community has for all activities and events at the high school is amazing. It is an honor to be chosen to lead and work to continue to advance ACGC High School to new heights, while being a part of this great community!”

Mr. Sauser replaces current principal, Mr. Ethan Lensch, who recently accepted the principal position at Western Dubuque High School.

(Griswold, Iowa) – The Griswold School Board, Monday afternoon, approved the hiring of Middle School Science Teacher Seth Lembke, as the new Middle School/High School Principle for the upcoming school year. Superintendent Dave Henrichs, said with that having taken place, the Board accepted Mr. Lembke’s resignation as MS Science Teacher, in the following areas:

The Board approved also, the following additional new hires…

The remaining portion of the Griswold School Board meeting, Henrichs said, dealt with contract renewal for district employees.

Staff other than teachers received a One-dollar per hour raise.

The Lenox CSD holds and contract for the position of superintendent. The contract was renewed by Lenox on April 29. The renewal contained a 3.75% increase to the salary ($161,200 to $167,245). The amount of FICA / IPERS paid by the district increased $1,055.09. No increases to any other benefits, including insurance. Thus, the total package increase is 3.56%. Therefore, the total increase per district is $3,550.05.

*****

Details (as mentioned):

New Hires and Resignations (D.R.) – Resignations: Seth Lembke – MS Science Teacher, Quiz Bowl Sponsor, and MS Boys Track. Blair Rush – School Nurse. (All resignations are effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year.)

New Hires: Seth Lembke – MS/HS Principal – $88,000 Base Pay, $8,000 cash in lieu of insurance, 5% TSA. Randy Wells – MS Science Teacher. Brenda Houser – “Summer” Custodian (retroactive to April 29) – up to 30 hours per week @ $14.80 per hour. Nigel Horton and Tara Littler-Scholl – Co-Home School Assistance Teachers – Nigel will serve Elementary students and Tara will serve MS/HS students. Cole Cooper – Athletic Director, Kara Victor – Business Professional Of America Advisor (10 day extended contract) and Esports Sponsor, Chad Rogers – Assistant Girls Basketball and Assistant Cross-Country.

The effective dates are July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2024. Movement was applied (advancement in steps and lanes as applicable), but no increase to the base. Additionally, the district will continue to pay for a full, single health insurance plan. (Health insurance premiums increased 10%). All of these items create a 4.69% total package increase. Finally, TSS funds, as well as some district funds were used to ensure that all certified staff members receive the State mandated minimum salary or at least a $2,000 increase. See attachment for the full list of teacher salaries.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund recently donated to the Nishna Valley Family YMCA’s Annual Campaign.  The money donated helps with membership scholarships, aquatic activities, after school services for kids, facility upgrades and much more.  The fund also donated to the Kiwanis bike helmet program.  This program holds a special place in our heart as Trevor was one of the first helmet recipients back when the Kiwanis group started this program.

Fund spokesperson (Trevor’s mom) Melanie Petty, said “Our mission as a non-profit is to give back all the money raised each year at our golf tournament to things that Trevor loved and/or participated in.  We have been blessed that almost fifteen years since losing him we are able to continue to assist with these things.”

Melanie reminds you that the next TFred Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 15^th at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club. A silent auction will be held all day in the club house.

Those wishing to donate can contact Melanie Petty at 249-3696.  We look forward to a wonderful day of raising money, celebrating Trevor’s life and visiting with everyone.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will meet in a regular monthly session Wednesday evening at the High School Media Center. During their 5:30-p.m. session, the Board will receive a report from Snyder & Associates Engineer Austin Sonntag, with regard to the High School Storage building project. The Board is expected to act on the following:

• A Family Connections (Memorandum of Understanding) agreement.
• A Green Hills AEA Service agreement.
• An agreement with the Nishna Valley Family YMCA.
• An i-JAG agreement.
• The Board will also act to approve an Operational Sharing agreement with the Griswold CSD for a Transportation Director.
• and Sharing Agreements for Boys and Girls Sports: Swimming and Soccer.

The Atlantic School Board will act on approving the resignations of:  Troy Roach – Speech & Debate Coach (effective 6/1/24), and Caleb Winters, Special Education Para (effective at the end of the current school year). They will also act on Contract Recommendations for the 2023-24 School Year: Makenna Askeland – MS Softball Coach (Summer 2024); Tina Franken – Summer Lunch Position (6/2024 & 7/2024); Terry Hinzmann – Summer Credit Recovery; and Kay Schmitt – Transportation & oversee Voc. Rehab.

Other Contract Recommendations, for the 2024-25 School Year, include: Jim Brauer – HS Sped Teacher; Amber Moore – 7th Grade Volleyball Coach, Fall 2024. The Atlantic School Board will also act on approving Athletic Volunteer Coaches: Baseball – Josh McLaren & Darby McLaren, Softball – Bob Gross; and MS Softball Volunteer Coach – Paul Kite.  The Board’s meeting will be viewable live on YouTube.

The School Board’s full agenda can be viewed here: PUBLIC AGENDA 05082024.

(Radio Iowa) – A 20-year-old northwest Iowa man who was the subject of a police search on Sunday has been charged with attempted murder. K-U-O-O Radio was first to report a person was seriously injured in a shooting at a home in the small unincorporated town of Montgomery on Sunday. Residents in the area were urged to keep their vehicles secured as police searched for 19-year-old Caleb Crosby of Spirit Lake. He was arrested in Osceola County a few hours after the shooting.

In addition to the attempted murder charge, Crosby has been charged with stealing a pick-up from a home in Lake Park and with stealing a truck from the home in Montgomery where the shooting occured.

(Radio Iowa) – Two Catholic Universities in eastern Iowa have announced plans for what they call a “Strategic Combination” starting this fall. Mount Mercy University president Todd Olson says the agreement will allow students to take courses in Cedar Rapids, or at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. He says the immediate impact is more course offerings, and possible future merger. “This is work we’ll continue to engage in with our faculty our staff and other stakeholders in the months ahead considering options and models that might help us to become a stronger institution together,” he says. Olson says each school is keeping their own sports teams and activity departments.

St. Ambrose president Amy Novak, says working together can help both schools improve. “One of the benefits as we look at this collaboration is just the potential for cost savings and efficiencies that can be gained through economies of scale,” Novak says. “So we’re certainly exploring those possibilities as part of our due diligence that we’re engaging in with our staff and faculty over the next several months.” Novak says exploring cost savings will include looking at the number of employees and what they need.

“What we also realize is that we’ve struggled in some cases in hiring and departments where perhaps we simply don’t have the resources or the demand for a particular faculty member is so high that it’s often hard to get and recruit them to our institutions,” she says. “And so being able to have a single faculty member that may have expertise in something that can be shared across the two institutions, we think will be very beneficial.” Olson says they expect both schools will continue to have a presence in their communities.

“As we pursue this work and in any future potential combination we’re committed to maintaining vibrant residential undergraduate campuses both at Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids and in St. Ambrose in Davenport,” Olson says. St. Ambrose University was founded in 1882, beginning as a seminary and business school for men. Mount Mercy was established as Mount Mercy Junior College in 1928.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A Crop Report says there were less than two suitable days for field work last week due to wet fields. Corn planting advance just eight percent to 47 percent now completed, and the progress is now two days behind last year and the five-year average. Soybean planting progress is now also behind two days as well, with farmers only progressing by five percent for a total crop planted at 30 percent. Iowa State University Extension field agronomist, Angie Rieck-Hinz, says things in her north-central area is one where planting came to halt. “My best guess depending on how much rain we get this week is it’ll be a probably solid seven to 10 days before we’re back in the field to finish planting,” she says. Rieck-Hinz says there’s still time.

“We’re still within that point that we’re not losing a lot of yield potential by planting a little bit later, but that’s all going to depend on how much rain we get this week and even there’s rain in the forecast for next week,” she says. She says farmers don’t like to sit and wait after getting planting started, but that’s going to have to be the case for now.

“Before people get all too worried about losing yield potential I think got some time to get it dried out and get some more crop in the ground,” Rieck-Hinz says. Statewide seven percent of the corn crop that’s in the ground has emerged — which is three days ahead of last year and one day ahead of the average. Four percent of the soybean crop has emerged.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A report of a man punching vehicles and trying to gain entry into them, was received Monday evening, in Red Oak. Officers responded to the 300 block of Coolbaugh Street, and upon arrival arrested 31-year-old Matthew Russell Archer, of Red Oak, on numerous charges. During an investigation, it was determined Archer approached several victims and threatened them and tried to take their cars. The victims were able to get away and call 911. When the last victim would not give Archer their keys, he allegedly began punching her vehicle and walked away.

Matthew Archer faces charges that include: 3 counts of Assault while participating in a Felony (A Class-D Felony); two counts of Robbery in the 2nd Degree (A Class C Felony), and one count of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree (A Serious Misdemeanor).

Archer was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond.