The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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After a couple of public meetings on how Atlantic should celebrate its 150^th Anniversary as a City in 2018, a committee has decided on a plan. City Clerk Barb Barrick says they decided on a theme for each month, beginning this December (2017), with a Mayoral Proclamation during the Christmas Parade. A different, suggested theme for groups and organizations to build around each month, begins January, 2018.)

City Hall will be the point of contact for getting events on the calendar. There’s also a Facebook page that debuted on Wednesday. It’s called “Atlantic Sesquicentennial.” If you have problems spelling out the entire word Sesquicentennial, just type in “Atlantic Ses” in the Facebook search bar to locate and “Like” their page.

Police in Red Oak say no citations were issued following an investigation into an accident that occurred late Wednesday evening, because officers were unable to determine which driver’s version of events was correct. Officers were dispatched to the intersection of 4th and Washington Streets at around 8:30-p.m.  After they arrived, they spoke with 39-year old Jacob Lynn Hallock, of Red Oak, whose 2009 Chevy 1500 pickup was parked near the laundry mat in a parking stall. The driver of a 2007 Buick Rendezvous, 39-year old Tracy Anne Burkes, of Red Oak, left the scene after she and Hallock exchanged insurance information, since there were no injuries.

As Police were gathering information at the scene, Burkes showed up and provided them with a statement. She claimed her vehicle was eastbound on Washington Street and made a very wide turn into the laundry mat parking spot. The turn was so wide, she said, she went over into oncoming traffic to make the turn.

Hallock told Red Oak Police that he was traveling east on Washington when Burkes’ SUV came across his lane of travel and was traveling the wrong way down 4th Street. Following the collision, he pulled over into the parking spot. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $7,500.

Iowa is the second-best state in the nation to grow old, according to a report from a senior care website. Tim Sullivan, vice president of caring-dot-com, says the study examined a series of 13 categories, including financial, health care and quality of life. “We looked at the cost of care across a variety of senior care services,” Sullivan says. “We also looked at self-reported well-beings for older adults in those states as well as consumer reviews of assisted living communities and in-home care services in those states.”

Utah ranks first on the report while Iowa is number-two for the second year in a row. He says Iowa didn’t rank first in any of the categories but was a strong contender in almost every one. “The Hawkeye State did great on quality,” Sullivan says. “They’re tied for 8th and that quality comes at a very reasonable cost where they came in at 17th.”

For senior care costs, Iowa is hovering around the national median. A private one-bedroom in an assisted living community in Iowa will cost around $42,210 per year on average, more than $1,000 less than the national average. “They are really great on the cost of their assisted living communities,” Sullivan says. “They also have a lot of high-quality assisted living communities. We looked at the best-ranked assisted living communities, based on consumer reviews on caring.com, and Iowa came in 4th.”

The rankings are meant to be something of a wake-up call, according to Sullivan, as well as a starting point for important conversations between family members. “We really want folks to think about their retirement in the long term, not just about their 60s but also their 70s and 80s,” Sullivan says. “Your needs change as you age and you really want to make sure that you’re going to be able to have those needs met in the place where you live.”

While Utah and Iowa were one and two, the rest of the top five are: South Carolina, Washington state and Nebraska. The worst states to grow old, according to the survey, are: Wyoming, North Dakota, New York, Indiana and last — West Virginia.

(Radio Iowa)

We’ve heard for months that it’s a possibility, and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says he’s still under consideration for a top job at the U-S Department of Agriculture. Northey says he’s been told a background check is underway. “I think it’s getting closer but I don’t know how close it is,” Northey says. “I think I’m still going through the vetting process and the discussion pieces and I think it’s still moving along. I think it’s still very possible that it’ll happen but no announcement yet.”

Northey says he’s impressed with the team U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is putting together. All three of the top appointees so far are from the Midwest, including one from Iowa. “I’m very excited about the three that have been announced that are up for their hearing in September,” Northey says. “It’ll be wonderful whether I get to Washington or not, I look forward to working with them, either as Secretary of Ag from Iowa or as a fellow undersecretary.”

President Trump has nominated Steve Censky of Minnesota as his deputy and Ted McKinney of Indiana and Sam Clovis of Hinton, Iowa, as undersecretaries.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The last health care insurance company to sell policies to individuals in Iowa through the Affordable Care Act says proposed increases to premium rates may be higher than once expected. Minnesota-based Medica announced Wednesday the average rate increase for some insurance plans in 2018 could be up to 56.7 percent. The company said in May it would seek rates with an average 43.5 percent increase next year. But people in so-called silver plans may be charged at even higher rates.

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — While Nebraska and other states are getting a lot of attention as prime spots to view next week’s solar eclipse, some are drawing attention to a sliver of Iowa’s southwestern corner. The Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Parks Bureau says that at 1:05 p.m. Monday, a 582-acre area of Fremont County will be in the path of the total eclipse for 32 seconds. The rest of Iowa will experience a partial eclipse.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A former Davenport mayor whose posting of a Confederate flag on his Facebook page sparked a social media outcry says he wishes the uproar would go away. Phil Yerington posted the flag after Saturday’s clashes between white supremacists and counterdemonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia. The flag and Yerington’s online reaction to criticism have been labeled as racist. Yerington said Wednesday he’s no racist but that, “When you attack, I attack back.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 1 million people typically visit the Iowa State Fair annually, and sometimes it seems like all of them are clustered around the Butter Cow. The creamy creation has been among the state fair’s top attraction since 1911. The sculpture isn’t solid butter. Its core is composed of a wood, wire and steel mesh frame. That structure is layered with about 600 pounds of Iowa butter that is kept in a glass enclosure chilled to 40 degrees.

Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones,Wednesday evening, issued a reminder to residents and business owners alike, about improper placement of signs on City right-of-ways and parking lots.

Jones said he’s spoken with Kris Erickson, City Code Enforcement Officer, and Chief of Police Dave Erickson, about persons who repeatedly place signs (such as garage sale yard sale and/or business sale) in parking lots and in the right-of-ways, on utility poles and street sign posts. He said as time allows, Police Officers will take the signs down and bring them to the Police Department. The owner of the sign or signs, will have to pay, in order to get them back. He hinted two businesses, one on each side of town, are among those who are repeat offenders, with regard to signs in parking areas.

In his report to the Council, City Administrator John Lund, said they are moving forward on plans for a mandatory City-wide garbage/refuse service. That includes integration of the two, existing private services. It will be a while though, before anything is set in stone on the matter. Lund said also, he’s anticipating a big deduction from the State in the form of the Local Option Sales Tax (or, LOST) receipts.
He said the numbers coming down from the State are “Very bad,” and that he may recommend a revised allocation resolution in December.

It all depends on how much the reconciliation check is. Right now, it appears as though the LOST funds will be anywhere from $10- to 20-thousand less than anticipated, or around $60,000 instead of $70-thousand. Lund said he intends to make sure the Community Promotion Commission and the Parks are getting the funds they were anticipating. Some the revenue from LOST to the Street Fund could be decreased to compensate for any shortage. That shouldn’t affect that particular fund, when money still needs to be drawn down from bond funding.

During the Council Committee reports, Councilman Dana Halder said the Atlantic Public Library’s Reading Garden Grand Opening will be Aug. 26th, from 10-a.m. until Noon. He said also there were seven applicants for the Library Director’s job. The applications came from included two local people, and others from Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The search committee narrowed to three, the list of candidates to contact or interview.

Later in the meeting, Halder voiced his concerns about last weekend’s AtlanticFest, and kids riding bikes down the closed streets. He said they had two incidents with kids on bicycles. In one instance, a bike tipped over onto a show car. In another case, a pedestrian was nearly struck by a bike. Halder said 5-year old kids shouldn’t be riding bikes around cars that cost upwards to $100,000.

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — Big crowds are expected in parts of Nebraska and other states that will experience a total solar eclipse next week, but officials are making plans for smaller numbers who will head to a tiny slice of southwest Iowa that also will go dark.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Parks Bureau says that for 32 seconds starting at 1:05 p.m. Monday, a 582-acre area of Fremont County will be in the total eclipse path. The bureau’s Matt Moles says that area includes part of Waubonsie State Park, where the department will mow an area and distribute 150 solar glasses and hotdogs to viewers.

Shuttles will take people from Marnie Simons Elementary School in Hamburg and the Fremont County Historical Museum in Sidney to the site. The rest of Iowa will experience a partial eclipse.

Officials with the Iowa Aviation Museum in Greenfield have announced the 2017 inductees to the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame.  The inductees will be honored at a banquet at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, on September 30th.  A reception will be held at 4:30 pm with dinner served at 5:15 and the program following at 6:00 p.m.  The event is open to the public with advance registration is required for the banquet.  Cost of the event is $20.00 for the banquet and dance.

The following persons are 2017 selections to the Hall of Fame:

Stephen Bales was born in Ottumwa Oct 7, 1942.  He was the Guidance Officer at Mission Control responsible for Apollo 11, the first Lunar Landing, where a series of problems could have led to a dangerous abort of the landing. Stephen and his “Back Room” team quickly and correctly processed these serious alerts. For Stephen’s role in the successful landing of Apollo II, he was chosen to accept the “NASA Group Achievement Award” from President Nixon on behalf of the Mission Control team.    

James McClain was born in Des Moines in 1923.   He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He attended navigator training; and upon graduation in July 1943, he was assigned to the 564th Squadron, 389th Bomb Group in Benghazi, Libya. He was navigator on a B-24B Liberator during Operation TIDAL WAVE, a daring low level attack on the Ploesti, Romania, oil refineries on August 1st, 1943. The Ploesti raid was the most highly decorated mission in the U.S. history, with five Medals of Honor awarded.

Ronald Narmi was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on June 27, 1933.  He was a Navy pilot for 30 years (4,653 flight hours); Commanding officer of a P-3 squadron; Commander of a P-3 wing of five squadrons; Commander, Fleet Air Keflavik (Iceland) for 2 years with ASW (antisubmarine warfare) responsible for the North Atlantic (finding and tracking Soviet submarines); Commander, Iceland Defense Force for 2 years, responsible for the air defense of the North Atlantic, tracking Soviet Bear bombers. He was also responsible for defense of the Iceland commanding Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and NATO forces.

Following the completion of the program at 8:30, a dance will be held featuring Brick’ n Bob.  The dance is open to the public for $10.00 if not attending the banquet. The Iowa Aviation Museum is open weekdays and Saturday 10 am to 5pm and 1 to 5 pm on Sundays.  For questions or advance registration, please call the Iowa Aviation Museum at 641-343-7184.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man stabbed at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and announced an arrest in the case. The Iowa Public Safety Department says 21-year-old Tay Ronce Denton was stabbed around 10:25 p.m. Tuesday in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds. He was taken to Mercy Hospital. Police said Wednesday that he is in stable condition.

Officials say 17-year-old Yuri Green has been charged with counts of willful injury. Two other juveniles believe involved have been banned from the fair. It’s the second stabbing in as many years at the fair. Court records say a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a gang-related stabbing on Aug. 21 last year.