LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Trees that suck up sunlight and groundwater at the expense of other prairie plant life are creating new headaches throughout the Plains, including Nebraska, western Iowa and the Dakotas.

The eastern red cedar tree spreads so quickly that it catches many landowners off-guard, consuming huge areas of productive ranchland and threatening many of the area’s original prairies.

At one point in Nebraska, the trees expanded at a pace of nearly 40,000 acres a year Some landowners have formed burn associations to clear the trees. John Ortmann, a rangeland ecologist in Ord, Nebraska, says the problem will worsen without proper land management techniques, including controlled burns to keep the trees in check.

The Cass County Fair still has two full days of activities for your family to enjoy. Here’s a look at today’s (Sunday’s) line-up of events:

• 7:30-a.m.: Swine Show
• 10-a.m.: Poultry Show& 4-H Exhibits open; Doyle Chainsaw Artistry (10-am to 1-p.m.)
• Noon until 4-p.m.: Decorator’s Showcase
• 2:30-p.m. Pedal Tractor Pull
• 3-p.m. to 3:30-p.m: Feeder Calf Weigh-in; 3-until 5-p.m.: Doyle Chainsaw Artistry
• 4:30-p.m.: County Fair Church Service
• 5:30-p.m.: Cow/Calf Show
• 6:00-p.m.: Feeder Calf Show
• 6:30-p.m.: Horse Fun Show
• 7:00-p.m.: Dance/Gymnastics & a Comedian

The Fair continues for one more full day, on Monday, and concludes Tuesday morning with the Livestock Sale beginning at 8-a.m.  Take time today to visit your Cass County Fair, where it doesn’t cost you a thing to park, see the exhibits or enjoy the rides and shows.

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District (ACSD) say they will continue to utilize the “rollover” online registration process for the 2017-18 School Year using JMC, the district’s student information system. The online portal for registration will open Tuesday, August 1st. If your student or students attended ACSD last school year (2016-17) and were still in attendance on the last day of school, you need to follow 6 steps to verify registration information and pay student fees (The steps are shown below). Student fees will need to be paid by Friday, October 6, 2017.

Students who are new to the school district and are planning to enroll for the 2017-18 school year will need to register for school at our school buildings. During this time, if administration is available we will be more than happy to give new students tours of their new school. Information about the six quick steps for “Rollover online registration, as well as other information about the district and contact numbers, is listed below. Parents can also access school registration forms by visiting the district’s webpage, www.atlanticiaschools.org.

The 6 Quick Steps for “Rollover” Online Registration.

Log onto Parent Portal
Click on Register for School and Start/Continue Registration Process
View Tuition/Fees In Parent Portal
Set Up Alert Configuration in Parent Portal
Pay Fees and Lunch on RevTrak

Other information is available on the district’s webpage as well, including: Free and Reduced Forms, Physical Forms, Transportation Request (rural only), Yearbook Order, Handbook, Parent Portal Information, and much more).

If you don’t have access to the internet/online, please feel free to stop at your child’s school. The office will be more than happy to assist you in anyway. Should you have any questions regarding school registration or the payment of school fees, please contact the schools at the numbers below.

Washington Elementary School: Pre-K – 3rd grade, 712-243-5234; Stacey Hornung, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Schuler Elementary School: Grades 4-5; 712-243-1370; James Northwick, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Atlantic Middle School: Grades 6-8, 712-243-1330; Josh Rasmussen, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Atlantic High School: Grades 9-12, 712-243-5358; Heather McKay, Principal. Matt Alexander, Asst Principal/Activities Director. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Transportation – All Grades: Phone: 712-243-3374; Dave Eckles, Supervisor

Food Service – All Grades: Phone: 712- 243-5369; DeeAnn Schreiner, Supervisor

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:15 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a former Iowa Senate Republican caucus aide awarded $2.2 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit this month have filed a motion seeking an independent investigation into the caucus office’s workplace culture. The Des Moines Register reports attorneys for Kirsten Anderson filed the motion Thursday. It accuses GOP party leaders of doing nothing to curb an ongoing toxic environment at the statehouse.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a Des Moines man shot and killed in the city’s River Bend neighborhood, as well as two people arrested in the case. Police say 23-year-old Jeffrey Sifrido Mercado died following the Friday afternoon shooting. Police say two other men, 19-year-old Miguel Angel Lorenzo-Baltazar and 22-year-old Anthony Garcia, both of Des Moines, were arrested Friday and have been charged with first-degree murder.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City police are investigating a shooting that left one man injured. The shooting happened late Friday night. Police were called to Sandusky Drive for a report of a fight. When officers arrived, they found a man bleeding from a gunshot wound. The man was taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police say an initial investigation revealed the man may have been robbed at gunpoint.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former union president in northwest Iowa has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $95,000 from the organization. The Sioux City Journal reports that 53-year-old Curtis Lang was sentenced in federal court in Sioux City on Friday. Prosecutors say Lang took the money from 2005 through 2015 while serving as president of the United Dairy Workers, which represents employees of Wells Enterprises in Le Mars, Iowa.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former union president in northwest Iowa has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $95,000 from the organization. The Sioux City Journal reports that 53-year-old Curtis Lang was sentenced in federal court in Sioux City on Friday. Lang pleaded guilty to the single count in May.

Prosecutors say Lang took the money from 2005 through 2015 while serving as president of the United Dairy Workers, which represents employees of Wells Enterprises in Le Mars, Iowa. Investigators say he used the stolen money to purchase gift cards that he used to buy a motorcycle, take vacations and go out to eat, among other expenditures.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections said today (Saturday), the 23-year old Kevin Williams Scott Jr., who was convicted of robbery 1st degree in Polk County, failed to report back to Fort Des Moines Residential Facility after work as required.

Scott is a Black male, 5-feet 9-inches tall. He weighs about 189 pounds.  Scott was admitted to work release on June 13th, 2017. Anyone with information on Scott’s whereabouts should contact their local law enforcement agency.

Kevin Scott, Jr.

A traffic stop at around 5-a.m. today in Red Oak, resulted in a man being arrested for Driving While Intoxicated. Red Oak Police say 22-year old Spencer Edward Zarek, of Red Oak, was taken into custody near the intersection of Highway 34 and G Avenue, on a charge of OWI/1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

State health officials are giving Iowa families a heads-up about a new vaccination requirement for students going back to school next month. Under a new state law, a meningitis shot will be required for students entering 7th and 12th grades. Bethany Kintigh manages the Immunization Program at the Iowa Department of Public Health.

“We have been working to notify all of the health care providers in Iowa and working with the school nurses to let parents know about this requirement,” Kintigh says. “A lot of our local public health partners are doing campaigns gearing up for sports physicals in advance of school.”

The vaccine has been recommended for pre-teenagers since 2005 and she does not anticipate any shortages. Students entering those grades will be required to show proof of the meningitis vaccination and Kintigh says many students have already gotten the shots.

“This vaccine is already routinely recommended in our 11- and 12-year-old visit,” she says, “so we know when we look at our national immunization survey, about 75% of Iowa adolescents 13-to-17 have already received the meningitis vaccination.”

Kintigh says meningitis is a serious and potentially-deadly bacterial disease.

(Radio Iowa via Joyce Russell, Iowa Public Radio)

Iowa now has around two-thirds of the state in some sort of dry pattern running from the northwest to the southeast corner. The Iowa D-N-R’s Tim Hall says the state is in a little better shape than the last time we had widespread drought conditions in 2012. He says we went into that year with very little reserve in groundwater after a dry 2011. “At least in 2016 we crossed over into 2017 after a really wet fall and early winter. So, things are not as dramatically bad this year — primarily because we started the year in much better shape,” Hall explains.

He says that is not a reason to dismiss what’s happening now. “In general, there’s a lot of folks in the state that need to be paying attention to the soil moisture conditions and the groundwater condition, and being aware that things are pretty dry,” Hall says. Hall says we have been well behind normal July rainfall totals in parts of the state and relief isn’t expected anytime soon. “There doesn’t appear to be a real significant chance for broad rains over the next couple of weeks,” Hall says. “So a couple of dry weeks, some really hot temperatures, the vegetation is pretty active and it tends to pull a lot of moisture out of the soil as it grows. So, the pieces are in place for things to get certainly not better over the next couple of weeks — and certainly perhaps deteriorate even more.”

South-central Iowa has been the driest part of the state thus far, but Hall says northwest Iowa has the fewest options for drawing groundwater, and they need to keep an eye on the conditions.

(Radio Iowa)