The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Wednesday, approved the hiring of Ray and Associates to conduct a search for the District’s next Superintendent. The fee for their service is $6,500. Their bid was the lowest of the three firms interviewed by the board on September 28^th. They will be charged with finding candidates to replace Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, who is retiring at the end of the current school year.

Board Member, Dr. Keith Swanson had suggested prior to the Board’s 4-to 1 vote, that they hire Dr. David Else, of Cedar Falls, as a consultant. Else is formerly with the University of Northern Iowa. He served as the Director of Education Leadership. (Click on the left side of the audio player to listen)

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved an annual Industrial Technology Sharing Agreement with the Griswold School District, and Superintendent Amstein said the District’s Certified Enrollment numbers won’t be available until a couple of other districts submit their open enroll-out data to the Atlantic District.

And, the Board, Wednesday, approved the resignation of Washington Elementary Special Ed Para-educator Regina Perez.

State transportation officials say they’re planning to test driverless cars on a section of Interstate 380 in eastern Iowa sometime next year. The DOT is partnering with a company, called Here, that’s creating real time maps of I-380 road conditions to guide those driverless cars between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Michael Miller, a truck driver who makes deliveries across the country, told KCRG-TV he believes roadway safety will suffer.

“They (law enforcement) are always on us about what we have to do to be safe…but if they put something out here that’s going to drive itself, who is going to have to be in control of that? A computer? A computer messes up more than humans do,” Miller said. Scott Marler, with the Iowa DOT, disagrees. He says the computerized vehicles and freights will have HD maps in them that will constantly update road conditions and they will always know what’s ahead.

“More than 94 percent of crashes are tied into some type of driver error or driver choice, so with these technologies, we also know the potential to reduce crashes are more than 80 percent,” Marler told KCRG. Officials picked I-380 between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids for the driverless car project because of the high volume of freight traffic.

“We do believe this is the future of transportation in Iowa and we think it’s closer than most folks think,” Marler said. Miller, the truck driver, isn’t just concerned about road safety. He’s worried about losing his job if driverless cars become commonplace. “This is all I know how to do. You take this away from me, what else am I going to do?” Miller told KCRG.

(KCRG TV via Radio Iowa)

A spokesperson for the Iowa A-C-L-U says a study by the national A-C-L-U and Human Rights Watch found a huge disparity in how whites and blacks in the state are treated when it comes to drugs. “A black person in Iowa is seven times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than a white person — even though studies find the two races use drugs at about the same rate,” according to Veronica Fowler.

Nationwide, a black person is two-and-a-half times more likely to be arrested than a white person. Iowa is second in the nation for that disparity in arrests, behind only Montana. Fowler says this study follows up an earlier one on marijuana. “A black person in Iowa is eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person in Iowa,” Fowler says. “And again that just shows how people are treated very differently.” Fowler says this latest study reinforces the need for some change.

“I think one thing we definitely need to do is look at our drug laws in this state. I think our state legislature needs to consider decriminalizing various illicit drugs, because the war on drugs we started in the 1970’s just isn’t working,” Fowler says. She says the failed efforts to create and then change Iowa’s medical marijuana law don’t give much hope that something will be done with the overall drug issue. Fowler says it is something that needs to be addressed.

“It is a public health problem, we are filling up our prisons, we are devastating our families, devastating our communities, with no indication that it’s doing any good,” Fowler says. She says the cost to house people for drugs crimes is taking away resources that could be used for other things. Fowler says Iowa is one of only three states that automatically and permanently takes away a person’s right to vote after a felony conviction, and that is another impact from the failed drug war.

(Radio Iowa)

Congressman Steve King says Republicans should “hold together” with Trump. “If we pull together, if we persevere, if we are logical and rational and we say to our friends and neighbors: ‘Don’t get caught up in an audio tape when you have the evidence of all of this bad stuff that has flowed from the Clinton family for a long time,'” King says. “And even if that didn’t exist, ask yourself: ‘What will she do?'” King says he does not support the things Trump can be heard saying on a 2005 recording, but King says he does support the policies Trump has proposed.

“The number one thing that launched Donald Trump into this nomination is his position on immigration which, by the way, matches mine. Mexico will do what? Pay for that wall!” King says. King made his comments Tuesday during a rally in Newton with Trump supporters.

King’s Democratic opponent, Kim Weaver of Sheldon, says by sticking with Trump, King is putting “party before country.” Weaver says standing with Trump “does not represent Iowa values.”

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University President Steven Leath has donated $2,500 more to make up for the costs of his accident in a university airplane. Leath and his wife announced previously they’d donated $15,000 to the university to compensate for repair and storage costs the school originally paid after a July 2015 hard landing in ISU’s single-engine plane.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for much of the eastern half of Nebraska starting Wednesday night and southwestern to northeastern Iowa starting early Thursday morning. The service says temperatures will fall into the upper 20s to lower 30s across the region, with mid 20s across portions of central Nebraska and central Iowa. The service says the hard freeze _ the first this fall _ will mark the end of the growing season for crops and other cold-sensitive plants.

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — The small northwest Iowa city of Storm Lake has a low unemployment rate, vibrant downtown and tree-lined neighborhoods, but it’s also facing a surge in hunger that’s familiar to rural communities across the country. The community is struggling to respond as thousands of working families and elderly residents seek help feeding themselves or their children. The issue persists even as national poverty rates have declined and food prices are down.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The presidents of Iowa State University and the Iowa Board of Regents are backing a plan to use school funding for up to 20 years to help pay for improvements at a city-owned airport. A plan supported by the Ames city council puts Iowa State on the hook for $250,000 upfront and annual payments of up to $74,000 through 2035 _ a potential exposure of $1.55 million.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of two people on drug charges Wednesday in Audubon.  Deputies arrested 28-year-old Whitney Ann Richardson and 44-year-old Verlyn Duane Richardson of Audubon at around 4:00am Wednesday morning after a search warrant was executed at their residence at 103 Church Street in Audubon.  Whitney Richardson was charged with Possession of Marijuana and 7 counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Verlyn Richardson was charged with Possession of Marijuana 2nd Offense and 7 counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Both were taken to the Audubon County Jail and later released after an appearance before the magistrate.  The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by their K-9 and the Audubon Police Department.

A Des Moines man has officially been taken into custody in Montgomery County after recovering from injuries sustained during a vehicle pursuit that took place on September 20th.  30-year-old Nicholas Allen Cannon was arrested by the Omaha Police Department on October 10th after his stay at the Nebraska Medical Center and then extradited to The Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on Wednesday, October 12th.  He is being held on no bond until seeing a magistrate.

Cannon was arrested on Montgomery County warrants for Eluding While Participating in a Felony, Theft 2nd Degree, Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree, and Possession of a Controlled Substance Marijuana. He also was arrested on an Adams County warrant for Eluding While Participating in a Felony.

The charges stem from a motor vehicle pursuit that Cannon led authorities on from Adams County, Montgomery County and the Red Oak Police Department.  His vehicle struck a deer during the pursuit and he initially escaped on foot but was arrested later that afternoon in Red Oak.  His injuries were sustained in the collision with the deer.

Three California companies suspected of attempting to scam Iowa libraries are now barred from doing business in Iowa. Those companies are accused of billing libraries and other business in Iowa for exorbitant prices for printer toner, even though the toner had not been ordered. Steve St. Clair works in the consumer protection division at Iowa Attorney General’s office. He says this type of scam used to be much more common.

“I had thought that it was mostly a scheme of the past,” St. Clair says. “Clearly this is a reminder that we need to remain vigilant and keep our eyes open for other instances in which somebody’s kind of recycling that used to be prominent and now has become much less so. ” The companies are Central Supply Center of Orange and owner Sandra Steinmetz; Elite Supplies of Irvine, and owner Krystle Lester; and Central Supply Solutions of Orange, and owner Brittany Hertsch. The three owners are related-Steinmetz is an aunt of Lester and Hertsch, who are half-sisters. This settlement bars the women from marketing office supplies in Iowa.

“So if these operators were to violate that by trying to pull a toner scheme again in Iowa, then we would have criminal sanctions available for contempt of court,” according to St. Clair. It’s unknown if any of the offices contacted actually paid the fake invoices. The settlement requires Hertsch, Lester and Steinmetz to refund any Iowan who did pay one of the fake invoices.

(Radio Iowa)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests took place recently. 39-year old Larry Eugene Burns, of McClave, CO, was arrested on a warrant out of Harrison County for Failure To Appear in court. His bond was set at $2,000.

39-year old Edward Allan Blough, of Henderson, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. Blough was being held in the Mills County Jail without bond.

And, 34-year old Joseph David Morrison, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Probation Violation. His bond was set at $2,000.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers says the administrative phone systems at both the Clarinda Police Department (712-542-2194) and the City of Clarinda Department of Administrative Services (712-542-2136) are once again operational. The lines had been down for a little more than an hour this morning.