Authorities from several law enforcement agencies surrounded a home in Oakland Tuesday night after a man reportedly armed with a gun locked himself inside a home at around 7-p.m. According to KETV in Omaha, the incident took place just off Highway 6 at Brown and South Gates Road. Neighboring homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution.

No other details are currently available.

(Correction on the number of seats that were to be filled in the election)

Adair County Auditor Mindy Schaefer, Tuesday night, released the unofficial results of a Special Election held for the City of Fontanelle, to fill two vacancy seats (4-year terms) on the Fontanelle City Council. The winners include Jade Zimmerline, with 72 votes, and Brody Warrior, with 58 votes. The results will become official when the votes are canvassed by the Adair County Board of Supervisors.

The other candidates and their vote tallies include:

Laura Fritz, 38; Cassie Warner, 47. There were a total of 111 votes cast out of a possible 467, or 23.77% of the registered voters.

The City of Atlantic’s Community Protection Committee Tuesday evening voted to recommend the Atlantic City Council order a resident who is keeping a pot bellied pig on their rental property, to remove the animal as required by City Code. Their decision came in a brief meeting, during which a neighbor complained about the smell and a terrible problem with flies attracted by the animal.

Rebecca Sponsler, who lives next door to the property in the 800 block of Chestnut Street, told the Committee the animal doesn’t look like a pot bellied pig. Instead, she said it looks a like a farm pig.

Rebecca Sponsler

She said also she has “A huge fly problem,” to the extent that they are “Killing hundreds a day,” at her home. She also said when the wind carries a horrible smell when it shifts toward her home. Sponsler said she doesn’t want it next door to her anymore. Sponsler also said she can’t sell her house because prospective buyers are turned-off by the smell and appearance of the adjacent property.

Atlantic Animal Control Officer Kris Erickson said they have received other complaints about the animal and the property itself. The Committee said the owner of the pig could approach the City Council about a permit to keep the animal, but the Committee will recommend against issuing that permit, per City Code, which states “It is unlawful for a person to keep livestock within the City except by written consent of the Council or except in compliance with the City’s Zoning Ordinances.”

Livestock is defined in the City Code, as “An animal belonging to the bovine, caprine, equine, ovine or porcine species…” as defined in the Code of Iowa.

Community Protection Committee (Foreground: Councilpersons Dana Halder and Ashley Hayes); background: City Admin. John Lund, Animal Control Officer Kris Erickson; right – Councilman Chris Jimerson.

The owner of the pig did not appear at Tuesday evening’s meeting at City Hall to offer comment about the animal or address the neighbors’ concerns.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Work Session Wednesday evening, at the High School. During their 5:30-p.m. meeting in the Media Center, the Board will discuss the Superintendent Search Process, including: Establishing the roles of consultants and the School Board; Defining the timeline for the search process; meeting with key stakeholder groups to develop a profile for the ideal candidate, and many other aspects of the search.

In April, Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2016-17 School Year. Amstein has served the Atlantic Community School District since 2010.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board will approve various personnel assignments, and discuss the Board Self-Evaluation process with representative from the Iowa Association of School Boards. They’ll also continue discussion with regard to the Voter-approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy/Income Surcharge Special Election that’s set for Sept. 13th.

Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle said Tuesday, the Fifth Annual School Supply Drive, sponsored by the Cass County Democratic Party, was a success. Toelle said “We were once again able to supply all three school districts in Cass County needed items for the youth of this county who might otherwise not have new school supplies to start off the new school year.”

She thanks the community for its support for the project. Toelle said also “Special thanks to the Atlantic Medical Center staff who donated as a group; their donations were provided to Schuler Elementary School in Atlantic.”

Items donated by the Atlantic Medical Center

Lewis Elementary School staff with donations

Dale Whittaker presenting Washington Elementary School with donated items.

Sherry Toelle, Chair, and Ed DenBeste, Schuler Elementary School

More Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are heading to Louisiana to help with the flood recovery. Iowa Region spokesperson Kara Kelly says eight volunteers will join 11 Iowans who are already working there. “Most of them are working in emergency shelters, there are still thousands of people who cannot go home,” Kelly says. “We have a few people who are driving the emergency response vehicles — going into the neighborhoods making sure that people have food and water and clean up items.”

The flooding in Louisiana is called the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “As you can imagine, it’s a huge mess and there’s just a lot of work to be done yet,” Kelly says. She says people who have never experienced the devastation of flooding may have a hard time understanding its impact. “In Iowa unfortunately we’ve seen a lot of serious flooding first hand, so perhaps we can be a little bit more understanding of it,” according to Kelly. “In Louisiana they are looking at more than 60-thousand homes that have been damaged or destroyed. Which is significant. We are looking at folks who could be out of their homes for months or even years. And that’s really devastating for people.”

The new volunteers who are heading to Louisiana are from Alburnett, Ankeny, Manning, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Slater and Vinton. Kelly says Iowa also has some “virtual volunteers” who will help out. “Some of our volunteers who might not be able to be away from home for two weeks have the ability to virtually deploy — which means they have the ability to work with folks who have been displace via the phone or computers,” Kelly explains. The virtual deployment helps the flood survivors and the Red Cross.

“It’s a way that we can maybe cut back on some costs of sending people down there, if they can just work with people on the phone. And it is still somebody to talk to, still somebody to share their story with and help move them closer to recovery,” Kelly says. Kelly says you can help even if you don’t have the time to be a Red Cross volunteer.

“The Red Cross urgently needs the public to help us support the folks in Louisiana and the easiest way to do so is to make a financial donation. Go to Red Cross-dot-org, call 1-800-Red Cross or text the word L-A Floods (LAFLOODS) to 90999 to make a 10 dollar donation. And those donations enable the Red Cross to help respond and to help recover from disasters,” Kelly says. She says volunteers typically spend two weeks at a disaster site, but can extend that if they wish. They sometimes will spend two weeks, return back to Iowa for a time and then go back to the disaster area.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two of the three private companies that manage Iowa’s Medicaid program say they have lost tens of millions of dollars since taking over. The Des Moines Register reports that AmeriHealth Caritas said last week that it had a $42.6 million deficit on its Iowa operation in the first six months of the year. Amerigroup reported a loss of $66.7 million.

Amerigroup spokeswoman Denise Malecki says the company lost more than it had anticipated. The two groups, along with UnitedHealthcare, took over the administration of Iowa’s $4 billion Medicaid program on April 1.

Gov. Terry Brandstad predicted the takeover would save the state millions over time. Amy McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, suggested the companies’ financial reports show expected expenses.

Officials with the Cass County Health System announced today (Tuesday) they are hosting a program with Iowa Weight Loss Specialists (IWLS) to provide information to area residents about effective weight loss options. The event will be held on September 28^th at 6:00 p.m. with a free informational session by IWLS medical staff for the public.

IWLS Director of Bariatric Surgery Dr. Todd Eibes, says “In Iowa, the prevalence of adult obesity is over 30%. Obesity increases the risk of having heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers, which are the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. We are interested in being part of the solution to this medical epidemic right here in Iowa.”

In June of 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) declared obesity a chronic disease, leading more patients to seek clinical obesity treatment options from their primary care providers. Physician supervision is necessary to detect and treat weight-related medical conditions, and physicians can provide a variety of options specialized to the patient’s individual weight-loss needs.

Alison Bruckner, Chief Operating Officer at Cass County Health System, says “Our primary care providers frequently counsel their patients on how losing excess weight can alleviate and sometimes even eliminate other health issues. Thanks to Dr. Eibes and his team, we can now refer appropriate patients to these weight loss experts who have proven success helping hundreds of Iowans live healthier lives.”

Although this is the first time the IWLS team has conducted an informational session in Cass County, a number of IWLS patients are from the Cass County area. In fact, IWLS’s 100^th weight loss surgery patient, Chase Roller, is from Atlantic.  As a probation/parole officer, as well as a coach for high school football and wrestling, Roller was motivated to live a more active and healthier life. But his weight (and the strain on his arthritic hip the weight caused) was holding him back. Now he says his only regret is not having the surgery 10 years ago.

“I did a lot of research before coming to Dr. Eibes,” Chase explained. “I wasn’t keen on gastric bypass surgery because I didn’t want my internal plumbing re-routed and I read lots of horror stories of side-effects. I didn’t want the lap-band surgery because I didn’t like the idea of a foreign material inside my body that could cause future complications. I went to one of Dr. Eibes’ informational sessions and decided this was the solution for me. I was so surprised at how quickly the weight came off. I lost 160 pounds in 6 months. It’s amazing!”

Dr. Eibes and his team are offering a free informational session at Cass County Memorial Hospital on September 28^th, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in Conference Room 2.  Advance registration is appreciated, but not required. To register, call Iowa Weight Loss Specialists at 515-327-2000. Visit www.iowaweight.loss for more information and to read about patient success stories.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports the DNR plans to begin de-watering Three-Mile Lake in Union County, starting August 29th, in preparation for the fish renovation planned for the third week in September. The fish renovation will eradicate the yellow bass and common carp that have contributed to the declining water quality and sportfish quality in the lake. The DNR will begin restocking this fall after the renovation is complete.

The lake will be lowered up to 17 feet from normal pool for the fish renovation. Users should expect low water levels during the Labor Day holiday weekend. Access to some boat ramps may be limited due to the low water level. Boaters should use extreme caution as potential hazards such as tree stumps, cedar tree brushpiles, and underwater reefs may be at or near the water’s surface.

Vaccination rates among Iowa school children are dropping. More than four-and-a-half percent of Iowa students had not been immunized against major diseases like polio by last fall. Don Callaghan is the immunizations bureau chief for the Iowa Department of Public Health. “The risk of not immunizing is very real,” Callaghan says. “Diseases are still present, but I think one of the concerns parents have is they don’t see the diseases that we’re vaccinating for today and that’s because vaccines have done a good job at preventing those.”

Iowa law requires students enrolled in school to be vaccinated against polio, measles and other diseases, like hepatitis B. Iowa law allows parents to get an exemption for their children because of their religion or for medical reasons. Twenty-seven Iowa schools had fewer than 80 percent of students vaccinated last school year. Five schools had vaccination rates of 50 percent or lower. State officials will be checking immunization records this year, too.

“The audit’s conducted annually to assure children are compliant with school law,” Callaghan says. “For school law, they have to have the required immunizations or they can have a medical or religious exemption or they also they have can a provisional exemption which means they’ve had some of the shots, but they’ve not had time to complete the remaining doses in the series.” Measles outbreaks are rare in the U.S. because of the vaccination program started in 1963, but Callaghan says the disease is “easily imported.”

“If your child is unvaccinated, we like to say that a disease is a plane ride away,” Callaghan says. “So if you have an individual coming from another country, you could be exposing your child to a potential infectious disease.” The measles can cause swelling of the brain and death. Officials in the U.S. and Iowa have seen an increase in the number of parents seeking exemptions from required childhood vaccinations after a fraudulent 1998 report suggested a link between immunizations and autism.

“Vaccines have done a good job at preventing vaccine-preventable diseases,” Callaghan says, “so out of sight, out of mind and people just don’t realize that these diseases do exist and it is important to receive the vaccines.” Go to http://www.idph.iowa.gov/immtb/immunization/audits to find the latest state report on immunization rates in Iowa schools.

(Radio Iowa)