The 7:07-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Buck Creek Dog Park at the Schildberg Recreation Area in Atlantic is closer to becoming a reality. Over the past month, Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring and Assistant Director Seth Staashelm have been working with Snyder and Associates Engineers to come up with a site plan for the park, and devised a conceptual layout.

Atlantic Parks & Rec Director Roger Herring talks about the Schildberg Rec Area Dog Park site plan. (Ric Hanson/photo)

Herring told the Parks Board Monday night, that the next step is to contact local vendors of fencing materials to determine the cost and availability of the material. Thanks to $10,000 grant from the Cass County Community Foundation, Herring said the off-leash dog park will be enclosed in a chain-link fence, which the grant will take care of nearly two-thirds of the cost for. The rest will be paid for through the department’s Capital Projects funds.

The nearly three-acre park will be divided into areas for large and small dogs, providing ample space for them to run and play. Herring said the plan is to have the dog park open sometime around Memorial Day.

Buck Creek Dog Park site plan at the Schildberg Rec Area. (Click on image to enlarge)

Herring said also, a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant in the amount of $103,000 has been approved from the Iowa Department of Transportation, with regard to the Lake #2 Trail at the Schildberg Recreation Area. The project is expected to cost $134,000. The Atlantic City Council, in February, had agreed to sponsor the grant application with a $26,800 commitment for the project.

In other news, construction on the replacement Kiddie Korral Shelter at Sunnyside Park is expected to be completed by around Sept. 15th, and the Camblin Shelter refurbishment project at Sunnyside Park,should be wrapped-up by around May 15th. Staashelm reported to the Parks Board, Monday, that pieces for the recycled plastic, cedar colored park benches to be located in the Senior Activity Area at Sunnyside have arrived, and are in the process of being assembled. He said also and ADA compliant drinking fountain has been installed near the tennis courts, and is being used a lot. The stylish foundation is equipped with a jug filling outlet, in addition to bubblers for water dispensing.

Employees of five businesses in Council Bluffs were cited for selling alcohol to minors, during a check conducted last Friday. Members of the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force conducted an undercover operation into the illegal sale of booze to minors at nine businesses. The sting was conducted with the assistance of two females, ages 18 and 19.

The businesses cited for selling alcohol to minors and their employees include: Driftwood Inn/35-year old Michelle Hamilton, of Omaha; Oskies for Sports/24-year old Hannah Dolson, of Council Bluffs; Victory Sports Bar/39-year old Rueben Serenil, of Omaha; Hounds Lounge/23-year old Makayla May, of Carter Lake; and T’z Bar/38-year old Timothy Evans, of Council Bluffs.

The four bars found to be in compliance with the law include: BadonkaRonks, Big Al’s, J&B’s Lounge, and the O’Face Bar, all in Council Bluffs.

A Red Oak man was arrested at around 9:30-p.m. Monday. Police say 45-year old Mark Douglas Berggren was taken into custody in the 1900 block of Sunnyslope Drive, in Red Oak, for Violation of a No Contact Order. Berggren was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report the arrest of a woman on a drug charge. Authorities say 26-year old Vanessa Rae Jones, of Nodaway, was at residence in Corning on April 13th, when a search warrant was executed at the home just before 11-a.m. on that date. Jones told deputies she had used meth, and consented to a urine sample at the Sheriff’s Office. The results of the test showed positive for the use of methamphetamine. Jones was charged with Possession of Meth and held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

And, on April 11th, Adams County Sheriff’s deputies took a report of an under age party. Found at the home located on Orange Avenue in Corning, were open containers of alcohol and several, under age individuals. A small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia was also located. Officials say 18-year old’s Jacob Benjamin Wilson and Christian Leroy Bohn, of Corning, face Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia, charges. Their bonds were set at $1,300.

Some farmers were able to get the planters rolling last week. The U-S-D-A’s weekly crop report shows farmers used some warmer weather to get into the fields and seven percent of the corn crop is now planted. The report says the planting is four days ahead of normal compared to last year — but right at what the state has seen in the five-year average.

Nearly one-third of the State’s expected oat crop was planted during the week, third highest percentage seeded for the third week of April in 20 years. Seventy-four percent of the oat crop has been planted, over two weeks ahead of last year, and one week ahead of the average. Some areas are seeing faster planting of corn than others. Iowa State University extension agronomist, Angie Reik-Hinz, monitors nine counties from Hamilton to Cerro Gordo.

“Right around Webster City, Fort Dodge, Stanhope, Stratford area, we’re seeing a lot of corn in the ground. Maybe upwards of thirty to forty percent,” Reik-Hinz says. The temperature has kept some parts of the state from keeping up early on. “As we move a little further east, it’s a little bit less corn in the ground, and as we go north it significantly tapers off. It’s been a lot colder and wetter up north.”

Another I-S-U agronomist, Mark Licht, in Ames, has also heard a lot of different results when it comes to planting progress. “Reports of farmers who are either 100-percent done, 50-percent done or maybe, three-four-five percent,” Licht says. He also has found central Iowa saw the most progress. “From where I’m getting my reports, it seems like really the area west of Ames — kind of between Ames and Carroll — was where a lot of the progress was made before the rains finally came on Saturday,” according to Licht”

The U-S-D-A crop report says north-central and west-central Iowa have the highest soil moisture reserves, with ninety-to-one-hundred-percent adequate to surplus moisture.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

AUDUBON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a power outage in western Iowa’s Audubon County caused about 200,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater to spill into a nearby creek, in Audubon. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says Audubon lost power around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, and a backup generator at the wastewater treatment plant failed to start as a result. Power was restored about 10 p.m. Sunday, but wastewater continued to discharge to Bluegrass Creek south of Audubon until Monday morning, when an electrician repaired the generator. The DNR says it’s monitoring the situation and investigating to determine why the backup generator didn’t work. The agency has advised that those in the area stay away from the creek for the next two days.

GARNER, Iowa (AP) — Jurors went home for the day late Monday, in the trial of a former Iowa lawmaker accused of sexually abusing his wife suffering from dementia. They will continue deliberating at 9 a.m. today (Tuesday). Prosecutors say 78-year-old Henry Rayhons had sex with his wife at a nursing home May 23 after being told she was no longer mentally capable of consenting. Rayhons faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of third-degree sexual abuse. His wife, Donna Lou Rayhons, died in August.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Jeb Bush is planning a policy trip to Europe in June, to speak on the global economy and meet with business, economic and defense leaders. Aides to the former Florida governor say the likely presidential candidate is planning to visit Germany, Poland and Estonia. He plans to speak at an economic conference in Germany and, in Estonia and Poland, meet with government and business leaders, civic groups and non-governmental organizations.

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — A former Des Moines police officer and a woman found at an apartment Sunday died from strangulation and police believe it’s a case of homicide and suicide. The former officer was Mersed Dautovic, who was scheduled to be re-sentenced Monday for beating a man during a traffic stop. The dead woman was Dautovic’s girlfriend.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s transportation department plans to spend a record $700 million this year on highway construction projects. A gasoline tax increase will provide about $200 million to cities and counties across the state. There are plans to fill potholes, repair aging bridges and install new concrete and asphalt pavement.

A recent move by the Iowa Department of Transportation to close the rest areas along Interstate 80 near Waukee has been a boon for the City of Atlantic. The rest areas officially closed April 1st. Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Roger Herring said Councilman Dana Halder stopped by the rest area around the time they were set to close, and inquired about what the plans were for the heavy duty park benches. He learned from the DOT’s Rest Area Administrator, that the plan was to put those items up for auction for sale to municipalities. Halder and Herring worked with the Administrator to purchase several of the benches and trash receptacles before they went to auction.

A Power Point image of the cement picnic tables and receptacles being loaded onto a flatbed trailer heading for Atlantic.

The tables and receptacles are made entirely out of cement. The tables weigh 500-pounds each, while the trash containers are about 900-pounds. All were made in Denison when they were new, at Petersen Manufacturing and concrete products. The purchase price was $80 a piece for 14 concrete tables, while nine trash receptacles cost $40 each. The trash containers would normally cost $300-to $400 new. The picnic tables would have cost close to $700 new.

Herring and Mayor Dave Jones spoke with Cass County Engineer Charles Marker about using the County’s flatbed truck and trailer to haul each piece, with the City reimbursing the County for labor and fuel to help load and haul the pieces to Atlantic. The Atlantic Street Department brought in a dump truck to haul away seven large boulders from the rest area as well for placement near the entrance to the Schildberg Recreation Area. The boulders were made available at no cost to the City.

Most of the tables will be dispersed at the Schildberg Rec Area, while others will be located near the Sunnyside Pool in the play area between the softball field and the baby pool area. The Parks Board was pleasantly surprised by the news during their meeting Monday night.

An incident in Pottawattamie County late Monday morning resulted in the arrest of an Underwood man on a trio of charges and local schools being placed on lockdown. Sheriff Jeff Danker reports at around 11:23-a.m., deputies were dispatched to the Jack Link’s plant in Underwood, in reference to an employee making threats toward another employee. The reporting party indicated that 52-year old David A. Roth had allegedly threatened to return to the Jack Link’s facility and shoot another employee.
At approximately 12:15-p.m. Roth was located at an apartment in Underwood, and taken into custody without incident. He was brought to the Pottawattamie County Jail and charged with Harassment in the 1st Degree; Possession of Controlled Substance/Marijuana; and, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
During the incident, Underwood Schools were placed in “lock-in” status, which allows for classes and interior movement to continue as normal. There are no outside activities and main doors are monitored by administration.