Officials with the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (Iowa College Aid) have released the “Condition of Higher Education in Iowa 2014” report. The report provides policymakers with an overview of Iowa’s population in relation to college readiness, persistence, affordability, educational attainment and the future employability of the citizens of Iowa.

Karen Misjak, executive director of Iowa College Aid, said “As we work towards increasing Iowa’s overall educational attainment, the data in this report highlights where we are as a state and the challenges we will need to overcome in the process.” Misjak says “The report is a great resource for policymakers and those working towards increasing college preparation, access and persistence and completion rates in Iowa.”

Among other things, the report illustrates that:

· With an aging population, increasing the state’s educational attainment will require more adults to pursue post-secondary education.

· Iowans with bachelor’s degrees earn approximately 60 percent more than individuals with only a high school diploma and 110 percent more than those with less than a high school diploma.

· Less than 36 percent of Iowa’s working-age population holds an associate’s degree or higher, yet it is projected that 62 percent of all jobs in the state will require post-secondary education by 2018.

· Iowa counties with a high percent of their populations holding an associate’s degree or higher tend to have higher median earnings.

· Iowa students in the college pipeline are projected to be fewer in number and more racially and ethnically diverse.

· Increasingly, Iowans applying for financial aid for college have higher need.

· The median income of most state financial aid program recipients is well below that of the state as a whole.

· Increases in college costs have outpaced increases in household income and appropriations for state financial aid programs.

The full report can be accessed from Iowa College Aid’s Higher Education Data Center, https://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/content/higher-education-data-center.

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund recently supported The Friends of Lake Anita with a $400 donation to be used for their annual fishing clinic held, in June. The fund also supported their Walleye Fund with a $250 donation.

Fund spokesperson Melanie Petty said fishing was a big part of Trevor’s life and the Fund enjoys supporting things that families can do together. Petty says also, that the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund is gearing up for its 6th Annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament to be held on August 9th.

All funds raised are donated back out to the community. Contact Melanie Petty if you are interested in participating this year. You can follow the fund through local media and FB.

Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report a woman from southeast Iowa was arrested Wednesday. 21-year old Katelyn Myers, of Ottumwa, was taken into custody on a charge of Driving While Revoked for OWI Test Refusal. Myers was booked into the Cass County Jail.

(9-a.m. News)

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Wednesday) released additional details about a two-vehicle crash the happened Wednesday afternoon, southeast of Walnut. Sheriff Jeff Danker reports at around 4:25-p.m., Deputies were dispatched to a personal injury accident at 530th Street approximately one-half of a mile south of Highway 83 which is south east of Walnut, in rural Pottawattamie County. Early reports indicated that the accident involved two vehicles involved in a head-on collision, with multiple injuries and parties trapped within the vehicles.

Upon arrival Deputies found a 2011 Chevrolet Impala operated by 14-year old Sidney Nelsen, of rural Walnut, and a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am operated by 22-year old Leah Jenkins, of Atlantic, had collided head-on. After the impact, Nelson’s car came to rest in the east ditch, while Jenkins’ vehicle came to rest in the west ditch.

Jenkins and her passenger, 21-year old Carey Klindt, of Atlantic, required extrication by Walnut Fire and Rescue. Jenkins was transported to Alegent Creighton by medical helicopter with serious injuries and Klindt was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Walnut Rescue with serious injuries. According to Jenkins’ sister Misty, Leah had several broken bones and other injuries, but was expected to recover.

Sidney Nelsen was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by private vehicle and was treated for minor injuries. A passenger in her car, 24-year old Felicia Nelsen, from Walnut, was transported to Cass County Memorial Hospital by Walnut Rescue for treatment of  non-incapacitating injuries. At this point the Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate cause of the accident.

Atlantic Community School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, Tuesday, thanked a local business and organization for their generous support of education in the district. Amstein acknowledged 1st Whitney Bank and Trust for their contribution of $37,500 towards the district’s 1-to-1 computer initiative which puts leased Apple Macbook laptop computers into the students’ hands as a learning tool beginning with the upcoming school year. The bank has pledged a total of $50,000 toward the first phase of the project.)

The 1:1 (One-to-One) program will cost more than $625,650 over the course of four-years. During Tuesday night’s School Board meeting, Amstein also acknowledged the support of the Atlantic Education Foundation. He said they donated funds to purchase a laser engraver for the Industrial Tech program at the high school. The engraver cost around $20,000.

Amstein said also, Camblin Mechanical, the Association of Builders and Contractors, and A-H-S Principal Heather McKay, are in talks to bring a Career Tech Education course in Plumbing, to the high school. He said if that happens, it will likely be the first such course in the State of Iowa. The initial class would focus on safety, use of tools and the basic components of plumbing. Students who complete the first class will receive their OSHA Safety Certificate, which is required by many employers in the mechanical and plumbing field.

In other news, Amstein said he received word from the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) that they would like to receive a short presentation from a representative of the district to be made at the IASB’s convention in November about the Lindamood Bell Reading and Comprehension Program the district has been using, and that the IASB is highly impressed with the results Atlantic has experienced with the program.

During the convention, a representative of the district will sit in on a panel that focuses on poverty and strategies districts use to aid in students’ learning and comprehension.

w/ Ric Hanson

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An Amber Alert was issued late last night for three eastern Iowa girls. All three were found, safe, in the Waterloo area, but the man who allegedly snatched them is still on the loose. Thirty-six-year-old Shaun Hogan is accused of taking the girls in a red, four-door Pontiac Grand Am with an Iowa license plate of 832 YPC.

Shaun Hogan

Hogan is described as being a black male, standing about six-foot-three and weighing 250 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Authorities say he should be considered dangerous. It’s believed that the girls were taken at about 3:00 yesterday afternoon. Waterloo Police say they were found safe last night, and the Amber Alert was cancelled about an hour after it was issued. Investigators indicate that the girls are the daughters of a woman found dead near the Linn County town of Walker yesterday.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of Shaun Hogan, you’re asked to call local law enforcement, or to contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation by calling 515-443-3014.

(Radio Iowa)

MOUNT AYR, Iowa (AP) – A 51-year-old Missouri man has been talked into putting down a shotgun and surrendering to authorities in southwest Iowa’s Ringgold County. The Des Moines Register says Randy Longstreath, of Bethany, Missouri, was arrested around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday after a six-hour standoff south of Mount Ayr.

The sheriff’s office says Longstreath had gone to the home where his estranged wife, stepson and another adult male were staying. The sheriff’s office says Longstreath fired the shotgun and threatened everyone in the home.  The people all escaped without harm before a SWAT team and negotiator arrived. The negotiator eventually persuaded Longstreath to surrender.

Court records say Longstreath faces charges that include domestic abuse assault, harassment, burglary and going armed with intent.

Iowans with an Iowa neurologist’s clearance to take cannabis oil to treat chronic epilepsy will go to the Iowa D-O-T to get a card which will shield them from drug possession charges in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Public Health has unveiled its proposed rules for implementing the new state law passed by legislators and the governor this spring. Deborah Thompson, the legislative liason for the department, says while her agency will process the paperwork and determine who is eligible, the D-O-T will hand out the cards because there’s a D-O-T licensing outlet in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.

“To bring people that have this debilitating disease to Des Moines may cause more headaches than it’s worth,” Thompson says. “They have a system also that enables them to connect with law enforcement and the law enforcement folks can, the way they would with any of our IDs, drivers licenses, they have a connection to the DOT’s system that allows them to see more details than a card provides for.” The cards can be issued to adults who have an Iowa neurologist’s recommendation to use cannabis oil to treat their “intractible” epilepsy. The parents or guardians of children with the condition can also apply for the card. Thompson says the new law was fairly specific about what hoops were required to qualify for the cards and her agency’s proposed rules follow those guidelines, including a requirement that other treatment options have been tried first before opting for cannabis oil.

“The neurologist will then send the completed application, including the written recommendation, directly to the Department of Public,” Thompson says. “We thought this would marginalize the opportunity for fraudulent behaviors if we got it directly from the neurologist’s office.” Staff in the Iowa Department of Public Health will review the applicant, then notify the D-O-T if it has been approved and a card may be issued. There is no Iowa site that dispenses the cannabis oil, so caregivers will have to go out of state to get the product. The rules were discussed during Wednesday’s Iowa Board of Health meeting in Iowa City. The board will vote on the rules at its September meeting. A legislative committee will also have a chance to review the rules before they take effect.

(Radio Iowa)