The Atlantic City Council Wednesday, will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2012-2013 Capital Improvement Projects (CIP). The hearing will take place during the Council’s regular meeting, which begins at 5:30-p.m.  Following the hearing, the Council is expected to act on a motion to authorize the advertising of bids for those projects. 

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hold the first reading of an amendment to the City’s Traffic Control Ordinance, which calls for the adding of a stop sign on Pine Ridge Road, at 22^nd Street. They’ll also consider a Resolution granting approval of an application by John and Rita Welch, for an Industrial Property Tax Exemption on a new 9,000 square foot building, located at 800 Park Drive, and hear a report from Councilman Shaun Shouse, with regard to discussion about a proposed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Policy.

Those of you who couldn’t get our AM 1220 signal in your place of work or at home, may now be able to listen to KJAN on FM 101.1! Not all areas will be able to receive the signal, but if you get the chance, tune to 101.1-FM. Thanks for listening to “The Station Where Your Friends Are!”

The Atlantic Municipal Utlities’ (AMU) Board of Trustees, Monday, named Steve Tjepkes as the next General Manager of the local utility. The action took place during the Boards’ regular meeting. Tjepkes’ appointment becomes effective with the retirement of current General Manager Allen Bonderman on March 31st, 2012.

Tjepkes is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, and is a Certified Public Accountant. After working for some eight years for two different private accounting firms, he joined AMU in April of 1993 as Comptroller. His responsibilities over the past eighteen years at AMU included oversight of all financial operations, including billing, collections and accounting, as well as customer service functions.

As the chief financial officer for the organization, Steve has worked closely with the previous two General Managers. He also has acted as the Secretary for the Board of Trustees, and has a good working relationship with the Board. Steve and his wife Julie are longtime residents of Atlantic, and both are extremely active in their church and various community organizations.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says an Pennsylvania man was arrested Friday afternoon on drug charges, following a traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Council Bluffs. The Sheriff says Deputy Brian Miller stopped a Nissan Altima for speeding on I-80 near the 5-mile marker, at around 1-p.m., Friday. After speaking with the driver, Miller became suspicious the man may have been trafficking drugs. The deputy asked 25-year old Joshua Ampolsk, of Wynnewood, PA, for permission to search the vehicle, but Ampolsk refused.  When Miller conducted a perimeter search of the vehicle using his k-9 partner “Francisco,” the dog alerted to the presence of illegal narcotics in the car, which provided the deputy with probable cause to conduct a search. While searching the car, Miller recovered 61-pounds of marijuana, and 2-pounds of Hashish.

Ampolsk was taken into custody on a felony charge of Possession with the Intent to Deliver/marijuana, Prohibited Acts/distribution of illegal substances, and a drug tax stamp violation. He posted a $5,000 bond that same day, and was released from custody.

The Griswold School District’s Board of Education, Monday night, approved the transfer of school property to the City of Elliott. Action on approving the transfer of five-acres of school property on the north edge of Elliott, to the City of Elliott, for a wetland project was held following a public hearing on the matter. Superintendent Dana Kunze said the marshy land offers an ideal, natural means of filtering nitrates out of the City’s drinking water.

Kunze said also, more work needs to be done before any action can be taken on Re-districting for School Board Districts. He said he will need to hold additional discussions with the AEA and University of Iowa as to how those districts are formed before the process can move forward. He says he thought they were off to a good start, but on second look, he may have to scrap what’s been accomplished so far, and start over. Kunze said there’s still plenty of time to accomplish the task, and the board still wants to head in that direction.

If the Griswold School District were to re-district it’s Board of Education, there would be four geographical districts and three board members elected At-Large, instead of the current seven different districts and one person from each district on the board. Kunze says it gets kind of confusing when redistricting is taken into consideration, as far as who stays on the Board and who has to run for re-election, but that can’t be determined until the districts are actually set. The University of Iowa provides those services to the district under an agreement reached earlier. Basically, it means the process is only in the formulative stages right now.

In other business, the Griswold School Board approved Kunze requesting from their bonding agent a means of maximizing funds for various projects, instead of just paying for the Middle School/High School roofing project alone.  He says he will ask Piper-Jaffrey to put together a bonding scenario which would allow the district to borrow against the penny sales tax revenue into the future, on approximately $2.2-million, so that the money is available for projects now. Kunze says “There’s a long laundry list of things (they) want to do, and unfortunately the list is longer than the money is,” therefore it will still take some determination to figure out which projects are a priority. He says they still have to live within their budget.

ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) – Some Iowa legislators say a special nursing home for elderly sex offenders and other criminals may be needed.  State  Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, says the state will need a facility “where these individuals will be contained.” She made her statement when the issue was raised at a Fort Dodge forum on Saturday. 

 A sex offender who was released to a Pomeroy nursing home was accused of sexual contact with a resident there.   Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed a law requiring nursing homes to notify families of residents when a sexual offender moves in. 
 
On Saturday, Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, said stronger measures are needed. He says the state might have to buy a nursing home and employ personnel trained to deal with sex offenders.

Authorities in Stuart are investigating the cause of a house fire which occurred early this morning in Stuart.  Stuart Police Chief Dave Reha told KJAN News the fire took place at a residence in the 600 block of North Western Street. Reha said the home appears to be a total loss. No injuries were reported. Additional details about the blaze are currently not available.

AMES, Iowa – Jan. 17, 2012 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is advising motorists that sustained wind speeds of up to 25 mph are expected across a majority of the state today. Drivers on Iowa roadways should be alert to the effects of these winds on high-profile vehicles and vehicles towing trailers. For road weather information in Iowa, visit Iowa DOT’s website http://weatherview.iowadot.gov/. WeatherView offers helpful information to travelers, including current wind speed, direction and gusts. Information is collected from road and aviation weather observation reporting sites throughout the state.

If you are driving:

• Keep a firm grip on the wheel and be prepared to slow down.
• Tune in to local weather forecasts and bulletins issued by the National Weather Service on local radio stations.
• Watch for objects blowing across the roadway and into your path.
• Keep a safe distance from vehicles in adjacent lanes as strong gusts can push a vehicle or trailer outside its lane of travel.
• Take extra care if driving a high-profile vehicle, such as a truck, van, SUV or recreational vehicle or when towing a trailer, as these vehicles are more prone to be pushed or even flipped by high wind gusts.
• If winds are severe enough to prevent safe driving, move your vehicle onto the shoulder of the road and stop, making sure you are away from trees or other tall objects that could fall onto your vehicle. Stay in the vehicle and turn on the hazard lights until the wind subsides.
• Never cross a downed power line.
• Approach all intersections with caution. If there is a power outage, the traffic signals may not be operating properly. Remember, nonfunctioning traffic signals are to be treated as a four-way stop.
• Check the latest weather conditions by accessing the information kiosks located at any of the interstate rest areas.

w/ Ric Hanson

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