The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday), approved a Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) Local Development grant application submitted by Mills County. Up to $876,510 will be made available to assist in construction of approximately 5,450 feet of 190^th Street north from U.S. 34 to K Avenue located west of Interstate 29. The project is should be completed by September, 2013. 

Officials say the project is necessary to provide access to six lots totaling 402 acres for industrial, transportation logistics and warehousing purposes.

Funding for the grant comes from the county share of the RISE Fund.

Firefighters from Griswold and Elliott spent about three-hours fighting a fire two-miles north of Elliott last night. The call about the blaze at 540^th and Yankton Road came in at around midnight. Griswold Fire Chief Jim Wyman says when they arrived on the scene, a vacant house with an adjacent trailer was fully engulfed in flames.

Mutual aid provided by firefighters from Elliott was dispatched at around 12:08-a.m. Tuesday, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department. Wyman told KJAN News the structures were a complete loss, and there wasn’t much left to do except clean-up the mess left behind and prevent the fire from spreading to three nearby corn fields . He says the cause of the fire remains undetermined, and because the home was unoccupied, the State Fire Marshal will not be called-in to investigate. Wyman says he hopes this isn’t the beginning of a trend.

Wyman said he “Just wonders where the next one is gonna be.” No injuries were reported. According to Wyman,  a calm wind and heavy air prevented the spread of the fire to the fields. Fog was not a problem on the way to the fire, but Wyman says on the way back to the station, it was a problem they had to contend with. Early this (Tuesday) morning, visibilities were down to less than one-quarter of a mile.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education is slated to meet this evening, at the High School. Discussion items on their agenda include: classroom space at the Washington Elementary School for 2012-2013; the Hospital School; additional funding options for the Atlantic Middle School project; and, the sharing of Business Manager Mary Beth Fast with the Walnut Community School District. The Board will also receive a construction update on the Atlantic Middle School, from Design Alliance Architect’s Jerry Purdy.

The meeting begins at 7:30.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) said Monday, crews are completing the installation of signs for the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway and the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway in the Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County area. Thanks to grant funds made available through the Federal Highway Administration, the DOT is installing a new sign system for all the Scenic Byways in Iowa. Each of the 11 scenic and heritage byways across the state has a unique logo in a similar framework easily identifiable as an Iowa byway. The images are on reflective signs, with directional information added at decision points for the traveler.

The Loess Hills National Scenic Byway signs are now being installed in our area. The Loess Hills were named one of Iowa’s Scenic Byways in 1998 and received National Scenic Byway recognition in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Loess Hills National Scenic Byway stretches along the western edge of Iowa through Fremont, Mills, Pottawattamie, Harrison, Monona, Woodbury, and Plymouth Counties. The Loess Hills National Scenic Byway also goes down Broadway in Council Bluffs, from highway 6 to 7th street. The public is invited to an unveiling of the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway signs on October 13th, at 4-p.m., in the offices of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, in the renovated Hughes-Iron Historic Building, at 149 West Broadway. 

The new Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway signs have been in place for a short time. They feature a distinctive “L” on a red, white, and blue background. The Lincoln Highway Association was created in 1913 in Detroit, Michigan. The first transcontinental highway, Old Lincoln Highway was officially 3,389 miles long from New York City to San Francisco. In Pottawattamie County, the road goes down county road L20, North Broadway in Council Bluffs, continuing on West Broadway towards Dodge Street in Omaha over the Missouri River.

Due to dense fog, the Griswold Community School District will start classes 2-hours late today (Oct. 11th).

Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones

The Omaha World-Herald reports in today’s (Tuesday’s) edition, Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones faces two misdemeanor charges associated with illegal dumping of items into the Missouri River floodwaters. The 63-year old is accused of setting fire to items from a flood-damaged Nebraska cabin and dumping them into Missouri River floodwaters on September 24^th, near Tekamah, Nebraska. Jones and Burt County, Neb., Attorney Daniel Smith told the paper the matter could be resolved with a plea deal as early as today (Tuesday).

According to Smith, the law requires a burn permit, and tossing debris into the river means someone else downstream will have to deal with the items later. He emphasized that the offenses fall short of meriting jail time or probation, saying instead a fine would be an appropriate penalty.

Jones said he didn’t realize he was breaking any laws but accepts responsibility. He told the newspaper – quote – “I need to pay for my stupidity.” Jones, who has served as the Mayor of Atlantic since 2009, said he and his wife purchased the roughly 1,100-square-foot cabin at Harbor 671 near Tekamah last August. It is located about 250 yards from the river, next to a slough or inlet. During this summer’s flooding, the cabin had four feet of water in it for three months.

On the morning of September 24th, while cleaning the cabin, Jones and friends and family members piled up flood-ruined mattresses and furniture and burned them. Jones said he placed the pile next to the water so if the fire got out of control the items could be pushed into the slough with a friend’s Bobcat. Some debris from the fire, including charred parts of furniture, slid off into the inlet — most likely when the remains of the fire were doused, Jones said. The parts that fell into the river were unsafe to retrieve, he said.

A neighbor called the Burt County, Nebraska Sheriff’s Office, which ticketed Jones that afternoon.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports two Atlantic men were arrested last week. On Tuesday, 42-year old Troy Christian Baker was taken into custody on a charge of OWI 3rd offense, and Driving While Revoked. And, last Thursday, 30-year old Dylan Ron Drake was arrested for a Parole Violation. Drake was taken to the Cass County Jail where he is being held pending a hearing before a District Court Judge. Baker was released from custody October 5th, on $6,000 bond.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says charges are pending completion of an investigation into an alleged assault. Officials said today (Monday), deputies were called to #10 Main Street in Coin last Wednesday afternoon. When they arrived they spoke with Jamie Gray, of Coin, and a witness to the incident.

Gray told deputies she had allegedly been assaulted by Bobbie Jo Kent, of Elmo, MO, and Cindy Jo Hamilton, of New Market, following an argument. Hamilton, Kent, and another witness denied responsibility for the alleged incident, which remains under investigation.