WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s new medical marijuana program will get started Saturday as dispensaries open in five spots around the state. Dispensaries are set to open in Council Bluffs, Davenport, Sioux City, Windsor Heights and Waterloo. The 2017 Medical Cannabidiol Act allows the use of cannabidiol that has no more than 3 percent THC, the compound in marijuana that causes a high. Iowa doctors can certify patients with one of several debilitating medical conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizures, HIV, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and Crohn’s disease.

MedPharm is manufacturing all of the state’s legal marijuana products, which include capsules, tinctures and creams. Sarah Reisetter is the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. She says the state’s medical cannabidiol board has a “compassionate use” goal.

The Atlantic School Board, members of the Facilities Planning Committee, an engineer and financial expert met at the High School Wednesday evening, to discuss a proposed $9.5-million proposal to improve certain district facilities. Superintendent Steve Barber told KJAN News the committee was able to present their proposal to the Board after a long planning process. He said they revisited what the needs assessments were back in 2016. The committee came to the Board with a different scope, Wednesday. The original proposal would have cost $23.2-million.

Barber said the latest proposal concentrates on improvements to the Middle School and redoing the softball/baseball diamond, refurbishing the Trojan Bowl, and creating a road from 11-th to 14^th to help with the congestion that occurs at Washington during student drop-off and pick-up.

Ball diamonds

Tennis courts

Trojan Bowl (click on pics to enlarge)

He said basically the scope is centered around creating safety at the Middle School Athletic Facilities, and making all of the facilities ADA compliant and accessible to everyone. Some of the proposed improvements to the Trojan Bowl include using an all-synthetic turf, a new and wider soccer field, a four-lane rubber track, visitor parking, and new bleachers with 1,500 seat capacity on the home side and 500 seat capacity on the visitor’s side. Grading, according to Barber, will be a big part of the project.

The proposal also includes lighting and sound improvements, and a new scoreboard. The baseball and softball complex improvements would include new dugouts, batting cages, six tennis courts and lights at the existing high school practice field. Barber said Piper-Jaffrey’s Travis Squires, the District’s Bond Counsel, presented to the Board Wednesday night, and said the costs are doable without a tax increase. The plan moving forward, is to meet December 12 during a regular session, and act on setting the date for a Bond Referendum as April 2^nd. A steering committee will be lead by community members. Barber said he would then be available to inform the public what the plans are. He said the goal is to be as informative and transparent as possible during the period leading up to a referendum vote, if it’s approved by the School Board next month.

Past attempts at placing a Bond Referendum before patrons of the District have fizzled out or been defeated. Barber says there’s a renewed energy to get something accomplished in the name of safety and to be more in-step with other Hawkeye 10 District schools. He said 6 out of the 10 H-10 Schools have upgraded their facilities. The Atlantic School Board is focused on safety. Right now, he said, they can’t say those fields are safe to play on, or accessible to persons with disabilities. Barber said they feel they are in a good position to get the projects underway while maintaining a reasonable tax levy.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 60 Iowa inmates who want their porn back are suing the state of Iowa. The 58 inmates at the Fort Dodge prison are seeking $25,000 each in damages. Their lawsuit blames the ban on “religious tyrants” who have no regard for the U.S. Constitution or Declaration of Independence. The federal lawsuit was filed in Des Moines before a new law that took effect Nov. 14 shut down designated “pornography reading rooms” in Iowa’s prisons. The law says Corrections Department funds can’t be used to distribute or make available to inmates any commercially published information or material that is sexually explicit or features nudity.

The law reverses a policy in place since a 1988 federal court decision that the state’s prison rules on pornography were unconstitutionally vague. Corrections spokesman Cord Overton says state prisoners were advised in July that the changes would take effect in mid-November.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have a relatively light agenda for their weekly meeting, Friday morning. During their 8:30-a.m. session, the Board will act on an Abatement of Taxes for a parcel owned by the City of Anita. They’ll also act on a Resolution proclaiming the Board’s support for the Home Base Iowa initiative, and approve an application from Manatt’s Inc., for partial payment (the final payment) for the Glacier-to-Buck Creek to Echo Road paving project, as well as acceptance of work on the project. The final order of business, is to approve participation in an agreement to establish the position of Cass County Wellness Coordinator, and to partially fund the position. Other funding partners would include ISU Extension, the Nishna Valley YMCA, and Cass County Memorial Hospital.

Regular reports (as available) will be provided by the County Attorney, Engineer and Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator. The Cass County Board of Supervisor’s normally meet each Wednesday of the month.

A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy on routine patrol, Tuesday night, pulled over a vehicle at the intersection of Highway 6 and 300th Street. The registered owner of the vehicle, 57-year old Anthony William Nichols, of Atlantic, was showing a valid warrant through the Council Bluffs District Court. After the warrant was verified, Nichols was placed under arrest and transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail, where he was booked-in on a warrant for OWI/1st offense.

A Pott. County woman was arrested at around 7:30-a.m. Tuesday, following a traffic stop for Failure to Yield. A records check indicated 34-year old Lindsey Nicole Wells, of Council Bluffs, had an active warrant out of the District Court of Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County. The warrant was issued in July for contempt of court/failure to pay child support. Wells was placed under arrest for the active warrant with a cash only bond of $1,500.00. She was transported to the Pott. County Jail and booked-in.

And, a Nebraska woman visiting an inmate at the Pottawattamie County Jail, Tuesday, was arrested after a records check showed she had felony warrant out of Pottawattamie County for Theft in the 1st Degree, for theft from a building. Once the warrant was confirmed, 26-year old Shelby Lyn Reni Fichter, of Omaha, was arrested and booked into the jail.

And, Wednesday morning, an inmate at the Pott. County Jail was served with a warrant for Violation of Probation. 30-year old Jerrod Leslie Voss, of Council Bluffs, was read the warrant and returned to the custody of jail staff.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Police in Creston say a woman from Hayden, IA, reported Wednesday morning, that sometime between April 1st and May 31st, a utility trailer she owns, located in the 200 block of Myrtle Street in Creston, was broken into several times. A number of items were stolen, including: CD’s; Movies; Comic Books; Wedding Photo’s and a suitcase. The loss was estimated at $150.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of fatally stabbing a Cedar Rapids resident during a drug robbery has been imprisoned. A judge gave 20-year-old Darius Alexander two 10-year terms Wednesday, to be served consecutively. Linn County District Court records say Alexander had pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter and aiding and abetting robbery. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge in exchange for Alexander’s pleas.

Prosecutors say he killed 18-year-old Christopher Arteberry Jr. on Sept. 30, 2016, during an attempt to steal marijuana from Arteberry. Police say Arteberry was stabbed in the parking lot of a Cedar Rapids apartment complex and later found inside an apartment. A woman driving Alexander, Emily Young, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19. She’s pleaded guilty to an accessory charge.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A California woman who pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge has been sentenced in Iowa to three years in a federal prison. Prosecutors say 36-year-old Janeth Pineda, of Chula Vista, California, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. She’d pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. She admitted in her plea agreement that she opened bank accounts in Iowa from summer 2013 through August 2014 so her husband’s drug customers could deposit payments to him. Prosecutors say her husband, Michael Pineda, headed an operation that took methamphetamine from California to Iowa.

Prosecutors say Michael Pineda is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering.