(Atlantic, Iowa) – Listed as Travel Iowa’s number one Christmas destination, downtown Atlantic lights up six blocks with nearly 200,000 lights for the holiday season. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce says “It’s a big tourist season for Atlantic with people from all over the state, and outside Iowa, coming to see our downtown. It also provides the community with free family activities the entire months of November and December, while encouraging holiday shopping at our incredible locally owned businesses.”

Christmas in Atlantic kicks off Saturday, November 12th with the Holiday Open House. Visit local retailers to get a holiday sneak peek and enjoy treats, giveaways and special promotions. For a list of participating businesses, visit www.atlanticiowa.com. For the sixth year in a row, the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce will be offering AtlantiCash at a discounted price as part of their Holiday Promotion, sponsored by First Whitney Bank & Trust. According to Smith, “Last year we sold $35,000 in about an hour, our highest dollar amount yet. The goal this year is to sell another $35,000, all of which goes back into Atlantic businesses.” For one day only, community members can come to the Chamber on Saturday, November 12th and buy a pack of $100 in AtlantiCash for $80, a 20% discount. Up to three packs, totaling $300, may be purchased. The discounted AtlantiCash will be available from 9 AM – 12 PM, or till supplies last.

The Annual Grand Lighting Ceremony, sponsored by Atlantic Municipal Utilities and TS Bank, will be Thursday, November 17th at 5 PM at the Historic Rock Island Depot in downtown Atlantic. There will be free hot chocolate and Atlantic Hy-Vee will be serving a free hot dog meal for spectators to enjoy. Santa will have a special arrival at 5:30 PM to turn on the lights and see children in his cabin from 6 – 7:30 PM at City Park. 

The Lighted Parade and Fireworks will be December 3rd, starting at 6 PM. Please submit Lighted Parade entries to the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce by calling 712.243.3017 or emailing chamber@atlanticiowa.com. Pre-registration is not required, but is encouraged. The Lighted Parade and Fireworks is sponsored by A.M. Cohron & Son and McDermott & Son Roofing. Prior to the Lighted Parade on December 3rd, visit Santa in his cabin where you can enjoy hot chocolate and treats, as well as horse-drawn carriage rides, sponsored by Lloyd & Meredith, from 3-5:30 PM. Visit www.atlanticiowa.com for Santa’s full holiday schedule. Santa’s Cabin is sponsored by the Atlantic Rotary Club and Farmhouse & Flowers.

Join us for the Holiday Concert and Angel of Christmas on December 4th at the First United Church of Christ, starting at 3 PM. Submit your nominations for Angel of Christmas to the Atlantic Area Chamber by November 23rd. The Angel of Christmas is sponsored by Cass Health.

Pick up your Christmas Brochure from area retail businesses, like the Chamber on Facebook or follow on Twitter to find dates and details to celebrate Christmas in Atlantic. You can find a complete list of activities at www.atlanticiowa.com. Capture the Christmas magic with #MyAtlanticIA and post to the Atlantic Area Chamber’s Facebook page or Instagram (AtlanticIowaFan). Contact the Atlantic Area Chamber with any questions at chamber@atlanticiowa.com or call 712.243.3017.

Police in Red Oak say one person suffered possible injuries but refused medical treatment, Tuesday evening, after the SUV she was driving was struck and the air bags deployed. The accident happened at around 5:47-p.m., as a 2009 Honda Pilot driven by 23-year-old Brenna Kaye Rivers, of Shenandoah, was turning into the Red Oak Hy-Vee parking lot. A 2022 Nissan Altima rental car driven by 31-year-old Crystal Karen Durbin, of Red Oak, was preparing to turn out of the lot onto southbound Broadway Street, with a few cars stopped at the traffic light.

Another driver waiting for the light to turn green, waved Durbin out. In exiting, she didn’t see Rivers’ SUV, possibly because of the blinding sun or headlights. The car struck the SUV on the rear, passenger side, causing a total of $9,500 damage. Both drivers were examined for possible injuries. No citations were issued.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Red Oak Fire Department was paged-out to a residential structure fire at 1500 Miller Avenue, a little after 11-a.m., Tuesday. Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce says an off-duty firefighter reported the incident. When crews arrived, they found the rear of the house was engulfed in fire and the fire had breached the sliding deck doors, as well as, the kitchen window and had begun to spread into the interior of the structure. Firefighters confirmed no one was home and exterior/interior fire ground operations were conducted.

Fire was brought under control at 11:49 a.m. There were no injuries reported, but three dogs were unable to escape in the home, and died. The Chief says it appears the fire originated under the deck from a heat lamp being used for a chicken coop. The home sustained a significant amount of damage, but no dollar amount was readily available. The home’s residents obtained an alternative source of arrangements, and were working with their insurance carrier.

photo submitted to the media

Red Oak Fire was assisted by fire departments, from Stanton and Elliott, along with the Red Oak Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Communications, MidAmerican Utilities, and the Red Oak Water Department.

(Radio Iowa) – October wrapped up as one of Iowa’s 20 driest Octobers in 150 years of record keeping. State climatologist Justin Glisan says the northwest and central regions of the state were as much as two-and-a-half inches below normal for rainfall for the month. “We’re starting to trend down into the driest part of the year which is December, January and February,” Glisan says, “but if we look at the statewide average total, we were just under an inch, and that’s about one-and-three-quarter inches below average across the state.”

Temperatures were widely varied for the month, with some days in the 90s for highs and some nights falling well below freezing and into the teens. November is starting off warm but the short-term forecasts indicate that won’t last but another day or so. “Outlooks are showing us a trend towards cooler-than-average temperatures but also a wet signal is building in,” Glisan says, “which is good in terms of replenishing at least some subsoil moisture for the next growing season, given how pervasive drought has been across the state.”

Glisan says it appears the weather pattern known as La Nina will continue into the winter ahead for a third straight year, which is unusual. “Typical La Nina years, historically for the state of Iowa, we’ve seen above-average snowpack,” Glisan says. “If we look at the outlooks, we’re not getting a clear signal on precipitation right now, but we are getting a slightly elevated signal for colder-than-average temperatures in that December, January, February timeframe.” La Nina happens when cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific impact where the storm track sets up across the country. With the wide temperature swings during October, Glisan says it all balanced out as the average temperature for the month was less than one degree below normal.

The month of October, here in Atlantic, was both warmer and cooler than average, and much drier than it should have been. Weather records compiled at KJAN (the OFFICIAL National Weather Service data site for Atlantic) show we were slightly more than 2-degrees warmer than the average of 64.1-degrees. We departed with an average of 67.3 degrees. On the Low side, we came in at 31.5-degrees for an average, which was seven-degrees cooler than average.

Rainfall, typically 2.76-inches in October, came in a little more than three-quarters of an inch, at .79.”

Here’s what the stats normally are for November:

• Avg. High, 46.3
• Avg. Low, 26.5
• Avg. Precipitation, 1.85 inches.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – Police in Shenandoah report two arrests. A little after 12-a.m. today (Wednesday), Shenandoah Police and the Shenandoah K9 Unit conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with an equipment violation, in the 1000 block of S. Maple Street. Upon further investigation, 43-year-old Jennifer Marie Ray, of Columbia, MO., was arrested for: Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS) with the Intent to Deliver/Methamphetamine (Class B Felony); PCS/Marijuana – 3rd offense (Class D Felony), and two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Jennifer Ray was being held in the Page County Jail on bond amounting to $30,600.

And, at around 10:05-p.m., Tuesday, Shenandoah Police arrested 46-year-old Derek Eugene Wallace, of Shenandoah, on a valid Page County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. Wallace was able to post a $300 bond before being released from custody.

Two people were arrested on drug charges, following a traffic stop at around 11:50-p.m. Tuesday, in Montgomery County. The Sheriff’s Office reports Deputies stopped a vehicle at Highway 34 and A Avenue. The Montgomery County K9 “Bane” alerted on the vehicle, and upon further investigation, 42-year-old Angela Kay Rolling, of Glenwood, and 47-year-old Brent William Michael, of Malvern, were taken into custody.

Rolling was charged with Possession of Methamphetamine/1st offense. Brent Michael was charged with Poss. of Marijuana/1st offense. Both were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond, each.

Sac-Crawford-Carroll-Audubon-Guthrie-Cass Counties…Elevated Fire Weather Danger and Strong Winds in Western Iowa Today…

South winds increase by late morning through the afternoon with gusts in excess of 40 mph likely at times. This may blow around loose, lightweight objects and create difficult driving conditions for high profile vehicles, especially on west to east
routes. The strong winds combined with low RH values in the 30 percent range will lead to fire weather concerns this afternoon. Any fire starts will have the potential to become out of control and spread quickly.

Scattered field and ditch fires occurred Tuesday afternoon in southwest Iowa, including a corn field off 720th, between Seattle and Tucson Roads. Massena and Cumberland Fire crews were dispatched to the scene at around 4:57-p.m. Another fire was reported in Harrison County.

As  reminder, Burn Bans are in effect for nine southwest Iowa Counties until further notice.

(Radio Iowa) – Two former T-V journalists are running to represent Iowa’s new second congressional district. Republican Ashley Hinson of Marion, who worked at K-C-R-G in Cedar Rapids for a decade, is seeking a second term in the U.S. House. Democratic challenger Liz Mathis of Hiawatha, a state senator, was a news anchor for two and a half decades at K-W-W-L in Waterloo, then at K-C-R-G. They are running in the new second congressional district, which includes the cities of Grinnell, Mason City and Dubuque as well as Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.

The latest data shows nearly equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters in the area. University of Northern Iowa political science professor Donna Hoffman uses the word “swingy” to describe the district. “If you just look at the last 20 years, it was represented by Republican Jim Nussle and then Democrat Bruce Braley and then Republican Rod Blum and then Democrat Abby Finkenauer and now Republican Ashley Hinson,” Hoffman says, “and so people nationally who look at House races have moved this race more competitive.”

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report lists Iowa’s second district as among 88 competitive U.S. House races, with a current rating of leans Republican. Hoffman says there’s a degree of uncertainty in this race, like many others around the country. “For example, we don’t know what effect the Dobbs decision might have on activating Democrats to vote in a midterm election, whereas they might have stayed home,” Hoffman says. “We don’t know how much Republicans will be activated by their concerns about the economy and inflation.”

Loras College professor Christopher Budzisz says there have been a barrage of commercials in this race, but the advertising strategies have been fairly traditional. “Whatever the nationalized, negative element is, both candidates have tried to hit on that,” Budzisz says, “which I think is symptomatic of the kind of nationalization of these congressional races, no matter if it’s in the second district or other parts of Iowa.”

Budzisz says there’s a lot of head scratching about early voting trends, since Iowa election law changes shortened the duration of early voting. That makes it hard to compare this year’s data with what was happening in the week before the midterm election in 2018.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is proposing that congress issue fines to the Internal Revenue Service if the agency oversteps its plan to hire more auditors. “Follow up on what the Democrats said they were going to use this money for, that they’re only going to use this money against people that make $400,000 and corporations,” Grassley says. “We don’t believe that.”

This summer, President Biden approved the plan congressional Democrats passed that will give the I-R-S 80 billion dollars over the next 10 years to modernize agency computers and hire 87-thousand auditors.  “They did this without providing any oversight mechanisms to make sure that money is wisely spent,” Grassley says. Grassley is proposing that the I-R-S submit plans to congress on how it intends to spend each year’s allotment. If the agency doesn’t follow its plan, Grassley says the agency should forfeit some of its budget, as a fine.

Other Republicans have proposed shifting the spending from the I-R-S to the Border Patrol. It’s unlikely President Biden would rescind the plan to hire more auditors to go after wealthy Americans who have failed to pay the taxes they owe. The I-R-S estimates about 15 percent of federal taxes owed are not paid.

(Radio Iowa) – The monthly survey of business leaders across Iowa and eight other states finds the region’s economy remains weak and improved only slightly. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the survey ranks the economy on a zero to 100 scale, with 50 being growth neutral. “The overall index rose from September’s 52.7 to October’s 53.1, but this is only the second increase in the last seven months,” Goss says, “so I would still place the manufacturing economy of the Mid-American states in a slow-to-no growth stage.”

Iowa’s overall Business Conditions Index for October sank below growth neutral to 49.8, falling from September’s 50.9. Supply managers across the region were asked about what they see as their biggest obstacles for the rest of the year and Goss says their responses focused on four key areas. “Supply chain disruptions remains the number-one challenge, one third indicated that,” Goss says. “Labor shortages, about one-fourth indicated that. Higher input costs, of course, growing there. That rose significantly from last month up to almost one-third, and then higher interest rates, likewise, increased as the Federal Reserve raised rates.”

One telling factor on the October survey, Goss says, is how the Economic Confidence Index is at its lowest point since March of 2020 when the wide impact of the pandemic first kicked in. Also, hiring levels in Iowa and across the region are still lagging. “Some of that, just the inability to get the workers, find the workers, hire the workers, that’s a big, big issue,” Goss says. “The regional employment is still down from pre-COVID levels, and we’re seeing a loss since COVID of about 77,000 workers across the nine-state region.”

Inflation rates are still high, but Goss says they’re dropping and are now at the lowest level since August of 2020. He predicts inflation may reach six-percent during the fourth quarter.