Officials with Connections Area Agency on Aging (AAA) say the organization is looking to fill open positions on their Board of Directors. The opening are for professional volunteers who want to help develop and approves the service planning and the budget for 20 counties in western, southwestern and southern Iowa.

Board members meet on the last Thursday of each month, and serve three year terms of service. Connections AAA is looking for candidates with the following skills: Marketing, strategic planning, fund development, and disability services but we also value other unique skill sets and the commitment to make a positive impact on seniors is critical.

If interested, please contact Kelly Butts at Connections AAA – email to kbutts@connectionsaaa.org or phone 800/432-9209 ext. 1013 to declare your interest and receive an application form. If you’ve been looking for some place to apply your leadership skills, and if you care about quality of life for Iowa’s seniors, you should consider applying for a Board position.

The Nodaway Valley and CAM School Districts are closer to an agreement that would allow the districts to share one Superintendent, save money and receive incentive funds. The Nodaway Valley School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to enter into a sharing agreement for the services of a superintendent, with the CAM School District.

It’s expected the CAM School Board will approve the agreement during their meeting this coming week. If that happens, the arrangement would help to off-set recent budget cuts at Nodaway Valley, and maybe reverse some of those decisions.

Both districts stand to benefit from a superintendent sharing agreement, because the Iowa Legislature approved a new five-year program for operational sharing that allows cooperative districts to count eight additional students for each of the next five-years, which amounts to about $50,000 per year.

The Young Professionals of Atlantic spent an evening flying kites with kids at the YMCA, recently. YPA President Kevin Weiser said “It is great to spend quality time with these kids. We want to give them fun, positive activities to look forward too.”

The next YPA mentorship activity will be May 20th at the YMCA. YPA Civic Engagement Chair Hans Krengel said “We are just getting started and hope to recruit more YPA mentors for the program.”

If you are interested in joining the YPA Mentor Program contact the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-2017,  or e-mail chamber@atlanticiowa.com.

Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes is putting out a call to all honorably discharged veterans in the County, in hopes they will apply to fill a seat on the Cass County Veterans Commission.  Applicants must be honorably discharged veteran who reside in Cass County.

The three-year Commission term begins on July 1st, 2014. To apply for the position,  you must provide provide proof of military service, and meet the requirements outlined in Iowa Code 35.1.

The deadline for applications is May 30th, 2014. For applications and more information, contact the Veterans Affairs office at the Cass County Courthouse, 5 W. 7th St., Atlantic, IA 50022, or call 712-243-6662.”

A collision in Atlantic Thursday afternoon caused $7,000 damage altogether, but no one was injured. The Atlantic Police Department reports a vehicle driven by Ty Jordan, of Atlantic, rear-ended a vehicle driven by Tammie Jens, of Lewis, at the intersection of 7th and Olive Streets. The accident took place at around 4:20-p.m., as Jens was stopped at the traffic lights headed eastbound on 7th Street. Jordan was cited for Failure to Maintain Control, and No Proof of Insurance.

Audubon County Sheriff Todd Johnson reports one-person was arrested early this (Friday) morning following an investigation into an incident in Exira that allegedly occurred late Thursday night. 49-year old David Lee Nelson, of Exira, was arrested at around 12:50-a.m. on a charge of Domestic Assault.

Nelson was being held without bond in the Audubon County Jail, pending an appearance before the Magistrate.

(9-a.m. News)

Residents in Harlan will see an increase in electricity rates starting in July. In a board of trustees meeting Thursday, Harlan Municipal Utilities set in motion to approve a four percent increase in electric rates starting on July 1st. The board approved the recommendation from John Burmeister of Public Financial Management (PFM). Burmeister proposed the recommendation at a previous HMU board meeting in April.

In other news, HMU said a transformer along Industrial Avenue in Harlan failed on Wednesday afternoon causing a disruption in the distribution system. The failure led to a loss of power to customers in the south 12th Street area of Harlan. The outage began around 3:40pm on Wednesday and crews were able to restore power to all customers by 4:30.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

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The use of food stamps in Cass County increased during the recession, assisting families in stretching their food dollars, contributing to local spending and helping spark a national debate about the future of the federal nutrition program. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies, says according to the U-S Dept. of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services, the proportion of Cass County residents receiving food stamps hit 14.2 percent in 2011. That’s an increase of 5.5 percentage points since 2007, the year the recession started.

Across Iowa, 13.1 percent of residents in 2011 received support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as the food stamp program is officially known. Nationally, 14.8 percent of the population receives SNAP benefits. Places like Cass County, which are located outside metropolitan areas, tend to have a higher percentage of the population receiving SNAP benefits. That’s because incomes are generally lower in nonmetropolitan counties.

The inflation-adjusted median household income in Cass County in 2011 was $42,805, compared to the Iowa median of $51,314 and the national median of $52,306 (in 2013 dollars). Food stamps may play a larger role in the local economy in rural areas and small towns, according to federal data. In Cass County SNAP benefits are one-tenth (.1) percent of personal income. Nationally, the figure is 0.6 percent. In 2011, residents of Cass County received a combined $2,551,998 in SNAP benefits. The USDA reports that each $5 in SNAP benefits generates $9.20 in spending.