The City of Atlantic’s Board of Adjustment will hold a Public Hearing Tuesday morning, in the Council’s chambers at City Hall. During the hearing at 7:30, the Board will consider a variance application by Judy Miller, at 406 East 10^th Street, in Atlantic, that would allow for the construction of a residential storage shed that exceeds the rear and side yard setback requirements, as stated in the City’s Code of Ordinances.

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) – With a surplus of hay in Iowa and a shortage in the southwest, a Clovis, New Mexico, pastor is working to bring hay to area farmers and ranchers in need. Pastor Bonita Knox with the Trinity Lutheran Church says they’re gauging the need. Knox says the issue of moving surplus hay to shortage areas came up when an Iowa farmer was seated next to a Texas rancher during a mid-August nationwide gathering of Lutherans in Florida. The conversation grew to a plan, now known as “Hay Lift.”

Knox says she jumped at the chance to include the Eastern Plains in the relief effort. Now Knox is putting out a call to the community to tell her how much hay is needed so that she can report back by Tuesday morning.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs has reopened its entrance to a pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River to Nebraska. The city closed off access to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in early July due to safety issues. The Missouri River was at a record flood level for weeks but has been receding. The bridge was reopened at the Iowa side on Saturday. The 3,000-foot bridge’s entrance in Omaha has remained open.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have reopened stretches of the Missouri River in South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri to boat traffic. The Coast Guard announced Saturday that the river is open from just below Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, S.D., to the southern border of Ponca State Park in Nebraska. The river is also open to boats from St. Louis to about 10 miles upriver from Kansas City, Mo. The river has been closed to boat traffic for months amid record flooding.

The Coast Guard warns that the river remains high and boaters should use caution, particularly near levees.

A three-term Republican member of the Cass County Board of Supervisors passed away Saturday, at his home in Atlantic. Charles “Chuck” Kinen, who had been re-elected to his fourth, four-year term, last Fall, had suffered from pancreatic cancer. Auditor Dale Sunderman says Kinen was first elected as a Cass County Supervisor in 1998. He assumed his duties on November 10th, 1998, following a canvass of the 1998 General Election.  He immediately succeeded incumbent Julie Schmidt, who resigned from the Board to move out of state, along with her husband, where he was moving his opthamology practice.  Kinen served as chair of the Board of Supervisors in 2006 and 2007.

Current Board Chair Duane McFadden said Kinen was a faithful public servant to the residents of Cass County.

Dmf1 (McFadden said Kinen would always strive to be at the various committee meetings he volunteered to attend, and he will be missed, because he played a role in moving the county forward.)

Kinen had been in hospice care for about two-weeks prior to his return home. McFadden said there is a process that is in-place to fill Kinen’s position on the board.

Dmf2  (He says the county auditor, treasurer and recorder will schedule interviews with persons who apply and are interested in filling the position.)

 It’s not clear how soon that process will begin, though, especially with the Labor Day weekend closing down the courthouse until Tuesday.

Funeral services for Chuck Kinen will be held Wednesday morning, in Atlantic. Duane McFadden said the courthouse will shut down for one-hour prior to and after the services at 11:30-a.m, so that county employees may attend his funeral.

Audubon Mayor Sam Kauffman says today’s Veteran’s program at the Audubon City Park (11-a.m.) has been moved inside to the Memorial Building, due to the weather.

A firefighter in Council Bluffs has been charged with arson, in connection with an early morning car fire which occurred in mid-February. 44-year old Henry Hinkel II, is accused of second-degree arson and fraudulent submissions to an insurer in a car fire that took place at around 3:30-a.m. on February 21^st in Hinkel‘s driveway.

According to court documents, the fire destroyed Hinkel’s 2002 Jaguar. In an arrest warrant affidavit, State Fire Marshal investigator John Ticer wrote that his investigation determined an “ignitable liquid (gasoline)” was used to light the vehicle on fire. The court document also said the car was normally kept in the garage but was in the driveway that morning. The affidavit said Hinkel had a video surveillance camera monitoring the driveway, but the car was parked outside of the camera’s view. The camera does not show Hinkel until after the fire.

Council Bluffs Fire Chief Alan Byers said he has been advised not to comment on the charges. He directed questions about the case to the City Attorney’s Office. City Attorney Richard Wade was not available for comment, Friday. A trial in the matter is set for Nov. 22nd. Hinkel has been released on his own recognizance.

Here’s the latest area news, from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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Thunderstorms bringing winds gusting up to 60-miles per hour may have been responsible for a power outage in Elk Horn Friday night, and an accident on Interstate 80 near Avoca. The Elk Horn Fire and Rescue Department reported on its Facebook page at around 11-p.m. Friday, a large part of the community was without power. Officials with Mid-American Energy were working to restore power to the community, and as of early this (Saturday) morning, there was only one customer in Shelby County who was reported to be without electricity.

Elk Horn Fire officials said at the time also, that there were no immediate signs of damage from the storms that passed through the area, other than a few trees branches down.

Severe storm warnings were issued at around 9-p.m., Friday, for southeastern Harrison, northern Pottawattamie and southwestern Shelby Counties. At 9:32-p.m., a 60-mile per hour gust of wind was recorded in Shelby. The Iowa Department of Transportation reported, that at about that same time, a semi jack-knifed on Interstate 80 westbound, at the Avoca exit. A detour was established and the road reopened to traffic about 90-minutes later. There were no reports of injuries.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued as well, for Audubon, Carroll, northwestern Greene and southwestern Guthrie Counties, at around 9:40-p.m. The National Weather Service said a 60-mile per hour wind gust occurred just before 11-p.m., two-miles northeast of Guthrie Center, as the storms maintained their intense winds, having moved northeast out of Cass and Audubon Counties.

The state’s Latino population grew by nearly 84 percent in the past decade. The U.S. Census Bureau has released a variety of detailed information about Latinos in Iowa. A county-by-county analysis shows 24 percent of the residents in Crawford County are Latino. Denison is the largest city in Crawford County and the Census shows 42 percent of the city’s residents are Latino.  There were other Iowa cities with a larger percentage of Latinos.

Sixty-three percent of the people living in the small, southeast Iowa community Conesville are Latinos. More than 52 percent of the residents of West Liberty are Latino. About 42 percent of the population of Columbus Junction is Latino. In northwest Iowa’s Buena Vista County — the Storm Lake area — nearly 23 percent of that county’s population is Latino according to the 2010 Census survey.

(Radio Iowa)