(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Atlantic School District Superintendent Steve Barber reports during a special, closed session this (Wednesday) morning, the School Board accepted the resignation of High School Science (Chemistry/Conceptual Chemistry & Physics) Teacher James Todd. No other information, including an explanation for the resignation was given.

Mr. James Todd (ACSD staff photo)

(Omaha, NE) – The Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event offers free and anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide.

Drug overdoses are up almost 30 percent over the last year alone and claiming more than 286 lives every day. The majority of opioid addictions in America start with prescription pills obtained from a family member or friend. Take Back Day is a chance to clean out medicine cabinets and get rid of unneeded medication to help prevent medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.

Collection sites will be located around the country and will be collecting tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs — safely and anonymously. Drop off your unneeded medication between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm (in your time zone).

Locally, there is a prescription drug drop-off box just outside of the Atlantic Police Department offices inside City Hall. Elsewhere:

• At the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office
• The Council Bluffs Police Dept. (Walgreens)
• The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office
• The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office,
• and, the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s office reports several arrests took place since the beginning of the month. On April 3rd, 46-year-old Carrie Lynn Kellogg, of Atlantic, was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 59. Kellogg was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Prohibited Acts, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Improper Rear Lamps, and No Valid Driver’s License.

On the 6th, four Harlan residents were arrested following the execution of a search warrant at a residence in Harlan:

• 36-year-old Zachary Thomas Scheffler was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Gathering where Marijuana is used.
• 31-year-old Kaleigh Marie Turner was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
• 32-year-old Jacob Brady Scheffler was charged with Gathering where Marijuana is used.
• and, 38-year-old Amber Leigh Lind was arrested on an active warrant out of Shelby County for Possession of a Controlled Substance, Prohibited Acts, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.  Lind was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged also with Gathering where Marijuana is used.

On April 7th, 24-year-old Justin Andrew Dickinson, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County Warrant for Burglary 3rd Degree. On the 9th, 28-year-old Gunnar Michael Blum, of Kimballton, was arrested following a traffic stop in Elk Horn. Blum was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Driving while License Denied or Revoked, Operating a Non-Registered Vehicle, and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability.

On April 13th, 42-year-old Mark Corwin Gunderson, of Shelby, was arrested following a call for service at a residence in Shelby.  Gunderson was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault 1st offense. On the 15th, Shelby County Deputies arrested 33-year-old Brittany Marie Barker, of Shelby, on an active Shelby County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault 1st offense.

And, on April 1st, 36-year-old James Robert McConnell, of Manilla, was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 191. McConnell was transported to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI 1st, open container, and speeding.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County, Tuesday, arrested a woman wanted on a drug-related warrant. The Sheriff’s Department reports 57-year-old Sheryl Lynn Clark, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on the warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1^st Offense. Clark was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(UPDATE/Radio Iowa) – Former Vice President Mike Pence will be one of the featured speakers this Saturday at the Iowa Republican Fourth District convention in Carroll. Woodbury County G-O-P chairman Bob Henderson expects a big turnout. “We are going to have, I believe somewhere in their neighborhood of about 300 delegates and probably at close to 100, maybe 150 alternate delegates, but then there will be a number of observers.” There will be candidates for various offices, not only statewide but also federal offices who will be there who will speak as well, Henderson says.

He says they will discuss several issues. “The convention, of course, is to do things like passing the platform that has been worked on to a large extent, in fact by the platform committee. And of course, delegates have the opportunity of bringing amendments to the forefront during that time,” Henderson says. “And of course, the way this works is the four district conventions will put together all of the platforms that they have and then that gets passed to the state.” Henderson says Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra and Vice President Pence will serve breakfast to convention delegates Saturday in Carroll from 9:30 a-m to 10 a-m. “I know that Randy’s a pretty good cook. I don’t know about Vice President Pence, I don’t know what his cooking skills are like — but we’re going to find out on Saturday,” Henderson says.

Pence was the special guest last year at Feenstra’s first annual family picnic in Sioux Center The Fourth District convention begins at 10 a-m at Carroll High School. Pence will also speak at the Story County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Highway dinner on Saturday. That event is at the Ames Golf and Country Club at 6 p.m. Tickets are $75.

AMES, Iowa — Officials with the Ames Police Department are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who allegedly assaulted a nurse in the Mary Greeley Medical Center emergency room, Monday night.

Authorities say at around 9:45 p.m., a man entered the hospital and assaulted a nurse at the front counter. He then left, heading southbound from the hospital. Anyone with information is asked to call the Ames Police Department at 515-239-5133.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has sent the governor a bill to require that the owners of mobile home parks provide notices of rent increases or utility hikes 90 days in advance. Current law requires 60 days notice. Representative Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, says the bill requires any new mobile home park owner to honor existing leases and it gives the residents of manufactured housing an avenue to seek damages if they’re denied essential services, like access to running water.

“This bill provides protections to some of the most vulnerable Iowans and it increases their rights under Iowa law,” Sinclair said. Democrats voted against the measure, saying it does little to address the concerns of mobile home park residents. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says mobile home park residents in his area are frightened they’ll be unable to keep up with sizable rent increases.

“We can do better than this, Mr. President,” Wahls said. “Let’s vote this bill down and start over.” The owners of mobile home parks lease the lots on which the manufactured housing sits. Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames, a Democrat, says the economics are tilted. “The park owner essentially can hold the owner of the mobile home hostage,” Quirmbach says. “They can’t afford to move it.” Sinclair says the bill strikes a balance between landlords and tenants — and is far better than doing nothing at all.

“I understand that it might not be everything that everybody wants, but sometimes striking that balance means that not everybody is happy with the end result,” Sinclair says. The House passed the bill earlier this month, with two Democrats joining Republicans in voting for it.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Officials with the Red Oak Police Department, Tuesday, reported the arrest on April 19th, of 43-year-old David Francis Hughes Jr., of Red Oak. Hughes was arrested for Violation of a Protection Order. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – Michigan-based nonprofit Trinity Health has announced an agreement to acquire all MercyOne health care facilities in Iowa. MercyOne C-E-O Bob Brits says National Catholic Health Systems came together in Iowa in 1998 to pull together their ministries to improve access and availability of health care services in Sioux City, Dubuque Mason City, Clinton, and Central Iowa and Illinois. He says they made multiple changes to adapt and this is another one.

“We reached a point with you know the infrastructure, the need to have one I-T system one billing system, one accounting system,” Brits says. He says they have worked for months to come up with a plan. “That resulted in an agreement with Common Spirit Health which owns the Central Iowa Ministries and Trinity Health — which has ministries in Sioux City, Mason City, Dubuque, and Clinton. And both of them own half of health care facilities in Waterloo and Elkader,” Brits says. “Now Trinity Health will take full ownership of the entire MercyOne system of care in Iowa.” Brits says this was something that has been discussed for years — but was never thought possible.

“And yet here we sit today sharing this update with our 20-thousand colleagues in our communities, our providers, our physicians about how happy we are to be able to present a future plan that is wrapped around our concept of oneness,” according to Brits. Trinity Health’s Mike Slubowski, says things have been operating well in the last 24 years and they are hoping to keep it that way.

“There’s a point in time for every organization to evaluate how best to serve and is to Catholic systems we’ve found that this was the best opportunity for us to provide support for common platforms for future planning for other partnerships,” Slobowski says. MercyOne’s Iowa network includes 16 medical centers and 27 affiliate organizations. The health system serves more than three-point-three million Iowans every year. Brits says they don’t expect this merger to save any money — but it could help improve the efficiency of the operations.

The two non-profits will work together on the integration to Trinity and expect it to be completed this summer.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials are buying more ad time on Facebook and YouTube to market Iowa nationally as a destination for tourists and upgrading the state-maintained “Travel Iowa” website. Governor Kim Reynolds says it means adding more video from top tourist spots like the Loess Hills and the Iowa State Fair.

“And for the first time — it’s a little risky, but we’re out there — we’re touting Iowa’s beauty in all four seasons. We just need to own it. From zip lining through the fall foliage of Dubuque — I’ve done that — to skiing down the Seven Oaks in Boone, we’re doing it all,” Reynolds says. “We’re showing it all and we’re also investing more in local marketing efforts.” That includes a new, one million dollar state-funded initiative with the Iowa Restaurant Association and Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association to market Iowa as a destination for business travel, festivals and sporting events.

Reynolds was the opening speaker at the Iowa Tourism Conference — the first time in two years the conference is being held in-person. “You know, we have a great story to tell and there’s never, ever been a better time to do so,” Reynolds says. A video series is being launched called “The Soul of Iowa” with an initial showing tonight (Tuesday) in Des Moines.

“I don’t want to say too much and spoil the surprise, but you’ll find it showcases the state in an entirely fresh perspective,” Reynolds says. Reynolds says the state has used federal pandemic relief funds to make unprecedented investments in tourism. Last month, the governor awarded Iowa’s commercial airports 100 million dollars in federal funding and this month she announced another 100 million dollars in pandemic relief would be handed out as grants to upgrade existing tourist sites and build new ones. The governor says more than 41 million adults visited Iowa in 2021.

“Iowa saw the second-highest road trip recovery rate in the nation during the first two months of 2022,” Reynolds says. “Road trips in Iowa during that time were 15% higher than they were in 2019.” Reynolds says that’s a stat that shows it makes sense to do more to promote winter travel destinations in the state.