An Atlantic man was arrested Monday on charges of Disorderly Conduct and Harassment in the 3rd degree. Atlantic Police say 24-year old Tyler Mills was booked into the Cass County Jail.

And, an accident at 7th and Olive Streets Monday afternoon caused $11,000 damage, but no one was injured. Authorities say vehicles driven by Shelbie Ferguson, of Atlantic, and Bryson Hall, of Winterset, collided after Hall’s truck cut the turn too short as it was turning left from southbound Olive onto eastbound 7th Street.

No citations were issued.

One person died following an accident this (Tuesday) morning in Pottawattamie County, near Avoca. The accident happened on Highway 83, at around 7:35-a.m. According to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Transportation workers were on location erecting a construction zone sign,  when they saw a vehicle pass by with the male driver appearing to be slumped over, leaning toward the driver’s door.

The workers were nearly struck as the vehicle passed westbound, left the road and came to rest in a harvested cornfield, where DOT Workers rendered aid.

The driver was transported by Avoca Rescue to Myrtue Medical Center-Harlan where he was pronounced deceased.  His name was being withheld pending notification of family. The accident remains under further investigation.

The Atlantic Community School District will need to make some substantial cuts in its budget over the next five years. That was the word Monday night from Iowa Association of School Board Finance Director Gary Sinclair. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein told KJAN News the Sinclair demonstrated a financial planning tool that will enable the district to reign-in its spending practices.

Sinclair showed the Board of Education a model of a five year projection with one-year action tool that looks at past and current budgets, along with current trends. Amstein says the district’s biggest issue is overspending, which is eating into its unspent balance. He says if the district continues with its spending habits without making any adjustments or reductions to the budget, the district’s unspent balance will be at zero, which is not where they want to be.

Amstein says Sinclair pointed out $480,000 needs to be cut in fiscal year 2016 in order to meet the district’s financial goals. The process of reducing costs he says, will be one that will be ongoing over the next two-to three-years. Amstein said the budgeting tool will allow them to examine every spending process and focus on putting together a prioritized list for areas to be reduced.

He says they’re not in a position right now to recommend any cuts. They are and have been looking at reducing costs for the current year’s budget, but he admits that having 80-percent of that committed to salaries, there’s not much they can do with that aspect of the budget.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved a request for Modified Allowable Growth and Supplemental Aid for a Special Education Dept. deficit.  The Special Ed deficit this past year, according to Amstein, was about $460,000.

They also approved several resignations in the Food Service Department, the retirement of a custodian, and the resignation of High School Guidance Secretary Jess Erhman.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office arrested an area man today (Tuesday), following an investigation that dates back to Feb. 27th. Authorities say 38-year old Jason Allison, of Shenandoah, was taken into custody from the Page County Sheriff’s Office, on Delivery of Methamphetamine charge.

Allison was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $50,000 bond.

An official with the Shelby County Health System said today (Tuesday), residents of the County Can be confident in [the] hospital system, which has facilities and proper protective equipment and protocols in place for individuals who contract very contagious diseases.” Public Health Director, Calla Poldberg said in a news release, “Our hospitals and staff are well trained and ready for any public health threat, should the need arise.”

Poldberg says “It’s important to remember Ebola is not a virus spread through the air, and is only contagious if the infected person is having active symptoms. Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to objects such as needles that have been contaminated.
Shelby County Public Health has been and will continue to work closely with the Iowa Department of Public Health to ensure we are ready to respond should the need arise.”

The IDPH has been working with CDC and local public health agencies by:
• Enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cases.
• Developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations.
• Providing recommendations for healthcare infection control and other measures to prevent disease spread.
• Disseminating up-to-date information to the general public, international travelers, and public health partners.
For the latest information on Ebola, visit www.cdc.gov.

Two members of Iowa’s congressional delegation say America needs to do more to seal off its borders to protect residents from the spread of Ebola. Senator Chuck Grassley says President Obama needs to “wise up and take action,” while Congressman Steve King says he’ll propose legislation next month that would bar all flights into the U-S from places like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.  “We need to stop the flights that are coming in from the Ebola parts of the world,” King says. “Let’s get a handle on this, let’s understand it before we make mistakes that cannot be resolved.”

Concerns are mounting after a nurse who cared for an Ebola patient in Texas was diagnosed with that potentially-deadly virus, even though all precautions were supposedly taken to prevent its spread. King says broader restrictions on travel may be warranted. King says, “Not only do we have flights coming in from places like Liberia, we also have people coming from Liberia into places like Central America, where they can travel up through Central America through Mexico and into the United States.”

King, a Republican, says Centers for Disease Control director Thomas Frieden is more concerned about politics than he is our nation’s health. “I have lost a lot of confidence in him,” King says. “When you have someone who is supposed to be giving us clear, concise, objective medical information and instead he gives us political answers. We don’t need PC out of the CDC.” Senator Grassley, also a Republican, says he would “absolutely” support King’s measure when Congress returns from recess, but he says it may not be necessary.

Grassley says, “I would hope that Congressman King doesn’t have to introduce his legislation, because I hope the president’s going to wise up and take action that he has the authority to do, the State Department, Homeland Security have the authority to do it.” An Omaha hospital is treating its second Ebola patient at a special bio-containment unit, one of only four in the country. The virus has killed more than four-thousand people during the latest outbreak, most of them in West Africa.

(Radio Iowa)

One person was critically injured in a single-vehicle accident this (Tuesday) morning, near Avoca. According to our sister station KNOD in Harlan, the crash occurred around 7:30-a.m. on Iowa Highway 83, near Avoca.

The injured person was taken to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, in extremely critical condition.   No further information is available at this time.

Iowa Transportation Commission has approved more than $5.5-million in funding for 12 propjects included in the State Recreational Trails Program. The Commission today (Tuesday) approved $224,437 for the Coon Rapids Connector Trail Underpass (near Coon Rapids), and $700,000 for the Pottawattamie County Trail-Phase I Project (proposed by the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Trail Board).

The State Recreational Trails program was created in 1988 with the purpose of developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and non-motorized trail users. This funding is available to cities, counties, state agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations through an annual application-based program.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of 33-year old Rosie Marie Peterson, of Afton. Peterson was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for theft in the third degree. She was later released on $1000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and Democratic challenger Jack Hatch will face off in their final debate in the race for Iowa governor. Branstad and Hatch will appear in Sioux City on Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theatre. This is last of three debates in the race.

Polls have shown Branstad, who is running for a sixth non-consecutive term, with a sizable lead in the race. He has touted his recent achievements, including a commercial property tax cut and new education spending, as reasons for re-election.

Hatch has argued that he would do more for middle-class families, pledging to raise the minimum wage and create jobs.