The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce will host a Meet the Candidates Forum this Thursday, November 3rd, from 7-8 p.m. at the Cass County Community Center.  Megan Roberts, Executive Director of the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, says “With the number of candidates, particularly in the Supervisor race, we anticipate this forum will be full of great questions from the citizens of Atlantic.”   Roberts says “The Chamber Board chooses to offer these forums as a public service to encourage community involvement.”  

According to Roberts, all five of the County Supervisor candidates will be in attendance including Gaylord Schelling, Jeff Richter, Donald Lappe, Pat McCurdy and Kathy Somers.  Atlantic Parks & Recreation Board candidates Jolene Smith and Mary Strong also plan to attend. One City Council representative, Ashley Hayes for District 3, will also be at the forum. 

Questions can be presented in writing to the Chamber office in advance or brought to the forum Nov. 3rd. A moderator will then ask the panel of candidates each question allowing them all the same allotted time to answer. Questions for individual candidates will not be permitted, and no anonymous inquiries will be accepted.

Roberts said the forum will air on Channel 18 on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. for those who are unable to attend. For more information contact the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712.243.3017

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), agreed to allow Public Safety Commission chairman Steve Livengood, the opportunity to begin a fact-finding mission in advance of a possible, future expansion and/or relocation of the County Communications Center. Livengood said the reason the Commission wants to explore all the options, is because the Comm Center…located in the basement of the Courthouse, is beginning to run out of room, and future equipment needs are likely to press the space to the limit. Livengood said future, Enhanced 9-1-1 upgrades will require new equipment, and quite possibly, additional personnel to run that equipment. Livengood said the fact-finding mission could include observation of other how other 9-1-1 centers operate, an addition to the courthouse, relocation of the Comm Center, and, in the distant future, the possibility of a shared Communications Center with one or more counties or entities. He says the State Patrol may be one of those entities that figures into a future equation. Livengood says it‘s simply an opportunity to explore all the options now, instead of being forced to make a rush decision in the future.

Cass County 9-1-1 Coordinator Rob Koppert says constantly changing technology in methods of communicating with 9-1-1 is the main reason for the Public Safety Commission to explore all the options.  He says communications centers are or will be receiving 9-1-1 text messages and picture or video from the scene of an emergency. All of that requires equipment which will not fit into the current Comm. Center confines.  Koppert says it will likely require and expansion of the current facilities or relocation, and at least one or two more personnel to operate the additional equipment 24/7. He said the likelihood of a “Regional Communications Center” — with two-or-three combined counties and or other entities, is not expected anytime soon, for technical reasons, and because no one has seriously explored that option at this point in time.

Roger C. Underwood, Co-Founder Becker-Underwood

An Atlantic High School Graduate and co-founder of the world’s leading supplier of non-pesticide specialty chemical and biological products has been appointed to a State panel tasked with helping to steer Iowa’s economic development strategy. Roger Underwood, was among the 18 names announced today (Monday) by Governor Terry Branstad. Underwood will serve on the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress (IPEP)Board, which Branstad says will be central to his approach to economic development, which gives businesses a strengthened hand.

The governor last week signed an executive order creating the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress board of directors. Branstad also named the members of the Iowa Innovation Corporation board, which will head a nonprofit corporation funded by the private sector and federal grants that will seek to develop new technologies.

Both panels have been told to shape new approaches to economic development.

w/ Ric Hanson

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w/ Ric Hanson

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Police in Council Bluffs say two persons got away with an undetermined amount of cash following a robbery late Sunday night at a convenience store. Officials say two white men entered the Kum and Go store at 154 Bennett Avenue in Council Bluffs just after 11-p.m., and demanded money from the clerk. The men, armed with a baseball bat and a mechanic’s hammer, were said to have been in their 20’s. The clerk was not injured.

One of the suspects wore a black coat, blue jeans, white tennis shoes and a black ski mask. He’s about 5-feet 11-inches tall, and weighed about 200-pounds. The second suspect was also wearing a black coat, and blue jeans. He wore black shoes, and had a  black bandana covering his face.  He was said to be about 5-feet 11-inches tall, and about 170-pounds.

Officials say the case remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Council Bluffs Police at 712-328-4728.

Authorities in Page County say a Shenandoah man was arrested Sunday on a burglary charge, following an investigation into an incident which occurred over the weekend. According to Shenandoah Police, 22-year old Jonathan Million was arrested Sunday morning on charges of Theft, and Burglary in the 3rd degree.  Million was being held at the Page County Jail in Clarinda,  on $2,000 bond.

HOPKINS, Mo. (AP) – An accident early Saturday morning in northwest Missouri claimed the lives of three people, including a current student at, and an alum of, Southwestern Community College, in Creston. The Missouri State Patrol says the crash occurred at around 2:15-a.m. Saturday, one half mile east of Hopkins.

Officials say a pickup driven by 22-year old Scott R. Woods, of Hopkins, ran off the road, overturned and caught fire. Woods refused treatment at the scene. Three passengers in the vehicle were killed. Two passengers suffered serious injuries, while another had only minor injuries. None of the seven people in the pickup were wearing their seatbelts.

Those who died in the crash were identified as 21-year-old Joshua Bix and 22-year-old Benjamin McIntyre, both of Hopkins, and 18-year-old Chrystal Olerich, of Lake View, Iowa. Bix graduated from SWCC in Creston, where Olerich was a freshman volleyball player.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports a Creston woman was arrested Sunday afternoon following  a traffic stop on Highway 25.  Offcials say 52-year old Renae Michelle Scott was driving a 1993 Dodge Dakota pickup when she was pulled over at around 2:30-p.m., for not having plates on the vehicle and having a cracked windshield. Scott was charged with Driving While Suspended, and brought to the Adams County Jail.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported after an SUV hit a bridge railing Saturday morning southeast of Coburg.  According to the sheriff’s report, the Montgomery County Communications Center received a call at around 8:10-a.m. Saturday, about an abandoned vehicle which had collided with a bridge railing on G Avenue, about three-quarters of a mile south of 270th Street.

An investigation determined 19-year old Tasha Treat, of Red Oak, was driving a 2003 Jeep Liberty north on G Avenue, when the SUV left the road and hit the bridge railing, causing $8,000 damage to the Jeep, and $3,000 damage to the bridge railing and signs.

No charges have been filed at this time.