The Panama One-Room School Museum announces that their annual summer social and fundraiser will take place on Sunday, September 17th from 4:00-7:00PM.

The summer social will begin with a flag raising at 4:00 at the schoolhouse museum in Panama. Following the fundraiser, the community can gather to share memories about their schoolhouse experiences. Supper will be held at the Parish Hall from 5:00-7:00PM at 2nd St. and Highway 191 in Panama.

“This year we are excited to include artifacts from former kindergarten teacher Doris Klein, who taught in the Panama and Portsmouth one room schools,” says Kathleen Cue, President of the Panama Historic One Room School Museum Board. “Her teacher’s book, along with teacher’s books dating back to 1899, will be featured.”

The Panama One-Room School Museum served as the Washington No. 7 schoolhouse from 1926 until 1959. The building was constructed in 1926 following the destruction of the original building and moved to its current location in Panama, Iowa in 1960. It continued to house kindergarten and elementary school classes until 2002. Today, the school building continues to educate Shelby County residents as a museum and is open by appointment May through October.

State Auditor Rob Sand Tuesday alerted Iowa school districts and government entities to be on the lookout for check scams and fraudulent emails instructing them to redirect payments.

“This kind of fraud is on the rise and can happen to anyone. A year ago, I was personally targeted by email scammers trying to redirect my paycheck. Fortunately, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services contacted me to confirm the email was fake,” said Sand. “That’s why it’s so important to be vigilant and develop internal controls and procedures to detect and prevent fraud.”

Two unidentified Iowa school districts recently informed the Auditor’s Office that they were the target of scams involving fake checks and emails.

In the first instance, the perpetrators sent a fake email to the school district directing them to send payments to a new address. The scam, known as Business Email Compromise (BEC), resulted in the district being defrauded of approximately $100,000.

In the second instance, the perpetrators created fake checks that included the district’s account and routing numbers. They successfully cashed two checks at area banks totaling $10,400.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a nationwide alert in February warning of a surge in check fraud. It cited a 23 percent increase in check fraud complaints from financial institutions in 2021, compared to the previous year. The increase is linked to an uptick in the theft of checks sent through the mail.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has made mitigating the BEC threat a priority, noting in a 2022 report that losses from BEC crimes jumped from $360 million in 2016, to $2.4 billion in 2021.

The Auditor’s Office advises school districts and government entities to monitor financial accounts for irregularities, including unauthorized withdrawals or missing deposits. Requests to redirect payments should be independently verified by calling the vendor directly. Contact information contained in the suspect email or other correspondence should not be used to verify the payment method. Additionally, public entities should institute policies and procedures to prevent fraud.

Book bans were the subject of a hearing before the U-S Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he sees it all as being about parental rights.  The Iowa legislature passed a bill this past session that became law which requires Iowa schools to remove most books that depict sex acts from classrooms and school libraries.  Grassley refused to offer an opinion on the state law.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, says the hearing is called: “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature.”

The new state law has left some school administrators uncertain how to proceed on certain books.  Some school boards have started issuing lists of books they’re pulling from shelves, while others have requested instruction from state education leaders. Grassley says the law should be clear about what books are inappropriate for certain ages.

The new state law will take effect in January.  Some nationally-known authors have criticized Iowa’s legislature for the law as their books are among those being banned in some schools.

Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) was recognized as the Iowa rural public transit system with the largest ridership in fiscal year 2021 by the Federal Transit Administration during the Breakfast of Transit Champions at the 2023 Midwest Transit Conference in Kansas City on September 8th.

SWITA has continued to show tremendous growth in ridership despite the decline many other agencies have seen since the pandemic. The award itself was delayed because of the pandemic. For the award year (2021) SWITA provided 377,547 rides. SWITA will hold the title for 2022 and 2023 as well with 480,229 rides and an unprecedented 526,300 rides respectively. Workforce ridership is one specific area of growth for SWITA and ridership has more than doubled from fiscal year 2020 at 43,363 rides to fiscal year 2023 at 99,286 rides. SWITA transportation is available for all residents in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties.

SWIPCO Executive Director John McCurdy said, “Awards because of big numbers are nice, but what is really important is what those numbers represent. SWITA is getting people in Southwest Iowa where they need to go—including to work, school, and medical appointments. The SWITA staff bend over backwards to meet the needs of our clients because they know every trip is important to that client.”

SWITA transportation is accessible to everyone including the disabled population and elderly. SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal care attendant rides free. SWITA transportation is affordable: taxi rides are $2.50 per trip or $2.00 per trip for elderly clients (60 years and older) with collaboration from Connenctions Area Agency on Aging; medical trips are $30 per hour; Summer Fun Bus rides are $1 per trip or $40 for the full summer; other special trips are $40 per hour.

SWITA Transit Director Mark Lander said, “SWITA is one of the few Rural Public Transit Agencies in Iowa that has routes running 24/7 and we were the only public transit agency in the state that saw ridership gains during the pandemic. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the men and women at SWITA that work day in and day out to get the people of Southwest Iowa where they need to go!”

For questions or to request a ride, contact SWITA at 712-243-2518 or 1-800-842-8065.

One person was reportedly taken by local EMS to the hospital after a pair of vehicles collided Monday in Atlantic.  The crash happened at the intersection of Linn and Seventh Streets just after 5:00 pm.  An SUV driven by Robert Hitch of Atlantic and a pickup truck driven by Floyd Knop of Hancock were involved.  Police say Knop was southbound at the intersection and failed to obey a stop sign, striking the Hitch vehicle which was westbound.  Hitch was taken to the hospital with what were described as non-life threatening injuries.  Knop was taken to the hospital by private vehicle as a precaution.  Knop was charged with failing to obey a stop sign.  Total damage to the two vehicles was estimated at $23,000.

Atlantic Police also report that on September 1, 2023, 22 year old Mikayla Waldron of Atlantic was arrested for Theft 5th degree.  She was cited into court and released.

On, September 2, 2023, 36 year old Louis Chipenson of Atlantic was cited for Operating While Under the Influence 2nd Offense and Public Intoxication.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

On September 6, 2023, 20 year old Jarrit Smith of Atlantic was charged with Possession of Controlled Substance 1st Offense and Possession of Controlled Substance (marijuana).  He turned himself in on his warrants, posted bond and was released.

On September 8, 2023, 29 year old Edward Parrott Jr. of Council Bluffs was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

Also on September 8th, 38 year old Tyler Pottorff of Anita was cited for Disorderly Conduct.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.

On September 9, 2023, 32 year old Cody Pleis of Atlantic was charged for Violation of No Contact Order.  He was taken into custody and transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked in and held.