Wednesday evening’s City Council meeting in Atlantic was the last official meeting for City Clerk Deb Wheatley Field, who has served the City for over 35-years. City Administrator John Lund took the opportunity to recognize her as a mentor and friend. Lund got some laughs when he said “She has been serving Atlantic since before I was born.” He said also “I see what goes on behind the scenes, and she has the highest level of ethical and professional standards and the City is going to lose a lot when she retires.”

Lund told her “It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to work with you. You bring positive energy to this office and I appreciate working with you as a co-worker, but also as mentor in this field.”

Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones (Right) reads from a plaque presented to Deb Wheatley Field (left) and her husband Jim Field (center).

Mayor Dave Jones also recognized Wheatley Field in his comments to the Council. He said “In January 1996 I became a City Councilman At-Large in Atlantic. I had a lot to learn about how the City of Atlantic was run. The one thing I did notice, was that when questions were asked at Council or Committee meetings, about the budget, what [something] cost or when it was built, or who was the people behind it, they would always say [ask] ‘Deb.’ It did not take me long to realize the wealth of knowledge she has.”

He went on to say “Come budget time, long hours were put in to get our budget ready for the City Council. The City of Atlantic is still in great financial shape and will be into the future because of Deb’s dedicated work.” He concluded by saying “Deb Wheatley Field, the City is going to miss you. Thank you for all you have done for the City of Atlantic.”

Deb and her husband Jim Field stood beside the Mayor as he presented her with a plaque. Deb thanked the Council members, Mayor and past Council members for the opportunity to have served for the past 35-years. She teared up as she said “It has truly been an honor and a privilege. I’m very grateful. Thank you.”

An official retirement party and open house will be held for her in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall on Friday, February 24^th, from 2:30-until 4:30-p.m.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa have arrested a man they say left messages at a high school threatening to kill a transgender student there. The Nevada Public Safety Department says police arrested 65-year-old Mondell Olson, of Ames, on Wednesday after an investigation into that threat and another harassing voicemail left for a Nevada High School teacher.

Authorities say Olson left one message threatening to “kill, brand and cause bodily harm” to the student. Police say the other message for the teacher was sexual in nature. The messages were left Friday and Tuesday.

Olson has been charged with three counts of harassment and remained Wednesday in the Story County Jail in lieu of $4,300 bond.

A special state investigation of the South Iowa Area Crime Commission finds the former leader of the organization that serves 15 counties misused its credit cards. State Auditor Mary Mosiman says her office was called in to investigate the credit card use of former executive director, Matt Murphy. “Our investigation identified a little over 13-thousand dollars of improper and unsupported credit card charges, interest and late fees,” Mosiman says. “The 13-thousand-162 dollars of improper charges identified included personal purchases made at convenience stores, retail vendors and grocery stores. And it also included meal costs that exceeded the authorized per diem amount.”

Mosiman says the overall loss of dollars to the commission was well below the amount of improper purchases. “Though Mr. Murphy did provide payment on most of these personal purchases made with the commission’s credit card — the commission did ultimately pay for a little over 11-hundred dollars of Mr. Murphy’s personal expenditures,” Mosiman says.

The commission provides transportation for juveniles to and from the South Iowa Area Detention Service Agency in Montrose, and its office is in Fairfield. It is governed by a 15-member board with a representative from each of the member counties and its office is in Fairfield. She says the commission had rules for using the credit cards and but they allowed the Murphy to break the rules. “We do want to make sure that government entities have policies in place preventing the use of public resources for personal benefit — and then they must follow those policies,” Mosiman says. “Especially at the top. The executive director should be the one leading those efforts.”

Mosiman says the one-thousand dollars in personal expenses that were not reimbursed by Murphy may not seem like a lot, but she says ignoring the rules can open an organization up for more problems. “For our purposes it’s not the dollar amount, it’s the practice. We want to make sure every government official is using public funds appropriately, and not for personal benefit,” Mosiman says.

The organization serves Adair, Davis, Des Moines, Lee, Henry, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Wapello, Louisa, Poweshiek, Van Buren, Washington, and Wayne counties. Mosiman says the results of the investigation have been turned over to the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office. She says that is standard practice when a misuse of government funds is identified.

(Radio Iowa)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Tuesday, of 39-year old Janet Lynn Hernandez. The Malvern woman was taken into custody at around 5:40-p.m. on a Warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. Hernandez was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

(Note: some language in this story may not be suitable for families)

It’s “Day Two” for statehouse debate of a bill that will change the rules for negotiating pay and benefits for government workers in Iowa. The House resumed debate shortly after 10 o’clock this (Wednesday) morning. Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, was first in line to speak. Steckman started off by saying “Wow, last night we almost gave Iowa workers and families the worst Valentine’s Day present ever, but we put it off to today, I guess.” She went on to say “This bill, if enacted, strips away in every city that we all represent. It cuts and guts. It’s the Wisconsin bill on steroids.”

In 2011, Republicans in Wisconsin reduced union bargaining rights for teachers and other government workers in that state. Democrats in the IOWA legislature are staging a form of the filibuster. Democrat after Democrat is speaking on the bill and the House has yet to take a vote on any of the nearly 100 amendments proposed to make changes in the legislation. The Senate took one vote yesterday and debate on the bill IN THE SENATE resumed at about 10:30 this (Wednesday) morning. Senator Rich Taylor, a Democrat from Mount Pleasant who’s a retired state employee, worked at the Iowa State Penitentiary for 27 years. On Tuesday night, he used a term from the barnyard to describe the legislation.

“I call bullshit. This is not collective bargaining reform,” Taylor said. “This is a direct attack on public employees.” Taylor suggested Republicans are “going to war” against union works. “They say: ‘All’s fair in love and war,'” Taylor says. “Well, the war’s just starting and I hope you’re really prepared for that because this isn’t going to be pretty.”

This (Wednesday) morning, Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, tweeted about the debate. Bolkcom said: “It is much harder for Republicans to vote away your rights in front of a public audience” and he asked Iowans to come to the capitol to watch the debate.

(Radio Iowa)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a break-in at the Platte Center Church in Creston, resulted in the theft of items valued at $165. Church officials reported the incident Monday morning, after someone broke into the church sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Taken from the church, was a metal world globe bank, silver plated communion set, and a baptismal bowl.

And, a Union County resident reported Monday morning, that sometime during the night, someone damaged his mailbox near the residence at 1239 Highway 34. The mailbox was valued at $60.