Two Atlantic residents are among five individuals who have been named to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s STEM Advisory Board in the Southwest Region. The Governor’s office today (Wednesday), said Misty Gray and Kathy Somers join Thomas Lesan, of Creston, Luann Langel, of Manning, and Barbara DeVore, of Osceola, on the Science,Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Board.

Other appointees from the area who have been named to various board and commissions include:

• Frances Parrott, of Council Bluffs, to the Iowa Arts Council.
• Charis Paulson, of Earlham, of the Criminal Justice Information Advisory Committee.
• Shelley Bishop, of Council Bluffs, to the Historical Records Advisory Board.
• Frank Hermsen, of Carroll, & Monte Neitzel, of Creston, to the Hospital Licensing Board.
• and Sherri Clark, of Red Oak, to the Vocational Rehab Council.

The positions are unpaid and are effective July 1st. They are not subject to Iowa Senate confirmation.

The Audubon Police Department reports three arrests so far this week. On Monday, officers arrested 16-year old Travis Theodore Wolff, of Audubon, for two counts of aggravated assault and one count of simple assault. Also arrested in connection with the incident was 18 year old Andrew Allen Malloy, of Audubon, on one count of aggravated assault. Wolff was transported to Juvenile Hall and Malloy was released on promise to appear.

And on Tuesday, the Audubon Police Department arrested 26 year old Jay Robert Edwin Pedrin, of Audubon, for Disorderly Conduct. Pedrin was charged and released on promise to appear. The incident remains under investigation by the Audubon Police Department.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A state audit has found major problems with how some Iowa state agencies spent tens of millions of dollars on information technology contractors. The state auditor’s report released Wednesday found cost overruns, excessive use of contractors, large hourly payments and questionable relationships between agencies and IT firms.

The report looked at major IT projects in the Iowa Department of Corrections, the Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Revenue dating back to 2000. It found that Corrections improperly awarded a no-bid contract to Advanced Technologies Group to develop its offender management program.

The report said Revenue repeatedly extended its contract with Terradata for its Tax Gap program. Meanwhile, two top Revenue officials went to work for the company before a mandatory two-year waiting period was up.

The state-run Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant were officially shut down last night (Tuesday) as the fiscal year came to an end. Governor Terry Branstad has led the charge to close the facilities and shift to community-based mental health services. Former employees at the Mount Pleasant M-H-I released floating luminaries as the final employee clocked out just before midnight. Anna Short, a former drug abuse counselor at the facility, told KCRG-TV the event made the closing “real” both for her and her former co-workers.

“It’s done and it’s sad,” Short said. “It’s not just co-workers, it’s your family.” Workers moved the final patients out of the Mount Pleasant MHI late last week. All of the workers, in both Mount Pleasant and Clarinda, have been laid off. The state legislature approved a budget that would keep the MHIs open for up to another year, but the governor is expected to veto that part of the budget. Monday is the final day for the governor to make decisions about funding bills legislators sent to his desk.

AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan issued the following statement about the shutdown of Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda Mental Health Institutes:
“Last night, at midnight, the Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda Mental Health Institutes closed their doors and the entire staff was laid off. This is a sad moment for the people of Iowa, especially those patients and families that need the services provided by these two facilities. The real losers here are the patients and the citizens of the state of Iowa. Residents of southern Iowa no longer have these two excellent facilities as an option for the care of their loved ones facing mental health challenges. Iowa’s mental health safety net has been made weaker by the choices the governor has made. To the employees of these facilities, who have provided excellent treatment to patients for many years, I’m very sorry the governor has decided to take this action. I believe not only has he violated the collective bargaining agreement by his actions of laying everyone off effective at the end of June, but I also believe he is in violation of a state law and we will take the appropriate action and attempt to fix this situation. The governor has chosen to ignore the advice of patients, their families, mental health professionals, legislators, employees, and community leaders. He should be ashamed of the decision he made to shut down these facilities.”

(Radio Iowa/KCRG)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The era of elevator operators is out in Sioux City as owners of the Insurance Exchange Building install modern elevators. For decades, tenants and visitors to the six-story building would step into the elevator, with operators closing the doors behind them and setting the machine in motion.

The Sioux City Journal reports that Adam Pickhinke and Pamela Cotton were the final two manual elevator operators in the city before the building’s owner closed the elevators on Tuesday. The elevators in the nearly century-old building will be replaced by automatic ones, which are faster, more energy efficient and can carry heavier loads.