w/Brandon Scheuring.
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(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s weather may be in for a big change in the coming months as indications show a possible shift toward a La Nina pattern, which means hotter, drier weather. Meteorologist Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub — based in Ames, says Pacific Ocean climate factors have been steady for the past couple of years but there are hints that may be changing. “We have been neutral to maybe hedging close to an El Nino,” Todey says. “We didn’t quite reach the category but we were close towards that side. It’s really interesting now, as you look ahead into the summertime, there are a few models that took us rapidly toward La Nina territory by the end of the growing season.”
Todey says there is an indication from computerized weather forecasting models of changes later this year. “The chances for La Nina start popping up in the fall, so it’s after the main part of the growing season here,” Todey says. “We do have to watch in case things would shift more quickly to La Nina than we’d expect, but right now the expectation is that we don’t get to La Nina territory during the growing season enough to be an issue.” Todey says sea surface temperature changes have an impact on the weather in Iowa and across much of North America. “La Nina, during the growing season for us, does increase our risk of heat and dryness but right now, we don’t expect that to happen,” Todey says. “My main concern with the growing season right now is how quickly can we get things moving, how quickly can we get soils dried out and things in the ground so we don’t get delays again.”
A warming ocean surface produces an El Nino pattern which can also have strong effects, including wetter weather in the Midwest.
EDITH MARLENE CLARK, 81, of Atlantic, died Wed., April 22nd, at the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. No public services are planned for EDITH CLARK at this time. A private burial will be taking place at the Atlantic Cemetery. Hockenberry Family Care in Atlantic has the arrangements.
Memorials may be designated to the family and may be mailed to Hockenberry Funeral Home (1804 E. 17th Street Atlantic, IA 50022)
Online condolences may be left at www.hockenberryfamilycare.com
EDITH MARLENE CLARK is survived by:
Son: Mark of Des Moines.
Sister: Jessie Shiffer of Oakland.
Sisters-in-law: Loraine Hackett of Oakland. Shirley Hackett of Syracuse, NE.
2 Granddaughters
1 Great-Grandson
Today: Patchy areas of fog this morning; Partly cloudy. High 75 N-NE @ 10.
Tonight: Increasingly cloudy w/a chance of showers late. Low 52. E @ 5.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy w/showers. High 62. N @ 10-15.
Saturday: Mo. Cldy w/a few scattered showers. High 64.
Sunday: P/Cldy. High around 70.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 79. Our Low this morning (As of 4-a.m.) was 54. We received .03″ of rain overnight. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 69 and the Low 35. The Record High for April 23rd was 88 in 1950. The Record Low was 19, in 1893.
(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds isn’t providing a timeline for her decisions, but the governor will likely give PORTIONS of the state permission to reopen for public gatherings and commerce before others. Reynolds says about 70 percent of Iowa’s positive COVID-19 cases are in eight counties. “This will allow me, when I look individually at the number of cases in each county, the number of recovered and what we see going forward, it really will allow me where I can statewide, I will,” Reynolds says, “but where I can’t, we’re going to start opening up areas that aren’t being impacted at a significant rate.”
Reynolds ordered all Iowa bars and restaurants to close to crowds at noon on March 17th, although they’ve been able to sell food and alcohol through carry-out, drive-through or curb-side service. The following week, the governor ordered hair salons and barber shops and several types of retail businesses to close. Reynolds says she may allow certain businesses to reopen in phases — and ask business owners to ensure customers and employees are able to be six feet from one another.
“Our goal is to open back up as many as we can,” Reynolds says, “but maybe do it with limited capacity, social distancing, some recommended measures that they would have to follow in order to do that.”
Reynolds made her comments during a live news conference yesterday (Wednesday) on the Radio Iowa network. Reynolds says her staff has been reviewing data by county, by city and by zip code. And Reynolds says state officials will learn details about coronavirus hot spots in the state from the Test Iowa program that will start offering drive-through COVID-19 testing. The Test Iowa website also is collecting health data about tens of thousands of healthy Iowans who voluntarily enter their information.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brett Veach used his first two drafts as general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs to put the finishing touches on a roster that won the franchise its first Super Bowl in 50 years, all without making a single selection in the first round. Now, on the eve of his third draft, the always-aggressive Veach is finally poised to pick on Day 1 — just barely. And maybe.
The Chiefs only have five picks in the draft, and there is a very real possibility that they trade No. 32 to accumulate more picks as they aim to defend their championship.
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CDT
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dozens of U.S. meat-processing plants have been forced to close temporarily as the industry struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus among employees who often stand side-by-side while cutting and packaging beef, pork and poultry. Giant slaughterhouses that employ thousands of people are designed to have workers close together, making it difficult to adhere to social-distancing guidelines that advise people should stay 6 feet apart. Even as companies take steps to protect workers, industry experts say it’s nearly impossible to eliminate all risk of catching the virus and they note safety measures have been adopted unevenly.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods is suspending operations indefinitely at a large Iowa pork processing plant that was blamed for fueling a coronavirus outbreak in the community. The company warned Wednesday that its closing of the plant in Waterloo would be a blow to hog farmers and potentially disrupt the nation’s pork supply. Tyson kept the plant open in recent days over the objections of the mayor and other local officials. The plant employs 2,800 workers and can process about 19,500 hogs per day, almost 4% of the nation’s pork processing capacity. Several other meatpacking plants have temporarily closed due to coronavirus outbreaks.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Health is offering coronavirus testing for all employees of long-term care facilities in Tama County because of a rising number of cases in the region. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday following a surge of cases at the National Beef plant in Tama, where 177 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The eastern Iowa plant resumed production Monday after being closed for two weeks due to the virus spread among its workers. Reynolds has frequently noted that a large percentage of those who have died from the virus live in long-term care facilities. Also Wednesday, officials said there were 107 new positive coronavirus cases and seven additional deaths, bringing the total to 90 people
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller is among nine people within the northwestern Iowa city’s police department to test positive for COVID-19. The Sioux City Journal reports that the department revealed on Tuesday the number of police staffers infected with the novel coronavirus. The department first announced on April 9 that several police department employees had tested positive for the virus, but did not give details. Besides the police chief, a news release from the department said infected staffers include a police captain, two lieutenants, a sergeant, an officer and three civilians. The release says most have had mild symptoms, and some have been cleared to return to work.
LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) — Tyson Foods Inc. will temporarily close its meatpacking plant in north-central Indiana after 146 employees tested positive for COVID-19. The Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Logansport produced 3 million pounds of pork daily. Tyson suspended production Monday to allow for cleaning and sanitizing.
The plant reopened Tuesday and is running at limited capacity because of decreased worker attendance. The company on Wednesday announced it will stop all production by Saturday. Steve Stouffer of Tyson’s beef-and-pork subsidiary says when such facilities close, “the availability of protein for consumers across the nation will only decrease.”
Tyson Foods also announced Wednesday, that it is suspending operations indefinitely at the large Waterloo pork processing plant that was blamed for fueling a coronavirus outbreak in the community. The company warned that its closing of the plant in Waterloo would be a blow to hog farmers and potentially disrupt the nation’s pork supply. Tyson kept the plant open in recent days over the objections of the mayor and other local officials.
The plant employs 2,800 workers and can process about 19,500 hogs per day, almost 4% of the nation’s pork processing capacity. Several other meatpacking plants have temporarily closed due to coronavirus outbreaks.
The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, discussed the District’s COVID-19 response and plan for continuous learning, as well as graduation. Superintendent Steve Barber recapped the orders given by Governor Reynolds when she cancelled the school year in her press conference last Friday. That includes a “Return to Learn” plan submitted to the State Dept. of Education by no later than July 1st. The template for doing so should be available from the State in a couple of weeks.
He said one of the biggest hurdles faced by the Atlantic School District, is grading while school is closed. The guideline the district is following says “All work completed prior to the closure March 13th, 2020, can be graded. Assignments that were not completed prior to the closure cannot be accepted and graded until school reopens. Therefore,” he said, “if we get a chance to open August 23rd you can open it up and go all the way back to the third quarter to do some grading kinds of things.”
Since the Atlantic District is in a Voluntary Continuous Learning program, it is considered closed, and can’t take assignments that prior to closure and use that as part of the grading system. Barber said they looked at high school is being the big hurdle because there is more at stake requirements-wise. High School Administrators and Building Leadership Team agreed that, because students didn’t have an opportunity perform at the high level during the fourth quarter due to circumstances beyond their control, the district should provide them with the grades that will provide them with the best chance at their level of GPA. If they had chances to improve but they met a minimum requirement, the district could use a hybrid situation of passing them, therefore getting credit for completing the course but not have that go against their GPA.
The other three buildings in the district would grade the work completed and provide parents feedback at the end of the school year. As far as graduation is concerned, Superintendent Barber said they’re looking at multiple options, including: A traditional ceremony; Explore an alternative date for the celebration; A virtual ceremony, including a “Drive-in” Ceremony, such as the Red Oak School District is planning; the other choice is a a combination of those options.
In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved the resignation of Jordan Newberg as 2nd Grade Teacher, Girls Soccer and MS Wrestling Coach. Newberg has accepted a position as K-8 Assistant Principal for the Shenandoah School District. They also approved the disposal (by scrapping) two old, diesel school buses. Two new buses were replaced thanks to a grant from VW. And, the Board approved two change orders for moving 1,000 cubic yards of dirt into the Trojan Bowl for tile work needed to eliminate an underground drainage problem at one end of the Bowl. The total price tag amounts to nearly $17,000.
The Atlantic School Board Wednesday evening received a report from Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Survey/Research Consultant Tony VanderZyl, with regard to an IASB-commissioned survey of parents/students, Community and and administration that rated several district areas of performance and weaknesses.
The Atlantic School Board conducted their meeting electronically, April 22nd.
VanderZyl said three summary questions highlighted: areas in need of improvement, what the district does well, and what needs to change. In the survey, 29% of parents & the community said preparing students for college, career and life was important. The survey showed the district excels in technology, communication, extra curricular activities, and the hiring and retention of quality staff members.
It also shows there is needs to be a big change in improvement as far as Anti-Bullying efforts are concerned, and Teaching. Students also said they were engaged enough in classroom activities. As far as whether or not the Atlantic School District has strong leadership. staff respondents to the survey rated leadership as “Low.” VanderZyl said it’s not clear whether they were referring to leadership by the school board, administration or teacher leadership.
The survey featured 19 agree/disagree questions, one of which dealt with board staff responses to “Our district standards clear and rigorous.” Both School Board and Staff disagreed with that statement, which VanderZyl says is concerning and perplexing, because “Your district standards ARE the Iowa Core Standards They have to be by law.” He said fact that there is disagreement either means they don’t know the Iowa Core Standards are your standards, or they’re not being properly implemented in the district. He said there’s any easy fix: Make sure every Board member and staff person knows the Iowa Standards are the district standards, and that should be posted on every teacher’s board, and the focus of school improvement goals.
Another yes/no question was “This district does not make excuses about level of student achievement.” Apparently, staff members think the district does make excuses when student achievement is lacking. VanderZyl recommended the District release the results of the survey on its website, and efforts the district will take, moving forward. He commended the Board for having commissioned the survey, adding that “It’s risky, it’s uncomfortable to open yourself up to this kind of feedback…you should be commended, not threatened by it.”
Iowa Law requires school districts to conduct a Needs Assessment Survey (NAS), but current regulations do not stipulate how frequently must be done. The rule of thumb, according to VanderZyl, is every three-to-five years. It’s not clear when the Atlantic School District conducted it’s last NAS.