United Group Insurance

Atlantic City Council Approves Street Project Bids

News

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic City Council Monday approved bids for various street repair projects that will get underway late this Spring or early Summer. Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm said there were two bids for the Hot Melt Asphalt (HMA) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project. He recommended the Council award the bid to Henningsen Construction of Atlantic. Their bid of slightly more than $1.88-million was about $40,000 over the engineers estimate of the project cost.

Sturm said also, there were four bids for Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project in the City. The engineer estimated the project would cost $801,000. But the low bid of $712,317 was received by Carley Construction in Treynor. Prior to approving the bid, the Council wanted assurances Carley wouldn’t fall behind and leave work undone like they did last year on 22nd Street in Atlantic, and that there would be penalties in-place for failing to get the job done in a timely manner. Sturm explained that prior to the past year, they hadn’t had any problems with Carley. He attributed last year’s problems to the company having taken on more work than they should have. He says this year, the contract is set up on a “working day count.”

Once they start, they have 60 working days to complete the job, not counting weekends and rain days. Their work must begin no later than June 1st. Sturm says failure to complete the job within 60 working days will result in a fine of anywhere from $500-to $1,000 per day. Two other major improvement projects the City accepted bids for Wednesday, included a PCC patching project, and repair of the City Park sidewalk. Coffman Engineering’s Ken Coffman recommended the Council approve a low bid from Ten Point Construction in Denison of $287,785 for the PCC patching job. There were six bidders for the project, which the engineer had estimated would cost $276, 472.

The company has to begin work on the project by no later than April 2nd, and has 60 working days to complete it in order to avoid a $400 per day penalty. Coffman said the construction projects will cause some disruption in traffic flow in some areas of town, and detours in others. He says people will have to get used to one-lane traffic, flaggers and pilot vehicle on Olive Street, from about Commerce to the City limits near the KJAN studios, while the PCC patching project is underway. Coffman also recommended a low bid of $22, 319 from Precision Concrete in Atlantic, for the City Park sidewalk project. That was about $3,000 less than the engineer’s estimate. The total cost of the projects approved by the Council amounts to slightly more than $2.9-million, which is below the engineer’s estimates of nearly $3.52-million.

Nat’l. Weather Svc. Forecast for Cass & area Counties in IA, 2-16-12

Weather

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

311 AM CST THU FEB 16 2012

TODAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE MID 20S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. WEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S. NORTHWEST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.

SATURDAY…SUNNY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTHWEST WIND AROUND 5 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW IN THE LOWER 20S.

SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGH AROUND 40. LOW IN THE UPPER 20S.

WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY…PARTLY SUNNY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S.

Wednesday Post-Season Boys/Girls High School Basketball Results

Sports

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

BOYS BASKETBALL
1-A District 2 First Round
Charter Oak-Ute 48, Westwood 45

1-A District 3 First Round
River Valley 65, Siouxland Christian 18
Hinton 48, Remsen Saint Mary’s 46

2-A District 2 Quarterfinal
OA-BCIG 63, Alta/Aurelia 58

2-A District 4 Quarterfinal
Sioux Central 57, Emmetsburg 47

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Class 3-A Region 1 Quarterfinal
Clear Lake 54, Iowa Falls-Alden 23
Humboldt 68, Webster City 56
MOC-Floyd Valley 60, Spencer 34
Spirit Lake 58, Algona 31

Class 3-A Region 2 Quarterfinal
Carroll 50, Storm Lake 26
Denison-Schleswig 54, Perry 35
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 72, Harlan 48
Sioux City Heelan 83, Le Mars 40

Class 3-A Region 8 Quarterfinal
Glenwood 75, Atlantic 33
Creston 62, Red Oak 43
Dallas Center-Grimes 39, Norwalk 30
Winterset 58, A-D-M 38

Class 4-A Region 1 First Round
Boone 55, Fort Dodge 31
Sioux City East 74, Sioux City North 68

Class 4-A Region 8 First Round
CB Abraham Lincoln 63, CB Thomas Jefferson 25
West Des Moines Valley 48, Urbandale 33

Drake tops Bradley 62-55

Sports

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

PEORIA, Illi. (AP) — Jordan Clark grabbed 16 rebounds, and Rayvonte Rice and Kurt Alexander scored 15 points apiece as Drake upended Bradley 62-55 on Wednesday night. Drake (15-12, 8-8 Missouri Valley) never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 18 following a first half in which the Bulldogs trailed by as many as nine and went scoreless for nearly six minutes. Walt Lemon Jr. led Bradley (7-21, 2-14) with 22 points and Jordan Prosser added 10 points with nine rebounds. Drake shot 47 percent from 3-point distance while Bradley did not make a single 3-pointer on 11 attempts. Despite its first-half troubles, Drake scored two unanswered baskets in the first half’s final minute to lead 24-20 at the break.

Last-second 3 lifts Evansville over N. Iowa 63-62

Sports

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Denver Holmes banked in a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to lift Evansville to a 63-62 win over Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. Holmes’ 3 from the top of the key was his second in the final 18 seconds. The first put the Purple Aces (13-13, 8-8 Missouri Valley) ahead 60-59. Johnny Moran answered with another 3 for Northern Iowa (17-11, 7-9) with 8.6 seconds remaining before Evansville called timeout and Holmes connected again at the buzzer. Colt Ryan led Evansville with 20 points and seven assists. Holmes added 14 points and Lewis Jones had 10 as the Aces swept the season series from Northern Iowa. The Panthers got 16 points from Seth Tuttle, 13 from Anthony James and 10 from Chip Rank. Northern Iowa had rallied from a 49-39 second-half deficit with a 13-0 run to take a 52-49 lead with 8:12 left in the game.

Amber Alert issued in Iowa!

News

February 16th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has issued an AMBER ALERT for a child abducted from Des Moines, effective at 3:15-a.m.. Authorities say a 3-year old white male, Nicholas Jimmerson, was abducted from a residence in Des Moines.

Melanie Stout (suspected abductor/biological mother)

Nicholas is about 3-feet tall, weighs 35-pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black “Batman” t-shirt with yellow, long sleeves, black sweatpants, and black shoes. He has a shaved, tribal-style design cut into his hair on the left side of his head. (There is no picture of the child available from officials) He was allegedly taken by two white females, 22-year old Melanie Elaine Stout, Nicholas’ biological mother, who does not have custody of him, and 25-year old Amber Jo Johnson.

Stout is 5-feet 6-inches tall, weighs about 126 pounds, has brown hair and green eyes. Johnson is 5-feet four inches tall, 109-pounds, has short brown hair and hazel eyes. The was wearing a white t-shirt with black sweatshirt and stripes, and blue jeans. The suspects are believed to be driving a maroon 2001 Ford Taurus, with Iowa license plate 831 YLY. Direction of travel is unknown.

If you see the suspects, the child, or the vehicle, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Amber Jo Johnson (suspected abductor)

Atlantic City Council honors George Evans/New Treatment plant almost ready for testing

News

February 15th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening passed a Resolution honoring retiring Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent George Evans. Evans is wrapping 39-years of service to the City, which Mayor Dave Jones called “A great accomplishment in itself.”

George Evans (left) receives a plaque & congratulations from Mayor Jones

Jones says Evans will stick around for a couple of months, as a consultant to the City and to his replacement, Mark Farrier, until the new 14-million dollar wastewater treatment plant comes on-line. In his final report to the Council, Evans said the new plant will be up-and-running very soon. He says the pre-treatment building on the east side of Sunnyside lane will be online first, with start-up of the main plant sometime in April or May.

City Administrator Doug Harris says the original schedule called for the plant to begin  testing in March, but there was an issue with receiving certain electrical components that caused the timeline to be pushed back slightly. Evans says there’s much testing that needs to be done before the changeover is official. He says they want to keep the old facility available for a little while, until the new plant is fully operational. Evans says that shouldn’t violate any state regulations.

Once the new plant is fully online, the current plant, which is more than 60-years old, will be demolished. Plans to replace the current facility began in 2006, when the Iowa D-N-R ordered the City to build a million-gallon retention basin, or lagoon, because the current facility was deemed incapable of handling storm water run-off during times of intense rain events.

Tainted sprouts again linked to Jimmy John’s

News

February 15th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s have been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness — again. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after sprouts from one of the chain’s suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sprouts from the chain were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Colorado in 2008. The CDC reports more than 30 sprout outbreaks in the last 15 years. Sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow, encouraging bacterial growth.

Illnesses were reported in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Wisconsin.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15th

Trading Post

February 15th, 2012 by admin

FOR SALE: Office chair, gray fabric, good shape, all functions work perfect. $50 obo.; 3 cordless phones. 1 has digital answer 5.2 ghz. All are in the box they came in and have manuals for them. $20 for all 3 phones.; Golds Gym 250 excerise bike, brand new, paid $289 want $200. 712-243-3122 or 712-249-0077.

Officials identify body found in Ida County

News

February 15th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

IDA GROVE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a body found in a ditch near Ida Grove in northwest Iowa is that of an Odebolt man reported missing in early January. The Ida County sheriff’s office on Wednesday says an autopsy identified the man as 44-year-old Charles Bird. He was reported missing on Jan. 7. Bird was last seen leaving his house to search for his wallet. A county worker found his body on Feb. 9 near Arthur. Authorities don’t suspect foul play in Bird’s death.