United Group Insurance

MONDAY, MAY 21st

Trading Post

May 21st, 2018 by Jim Field

WANTED:  Looking for a dorm-size or small refrigerator . Ph. 712-254-6842.

FREE:  To a good home, a mother cat an 3 kittens.  They need a good country or farm home.  Kittens are 8 weeks old.  Call 712-304-5589.

FOR SALE: Uncle Sam cast iron bank. 11″ Tall. Excellent Condition. $30 please call 712-250-0266.

FOR SALE: Troy Built Bronco riding mower. 18 1/2 HP, 42 inch blade, auto transmission with cruise. $600.00. Can be seen in Anita. Call 712-249-7102 or 712-249-9714.

WANTED: Cheap vehicle. 250-1770.

FOR SALE: 2 end tables and matching coffee table with glass insert, early American rocker with burgandy cushion, round kitchen table 36″x36″ with leaf that is 14″. All in good condition and reasonably priced. Call 243-7706.

FOR SALE: 26″ Schwinn Bicycle. Hand brakes and knobby tires. $65. Call 712-243-1098.

River searched for man reported to have fallen in

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters and others have been searching for a man who was reported to have fallen into the Mississippi River in Davenport. Searchers combed the area near the Lake Davenport Sailing Club, where the man was working on a boat Saturday morning. Divers from the Big River Rescue and Recovery Dive Team joined the effort. The man’s name hasn’t been released.

CAM School Board to meet this (Monday) evening

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Members of the CAM School District’s Board of Education will meet 6:30-p.m. today in the CAM High School Media Center. During their regular session, the Board will Discuss and/or act on: Approving salaries for classified staff for 2018-19, and Teacher Leadership position; the 2018-19 school calendar; contracts and/or resignations; a memorandum of understanding with Iowa Western Community College; approval of a sharing agreement with Atlantic School District, and other administrative matter.

Change habits to save lives: IA DPS/GTSB stepping up seat belt enforcement

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Area law enforcement agencies and officials with the Governors Traffic Safety Bureau say that beginning today (May 21st) and until June 3rd, State and local law enforcement agencies across the United States will be stepping up enforcement with the Click It or Ticket campaign. This concentrated effort will be on the lookout for motorists who aren’t wearing their seat belts. Click It or Ticket is not just about writing traffic tickets; it’s about saving lives. In 2016, the last year in which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has information, there were 10,428 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. That number is more than the population of Grimes, IA and of 99.5 percent of Iowa’s towns and cities.

According to NHTSA 48 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2016 were unrestrained. Almost twice as many males were killed in crashes and they had a lower seat belt use rate. It is even worse at night when 56 percent of the fatalities were unrestrained.

Patrick Hoye, Bureau Chief, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau said, “If you have a friend or family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please encourage them to make it a habit. It is such a simple thing to do and it very well could save their life”.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau remind you that seat belts save lives, and everyone – front seat and back, child and adult – needs to remember to buckle up – every trip, every time!

Teenager shot in Davenport Saturday night has died

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

A Davenport shooting victim has died. Davenport Police say 16-year-old Jovontia Jones died at University Hospitals in Iowa City. Officers were called to a report of shots fired in the central city Saturday night. They found shell casings and were investigating when a shooting victim, a young man, showed up in a private vehicle for treatment of life-threatening injuries at a Davenport hospital. He was transferred to Iowa City and police learned of his death on Sunday.

(Radio Iowa)

Five startups selected for 2018 AgriTech Accelerator class

Ag/Outdoor

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Leaders of an initiative to help startup companies involved in agriculture have identified the program’s sophomore class. Megan Vollstedt, executive director of the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, says they received many great applicants from around the country and world. “Agriculture is everywhere. It’s the base of so many communities and industries. The innovations that we see can affect agriculture in any location, customers are everywhere for these innovations,” Vollstedt said. Five early stage ag tech companies were selected by a board of directors comprised of agribusinesses that invest in the Accelerator program. “Solving legitimate problems in the industry with a solution that really resonates with the industry and the need that’s there,” Vollstedt said.

The five ag tech startups chosen to participate in the 100-day Accelerator are Osceola, Iowa-based U.S. Design Consultants, Krobel Corp of Mankato, Minnesota, AgHelp in Grand Rapids, Michigan, VakSea, based in Baltimore, and Nigerian company BirdPreneur. The program will begin May 29 and conclude on August 30. The five startups will receive intensive mentoring and $40,000 in seed funding.

(Radio Iowa)

Survey of Iowa’s labor market to cover all 99 counties

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Workforce Development have announced a plan where they will team up for a survey of the labor market in all 99 counties. Workforce Development’s Ryan Murphy oversees the labor market information division, and says it will be a study of what’s called the laborshed area.”I often compare it to a watershed area where you have lakes and streams that flow into a large bodies of water. People are more familiar with that,” Murphy says. “A laborshed area is more like a commuting pattern where we have people traveling in on two-lane highways, and walking to work and the interstate to a central employment area.”

He says it gives counties and idea of the source of workers. “Your employees come from much further away than your county right — it could be the next county over or two counties depending on if you are on an interstate or four-lane highway,” Murphy explains. “And it really shows the quantity, the size of your labor market area, your labor pool. So it better describes the area where your employer or perspective employers could be drawing their employees from.”  While it’s obvious in some counties where the workers are coming from — others aren’t as easy to figure out. “It’s very important for those border communities. We know we are not just getting people in Decorah for work from Winneshiek County. We know that there are people from Minnesota and Wisconsin that are also coming to that area for work. This helps employers identify where there could be pockets of available labor,” Murphy says.

The second phase of the laborshed study involves a phone survey of the potential labor pool. “Asking people about whether they are employed or not employed. Their wages, their benefits currently being offered, their occupations, their industry, their desired ages, their benefits, how far they are commuting,” Murphy explains. “One of the really unique data points that we have with the laborshed survey is where are people looking for jobs if they are looking. If they are likely to change employment or accept new employment — what resources are they using to do that?”  Iowa’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country. Murphy says the survey will hopefully help better match up employers with employees. “The laborshed study doesn’t create new people, so what we’re trying to do is really hone in on where there are pockets of available labor within the existing pool that we have,” according to Murphy.

With all the telemarketing and phone scams going on, it can be hard to get people to participate in the survey. Murphy says they try to let people know that this is a legitimate process. He says they send out news releases in the areas they are working in so people know if they are asked questions about their employment, they can know that it is a legitimate survey from Iowa Workforce Development.  They will begin the laborshed study in July and plan to complete 44 counties in the first year and the remaining 45 in the second year. Murphy says they are using state and federal funds for the survey and it will cost around 950-thousand dollars each year. The data from the surveys will be provided to local economic development organizations and partners for free.

(Radio Iowa)

OWI arrest in Adams County

News

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

A traffic stop on a vehicle whose driver failed to obey a stop sign at 170th and Sycamore in Adams County, early this (Monday) morning, resulted in an arrest. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says Alex Koltoff, of Lenox, was taken into custody at around 12:15-a.m., for OWI/1st offense and issued a citation for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign. Kolthoff was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

RAMONA HARRIS, 88, of Anita & formerly of Adair (Svcs. 5/25/18)

Obituaries

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

RAMONA HARRIS, 88, of Anita (& formerly of Adair), died Sunday, May 20th, at Caring Acres in Anita. Funeral services for RAMONA HARRIS will be held 11-a.m. Friday, May 25th, at the Roland Funeral Home, in Atlantic.

Visitation with the family will take place one-hour prior to the service at the funeral home, Friday.; Online condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

Burial will be in the Reno Methodist Cemetery, south of Cumberland.

RAMONA HARRIS is survived by:

Her sons – Armond Harris, and; Kelby (Dorothy) Harris, all of Adair, and Jim (Jyl) Wightman, of Winterset.

12 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Skyscan forecast for Atlantic & the area, 5/21/18

Weather

May 21st, 2018 by Ric Hanson

Today: Any remaining showers ending this morning. Areas of fog possible. Becoming partly cloudy. High 73. E winds becoming NW @ 10.

Tonight: P/Cldy. Low 55.

Tomorrow: P/Cldy w/isolated afternoon showers/thunderstorms. High 82. SE @ 10-15.

Wednesday: P/Cldy w/iso. morning shwrs & tstrms. High 82.

Thursday: P/Cldy. High of 84.

Yesterday’s High in Atlantic was 71. Our Low this morning 54. Last year on this date our High was 64 and the Low was 43. The record High in Atlantic on this date was 97 in 1939. The Record Low was 27, in 1895.