(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Advisory Commission, Wednesday afternoon, received an update from Atlantic Splashpad Committee Member Ali Pieken. She said while work on the project located near the Sunnyside Pool has been slowed by freight issues in getting the splash pad equipment to the site, but now that the material has arrived, officials with the Hensley Group, LLC, in Muscatine, told her preparation work on the site is expected to resume on Monday.

She said “We’ll see some progress here shortly.” An official groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held last month. Earlier this month, Rob Stamp with Stamp Construction was providing an in-kind donation on dirt work for the project.

In other business, Atlantic Parks & Rec Coordinator Jeff Christensen reported to the Parks Commission the flag at the downtown City Park was recently replaced, and discussions continue with regard to replacing a weathered and aging sign at the entrance to the Bull Creek Pathway. The current sign has some broken boards.

The new sign will be acryllic and from J&J Designs in Atlantic, but questions remain about how it will be mounted/framed.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (WHO-TV) — A Johnston man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly placing a digital camera, disguised as a pen, in the dressing room of a West Des Moines Target store. 25-year-old Blake Devens was booked into the Polk County Jail Tuesday evening. He faces a charge of placing a camera and/or electronic surveillance device-trespass /1st offense. Devens was released a few hours later. Devens’ next court appearance is scheduled for July 5th.

A criminal complaint filed in the case says Devens entered a changing room at the Target store on Mills Civic Parkway June 2nd, and a little before 1:00-p.m., and placed a “digital audio and video recording device, disguised as an ink pen, on the bench.” The complaint said Bevens also tried to put another device under the mirror but decided not to “likely due to its conspicuous placement.”

Blake Devens booking photo

A West Des Moines Police spokesperson said the investigation began when Target’s loss prevention personnel discovered the “pen” in a routine sweep of the changing room. The “pen” appeared to be suspicious. When it was taken apart it was discovered that it was a recording device.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will join Govenor Kim Reynolds for a tour of the flood damaged areas in northwest Iowa today (Thursday). The tour is set to begin in Rock Valley around 9 a-m. They will move to a tour of damage in Cherokee and then Spencer. A federal disaster declaration has already been declared for the area, opening up federal aid to help in the recovery effort.

(Radio Iowa) – The moratorium on new gambling licenses imposed by the state legislature is set to expire at the end of this month. Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Tina Eick  says they are prepared for a discussion of their next step. “The Commission has signaled at the last meeting in June that they would be discussing what to do with any potential applications at its July 8th meeting in Altoona at Prairie Meadows,” she says. A group in Cedar Rapids announced it will seek an application. Eick says the Racing and Gaming Commission discussion will likely center on the impact of any new licenses.

“Historically what the commission has done as a part of any application process for considering new facilities or new licenses would be to conduct a new or its own specific market study at that point in time,” Eick says. She says they will have a full discussion of any issues involving new licenses. “The commission would be looking to gather as much information about any new facility and what the impact good or bad would be to a new license,” Eick says.

The I-R-G-C denied previous license requests for a Cedar Rapids casino in 2014 and 2017 based in part on concerns on the impact of the existing casinos. The I-R-G-C has all new members since that last vote was taken.

(Radio Iowa) – They say we should take the time to smell the flowers, and that can be taken literally in eastern Iowa this weekend with the Colonies in Bloom event in the Amana Colonies. Jon Childers, spokesman for the Amana Heritage Museum, says the annual self-guided tour is a must-see, must-smell experience for backyard gardeners and all admirers of beautiful botanicals. “The goal of our event is to share the gardening and flower gardening heritage of the Amana Colonies,” Childers says. “Every year, we have anywhere from seven to maybe 12 gardens. Some of these are flower gardens, some of these are vegetable gardens, and some of these are both.” The gardens on this year’s tour are spread across five of the seven villages and feature stunning colors and aromatic fragrances. As the history of the Amana Colonies predates the state of Iowa, Childers says you’re sure to see things on the tour you likely won’t see elsewhere.

“We have heirloom vegetables that people will be able to see at certain gardens, but we do have modern flowers or rare flowers that people will be able to see,” Childers says. “There’s one particular home in Upper South Amana this year where they have a lot of the native flowers. They’re really sort of into that, what natively grows in Iowa.” The self-guided tours run from 9 A-M to 3 P-M on Saturday, and they’ll be followed by a Garden Party at the Amana Heritage Museum.

“We’re going to have a party out in our yard. We’re going to have some food and drink available. We will have the museum open,” he says. “We will show our orientation video where people will be able to learn about our 300-year history here in the Amanas. We’re going to have a little bit of entertainment and some yard games and good conversation after a day of looking at the gardens.”

While multi-acre vegetable gardens were a staple in the early days of the colonies, hobby gardening didn’t become popular in the Amanas until the communal system was dissolved in 1932. Maps for Colonies in Bloom are available at the Amana Heritage Museum, the Amana Colonies Visitors Center, and at each participating garden.

(Centerville, Iowa) – The Sheriff’s Department in eastern Iowa’s Appanoose County said late Wednesday, that a 17-year-old male had died while swimming at Rathbun Lake. The Appanoose County Law Enforcement Center received a 9-1-1 call at around 6:13-p.m. about a possible drowning near the Buck Creek swimming beach at Rathbun Lake, near Moravia. The caller said the teen was swimming when he went under the water and didn’t resurface.

Law enforcement and emergency crews, including the Appanoose County Water Rescue team responded to the scene and searched the area where the teen was last seen. His body was recovered a little after 7:30-p.m., in about 15-to 25-feet of water. The juvenile male was pronounced dead at the scene by the Appanoose County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The teen’s name was not immediately released. The incident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials are applying for expanded federal food assistance for low income flood victims in northwest Iowa. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services director Kelly Garcia says her agency is seeking what are called “Disaster SNAP benefits” for residents in the five counties that were declared federal disaster areas this week.

“That will allow Iowans to buy, purchase hot meals and ready to go meals in whatever location they’re in,” Garcia says. The federal benefits would not be restricted to Iowans who have already qualified for SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps.

“You have to have the presidential declaration first and then we, as the SNAP agency, apply,” Garcia says. “Individuals are qualified based on their household income, but you deduct the loss associated with the disaster.” Iowans who did not have flood insurance and lost their homes in the flooding, for example, would likely be eligible for disaster food assistance.

“SNAP typically only has a limited kind of allotment and you can’t buy prepared meals, so you can’t buy a rotisserie chicken or something that is prepared and is ready to go and consumed, but under Disaster SNAP you can,” Garcia says. “That’s really important for families that are hoteling or in a shelter or are otherwise dislocated from their typical arrangement.” If the U-S-D-A approves the State of Iowa’s application, Iowans who qualify for these “Disaster SNAP” benefits would get an Electronic Benefits Transfer card to buy food at authorized stores.

Flood victims are able to calculate home or business repairs, temporary shelter expenses and disaster-related medical expenses as well as loss of income to determine if they qualify for the benefits. Flood victims who are already receiving food stamps may qualify for an increase in benefits if the state’s Disaster SNAP application is approved for flood victims. The U-S-D-A has already approved Disaster SNAP for Iowans in Greenfield and other federally designated disaster areas hit by tornadoes in April and May.