(Elk Horn, Iowa) –  The Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton School Board’s regular monthly meeting takes place in the High School Conference Room, beginning at 5:30-p.m., Tuesday (Oct. 16). Action items on their agenda include:

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will meet in a regular session beginning at 9-a.m. Tuesday (Oct. 15), in their Atlantic Courthouse Board Room. The Board expects to receive a Monthly report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Executive Director Jotham Arber, and a Quarterly report from Cass Co. Conservation Exec. Director Micah Lee, in addition to a regular report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken.

Action items on the Board’s agenda include:

• Approve the Rural Transit System (RTS) Joint Participation agreement with Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
• Discuss/approve waiving the deadline and continuing to operate under the terms of the Agreement for Private Development by and Between Cass County and KLC Comes, LLC (D/B/A Bluebird Hill Event Venue.
• Discuss/approve re-establishing the compensation board.
• Discus/approve the commercial lease with Fourth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services for the premises located at 601 Walnut Street, Suite 1, Atlantic, IA.

The Board’s next regular meeting will be held Nov. 12th.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors regular weekly meeting begins at 8:30-a.m. Tuesday (Oct. 15th) in their Red Oak Courthouse Boardroom. The Board is expected to approve a Hungry Canyons Alliance project agreement in the amount of $58,830, for a portion of grade control pertaining to a project on G Avenue, north of 190th Street.

In other business, the Board will hear from Jenna Ramsey, with regard to an IEDA (Iowa Economic Development Authority) grant, and they will discuss a RenewGov support services agreement, with action on both topics as necessary.

Discussion items on their agenda include: Rescheduling the Supervisor’s regular meeting in light of the upcoming election on November 5th, as well as scheduling the General Election Canvass of votes. The Montgomery County Supervisors remind interested persons about a Summit Carbon Solutions open house on Nov. 6th, to learn more about safety, as it pertains to CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) transportation. The event takes place at McCalpin Place in Red Oak, from Noon until 2-p.m.

And Auditor Jill Ozuna will remind Montgomery County residents the First Day of early voting in the Auditor’s Office is this Wednesday, Oct. 16th, beginning at 8-a.m.

(Washington County, Iowa) – A collision between a car and a train early this (Monday) morning in southeastern Iowa, resulted in a death. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 1:50-a.m., in Ainsworth. Authorities say a 2011 Ford Fusion was traveling south on Spruce Avenue, when it ran a stop sign over a railroad crossing, and struck a westbound train. The vehicle came to rest in the west ditch. The driver died at the scene. Their name was being withheld, pending notification of family. The crash remains under investigation.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report seven people were arrested on separate charges over the past three days. Two people were arrested Friday, three people were arrested Saturday, and there were two arrests Sunday, in Creston.

Friday morning, 32-year-old William Alwynn Darius Bell, of Creston, was arrested on two Union County Warrants. The first was for Violation of a Court Ordered No-Contact Order. The second warrant was for Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding the flow of Air/Blood. Bell was also charged with another count of Violating of No-Contact Order. He was taken to the Union County Jail and held without bond until later being released on his own cognizance. Friday night, Creston Police arrested 37-year-old Samuel Bernadack Munoz, of Creston, for OWI/2nd Offense. Munoz was taken to the Union County Jail and later posted a $2,000 bond.

Saturday afternoon, 36-year-old Edgar Orlando Mendez Lopez, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/ 2nd Offense and four counts of Child Endangerment. Lopez was taken to the Union County Jail where he later bonded out on a bond of $10,000.

Saturday night, 60-year-old Robbie Allen Dohrn, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred, and Eluding/Attempting to Elude a Law Enforcement Vehicle. Dohrn was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $7,000 bond. And, 39-year-old Travis James Klos, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred. Klos was later released on $2,000 bond.

A little before 3-a.m., Sunday, Creston Police arrested 39-year-old Derik Wayne Bud Pickrell, of Fontanelle, for Driving While Barred. Pickrell posted a $2,000 bond and was released from the Union County Jail. And, Sunday night, 50-year-old John Everett Major, of Creston, was arrested for Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault – 1st offense. Major was being held without bond in the Union County Jail.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic is expected to act Wednesday evening, on at least two important matters. First, the Council is being asked to approve a letter of support for Vision Atlantic. The Council’s meeting starts at 5:30-p.m. in their chambers at City Hall.

Officials with the non-profit Vision Atlantic say they are asking for the letter “to support and strengthen some of [their] federal funding and various grant application [they] have submitted to date.”  In addition, the organization says “As our donations and pledges continue to raise, we are getting close to the threshold where [the] grant committee can start to apply for some other key grants (some have a minimum percentage of the project needed to be secured before applications can be submitted).

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on an Order to have City Administrator John Lund execute a purchase order for an ambulance from Braun Northwest. Cass EMS, the City’s ambulance service exists as a 28E Agreement with costs being split evenly between the City of Atlantic, Cass Health, and Cass County. According to John Lund, “We are in a financially unsustainable commitment with Cass EMS. Over a period of five years, expenditures have increased 1,197%. This increase has occurred even with the generous contribution of a brand-new ambulance for Cass Health.”

Atlantic City Hall building

EMS Subsidy
Expenditures
FY 2016 50,400
FY 2017 55,200
FY 2018 55,200
FY 2019 55,200
FY 2020 55,200
FY 2021 192,874
FY 2022 255,119
FY 2023 340,164
FY 2024 390,000
FY 2025 718,808
FY 2026 736,778
FY 2027 755,197
FY 2028 774,077
FY 2029 793,429
FY 2030 813,265
FY 2031 833,596
FY 2032 854,436
FY 2033 875,797
FY 2034 897,692
FY 2035 920,134

Lunds says “To control costs for our pending negotiations for our expiring contract with our private sector provider, the City must now step up and contribute towards some means of controlling the subsidy required to keep this service running. The City is purchasing an ambulance to compliment the one purchased by the County. The Personnel & Finance has reviewed this issue on two occasions. During their meeting on October 9th, 2024, the Committee has unanimously endorsed the purchase of an ambulance as the City’s Contribution to Cass EMS.”

The Council’s final order of business is to hold the second reading of an Ordinance pertaining to “Prohibited Trees.” The list of trees prohibited from being planted comes from recommendations by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Trees Forever, as is due to their lack of disease infestation resistance and likely damage to infrastructure and property during severe storms.  “Prohibited Trees” include the following varities: Freeman/Hybrid Maple (Acer x freemanii Autumn Blaze, Armstrong, Marmo, and Sienna Glen are frequently seen cultivars), Amur Maple, Norway Maple, Ash, Blue Spruce, Callery/Ornamental Pear, Ornamental Cherry, Mulberry, Golden Raintree, Tree of Heaven, Black Locust, White Poplar, Siberian Elm, Russian Olive & Salt Cedar.’”

(Radio Iowa) – The new Broadway musical version of the biggest film of 1985 makes its Iowa debut this week, with a former Iowan in one of the lead roles. In “Back to the Future: The Musical,” Don Stephenson plays Doc Brown, the inventor who creates a time machine out of a DeLorean sports car. Stephenson argues it’s the greatest time travel story ever told and says if you loved the movie from almost 40 ago, you’ll equally love this updated version for today’s stage. “You’re going to recognize all of it, but with new stuff, because obviously, this is a musical, but I would always say that the original movie was leaning towards being a musical anyway,” Stephenson says. “Because it had the Huey Lewis songs, it had ‘Johnny B. Goode,’ of course, and the dance at the end, so all of that is there.”

Practically everyone who was going to movies in 1985 saw the original, but even in this age of instant streaming, Stephenson says there’s a whole generation who’s never heard of Marty McFly. “People who have never seen the movie come and see the musical, and they’re sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what’s going to happen next, and that always amazes me,” he says. “I’ll see people after the show, and I’ll say, ‘Are you a Back to the Future fan?’ and they’ll say, ‘I’ve never seen it before. This was the first time,’ and I always love that.”

Stephenson says he adores it when he can spot devoted fans in the audience who dress as their favorite characters from the film; sometimes it’ll be a dad in a Doc wig beside his young son as Marty. The original film had a certain chemistry that just worked, Stephenson says, as a combination science fiction, action, romance — that was also about family and friendship. Even if you’ve seen the movie a dozen times, he says the musical offers something new along with the familiar. “To see something happening in front of you, you really do see it fresh from a new perspective, even if you know the story so well, because that’s what theater can do, that’s what live theater does,” Stephenson says. “And so you’re going to see it from a different angle, even if you know it very, very well by seeing it on stage.”

Stephenson has called New York City home the past few decades, but grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where his parents still live. When asked by Radio Iowa if this would be his first time in Iowa, he paused, then laughed: “When I was a baby, my father got a job in Iowa, and we moved there, I think when I was six months old, and stayed for maybe slightly less than a year, and then moved back to Tennessee because my parents didn’t like the cold.”

He remembers nothing of the experience, not even what town they were in, only that it was near a river. Stephenson acknowledges he’s technically a former Iowan, and he’s hoping for a much warmer reception this time around.