(Radio Iowa) – Out of some 800 mayors statewide, the Iowa League of Cities is singling out three for awards, based on the population of their communities. Lake View Mayor John Westergaard is the Iowa Mayor of the Year for towns under two-thousand residents, and Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart won the title for cities over ten-thousand. For mid-sized cities, Garner Mayor Tim Schmidt is the winner, which he attributes in part to the community’s efforts to build new places to live and grow.

“We have really added a lot of new apartments in this last three years, and a lot of new twin homes and a lot of new homes,” Schmidt says. “So things have really come together. We were really trying to provide housing to bring that workforce into town, and it’s working.” Garner, located in north-central Iowa’s Hancock County, has seen some downtown businesses close in recent years, but Schmidt says they have -not- spiraled into looking like a ghost town.

Garner Mayor Tim Schmidt

“We’ve had some turnover on our State Street, our main street, but every time we’ve had turnover, right away, we’ve filled that storefront again,” Schmidt says, “so we have very, very few storefronts right now, and we’ve seen some neat things come to Garner.” Schmidt says he was stunned by the Mayor of the Year honor.

“This award represents just not me,” he says. “It represents all of Garner because, let’s face it, I would not have that award if we didn’t have a great town and the great people in it, a great council and great city staff, and so it took the whole community for me to receive that award.”

Some of the criteria the league uses in its Mayor of the Year awards include: leadership in other municipal organizations, exceptional service to their community and local region, providing extraordinary service to cities in training, education and development of local leadership, advocating for cities and providing professional assistance and support to cities.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Vision Atlantic announced today (Thursday), that Ag Ventures Foundation (AgVA), a 501(c)(3) organization based in Mason City, IA, recently awarded a $10,000 grant to Vision Atlantic to support the outdoor classrooms in the new Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of Atlantic. The AgVA Foundation provides grants to other 501(c)(3) organizations to support agricultural education and nutrition programs for adults and youth.

Bob Cole, President of the AgVA Foundation said, “We are pleased to provide these funds to the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of Atlantic because they will be used to support outdoor classrooms that will allow our youngest youth to learn how to plant and nurture seeds, harvest and prepare produce, and will provide opportunities for children to enjoy eating what they have produced. These learning opportunities can hopefully lead to continued learning throughout their lives of food production and healthy eating.”

The new child development center is being built to meet the increased need for childcare in Cass and surrounding counties. According to Dianna Williams, Director of the Ann Wickman Child Development Center, they are out of space at the current facility. “Over the past four years, our center has been at full capacity, and we consistently have a waitlist of over sixty children. The lack of available childcare in the region negatively impacts families and employers,” Williams stated.

Pictured: Melissa Ihnen, Vision Atlantic Board Secretary; Christina Bateman, Vision Atlantic Board President; Debbie Waterbury, Vision Atlantic Board Treasurer and Jill Euken, AgVA Foundation Board Member.

According to a study conducted in 2023, it was discovered that Cass County has a childcare availability shortfall of over 1,000 children. The new center will be constructed on south Olive Street in Atlantic and will have capacity for 300 children aged zero – five. The Jack and Jill Preschool, currently housed at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, will be co-located with the new childcare center. “We are excited about this award to support the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of Atlantic. We know that the new center will provide quality care for children, which is a critical component of economic development of the region, and an important consideration for families when they choose where they want to live,” Christina Bateman, Vision Atlantic President stated.

Along with a new child development center, Vision Atlantic’s project includes a 144-unit housing development and an expansion to the current YMCA facility. Over the past 11 months, $18.3 million has been raised, 60% of a $30 million goal. Vision Atlantic’s Project Committee is actively working to secure the remaining $12.1 million needed. If you are interested in helping transform Atlantic, whether it’s through monetary donations or acts of volunteerism, please contact Vision Atlantic at visionatlanticiowa@gmail.com. Follow Vision Atlantic on Facebook for behind-the-scenes access to project updates or visit www.visionatlantic.org.

Vision Atlantic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to empower growth, enhance lives, and build a thriving community together through the economic development of Atlantic, Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Friends and families gathered at a park in Evansdale Wednesday to share their stories of loved ones who have been killed as part of the National Day of Remembrance for victims of homicide. Heidi Maring wears a tattoo on her arm to remember her eight-year-old son Anthony, who was killed by her husband, and tells K-C-R-G T-V she came to Angel’s Park to honor those lost. “We are the last ones to tell our loved one’ story and keep their memory alive,” Maring says. For some, this is a chance to tell people about their journey and the ones they’ve lost.

““It never goes away. You just find ways, you have good days and you have bad days,” Maring says. The Evansdale park is dedicated to Elizabeth Collins and her cousin Lyric Cook Morrissey who were kidnapped and killed in 2012. Drew Collins is the father of Elizabeth and tells K-C-R-G T-V about keeping the hope that the case will be solved. “You have to keep calling the police, you have to keep following up with things, and if you don’t it goes away,” Collins says. Collins spends much of his time connecting with families in similar situations to give them solidarity.  “It’s just important for all these people to know they’re not alone, and they’re not going through it alone,” Collins says.

The people at Angel’s Park, including the father of Elizabeth Collins, said the chance to tell their story to people who understand what they’re going through is rare and also powerful.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the six Republicans who represents Iowa in congress voted against the spending plan that will keep the federal government operating for three months. In a message posted on social media, fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra said Iowans and Americans deserve fiscal responsibility from their government. Feenstra did not directly refer to his no vote on the temporary spending bill that averts a federal government shut down October 1st, but Feenstra said congress needs to end reckless government spending and produce a balanced federal budget.

First district Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, second district Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion and third district Congressman Zach Nunn all voted yes on the resolution to provide funding for the federal government through December 20th. Both of Iowa’s U-S Senators voted for the plan, too.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Democratic Party has mailed a second round of absentee ballot request forms to about 36-thousand Iowa voters this month. The shape of the forms in the first mailing prevented them from being automatically processed by Postal Service machines. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart. “There was a change in postal regulations that took our vendor by surprise and so those absentee ballot requests have been sent out again,” Hart says, “and we have worked with our county auditors across the state to resolve that issue.”

A spokesperson for Iowa Democrats says the party received a call on September 9th that there was a problem with the shape of the ballot request form. New forms were sent to the same voters on September 17th, along with information urging them to submit a new request in case their first wasn’t processed. Nearly 60 percent of the Iowa voters who received both mailings have submitted absentee ballot requests according to the Iowa Democratic Party.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart during an appearance on Iowa Press, on Iowa PBS

Early voting in Iowa starts October 16th and that’s the date county auditors may begin mailing out absentee ballots.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office have released a report on those arrested between Sept. 13th and the 25th:

On September 25th: 18-year-old Alexis Hoyt, of Atlantic, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)/1st Offense.

On September 24th: 18-year-old Shantell Michaels, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order.  Michaels was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held until her later release after her initial appearance.

On September 22nd: 27-year-old Clara Mohr, of Anita, was arrested for Domestic Assault.  Mohr was transported to the Cass County Jail where she was booked and held pending her later release on bond.

On September 21st: Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 56-year-old Darren Brooks, of Prescott, for OWI/2nd offense. Brooks was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending his later release on bond.

On September 18th: 19-year-old Michael Johnson, of Red Oak, was arrested in Cass County on a warrant for Violation of Probation.  Johnson was transported to the Cass County Jail where he was booked and held.

There were four arrested in Cass County on September 14th:

• 22-year-old Korey Parrott, of Atlantic, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated/1st Offense.
• 26-year-old Chase Holmes, of Griswold, was arrested for Violation of the Sex Offender Registry and Violation of Probation
• 39-year-old Michelle Schroder, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense; and,
• 44-year-old Matthew Steffens, of Atlantic, was arrested for Driving While Revoked.

All four were booked into the Cass County Jail and held pending ROR (Release on [their] Own Recognizance.  And, on September 13th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 44-year-old Misty Rhodes, of Atlantic, on a warrant for another jurisdiction.  Rhodes was held pending her released on bond.