Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — Dozens of workers are readying a field in Forest City for a weekend country music festival featuring Brad Paisley and Toby Keith. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the TreeTown Music Festival is set to begin Friday evening and continue through Sunday. Crews plan to set up the 106-foot-wide main stage today.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A former Dubuque school board member has been given two years of probation for getting into an argument with a bus driver in a country club parking lot. The Telegraph Herald reports Dubuque District Court Senior Judge Lawrence Fautsch sentenced 51-year-old George Davis yesterday to probation with a deferred judgment. Davis was accused in October 2012 of pounding on the hood of a bus at the Dubuque Golf and Country Club. He later apologized for the confrontation.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Charles City man faces federal weapons charges in connection to a high-speed chase in April. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports 21-year-old Franklin Foster faces multiple state charges in connection to the April 12th chase that cut through the city of Waverly. They include assault on a peace officer and trafficking stolen weapons.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A task force established by the Environmental Protection Agency to curtail farmland pollution that flows into the Mississippi River has reached an agreement with 12 universities, including Iowa State. The EPA says the agreement announced Wednesday brings additional expertise to develop farm runoff reduction strategies.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has granted a temporary injunction to two Christian colleges in Iowa and Michigan that halts a federal mandate requiring them to provide insurance coverage for certain contraceptives.

U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett’s ruling Wednesday is in response to a lawsuit filed in October by Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, and Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The schools argue the mandate violates their religious freedoms.

Gregory S. Baylor is an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian law group representing the schools. He says in a statement that Christian colleges should “remain free to operate according to their defining beliefs.”

The Justice Department has said the lawsuit is meritless and an attempt to prevent female employees from obtaining coverage.

In addition to approving a $2.2-million budget amendment during their special meeting Wednesday evening, the Atlantic School Board approved recommendations for new personnel, and resignations. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said High School Principal Heather McKay recommended the hiring of Marcus Upchurch to fill one of the existing openings in the English Department.

McKay also recommended CCEOC/Special Ed teacher Karen Vogl for the eight-day Summer Program working with the CCEOC (Cass County Educational Opportunity Center) students, which allows them to earn credit. She also recommended Lori Parrott to facilitate the ALEKS Math Program (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces). The program is used extensively at the EOC, and will serve as a “Math Recovery” program for the summer.

District Technology Coordinator Roger Warne requested the Board approve Kyle Beemer as an assistant to fill vacancies created by an employee who is scheduled to have knee surgery, while another is on vacation. Kyle has worked with the district in the past in a similar position.

Maintenance Director Russell Peck, recommended recommend the hiring of Craig Lukehart for a summer groundskeepers/maintenance position. Washington Principal Stacey Hornung recommend the Board approve Marsha Vonseggern. She would be utilized in a junior Kindergarten position.

Resignations approved by the Board include Schuler Para-Educator Linda Shafer, and Kathleen Blake, Central Office Secretary to the Business Manager. High School Social Studies Teacher Trace Petersen is resigning from the Assistant Varsity Basketball Coaching position. Daniel Vargesen is resigning as Assistant Freshman Football Coach. Maria Oltmans, High School English Instructor is resigning to take a position in a school district closer to her family. There were also staffing changes in the Food Service Department.

Administrators in the district noted there are still some teaching and/or coaching positions left to fill in the coming weeks.

The Atlantic School Board held a special meeting Wednesday evening at the high school and after much discussion, voted to approve a $2.2-million budget amendment for the 2013-2014 school year. The action came after the Board held a public hearing, during which there were no comments. Business Manager Mary Beth Fast explained there are four areas where a budget could be exceeded that would require a budget amendment. They include Construction, Support Services, Non-instructional programs and Total “Other” expenditures.

Atlantic School Board acts on Budget Amendment. (Ric Hanson/photo)

She said if a district exceeds expenses in any one of those areas, the budget should be amended. Fast said nearly 50-percent of Iowa’s school districts amend their budget at some point in time, some more than once. It is especially common she said, when a construction project is underway or was recently completed. The bulk of the Atlantic School District’s budget amendment comes in the area of Support Services.

Mary Beth said the biggest expenses came as the result of the installation wireless system at the Middle School, the Access Control System, Auditorium repairs/lights and sound, and the purchase of two new buses. Those items total around $303-thousand.

Board member Rod Hartwig was concerned about the 42-percent adjustment in the budget and wanted to know where the other $1.9-million is coming from. Fast says she’s “Hoping that’ll more than cover” what the district will need, but she “Would rather err on the side of certifying too much or amending too much, than to cut it close and have that area be exceeded.”  She went on to describe other expenses, much of which were computer-related.

The $2.2-million she said, would cover any additional expenses (bills) that arrive before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1st. Board President Kristy Pellett said she too, was concerned with the large amendment. She said if they failed to sufficiently plan for it 18-months ago, they need to make sure the plan for what they can spend, in the future.

Districts have until May 31st to amend their budget and submit it to their county auditor, or as late as June 30th, but if there was a protest from members of the community, there wouldn’t be enough time for the Iowa State Appeals Board to review render a decision, therefore the amendment would be void. Mary Beth Fast answered the question of “Why do you wait so long to amend your budget?,” by saying  districts are sometimes faced with unexpected expenditures, such as when the purchase of a bus is billed in one fiscal year instead of another, the timing of construction project and payments, curriculum materials being delivered before the end of the current budget year, and damages caused by severe weather that are not immediately reimbursed by insurance.

The Atlantic Police Department is warning area citizens about a phone scam that is occurring in the Atlantic area. Officials say several customers of the Atlantic Municipal Utilities have been called and told that their electrical service will be disconnected unless the customer provides the caller with bank information.

Authorities in Dallas County have identified a man who died after falling from a boom truck Tuesday morning, while installing a power line. According to the Sheriff’s Office, 39-year-old David Denger, of Panora, died at the scene of the accident located about two-miles north of Dexter. Denger was working on installing power lines at around 10-a.m., when he fell about 50-feet to the ground, from the bucket of a boom truck.

The incident remains under investigation.

Police in Atlantic have arrested a man wanted on a warrant out of southeast Iowa. 21-year old Austin Lemke, of Atlantic, was arrested Tuesday on a Mahaska County warrant for Absence from Custody. Lemke was brought to the Cass County Jail and held pending transport to Mahaska County by their deputies.

The Harlan City Council heard from several citizens about the current Harlan Country Club Estate (HCCE) sidewalk agreement. In a regular meeting Tuesday, the council intended to make a motion to approve the sidewalk agreement has to be completed by December 31st, 2014. The Estate is located on the South side of the Harlan Golf Course in particular the discussion was from citizens residing on Hawkeye Avenue between Country Club Parkway and Shelby Street. One resident, Tamera Ploen  told the council the sidewalks are an issue in the whole city.

“So it’s not just Hawkeye Avenue or the houses surrounding me that have sidewalk problems in the city. We have a lot of sidewalks that need to be redone.” She said her main concern was safety for the children.“The parking is on my side of the street right now. If you put the sidewalk on my side of the street, I am afraid children going in and out of parked cars. We already have cars going by super fast. And when you have a parked vehicle, the other thing is you have people coming around that vehicle and you don’t have access for two vehicles coming down that street.”

Councilman Dave Miller offered a rebuttal. He said “We have been discussing sidewalks in the city of Harlan since the early ‘90’s or late ‘80’s when the first ordinance was enacted. We have discussed all the streets of Harlan that don’t have sidewalks and the areas/homes that don’t have sidewalks will be getting letters also. A timeline we can’t put to it but it is an on going project.”

A motion was made to extend the timeline for completion on the sidewalk agreement for the Harlan Country Club Estate to November 1st, 2015. The motion was passed on a 5 to 1 vote. Councilman Mike Kolbe (Colby) said he would like to bring the topic back up to discussion at the next city council meeting. “I personally would like to see us come back on the June 3rd council meeting and take action on the entire city once we get this done tonight. Give everybody in town the same deadline of November 1st, 2015.”

(Joel McCall/KNOD)