The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Monday afternoon, of a Corning man. 24-year old Cody Sanson was taken into custody on a charge of Domestic Assault. His bond was set at $1,000.

Officers with the Atlantic Police Department investigated a minor accident during the prom, Saturday. Authorities say vehicles driven by Ashley Freund, of Lewis, and Barbara Waters, of Cumberland, collided at 14th and Plum Streets (near the entrance to the high school), at around 9:55-p.m.  The accident happened in the middle of the intersection, after both vehicles stopped, but then proceeded into the intersection. The damage amounted to $12,000.  There were no injuries reported, and no citations issued.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest of five people over the past few days. On Sunday, 38-year old Troy McCurdy, of Atlantic, was arrested for Tampering with a Witness. McCurdy was arrested Saturday as well, for Disorderly Conduct.

Also arrested Saturday, was 26-year old Justin Knutsen, of Atlantic. He was charged with Public Intoxication, 2 counts of Theft in the 4th degree, 3 counts of Burglary in the 3rd degree, and theft in the 5th degree. The charges are in connection with a rash of recent car burglaries. He was taken into custody after he was found inside of one the vehicles that was allegedly broken into. Knutsen was also found to allegedly be in possession of the stolen property.And, 24-year old Joseph Fredericksen, of Atlantic, was arrested Saturday on a Cass County warrant for Theft in the 5th degree.

And, officers with the A-PD arrested 23-year old Tyler Mills, of Atlantic, on Friday. Mills was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation. All four of the individuals were booked into the Cass County Jail.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s time for Democrats in the Iowa Senate to respond to the offer Republicans made last week on education reform.  “I think anytime that you’re in good faith negotiations you anticipate either an acceptance of the proposal or a counteroffer,” Reynolds says. “To my knowledge we haven’t seen either one yet.” Republicans in the House and Republican Governor Terry Branstad say they’ll agree to increase general state aid to schools two percent next year, with one-time, two percent bonus tacked on, followed by a four percent increase the following year. But they’ll only agree to that spending level if Democrats accept all the education reform policies House Republicans endorsed in February.

Reynolds says Republicans “delivered” a compromise and it’s up to Democrats to “move.” “I think the ball is in their court,” Reynolds says. Last week Democrats dismissed what they called the G-O-P’s “my-way-or-the-highway approach” and said they could not accept all the policy proposals House Republicans drafted. Reynolds is singling out Senator Herman Quirmbach — the top Democrat negotiating on education reform — for criticism, saying it’s time for him to rethink his opposition to the Republicans’ proposal.

“I hope he’s had some time to think about it over the weekend,” Reynolds says. “I hope he’s had some time to talk to his superintendents and the educators and the administrators and they can talk to him about how important it is to get this done and I hope he’ll come back and really sit down with that conference committee and figure out a way to get this done and move forward on education reform.” The lieutenant governor made her comments this morning (Monday) during a statehouse news conference. Legislators will return to the statehouse this afternoon (Monday), but there the 10-member conference committee trying to hammer out a deal on education reform does not have a meeting scheduled.

(Radio Iowa)

Home prices continue to climb across Iowa last month. Don Marple is President of the Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR), which keeps track of the average price of homes sold in the state. “From March of last year to this year, we’ve gone up (4.4%)…from about $138,000 to $144,000, which has been consistent that way for the last three years,” Marple said. A total of 2,672 homes were sold in Iowa last month. That’s up less than one-percent compared to March 2012 (2,654 homes sold). Marple is slightly concerned with the statewide inventory of homes as there are roughly 1,000 fewer homes on the market today in Iowa compared to a year ago.

“We need to start going out there and telling people now is the time to put your home on the market because they are getting such a great value for them – a lot better than they were two to three years ago,” Marple said. “And they’re getting a quicker value because they seem to be getting a lot of offers out there from the pent up demand of buyers wanting to buy.” The average days a home sold in Iowa spent on the market in March was 107 days. That’s down from 120 days a year ago.

(Radio Iowa)

An activist for veterans is asking the Iowa House and Senate veterans affairs committees to investigate the psychiatric care operations at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. Bob Krause says he is concerned that veterans aren’t getting the treatment they need. “My fear is that the Iowa Veterans Home has been actively avoiding treatment of P-T-S-D war wounded, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Krause says. He says the involuntary discharge of several patients last year raised concern. “And there’s been statements made that there are very few people coming in for P-T-S-D, but at the same time we had a person that went down and checked in the area, and they said that the psychiatric care unit were these people would normally be was actually closed,” Krause says. “So it’s confusing, and we want some clarification and we can’t seem to get it. So we are hoping for a legislative investigation.”

Krause says he has a suspicion about why veterans are not getting treatment. “I’m not really sure, but I think it’s a likelihood a cost and convenience issue,” according to Krause. Krause says the director of the home has made a public statement about the issue. “Basically the director has come out and said they don’t need it. I think he’s wrong on that,” Krause says. Krause wants legislators to look into the situation and give some clarification on the situation. Krause is a veteran and a former state legislator. He leads a charity that helps veterans with issues such as P-T-S-D.

(Radio Iowa)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five people were arrested over the past week. On April 9th, 33-year old Juhwaski Sintel Girley, of Ralston, NE, was arrested for being a Fugitive from Justice. Girley was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail. The following day, 22-year old Adam James Houchin, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Warrant for Eluding. His bond was set at $1,000.

On Saturday, April 13th, 28-year old Brett Allen Coyle, of Glenwood, and, 24-year old Erika Kathryn Powers, of Council Bluffs, were both arrested for Public Intoxication, after the vehicle they were in was pulled over on Interstate 29. The pair were being held in the Mills County Jail on $300 bond, each.

And, on Sunday, 43-year old Mark Alan Anderson, of Omaha, was arrested in Mills County on a charge of OWI/3rd offense. His bond was set at $5,000.

Voters in the Atlantic Community School District are likely to head to the polls on June 25^th for a Special Election with regard to an $11-million dollar bond issue for Capital Improvement Projects within the district. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said school administrators are circulating a petition trying to get 400 signatures which will enable the election to take place. Amstein said the expansion and improvements are needed because of both the current and Department of Education projected, increases in enrollment. He said for the past few years, the projected enrollment for kindergarten aged students has consistently increased. In 2009, the projected enrollment was 111 students. For the 2013-2014 school year, the numbers come in at 140.5, but the district is anticipating 150 based on the current preschool numbers and current figures.

Amstein says since 2010, the district has surpassed the Dept. of Education’s projected kindergarten enrollment figures by as much as 15-to 20-students. The enrollment numbers for years 2014 through 2017 continue to show a consistently high number of students entering kindergarten. The result, is that the district is literally bursting at the seams, especially at the Middle School, which has already undergone a renovation project, but still requires the use of a mobile classroom.

If approved by the voters, the bond issue will pay for improvements at each of the district’s buildings. At the Washington Elementary School, that means four new classrooms and a cafeteria area. Amstein says right now, the current building occupancy is designed for 380 students, but there are 525 students occupying the facility, not counting the two preschool classes that were moved to the old Lincoln Building. The district is not only trying to expand building space, but even-out the classroom numbers.

The bond would also help to add 11 classrooms onto the Schuler building, with the third graders being moved to that facility once the work is complete. There would also be a commons/cafeteria area for the Middle School, and the addition of seven classrooms to the High School, plus an expansion of the art room. It will also cover the replacement of aging heat pumps at the High School, and help to relieve traffic congestion by building an access road for buses behind Washington Elementary.

The bond would increase the Debt Service Levy 90-cents, from the current 88-cents, to $1.78 per thousand dollars of taxable valuation, which is not the highest it’s been in recent times.  Amstein says in 1994, when there was an $8.3-million dollar issue for the new high school, the debt service levy was $2.70 per thousand. The high school is ready to come off of debt service, with the last payment expected to be made in May. Amstein says they are proposing the bond issue now, in-part because the economic climate is conducive to making additions and improvements to the district’s facilities. The other reason is because of the increased enrollment and decreasing classroom space.