Members of the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, passed a Resolution committing financial support to the non-profit “Shift ATL” organization, with regard to their plans for a future Housing Rehabiliation Project. Shift ATL spokesperson Alexis Fleener, said they’re not asking for a specific amount of funds at this time.

Councilman Gerald Brink asked Fleener how the money would be used, if it were to be granted at some point in time. She said it would go toward the purchase of a home to rehabilitated. Once completed, the home would be sold at a price more than the cost of the purchase price and rehab costs combined. Funds from the sale of the home would be returned to Shift ATL for future rehab projects, and the title to the property would be transferred to the new owner.

Brink said he’s fielded questions and concerns from the public about how much Shift ATL is taking on, with regard to the purchase and rehabilitation of the old Downtowner Restaurant on 4th Street. Fleener said grants are being applied for to help to pay for work on the old building located across from City Hall.

Fleener said the housing rehab project will be done in cooperation with other groups and partners, the Chamber, CADCO, the City and local contractors, which stand to benefit from tax deductions for their in-kind services. She said they would be purchasing, in a targeted neighborhood, a home under $100,000, with the idea to flip it for anywhere from $120,000 to $150,000 range. The home would be one with “Good bones” and “Curb appeal,” that, once finished would attract potential buyers to Atlantic. She said also, the home would be thoroughly inspected before a decision is made to purchase it for rehabilitation.

Councilman Pat McCurdy said he would like to see “Some fill-in housing,” by means of modular homes, with the City footing the bill. That idea didn’t sit well with some of the other Council members. Alexis Fleener suggested a representative with “Housing 360” from Lenox speak with the Council about other ways to find ways identify open lots and homes that can be acquired through employer participation.

In other business, following a Public Hearing, the Council authorized Mayor Dave Jones (Who was not present Wednesday evening), to make an application to the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Water/Sewer Program for Water Improvements, on behalf of Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU). SWIPCO’s Alexis Fleener said AMU hired Snyder & Associates Engineers to complete a preliminary Engineering report and cost estimate.

Snyder’s proposes to rehab a water filtration system at the water treatment plant, and a second water main crossing over the Nishnabotna River, to create a looping system and redundancy, which will also serve the City of Marne. The costs of the project are anticipated to be $1.097-million. The City will apply for a $493,997 CDBG, with AMU matching $603,773. The CDBG application must be submitted on or before Oct. 1st.

City Administrator John Lund says the project completes will benefit low-to-moderate income residents. The City will work with SWIPCO (Southwest Iowa Planning Council), to complete and

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County report deputies were called a little before 3-p.m. today (Wednesday), to 2918 Highway 34, for a report of an intoxicated person who was damaging property and causing a scene. Deputies arrested 44-year old Matthew Rayhons, of Lenox, for Public Intoxication, Disorderly Conduct, and Criminal Mischief.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The rising Missouri River broke through two levees northeast of Omaha, but the flooding affected rural areas that have been flooded twice before this year.

Interstate 29 remained open near Omaha Wednesday afternoon, but transportation officials warned that parts of the highway will likely have to close overnight. Several on-ramps were closed Wednesday. The lower Missouri River is flooding in Nebraska and Iowa this week because exceptionally heavy rains fell last week in Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska.

Officials don’t expect the floodwaters to cause significant damage to communities. But many levees remain damaged from severe flooding in the spring, allowing the floodwaters to flow into many farm fields and rural areas.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Officials have distributed emergency notifications to portions of northwest Pottawattamie County amid reports of two breaches in protection structures along the Missouri River as a result of this latest round of flooding. A breach in a protective berm along the bank of the Missouri just southwest of the Boyer and Missouri confluence as well as a breach in the Honey Creek Drainage Ditch have been reported to officials.

The emergency management agency has distributed emergency notifications to residential properties in the potential impacted area. Crews are attempting to get access to the area to observe conditions for more information and remind motorists to observe all road closures and detour instructions. “As more floodwater is now being released into the area due to theses breaches, we need the public to steer clear of the area,” said Doug Reed, emergency management director for Pottawattamie County.

Officials urge residents living in the areas south of the Boyer and Missouri River confluence southward to I-680 and from the Missouri River to just east of I-29 along 152nd street and south to Old Mormon Bridge Road should monitor conditions closely and be prepared to leave the area over the next 2 to 6 hours if conditions worsen or threaten your property.

As a reminder, emergency notifications and alerts are distributed through county emergency notification system “Pottawattamie Alert”, part of the Alert Iowa Network. Residents should sign up for notifications at www.pottcounty-ia.gov.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor is defending a law she signed earlier this year that prohibits Medicaid payment for gender reassignment surgery after California’s attorney general prohibited state-funded travel to Iowa.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Friday added Iowa to a list of 10 other states for which state-funded travel isn’t allowed because they violate a 2017 California law that guards against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill in May that reversed an Iowa Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing protection under the Iowa Civil Rights Act for Medicaid-funded gender reassignment surgery. Becerra says California takes an unambiguous stand against discrimination. He says the California prohibition on state-funded or sponsored travel to Iowa begins in October.

Reynolds on Wednesday defended the law as a narrow provision clarifying longstanding state policy in response to the court ruling. A lawsuit challenging the new law is now before the Iowa Supreme Court. After justifying the law, Reynolds described California, home to more than 10% of the U.S. population, as a state with high taxes, excessive business costs and expensive housing.

WESTMINSTER, Colo., Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Coalfire, a trusted provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services, issued the following comments on recent penetration tests in which the Iowa Judicial Branch contracted with Coalfire for comprehensive security testing:

Malicious cyber criminals use all techniques at their disposal—fair or foul—to access valuable data from private and public organizations. Global cybersecurity firms such as Coalfire involved in technical testing are professionally contracted to simulate attacks using the same techniques any attacker may use to test the company’s defenses so that they can remedy their vulnerabilities before a real-world incident occurs.

Recently, two penetration testers employed by Coalfire were arrested in the Dallas County Courthouse during a security testing exercise to help the Iowa Judicial Branch ensure the court’s highly sensitive data was secured against attack. Coalfire was working to provide quality client service and a stronger security posture.

Coalfire and State Court Administration believed they were in agreement regarding the physical security assessments for the locations included in the scope of work. Yet, recent events have shown that Coalfire and State Court Administration had different interpretations of the scope of the agreement. Together, Coalfire and State Court Administration continue to navigate through this process. To that end, the Iowa Judicial Branch and Coalfire will each conduct independent reviews and release the contractual documents executed between both parties.

State Court Administration has worked with Coalfire in the past to conduct security testing of its data and welcomed the opportunity to work with them again. Both organizations value the importance of protecting the safety and security of employees as well as the integrity of data.

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Company officials said in a Press Release: “Coalfire’s client confidentiality is one of the most important aspects of our business. We are providing this statement only to clarify an unfortunate set of events; since this is an evolving legal matter and involves confidential client work, we cannot comment on further details of the incident at this time. The Iowa Judicial Branch is also making a statement related to our work together; their statement will link to the contractual documents.”