The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday, approved the final year of Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein’s contract and related pay increase. The vote was 4-to-1, with Dr. Keith Swanson voting “No.” Business Manager/Board Secretary Mary Beth Fast said the contract includes a three-percent raise and changes that went into effect July 1^st, which had previously been approved by the Board.

Amstein’s salary will increase from $137, 904.00 to $142,041.00. The contract also calls for the District to pay him $25,000 upon his retirement. Those funds will be put into an Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), future use.

Amstein had earlier announced he plans to retire at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

(Update 6:55-a.m.: Cowden has been apprehended and is currently in custody in the Clarke County Jail.)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 29-year-old inmate has been listed as escaped from the state work release facility in Des Moines. The Iowa Corrections Department says Michael Cowden didn’t return to the facility from work on Wednesday. He’d been sent to work release after his parole was revoked on May 3.

Michael Cowden

Cowden originally was sentenced to 15 years for assault and prohibited acts in Clarke County.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an assault charge early this (Thursday) morning. Officials say 24-year old Cody Dean Johnson, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 4:20-a.m.  He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and charged with Simple Assault. Johnson was being held in the jail on a $300 cash bond.

Three people, two women and a man, were injured Wednesday afternoon during a collision in Red Oak, between a pickup and an SUV. Red Oak Police say 95-year old Eloise Brower, of Red Oak, was transported by ambulance to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital before being flown to a hospital in St. Joseph, MO., for treatment of serious injuries. 74-year old Gary Reeve, and his passenger, 71-year old Linda Reeve, both of New Market, were transported by ambulance to the hospital in Red Oak, for treatment of unknown injuries.

The accident happened at around 2:30-p.m., when Brower, who was driving a 2008 Chevy Equinox, stopped, but then pulled away from the intersection of Highway 34 and N. Eastern Avenue, in Red Oak. Her SUV was struck on the driver’s side by Gary Reeve’s 2002 Dodge Dakota pickup. Brower had to be extricated from her vehicle by mechanical means, following the collision.

Both vehicles sustained $7,500 damage in the crash. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Fire and Rescue, deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, officials with the Montgomery County EMA, and LifeNet 23 helicopter, out of Clarinda.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) — Police say a 2-year-old western Iowa boy has drowned in a backyard swimming pool. The Des Moines Register reports that a 911 call was placed from the home in Carroll just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Carroll Police Capt. Mark Heino says Eli Rowedder had been found unresponsive in the pool.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nearly every U.S. governor has pledged to combat the opioid crisis that is leaving a trail of overdose deaths and misery in their states. At least governors signed on to the Compact to Fight Opioid Addiction committing to fight the epidemic that kills roughly 78 Americans every day. The National Governors Association released the compact ahead of its summer meeting, which starts Thursday in Des Moines.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a teen who was hit by a minivan while playing a game with friends has died. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says 16-year-old J.C. Meardon and two others were standing in a road Monday night in southwest Iowa City when they two of the boys were hit. The Iowa City Press-Citizen says the boys were playing a game and thought the van was a friend coming to pick them up.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say an injured man found by officers on a Des Moines street has died. The Des Moines Register report that 32-year-old Ryan Thompson was found by police on Southwest 17th Street around 3 p.m. Monday after a report of an assault. Police say Thompson was taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, where he died Tuesday of his injuries.

A toddler drowned last (Tuesday) night in Carroll. Carroll Police Captain Mark Heino  says it happened at the boy’s home.”The actual details surrounding the incident, that part of the investigation is still underway,” Heino says. “The child’s name is Eli Rowedder and he lived at that residence.” It was about a quarter ’til nine last (Tuesday) night when police in Carroll got the 9-1-1 call saying a child had been found unresponsive in a swimming pool.

“Our local paramedics and police department were dispatched,” Heino says. “…CPR was in progress. The child was transported to our local hospital and later pronounced dead.” The boy’s father, Craig Rowedder, is a coach and technology director at Carroll High School. Kara Rowedder, the toddler’s mother, is an elementary school teacher in Carroll.

(Radio Iowa)