(Atlantic, Iowa) – Three City of Atlantic employees were presented with plaques and received congratulations from the City Council, for their 10 years of service to citizens of the community. Mayor Dave Jones made the presentations.

Among those honored was Lt. Devin Hogue with the Atlantic Police Department, who began as a Patrolman in Aug., 2011.

Lt. Devin Hogue

City Administrator John Lund, who began as an Assistant to the City Administrator in March, 2011, and Chad Silence, who joined the Street Department in March, 2011 as and Equipment Operator.

John Lund

Chad Silence

(UPDATE, 9/24: Individuals who participate in the program must be 18 years of age or older)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with Iowa Western Community College, in Atlantic, said Wednesday, that Iowa Western’s Continuing Education department is partnering with local hospitals and long-term health facilities to recruit and provide FREE Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training for the first 100 Iowa resident applicants! There will be training programs in Atlantic, Clarinda, Harlan, and at the main campus in Council Bluffs.

The cost is FREE to Iowa residents! The applicant will attend an orientation day and then their next step is to show up to their first day of class. Iowa Western offers a 75-hour class, as well as a hybrid class, which incorporates both class and lab exercises. Once the student successfully completes the class and lab, they will then take the state certification exams, offered at our Iowa Western campus, and be able to apply for CNA jobs immediately!

Rachel Jensen, Director of Continuing Education at Iowa Western, says “We want to find 100 individuals who want to make a difference in the lives of others.” Certified Nursing Assistants have the ability to make a difference in a resident’s life each and every day. This CNA Training is certainly a great initiative for the student, the facilities, the community and most important the residents.

Iowa Western hopes that the 100 free CNA’s start to address the health care workforce demand that has become more acute due to the COVID pandemic. There is a large workforce demand for CNA’s. The region of SW Iowa and the Omaha MSA currently has 6,702 Certified Nursing Assistants positions and will experience a 1.7% growth in the next five years. Currently the median pay is $15.33 an hour.

Cindy Wetterlind, IWCC Cass County Center Director, is excited for this initiative.  She said “I was very excited to hear about this initiative and the great opportunities it will bring to our community. Many providers are experiencing staffing issues and by adding 100 new Certified Nurses Assistants to the workforce residents, patients, and staff across all healthcare sectors will benefit greatly.” She has reached out to several facilities in the area and they too are excited for the opportunities that this will bring to the local area.

The IWCC Cass County Center CNA class will start on November 29th. For more information please call 712-243-5527.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Officials with the Glenwood Police Department say two people were arrested Wednesday on separate warrants: 32-year-old Tera McAtee, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure to Appear. Her bond was set at $1,000; and, 25-year-old Kameron Myers, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Douglas County, Nebraska warrant, also for Failure to Appear. Myers’ bond was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – The latest state report shows that over the past seven days there’s been a nearly 10 percent increase in the number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s website shows there are 638 Covid patients in Iowa hospitals and 25 percent of them are in intensive care units. State data shows a dozen kids under the age of 12 are hospitalized with Covid.

Among the Iowans who’ve tested positive for Covid in the past week, 26 percent are under the age of 18. That’s a slight decline from last week’s report.

Over the past seven days, nearly 60 percent of the Iowans confirmed through testing to have Covid are under the age of 40. The latest information on Covid shots shows nearly 65-and-a-half percent of Iowa ADULTS are fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate among Iowans over the age of 65 is 83 percent.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development hosted a roundtable in Sioux City this (Wednesday) morning to partner with businesses in trying to find workers. Presenter Kathy Leggett talked about the issue prior to the roundtable and says there’s some people who aren’t coming back to the workforce for various reasons.

Leggett says businesses have to look at a variety of options for bringing in workers.

Leggett says hiring wages are making things even more competitive. She says she saw it in their summer youth work program.

The roundtable was held at Western Iowa Tech.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Public Health “Parents as Teachers” is offering free car seat inspections. The inspections will take place this Saturday, September 25th, from 9-until 11-a.m., in the parking lot at the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center at 703 Linn Street in Atlantic. Please enter by the north drive, off 7th Street. Multiple certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians will be on hand to inspect car seats, help parents install them correctly, give tips about car seat safety, and answer any questions. There is no cost for the inspections, but appointments are needed. Please make an appointment online at cciaph.as.me/carseat or by calling 712-243-7475.

Here are some tips and points to remember to keep kids in boosters safely and properly secured….

Why Booster Seats are Important:

Keep your growing passenger safe. A booster seat provides a step between a car seat with a harness and a seat belt alone. It boosts the child for a safer and more comfortable fit of the adult seat belt.

Is it time to move to a booster seat? Make sure your child meets the weight or height limits allowed in her forward-facing car seat. The child must also be mature enough to ride without a harness. What does “mature enough” mean? She needs to stay in the booster seat the entire ride with the seat belt properly fitted across the shoulder and below the hips.

Types of Booster Seats

• High back booster. This type is best if your vehicle has a low seat back and no head rest. Like adults, children need support behind their heads. A high-back booster may also be good for younger children who fall asleep in the car.
• Backless booster. This type may be more convenient if you carpool or travel. They are typically less expensive. However, the vehicle must have a seat back high enough to provide support behind your child’s head. What’s high enough? Your child’s ears should be below the top of the vehicle seat or head rest.

The Right Fit for Your Booster Seat

Getting a safe ride. A booster seat lifts a child’s body so the car seat belt can fit properly. The seat belt must lie flat across your child’s chest, is on the bony part of his shoulder and is low on the hips or upper thighs.

Using the seat belt. The booster seat is specifically designed for seat belt fit. Follow the arrows or guides on the booster seat that show you where to place the lap and shoulder belts. This will protect the child’s face, neck and belly. Watch for this common problem. Make sure your child doesn’t put the shoulder belt behind her back or under her arm. If she must do that to be comfortable, it’s best to use a car seat with a harness or a different booster seat with an adjustable shoulder belt guide.

Seat Belt Safety
Don’t be in a hurry. Your child is safer in a booster seat until the adult seat belt fits correctly, usually between the ages of 8 and 12. Do the Seat Belt Fit Test. If your child doesn’t pass every step in the test below, keep him in a booster seat until he does. Test in all the cars your child uses. Remember, just because the seat belt fits your child in one car doesn’t mean the seat belt will fit in all cars. Perform the Seat Belt Fit Test in every car before permanently moving from the booster seat to seat belt only.

The Seat Belt Fit Test
Check knees and feet. Your child’s knees bend at the edge of the seat when her back and bottom are against the vehicle seat back. Her feet should touch the floor for comfort and stability.
Check the lap belt. The vehicle lap belt fits snugly across the hips or upper thighs. Check the shoulder belt. The shoulder belt fits across the shoulder and chest, NOT across the face or neck.