The Atlantic Airport Commission will meet Wednesday morning at the Airport Terminal. During the New Business portion of their meeting, the Commission  will receive information pertaining to two grants. One of the grants, which comes from the F-A-A, was announced by Senator Tom Harkin’s office on May 31st.

The $510, 763 grant will be used to help the facility meet design standards. Snyder and Associates Engineer Tim Teig told KJAN News the funds will be used for grading of the parallel taxiway and paving around the fuel lane, for better access by aircraft to the pumps. Teig says the funds for improvements to the Atlantic Airport, and 26 other municipal airports around the State, come from airline ticket sales and the sale of aviation fuel. He says no taxpayer monies are being used to pay for the improvements, other than those associated with user fees.The grant requires a 10-percent local match.

The second grant, of $36,000, would come from the State of Iowa. Teig says the City had applied for a new, hydraulic hangar door, to replace the City’s’ aging, manual sliding hangar door currently in use. That particular hangar houses a number of aircraft. An application was made for the grant, and after having been deemed eligible, is currently under consideration. A previous application failed to make the cut for State funds, according to City Administrator, Doug Harris.

The Atlantic Airport Commission will also discuss a drainage obstruction at the south end of the runway, the anticipated use of the facility for the “Fly Iowa” event, and other business.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced today that 12 Iowa water systems have been awarded fluoride certificates by the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Dental Association (ADA). In our listening area, DeSoto, Treynor and Stanton each received a 2011 Community Fluoridation Reaffirmation Award.

Fluoridation is the adjustment of fluoride in the water to an optimal level for preventing tooth decay. The award recognizes communities that maintained a consistent level of optimally fluoridated water throughout 2011. The CDC has recognized community water fluoridation as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th Century and recommends water fluoridation as a safe, effective, and inexpensive method of preventing tooth decay. The IDPH says it is a strong supporter of fluoridation programs.

Fluoride’s benefits for teeth were discovered in the 1930s. Dental scientists found low tooth decay rates among people whose water supplies contained natural fluoride. In communities of 20,000 people, every $1 invested in water fluoridation results in $38 of savings in dental treatment costs.

To see the fluoridation status of Iowa counties and towns, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/hpcdp/fluoride_search.asp. For more information on fluoride, visit www.idph.state.ia.us/hpcdp/common/pdf/oral_health/benefits_fluoride.pdf.

A Council Bluffs woman was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on a Charge of Child Endangerment, after deputies were alerted to a child in a van at a local shopping mall. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News a citizen reported the incident to deputies at around 7:20-p.m. Monday, as they were leaving a local pizzeria in the 1100 block of North Broadway. A woman approached the deputies and told them a baby was in a conversion van she thought was locked. The deputies investigated and found a child in a van in the parking lot of a Super Saver Store. The van’s windows were rolled-down slightly, and one of the doors was unlocked. The deputies took the child out of the vehicle. Danker said it was crying, upset and sweating.”

The 9-month old female was in the van for an estimated 25-30 minutes. The outside temperature at the time was 86-degrees. Danker said deputies placed the child in an air conditioned patrol car. He said the child’s mother came out of a store and spoke with the deputies. He says she was visibly upset. When asked why she left the baby in the van, the woman told deputies “She forgot.” She said also that she would never have left the baby in the van, but she forgot about her when she went to get some money and food for her supper. After speaking with the woman, deputies learned she had four other children, but that they were with a aunt playing in a water fountain at Bayliss Park.

The woman, 30-year old Tiffany Tunney, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Child Endangerment. She remained in the Pott. County Jail this (Tuesday) morning on $5,000 bond. The child did not require medical attention, but Danker says “There was the real potential,” for medical problems related to the heat. The girl was placed in temporary protective custody. The Sheriff says people need to use common sense with regard to children and animals being left in vehicles during the sweltering Summer heat. He says “You just can’t leave them in a vehicle.” Make sure children are either taken into the store if you are shopping, or in some one else’s care, in an air conditioned location.