A$300,000 settlement with the families of three girls who were involved in the Atlantic High School strip search incident will be mostly covered by the Atlantic Community School District’s  insurance policy. Atlantic Superintendent Mike Amstein wanted to set the record straight on how the settlement would be paid for, during the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

search (click here to listen to audio from the meeting)

(as said – Amstein says the district’s carrier, EMC Insurance, has indicated the district is only responsible for the cost of its deductible, which is $1,500.)

Last month it was announced the Atlantic School District had agreed to pay $300,000 to the families of three students who were stripped search by a school employee in 2009. The settlement resolved a lawsuit brought by Holleigh Jo Jacobsen and her father, Matthew Jacobsen; Griffin Ferguson and her mother, Lisa Ferguson; and Paige Brianna Lank and her mother, Lee Lank. Each family of the three students will receive $100,000.

The lawsuit alleged that former Atlantic High School Assistant principal Paul Croghan ordered a strip search of five female students when another student reported they were missing $100. No money was found after the searches. Croghan resigned in 2009. The plaintiffs alleged the school violated the girls state and federal rights against unreasonable searches. On September 20th, Atlantic School officials admitted that the searches were against school policy and state law. They also said the girls did not do anything wrong.

The settlement however, did not absolve the district from its legal problems associated with the case. Last month, an open records suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa (ACLU) reached the Iowa Court of Appeals. The civil-rights organization has been trying to find out what disciplinary action if any, was imposed on school officials involved in the search. The organization had initially lost its bid to have the information disclosed in district court, but appealed the decision.

The district has denied the ACLU’s request for information on the matter, saying disclosure would violate the employees’ privacy. ACLU officials have said that because the public has a legitimate and compelling interest in what transpired at the high school, the information should be disclosed.

401 Maple Street fire

Firefighters in Atlantic were called to the scene of a residential fire this (Tuesday) afternoon. The  call about flames seen through an upstairs window at 401 Maple Street came in just before 4-p.m. Atlantic Assistant Fire Chief Tim Cappel.told KJAN News upon arrival, smoke was observed coming out the eaves of the home, which houses three apartments. Cappel says it appears an unattended candle ignited some drapes, which were next to a bed. The resident of the apartment extinguished the flames by throwing  clothes and water on top of them. The male resident suffered some minor burns to his hands and feet.

Cappel says the incident should serve as a reminder to people why it’s important to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in the home, especially at this time of year. He advised keeping your candles away from drapes and any flammable materials. It’s also important to never leave an open flame unattended.

This is Fire Safety Week. Cappel reminds you to change the batteries in your smoke detectors, and if you don’t have detectors in your home, to purchase them now.

The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday), approved a Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) Local Development grant application submitted by Mills County. Up to $876,510 will be made available to assist in construction of approximately 5,450 feet of 190^th Street north from U.S. 34 to K Avenue located west of Interstate 29. The project is should be completed by September, 2013. 

Officials say the project is necessary to provide access to six lots totaling 402 acres for industrial, transportation logistics and warehousing purposes.

Funding for the grant comes from the county share of the RISE Fund.

Firefighters from Griswold and Elliott spent about three-hours fighting a fire two-miles north of Elliott last night. The call about the blaze at 540^th and Yankton Road came in at around midnight. Griswold Fire Chief Jim Wyman says when they arrived on the scene, a vacant house with an adjacent trailer was fully engulfed in flames.

Mutual aid provided by firefighters from Elliott was dispatched at around 12:08-a.m. Tuesday, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department. Wyman told KJAN News the structures were a complete loss, and there wasn’t much left to do except clean-up the mess left behind and prevent the fire from spreading to three nearby corn fields . He says the cause of the fire remains undetermined, and because the home was unoccupied, the State Fire Marshal will not be called-in to investigate. Wyman says he hopes this isn’t the beginning of a trend.

Wyman said he “Just wonders where the next one is gonna be.” No injuries were reported. According to Wyman,  a calm wind and heavy air prevented the spread of the fire to the fields. Fog was not a problem on the way to the fire, but Wyman says on the way back to the station, it was a problem they had to contend with. Early this (Tuesday) morning, visibilities were down to less than one-quarter of a mile.