(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says a property-damage accident that took place at around 4:15-a.m. July 2nd, wasn’t reported until July 21st. Authorities say 45-year-old Jonas Chladek, of Redfield, was driving a 2010 VW Passat northbound on Oakridge Drive on Lake Diamondhead, when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road. His vehicle struck a legally parked 1989 specialty trailer, which then began rolling downhill toward a residence at 8109 Oakridge Drive.

The trailer struck a 500-gallon propane tank that was hooked-up to the residence. Officials say the trailer was moving downhill hard enough, that it completely knocked the 500 gallon tank off of the concrete blocks that were supporting it. The tank was pushed into a tree next to the residence. Damage to the trailer owned by David Mortensen, was estimated at $700. The Agriland FS propane tank sustained $2,500 damage. Damage to the VW was estimated at $6,000. Chladek was not injured.

The Sheriff’s Department cited him for Failure to Maintain Control.

(Radio Iowa) – A warrant has been issued for a southeast Iowa man in an alleged case of what’s become known as stolen valor. A benefit motorcycle ride was held in September of 2020 in Mount Pleasant for Christopher Williams, of Oxford Junction. About 45-hundred dollars was raised for Williams, who said he was a military veteran. Someone contacted the Henry County Sheriff’s Office in May to suggest Williams may have lied about being in the military. Henry County deputies say they were unable to find any records indicating Williams had served in any branch of the military.

This month, Williams was charged with fraudulent practice in the second degree, a class D felony.

(Atlantic,Iowa) – Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education met in a Special Session Thursday afternoon in the Central Office at the Achievement Center. The purpose of the meeting was to finally bring to a close, a situation whereby the District kept a retainer from the project contractor, until the project was finished to the District’s satisfaction. Before they discussed and acted on a related change order, AIA documents and final pay application for Graphite Construction of Des Moines, Superintendent Steve Barber reflected on the past year.

Wednesday, July 27th, marked the one-year anniversary of the Atlantic Middle School Fire, that caused classes to be relocated to different buildings and forced the District to – as the Marines say – “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome” the obstacles associated with the incident, in combination with the stress of dealing with COVID. With less than a month away from the first day of school, Mr. Barber said they’ll be ready.

School Board Vice-President Laura McLean echoed those sentiments.

Atlantic School Board, 7-28-22; Ric Hanson/photo

With regard to the Atlantic Athletic Facilities Improvement Project, Mr. Barber said after the meeting, that while the process of getting the work wrapped-up, despite the fact it took much longer than expected, it’s done, and time to move on and they are excited to get THIS school year started in the right way.

The Atlantic School Board, Thursday (today) approved a Change Order for the Project in the amount of $1,000 from Graphite, plus 100-pounds of grass seed, due to the fact the grass performance at the High School and other places was not up to the Engineer’s standard, by the middle of July, and the first seeding window opportunity had closed. The District is in the process of acquiring a seeder, and the District intends to seed the grounds during the third week of August, which is the second window of opportunity.

The Board also approved the AIA Final Documents,which essentially is completed contract billing throughout the project; The documents are created mainly to assist architects working on a construction project to be paid for the work completed on the project. In this case, the documents included: Consent of Surety to Final Payment; Contractor’s Affidavit of Payment of Debts and Claims, and Contractor’s Affidavit of Release of Liens.

The Board also approved a final pay application to Graphite Construction in the amount of $240,072.30. They also acknowledged the Final Completion of the Atlantic Athletic Facilities Project. Board Member Josh McLaren…

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Officials with the Adair County Secondary Roads Department report, a little under one-mile of 130th street (in northeastern Adair County) will be closed to through traffic starting Monday, August 1, 2022 and continuing through Friday, August 5, 2022. Residents will have access to their properties. If you have any questions or concerns please call the Secondary Roads Dept. at 641-743-6111. (click on the map top enlarge)

(Radio Iowa) – The “World Day Against Human Trafficking” is this Saturday, and some of the leaders in the effort in Iowa are asking you to take notice. Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate, has worked with businesses on the issue. “We want the public to learn more about it. And we’d like to invite them to do more about it. It is a ongoing issue with you know, it’s a form of slavery, whether it’s a labor trafficking or sex trafficking, ” Pate says. Pate says it takes a team effort to get everyone involved and fight the trafficking. “That has some tips out there for people to see. We work very closely with a lot of groups. And in my case we launched Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking,” Pate says, “and we have over 500 businesses in Iowa who stepped up, and they’re learning about it. And they’re encouraging others in themselves to do more about it within their own company.”

He says you can go to the Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking website to get some tips. Chris Calloway with the Iowa Department of Public Safety says they’ve been working with lodging operators for almost two years on how to spot human trafficking. “And since that time, we’ve trained almost 600 lodging providers — that includes hotels, some of the county parks, Air b-n-b’s — pretty much anybody that has a lodging facility available for people to stay at is welcome and encouraged to attend the training,” Calloway says. He says the D-P-S Office To Combat Human Trafficking has also trained some 17-thousand-500 others — and they are seeing some early results. “We only have a small data set, but the the first six months of 2022 have shown a increase in those reported tips,” he says.

Iowa Sec. of State Paul Pate.

Calloway says there is no single type of victim in these crimes. “It can be any age. It can be children, it can be. It can be teens, it can be older people as well,” he says. “And then the sex trafficking, the human trafficking and sex trafficking, that’s only part of it. There’s the labor trafficking that goes with that as well.”

You are asked to give them a tip if you see something that doesn’t look right. You can call toll free at: 888-373-7888 to give a tip. You can also go to the D-P-S website: stophtiowa.org to make a report, or find out more about training.

(Radio Iowa) – A public celebration of life event will be held next week for the three family members from Cedar Falls who were shot to death while camping last week in eastern Iowa. Cedar Falls Mayor Bob Green says he anticipates there will be a private funeral for Tyler and Sarah Schmidt and their six-year-old daughter, Lula. The mayor says the public event at Overman Park in Cedar Falls on Tuesday night will give the community a chance to share and, while not a festive gathering, it will be a celebration of remarkable people.

State officials have reopened Maquoketa Caves State Park to visitors, but the campground where the shooting happened remains closed. By this (Thursday) morning, more than 45-hundred people had donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the go-fund-me account for Arlo Schmidt, the nine-year-old boy who survived the attack.

(Radio Iowa) – A one year experiment in a Davenport junior high school will likely expand this fall to three more. The district’s head nurse, Gina Ekstrom, says Community Health Care, which serves low-income residents of the Quad Cities, received a grant to improve access to health care for children. So last year, it provided vaccinations at the school and virtual medical appointments so kids would miss only a few minutes of class, instead of a half-day or full-day of school.

“Parents really appreciated that having this partnership with Community Health allowed them to get the health care that their children needed, maybe without them having to take a day off from work,” Ekstrom says. “It was great because Community Health Care came to them. We met the students where they were.”

Community Health Care plans to add mental health services at the junior high school this fall to address a long-term problem made worse by COVID. Ekstrom says vaccinations and virtual medical appointments will be available this fall at three more junior highs, with mental health services added next year. Thanks to the grant, there’s no cost to the Davenport School District.

(Radio Iowa) – The C-E-O of Hy-Vee — Iowa’s largest employer — will step down from that post on September 30th. Randy Edeker has been the chief executive officer of Hy-Vee since
2012. He has chosen Aaron Wiese to take over as C-E-O on October 1st. Wiese started at Hy-Vee in 1993 when he was in college and over the past decade Wiese has held a variety of executive roles in the company. He’s currently in charge of supply chains and subsidiaries.

According to a news release from the company, Wiese will focus on day-to-day operations and will report to Edeker, who’ll remain as chairman of Hy-Vee’s board of directors. Edeker, Hy-Vee’s out-going C-E-O, has worked at the company for 40 years. He started as a part-time employee at the Hy-Vee store in Chariton.

AMES, Iowa – July 28, 2022 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is holding a public hearing and requesting public input for the proposed U.S. 30 bypass in Missouri Valley, Harrison County. The Iowa DOT would like to gather public feedback on the environmental documentation, preferred alternative, and potential impacts related to the planned improvements. The environmental assessment is now available to review at the Missouri Valley Public Library, 420 East Huron Street, Missouri Valley, and is available online at: https://iowadot.gov/ole/NEPA-Compliance/NEPA-documents/US-30-Missouri-Valley-Bypass

The Iowa DOT is providing two meeting formats for the public hearing: in-person and a virtual at your own pace. If you do not have access to the internet, or need assistance viewing the materials, please contact the DOT representative listed below.

In-Person Meeting:

Date/Time: August 4, 2022 / 4:30 p.m.

Location: Rand Center, 100 South 4^th Street, Missouri Valley

Description: The public hearing will be conducted using a combined open forum and formal format. The open forum will be held from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., where Iowa DOT staff will be present to informally discuss the project. After the open forum, a formal presentation will be displayed beginning at 5:15 p.m. and followed by a question-and-answer session.

At your own pace Meeting:

Date/Time: Anytime between August 4 – August 29, 2022

How to Attend: Navigate to www.iowadot.gov/pim and click on “U.S. 30 Missouri Valley”

Description: Experience a self-guided tour of the proposed project and submit comments and questions at any time during the comment period.

Comments and questions regarding the online public hearing should be received by August 29, 2022.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Department reports Deputies responded Tuesday to a disturbance taking place outside of a residence in the 800 block of 15th Street, in Corning. Upon Deputies’ arrival, two men were found near the residence. They fled when Deputies approached in an attempt to speak with them. The individuals were identified as Blaine Patrick Venteicher, of Corning, and Treynor Michael Dixson, of Nodaway.

Both were placed under arrest and charged with Minor in Possession of Alcohol, and Public Intoxication. They were transported to the Adams County Jail, and later released on $300 bond, each.

*”Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations, and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”