(Atlantic, Iowa) – Since its founding in 1975, Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), which also operates Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), has earned a reputation for being an outstanding community partner and transit provider in the region. Now, the organization’s efforts are being recognized statewide. Communications Coordinator C.J. Petersen reports SWIPCO will be recognized as the 2022 Organization of Character by the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, which annually recognizes Iowans who show the Six Pillars of Charcter Counts: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship. Since 2005, the Ray Center has recognized more than 150 Iowans for showing good character.

Hilary Ortmann, Associate Director for The Ray Center, said “The Ray Center is proud to recognize SWIPCO with a 2022 Iowa Character Award. SWIPCO’s commitment to improve the lives of southwest Iowans through innovation and collaborative partnerships demonstrates their commitment to showing good character.” 

In honoring SWIPCO, the Ray Center noted SWITA transit professionals’ support of volunteers and stakeholders including Cass County Wellness Program Coordinator Brigham Hoegh, the City of Atlantic, and the local Food Policy Council to deliver meals to homebound community members at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic—all while continuing to operate as the sole public transit provider in southwest Iowa. Over a period of 40 weeks between spring 2020 and summer 2021, SWITA drivers and volunteers supplied food approximately 2,800 times. “When the rest of the world shut down, SWITA buses kept running,” said Transit Director Mark Lander. “Our drivers stepped up and helped get the job done.”

SWIPCO was also recognized based on its support for the southwest Iowa towns devastated by 2019 floods, which caused billions of dollars in property damage. SWIPCO’s efforts brought a combined $90 million grant package to the region, resulting in the region’s largest investment in new homebuilding in at least a generation. SWIPCO Executive Director John McCurdy said “I do not know of a more caring and devoted staff who work hard every day as a team to help our neighbors in southwest Iowa. This award is a wonderful recognition of that shared spirit of service, and we’re humbled to be recognized in this way.”

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center provides character and leadership development strategies to improve civility and develop ethical leaders throughout the world. As the global home to Character Counts, The Ray Center utilizes public awareness and programming grounded in research to advance two programs, Character Counts and Excellence with Integrity. The 2022 Iowans of Character awards will be presented at a ceremony on July 29th.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce report “Coca-Cola Days 2022” will be held September 23rd & 24th in Atlantic. The event is the second largest collectors’ show in the United States and includes a tailgate barbecue open to the public, a Show, Swap & Sell, Coca-Cola themed raffle and many more activities for all ages. New this year, the tailgate barbecue and Show, Swap & Sell will be held at the Cass County Fairgrounds. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, says “With it being the 30th Anniversary of Coca-Cola Days, we wanted to make it a larger celebration and needed more space to do so. We’re excited to share what our plans are for the day as the event gets closer.”

Left to Right: Kathie Hockenberry, Bailey Smith, Ray Paullin, Dolly Bergmann and Kelsey Beschorner (Photo courtesy The Chamber)

T-Shirts for the 2022 Coca-Cola Days celebration are now available for $20 at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, 102 Chestnut Street, from 8 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday. The T-shirts are a District Tee with a soft, polyester and cotton blend. T-shirts can be shipped for an additional fee. For more information on Coca-Cola Days, please visit www.atlanticiowa.com, call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-3017, email chamber@atlanticiowa.com, or pick up a brochure at the Chamber office.

Coca-Cola Days is sponsored by Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company and the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report a man from Creston was arrested Saturday morning on a drug charge. 68-year-old Francis Charles Weihs was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia at around 12:50-a.m., at 207 E. Montgomery Street. Weihs was later released from the Union County Jail on a $300 cash or surety bond. At around 2:45-a.m. Saturday, 46-year-old Christopher Sherman Wright, of Creston, was arrested at his residence in the 100 block of W. Ringgold Street, on charges that include Child Endangerment with Substantial Risk, and Domestic Abuse Assault. Wright was later released on a $2,000 cash or surety bond.

Saturday evening, Creston Police arrested 26-year-old Jacob Jack Davis, of Creston, for Trespassing, and on a Union County warrant Assault. He was being held on a $500 cash-only bond.

At around 1:35-a.m. Sunday, 45-year-old Shannon Lynne Cox, of Lenox, was arrested in Creston for Assault causing serious injury, and Attempted Burglary in the 1st Degree, resulting in bodily injury. She was later released from the Union County Jail on a $26,000 cash or surety bond.

(Anamosa, Iowa) – A collision Friday afternoon in eastern Iowa’s Jones County claimed the life of a man from Cascade, and resulted in injuries to a man from Hiawatha. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2014 Chevy Equinox driven by 74-year-old Donald Leo Supple, of Cascade, was traveling westbound on Highway 64, when the vehicle crossed the center line of the road and struck an eastbound 2017 Lincoln Navigator SUV, head-on.

Supple was flown by helicopter from the scene to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he died from his injuries. The driver of the SUV, 58-year-old Ricky John Larkey, from Hiawatha, was transported by Anamosa Ambulance to Unity Point Health/St. Lukes Hospital. The Patrol says both men were wearing their seat belts. The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)  – A Carroll County man who was recently acquitted of several poaching charges says he has a warning for deer hunters and questions the tactics of the Iowa D-N-R. Sixty-one-year-old Kenneth Snyder of Glidden was found not guilty on four counts of illegal possession of antlered whitetail deer. Snyder says the experience led him to this advice for hunters. ” I would forewarn anybody who has a European mounted deer on the wall, or a shoulder mount, that if they are asked by our friends at the D-N-R how they got that deer, their five words need to be ‘this deer has been processed.’ If I would have said that the night they interrogated us, there would be no going to court,” Snyder says.

European mounting is a technique where the deer heads are buried in the ground so bugs and animals pick them clean and all that is left is the skull and antlers. It costs less than having the whole deer head-mounted. Snyder says it’s important to note the deer were legally taken before the process. “Hunters need to know, they need to know their dialogue, or they will spend their day in court. And it isn’t any fun,” according to Snyder.

Snyder has been on the Carroll County Conservation Board for about 25 years and has done volunteer work with the D-N-R for many years. He says it didn’t make sense when conservation officers came to his house at 1:30 in the morning to question him. “I’m the guy out there teaching, why would I? Why would I do something illegal? It would be absolutely insane,” he says. Snyder says they introduced a video of the European mount process, and body cam video from a D-N-R officer who recognized the technique at Snyder’s home. He says there’s only one reason he can think of that officers pursued this case. “They have a lot of time on their hands. When you can bring five game wardens to a case — one from Polk County, one from Pottawattamie County, and three others — and justify that for a 175-dollar misdemeanor, somebody’s got to explain to me how the D-N-R runs their ship. And I mean that, I mean, the enforcement side is, I don’t quite understand it,” Snyder says.

The judge found Snyder not guilty right after hearing the testimony — saying he did nothing wrong. Snyder says the D-N-R hasn’t explained or apologized. “No, they don’t apologize for anything. They sent me a note and said I could have the four European mounted deer if I wanted to drive to Taylor County and get them — although they’d pick them up in Carroll County. But I’m not falling into that trap. I have no idea what they’re up to. And I don’t want anything to do with them. They can have them. They’re just little deer heads,” Snyder says.

He says the D-N-R has lost a friend. Snyders’ attorney, William Kutmus, says the D-N-R made a “totally incompetent” decision to prosecute the case, and that was evident by the quick verdict in Snyder’s favor. A spokesman for the Iowa D-N-R told Radio Iowa the decision to move ahead with the case was made by the prosecutor. Taylor County Attorney Clinton Spurrier prosecuted the case due to a potential conflict of interest with the Carroll County Attorney.

Spurrier told Radio Iowa it was a joint decision with the D-N-R to move forward. He says the judge relied heavily on the information that was presented at the trial — and some of that information was not available at the time the decision to prosecute was made. Spurrier says it was a lengthy investigation and further interviews may or may not have impacted the decision to prosecute the case. He says hindsight is always “20-20” following a decision. Snyder’s son Joshua is also facing charges from the D-N-R, and is awaiting a trial.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports six arrests took place from May 31st to June 11th. This past Saturday, a traffic stop at Highway 148 and Jonquil Road resulted in the arrest of 18-year-old Brianna Josephine Long. Long was wanted on a Council Bluffs P-D warrant for Failure to Appear. She was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond. A separate traffic stop at around 7:45-p.m. Saturday, resulted in the arrest of 20-year-old Jose Dubon, Jr., of Omaha, for Poss. of Marijuana/1st offense, and Poss. of Paraphernalia. His cash bond was set at $1,300.

Friday night, a traffic stop at 190th & Pear Avenue in Adams County, resulted in two arrests. 33-year-old Margaret Jo Williams was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, 41-year-old Jonnie Todd Lovell was arrested for Poss. of Marijuana/3rd Offense and Poss. of Paraphernalia. Williams’ bond was set at $1,300. Bond for Lovell was set at $2,300.

On June 5th, 19-year-old Shawn Allen Farlow, Jr., was arrested in Adams County, for Assault Causing Bodily Injury. He remains in the Adams County Jail. And, on May 31st, 22-year-old Parrish Barbara Wright was arrested for Driving While Suspended.

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