Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will meet in a regular session Wednesday evening, in the High School Media Center. The session begins at 6-p.m. and will be broadcast live via YouTube. Among the action items on their Consent agenda is –

• Approving the resignations of: Kassidy Edwards, Middle School Special Ed Teacher; Katy Christianson, Freshman Girls Basketball; Bus Mechanic Nathan Renz, and Food service workers Stephanie Kloewer and Angela Hillhouse.
• Approval of contract recommendations for the following:
  • Michaelin Julh and Stephanie Kloewer, HS Spec. Ed Paraeducators (internal transfers)
  • Kerry Jepsen, HS Spec. Ed Para; Trena Page,Audrey Stewart, Jen Renz and Aliyah Jordan as Washington Spec. Ed. Para’s
  • Emily Hansen, Melissa Smith and Lindsey Mitchell, Food Service.
  • Scott Dickerson, HS Night Custodian
  • Sarah Rose, HS Student Council Sponsor, and Angela Sieh, MS Student Council Sponsor.
  • Clint Roland, Asst. MS Football Coach
  • Katy Christensen, Vol. Volleyball Coach
  • Abby Becker & Don Pobanz, Vol. Cross Country Coaches.

The Board will also act on 2021-22 TLC Mentor Contracts for: Stacy Johnson; Tracy Daugherty; DeLana Harris; Jenny Madsen; Chelsey Lee; Angela Oglesbee; Liz Reid; Allison Berryhill; Kathy Hobson; Mandi Brauer and Rhonda Hawkins. Each Mentor receives a $2,500 stipend, for a total cost of $32,199.75. In other business, the Atlantic School Board will act on a Middle School Classrooms Construction Plan for the Achievement Center (alternate education site while the Middle School is being cleaned-up and reconstructed, following the July 27th fire).

Officials with the Danish Villages Improvement Organization (DVIO) aim to change the so called “Food desert” for the Danish Villages of Elk Horn and Kimballton. A “food desert is an area where access to affordable, healthy food options are limited or nonexistent because grocery stores are too far away. DVIO Board Member Klare Chapman says the need became obvious, after results of a survey confirmed it was a top issue for the community.

Theo Ramsey of Ramsey’s Market/Fresh Out of the Box will be speaking at a meeting of the Danish Villages Improvement Organization (DVIO) on Wednesday, August 18th, 7pm at the Kimballton Town Hall. The public is encouraged to attend and learn more. Theo will be discussing his innovative grocery locker system which brings groceries and hardware to small towns across Southwest Iowa. They are a rural company focused 100% on rural needs. Theo and Bonnie Ramsey currently own and operate brick and mortar grocery stores serving Lennox & Manning and are now expanding to serve communities throughout the region by providing next day grocery and hardware delivery, 7 days a week, to refrigerated and frozen lockers located in each participating community. Currently, Shelby and Walnut have the lockers in place, with Griswold adding theirs in November.

DVIO, which serves both Elk Horn & Kimballton is considering whether or not the Fresh Out of the Box locker system would be a good fit for the Danish Villages.

The locker will work like this:

• You place your grocery order online.
• You will get a notification your delivery is ready and a code.
• You punch in your code into the screen on the locker and the lights above the doors your order is in will light up.
• You open the doors and take your groceries.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’ll be voting in favor of the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill when it comes up for a vote this (Tuesday) morning. Grassley, a Republican, says the bill is truly a bipartisan measure which he says will make a “significant investment” in Iowa’s future. “I often hear from Iowans in my 85 county meetings I’ve been in so far this year about the need to fix Iowa’s aging infrastructure,” Grassley says. “We finally have a bipartisan package that delivers critical improvement for Iowa’s roads and bridges, locks and dams, and airports.” The legislation includes 65-billion dollars for improvements to broadband and Grassley says many Iowans in rural corners of the state are in dire need of better access to high-speed internet service.

“I think the emphasis upon broadband is because telehealth has come into vogue because of the pandemic,” Grassley says, “and distant learning and a lot of families haven’t been able to access this.” Before he decided to vote “yes” on the 2,700-page bill, Grassley said he had concerns that it might include new social programs and not enough “traditional, physical infrastructure,” things like roads and bridges. He says he no longer has those worries about “liberal priorities” being contained in the massive measure.

“There’s no mileage tax, no Green New Deal, no amnesty for undocumented immigrants in this bill,” Grassley says, “and the only reason I emphasize that is because there’s a lot of talk about that stuff being in this bill.” After the infrastructure bill is passed, Democrats will move on to the three-point-five trillion dollar budget bill, which he says is sure to contain some of those social programs. Grassley says he and the rest of the Republicans will likely vote against the budget, which he says will “further feed the fires of inflation.”

(Carroll, Iowa) The Iowa Transportation Commission met in Carroll this (Tuesday) morning, and approved an application from Audubon County for a RISE (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy) grant. The Commission also approved RISE settlements with the Cities of Ames, Boone and Grimes. For Audubon County, up to $261,253 from the county share of the RISE Fund was approved for an Immediate Opportunity grant to assist in the paving of approximately 285 feet of 100th Street, grading 173 feet of 100th Street, and intersection improvements to County Road M-66 and 100th Street located south of Manning.  Officials say the project is necessary to provide improved access to the proposed expansion of Puck Enterprises, a liquid manure application equipment manufacturer, to support a commitment of the creation of 30 new full-time jobs out of 40 RISE-eligible created jobs and $7,565,413 in associated capital investment.  The project is anticipated to be completed by October 2022.

Iowa cities and counties are eligible for funding in the form of a grant, loan, or combination thereof.  Projects must involve the construction or improvement of a public roadway.  There are two RISE project types: 1) Immediate Opportunity, and 2) Local Development.

Projects funded by the RISE program promote economic development in Iowa through the establishment, construction, and improvement of roads and streets. The RISE program is targeted toward value-adding activities that feed new dollars into the economy and provide maximum economic impact to the state on primary or secondary roads, and city streets open for public use. While all counties and incorporated cities in Iowa are eligible to apply, funding is generally limited to industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, and professional office developments, with few exceptions.

More information is available HERE.