Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine during her weekly news conference to encourage Iowans to get vaccinated as soon as they can. The governor, her husband Iowa Department of Public Health Administrator Kelly Garcia were vaccinated Wednesday during the televised event. Reynolds says she wanted to wait to get vaccinated until after nursing home residents and staff, essential workers and other priority groups had the chance to do so. Iowa is one of several Republican-led states that have lifted most mask and distancing requirements against the advice of top health experts. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that lifting mask mandates now would be a mistake and urged state leaders to follow the science.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A decision by the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district to stick with remote learning in the midst of a pandemic could end up costing him his job. Television station WOI reports that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is seeking to strip Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ahart of his administrator license. The board says it found probable cause that Ahart failed to submit or implement a lawful plan to return students to the classroom for the 2020-21 school year as required by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The license is a state requirement to hold the position of schools superintendent in Iowa.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Police say the discovery of a live pipe bomb at a central Iowa polling place forced an evacuation of the building. Police responded Tuesday morning after a device that looked like a pipe bomb was found outside the Lakeside Center in Ankeny, where residents were voting on an Ankeny school district special election. No one was injured. The building was evacuated, and the State Fire Marshal and agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in. Technicians safely detonated the device, and the center was reopened around 12:30 p.m. Police later confirmed that the device was a pipe bomb. Officials don’t know whether the pipe bomb was related to the election and police say an investigation into who left the device is continuing.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Cities along the Mississippi River will take part in a global system to determine where plastic pollution comes from and how it ends up in waterways. Officials said Wednesday the project is a first step toward solving one of the top environmental crises for the world’s oceans. The project enables “citizen scientists” using a mobile application to log types and locations of litter found along the river. The Mississippi drains 40% of the continental U.S. and sends huge volumes of plastics into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Atlantic City Council breezed through their agenda in about 30-minutes, Wednesday evening. Following Public Hearings…

• The Council authorized Library Director Michelle Andersen to apply for a USDA/Rural Development grant for financial assistance to purchase new Atlantic Public Library computers, computer desks, related equipment, and to help finance new flooring in the Library, along with painting of the upper level.

Combined, both projects are expected to cost $80,970, with grants and other proceeds available, amounting to $69,440. The Library Gift Fund is likely to pick up the balance of the bill.

• The Council passed a Resolution pertaining to FY2022 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Certain Levies, as previously explained.
• They also passed a Resolution “Taking additional action on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Refunding Loan Agreement” (as previously explained), and “Authorizing the use of a Preliminary Official Statement in Connection” with the agreement.
• And, the Atlantic  City Council passed a Resolution Adopting the Preliminary FY2022 Budget and set the date for a public hearing on the Budget as well as the proposed FY2022 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget. Both will take place during the Council’s next meeting on March 17, 2021.
• A separate Resolution was passed to enter into a solid waste management loan agreement, with regard to the 28-E organization that operates the Cass County Landfill.

In other business, the Council approved the setting of April 1st as the bid date, and April 7th as the date for a  public hearing, on the Atlantic Animal Shelter building addition. You may recall, the engineer’s original estimate for the project was $151,620, but the lowest bid came in at $180,300. Snyder and Associates Engineer Austin Sonntag said Wednesday, there were some adjustments to the dates for the project completion.

Sonntag was asked by Councilman Dick Casady if Snyder’s had increased the amount of their estimate. Austin said they have spoke recently with the original contract bidders about that.

The Lorene Eppelsheimer estate has gifted the City $135,000 to benefit animals at the shelter, with the intention of increasing the number of cat cages and moving them to a separate area away from the dogs. It will also have a proper food storage area, an exam and grooming table, in addition to a more efficient water heater. Additional gifts have been received in the amount of $2,000, and City officials will be looking for grants and funds from the budget to help make up for the deficit.

In other business, the Council approved the reappointments of Melissa Ihnen to the Board of Adjustment as well as the Planning & Zoning Commission, along with Dave Sturm and Ted Robinson, to the Utility Board of Trustees.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have arrested two men in the shooting death of a Clive man last month. Fifty-one-year-old Columbus Plum Lewis, of Des Moines, has been charged with first-degree murder. Police also arrested 55-year-old Virgil Alva See, also of Des Moines, for first-degree theft and accessory after the fact. Lewis is accused of shooting 52-year-old Darrell Merriweather, of Clive, who died on Saturday.

Police say Lewis fled the scene after Merriweather was shot. He was arrested Sunday on several unrelated warrants. Investigators say See was at the scene of the shooting and they later found Merriweather’s ID card, debit card and credit cards at See’s home.