w/ Denny Heflin
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With temperatures expected to be near 60 during the coming week and most of the snow on the ground already melted, Atlantic residents might not be too concerned about shoveling snow from their sidewalks in a timely fashion, but with Mother Nature being unpredictable, there is still a chance we could see measurable snowfall. Atlantic City Administrator Doug Harris warned Wednesday, that his assistant, John Lund, will no longer send out warning notices to residents who have not shoveled their walks within 72-hours of the end of a snow storm.
Harris said in the past, the property owner would be notified by Certified Mail that they are in violation of a City Ordinance requiring snow to be removed from sidewalks. Now, if the job is not done within 72-hours, City crews will remove the snow and the property owner will be billed for the cost of labor and equipment. If the bill is not paid, it is assessed to their property and therefore the property owners’ taxes.
They especially want to focus on the sidewalks around the schools in Atlantic. This Spring and Summer, the focus will shift to tall grass on residential lawns. Harris said the City will still send out notices if the grass or weeds are more than 12-inches high, but the City could consider lowering that to 8-inches, taking into account the time it takes crews to mow violators’ lawns if the notice is not obeyed.
In other business, Harris told the Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, that his office has received requests and inquiries regarding private sewer lines. He says there currently is no policy pertaining to private ownership of sewer lines, but it is something he and Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Mark Farrier have looked at and created a draft proposal the Council can review and possibly forward recommendations to the Community Development Committee.
There are several sporadic private lines already around town, including one near the old Cherry Corner building off of east 7th Street.
Two people were arrested following a disturbance Wednesday night, in Villisca. Authorities say deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office were called to 104 W. 6th Street at around 10:10-p.m., and upon arrival located several subjects in the intersection of 1st Avenue and 6th Street. As the result of an investigation, 24-year old Michael D. Jones, of Shenandoah, and 35-year old Jamie R. Straw, of Villisca, were arrested for Disorderly Conduct.
Straw was also charged with Criminal Mischief and Simple Assault. Officials say additional persons involved in the incident fled the scene and additional charges may be possible.
Police in Red Oak say no injuries were reported after two cars collided Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of North 3rd and East Corning Streets. Officials say at around 12:40-p.m., 17-year old Shelby Musland, of Red Oak, was driving a 2003 Mini Cooper south on N. 3rd Street and had stopped at the intersection. With a school bus blocking a clear view of the road, the teen pulled away from the stop sign and was struck by an eastbound 2011 Ford Fusion, driven by 48-year old Jamie Thompson, of Red Oak.
The accident caused $3,600 damage altogether. Musland was issued a written warning for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign.
*(This is an update to an earlier posting – changes services from Private to March 8th)
KATE MARIE GRIFFITH, of Audubon, the infant daughter of Andy & Heather Griffith, died Tue., March 4th, at Methodist Women’s Hospital in Omaha. Funeral services for KATE MARIE GRIFFITH will be held 2-p.m. Sat., March 8th, at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon.
Burial will be in the St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Audubon.
KATE MARIE GRIFFITH is survived by:
Her parents – Andy & Heather Griffith, of Audubon.
Her sister – Emma Griffith, of Audubon.
Her Grandparents – Roger (Marge) Griffith, Roger (Julie) Bylund, and Patty (Gary) Umland, all of Audubon.
Her Great-grandparents, other relatives and friends.
346 AM CST THU MAR 6 2014
EARLY THIS MORNING…CLOUDY. PATCHY FOG. SOUTHEAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.
TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING THEN BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY. BREEZY…WARMER. PATCHY FOG THROUGH MID MORNING. HIGH IN THE LOWER 40S. SOUTH WIND 5 TO 20 MPH.
TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY UNTIL EARLY MORNING THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLOUDY. BREEZY. LOW AROUND 30. SOUTH WIND 10 TO 20 MPH.
FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF DRIZZLE BEFORE NOON. A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF LIGHT SLEET LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH IN THE MID 40S. SOUTHWEST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTH 10 TO 15 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.
FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LIGHT SNOW AND LIGHT SLEET LIKELY THROUGH MIDNIGHT…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. COLDER. LOW 15 TO 20. NORTH WIND AROUND 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 60 PERCENT.
SATURDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. COLDER. HIGH IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY…MOSTLY CLEAR. BREEZY. LOW 15 TO 20. HIGH 29 TO 53.
The Iowa men and women both play today. For the women, it’s the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes have to win four games in four days to get an automatic N-C-A-A bid, and coach Lisa Bluder says it’s tough. She says they have to go by the old “one game at a time” plan. Pre-game for Iowa versus Illinois gets underway at 1:15 on KJAN.
The Iowa men look to win again after stopping a three-game losing streak against Purdue. They are at Michigan State. Coach Fran McCaffery has been focusing on cutting back the turnovers this season after averaging in the double digits the last few seasons. Iowa had just five turnovers in the win against Purdue. Iowa is 20-9 overal and 9-7 in the Big Ten. They play Michigan State at 8 p-m. Catch the pre-game beginning at 7, also on KJAN.
(Learfield Sports)
The Iowa House has voted to update state policy governing strip searches of both inmates and visitors to city and county jails. Representative Stan Gustafson, a Republican from Cumming, says contraband is becoming commonplace. “In recent months Iowa sheriffs’ offices being confiscated everything from weapons to illegal substances being carried into the jail,” he says. “Recently in Linn County, a woman carried in a knife.”
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all jail inmates, regardless of the charges they may face, can be strip searched when they’re booked. The bill that passed the House would give Iowa jailers authority to conduct a strip search if there is “reasonable suspicion” the person being booked into jail, or coming into the jail as a visitor, is concealing a weapon or contraband like drugs.
“Safety concerns are at the heart of this bill,” Gustafson says. “…It is the sheriff’s responsibility to provide a safe and secure environment and House File 2174 assists in that duty.” Gustafson cites a recent incident in Oklahoma. A man booked into a jail on minor charges had a loaded gun and bragged about it to other prisoners. Authorities didn’t know about the gun for 16 hours because the inmate wasn’t strip searched before he was put in a cell.
Last March Woodbury County paid 385-thousand dollars to settle three lawsuits filed by women who had been strip searched at the county jail. Federal lawsuits filed by two other women who say they were subjected to excessive force during searches at the Woodbury County Jail are still pending.
(Radio Iowa)
Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press …
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating the cause of a fuel leak near a Des Moines hospital. The Des Moines Fire Department says the leak was reported yesterday morning at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. No injuries were reported and hospital activities continued as normal. City officials and a private contractor will remove the fuel and work with the state Department of Natural Resources on cleanup efforts.
DAYTON, Iowa (AP) — Regulators have issued a boil advisory for the small Iowa city of Dayton in Webster County. The state Department of Natural Resources says the advisory was issued because of a water main break Tuesday night. It caused water from a tower to drain.
STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A broken sewer line has caused wastewater to reach a small frozen creek in northwest Iowa. The state Department of Natural Resources says the ice-filled Outlet Creek below Storm Lake has been affected by a leak discovered Tuesday morning. The line, managed by the Southwest Sanitary District, leads to a wastewater treatment plant. The leak was stopped a short time later.
STANWOOD, Iowa (AP) — Officials in eastern Iowa say a moose trekking through the area could be the same creature spotted a few months ago. Eric Wright, a conservation officer with the state Department of Natural Resources, tells the Quad-City Times the animal seen recently in Cedar County could be the same one seen around Linn County in December.
A former administrative intern at the Council Bluffs St. Albert High School has been charged in connection with a high school fire in North Dakota. The Daily NonPareil reports 30-year old Thomas Sander, a Principal at Trinity High School in Dickinson, N.D., faces felony charges of Arson and Endangerment by fire or explosion. Sander was being held in jail Wednesday on $500,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 10-years in prison.
The fire, which occurred Monday, heavily damaged the school. Students were given the week off while officials decided how to continue the school year.
While at St. Albert, Sander worked six to eight hours per week for one semester as part of an unpaid administrative practicum for his master’s degree. He was not a school employee, however, and was at the school for about three months.