Seven motorcyclists from the Sioux City area took off Monday on a 5,000 mile journey with plans to raise $50,000 for the Unity Point St. Luke’s Children’s Miracle Network. Steve Schmidt is taking part in the ride. “What a great cause to help the youngsters of Siouxland,” Schmidt said. “I love to ride and I know a lot of people, so I can help with the fundraising.”

Schmidt, who rides 10-to-15-thousand miles a year on his motorcycle, has been with Security National Bank in Sioux City for 36 years. He and the other riders traveled to the Chicago area on Monday. Today (Tuesday), they’ll make their way to historic U.S. Route 66. “Then we go down through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, we touch a little bit of Nevada, and then into southern California where it ends in Santa Monica,” Schmidt said.

SXC Miracle Riders

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew is on the trip. He’s a fan of the band The Eagles and is looking forward to one particular stop. “I’m gonna be standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, so I’m pretty excited,” Drew said. “We’re going through the Grand Canyon, Santa Monica, and some areas I haven’t been to. I’m like a little kid at the candy store.”

The seven motorcyclists will be stopping at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to meet children and share their story along the way, hoping to raise $50,000 for CMN. “That’s what this ride is about – to help Unity Point Children’s Miracle Network with buying some things that will help the nurses and help the parents with their sick children,” Drew said. “That was really the big reason I got involved.”

The seven riders, who are each covering their own expenses on the trip, plan to return to Sioux City on September 29.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state panel has rejected a petition from two environmental activist groups that sought stricter standards for proposed animal feeding operations. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission denied the petition Monday from groups calling for it to require cattle feedlots and confined hog operations to require more distance from neighbors and take other actions. Commissioners said the proposed rules were too strict.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police say one man has died and a woman was injured when shots were fired into a Cedar Rapids house. Officers were called to the shooting Saturday night and found a man and woman with gunshot wounds. They were taken to hospitals, where 33-year-old Kenneth Lamont Everett died. Police way 29-year-old Gabriel Chantel Thomas is expected to recover. Police Monday said the shots were fired from outside the home and struck the victims while they were in a bedroom. Police haven’t reported any arrests.

ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) — A memorial ride scheduled for next month will honor an eastern Iowa police officer who was killed in a head-on crash. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that the ride will start in Anamosa on Oct. 15. Proceeds will benefit the family of Anamosa Officer Mitch Kelchen, who was killed in the crash Sept. 2 north of Andrew. The 40-year-old Kelchen was not on duty at the time.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities have arrested a suspect for a shooting that killed a Fort Dodge man. The Fort Dodge Police announced that 27-year-old Levi Gibbs III of Fort Dodge was being held at the Polk County Jail, where he was awaiting extradition back to Webster County. Authorities have charged Gibbs with first-degree murder for the shooting death of 32-year-old Shane Wessels of Fort Dodge.

Atlantic Parks and Rec Department Director Seth Staashelm, Monday evening, provided the Parks and Rec Board with updates on various matters pertaining to the Schildberg Rec Area, Sports Complex and Sunnyside Shelter. With regard to the Schildberg Rec Area, Staashelm said the campground sites are being utilized and reservations have been made for other pads.

There are 15 campers currently in place, three more spots are reserved for monthly campers and two more spots reserved for Coca-Cola Days. He hopes to have the remaining pads filled later this week, and they are working on acquiring a dumpster.

The fishing dock at Schildberg is almost finished, but Staashelm says they are working on seeding and other finishing touches. They are also waiting for the dock shelter engineering so the roof can be installed on the shelter, which will be named in memory of Richard McCauley, thanks to a donation from Pat McCauley.

Plans are also still in the works for a playground at Schildberg, but the costs are currently outside the budget, even though the prices have come down since the seasonal playground use time is winding down. Staashelm says they budgeted $50,000 for the project, but with shipping, the final price tag is more along the lines of $60,000.

He says wants to do more number crunching before presenting the final project concept to the Board next month. In other business, the Grand Opening for the Fishing Dock at Schildbergs will be for the Atlantic Ambassadors and to thank donors this Thursday, at 10-a.m. Once the roof is on, they will have a public grand opening. Staashelm said also, a “Bikers helping bikers Fun Run” will be held beginning 9:30-a.m. Oct. 14th, with motorcyclists raising funds to benefit the Schildberg Rec Area, which is used by pedestrians…and bicyclists. Even though motorcycles are the primary participants, all vehicles are welcome for your free will donation.

The group will leave the Allen Place (1406 E. 19th Street) at 10:30-a.m. Oct. 14th and proceed west from Atlantic on Highway 83 to Avoca. From there, they will head west on G-18 to Minden, west to Highway 191, south to G-30 at Underwood, from Underwood west on G-30 to L-34 north to Beebeetown “Twisted Tail.” Afterward, they will depart Beebeetown north on L-34 to F-58, and turn east toward Persia. From Persia they will hear north on Highway 191 to Highway 44, and from Portsmouth east to Kimballton, from Kimballton south to Atlantic’s Schildberg Rec Area. The complete ride is about 119 miles.

More information will be released as the date grows closer.

The Iowa Department of Education released its new plan today (Monday) to meet the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Department of Education director, Ryan Wise, says they put a lot of effort into the plan and got input from all across the state. “We’ve said from the beginning this is about ensuring opportunity for all students and that is really state and locally driven, and that we would carry that through the entire process,” Wise says. The new federal legislation replaces the old No Child Left Behind, and Wise says it does something the old plan didn’t

“That is really a focus on ensuring that state and local districts are going beyond single-point in time measures on just math and English language arts — and really ensuring that schools are providing a well-rounded education for all students,” Wise says. The Department’s chief of the Bureau of School Improvement, Amy Williamson, says the plan sets out goals for districts.

We wanted to make sure that we set these goals knowing that we wanted a high bar for all students. And we wanted to address the fact that there are achievement gaps between some groups of students and all students,” Williamson says. “And we wanted to make sure that we are aggressive in closing those gaps.” She says the new plan focuses on helping districts that don’t meet their goals instead of punishing them.

“When those criteria aren’t met, we can actually step up the support that we provide for schools,” Williamson explains. “And the way that we would do that is to implement more state approved improvement strategies that are evidenced based. And to direct more of the teacher leadership and compensation resources that districts receive toward implementation of the evidence-based strategies.” Williamson says they will use assessments to set the goals for the schools and those goals will increase over time. The plan is being submitted to the federal government today (Monday) and federal officials have 120 days to look it over and respond.

(Radio Iowa)

Kathy Somers announced she will run for re-election to a third term on the Atlantic City Council representing Ward Two in the November election. Somers has served on the city council since 2010 and as mayor pro-tem since 2014. Somers also serves as the chairperson of the council’s personnel and finance committee and the Cass County Environmental Control Agency (the landfill board). She is a member of the Cass County Public Safety Commission and was formerly a board member of the Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Somers was appointed to the Governor’s Southwest Iowa STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Advisory Board in 2015.

Kathy Somers (candidate submitted photo)

A few of the city’s achievements that Somers is pleased to have supported in the past eight years are the street and alley improvements, the TIF and tax abatement incentive policies, simplification of city employee wages and hiring an ISU intern to develop a community beautification plan last year. Looking forward, and as the budget allows, Somers would like to improve the quality and quantity of homes in Atlantic, encourage cultural activities, continue implementing the beautification plan and support workforce development and job creation.

Somers works at A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc. as the HR & EEO Officer/Safety Coordinator and operates Somers Photography out of her home. She is the daughter of Dean and Verna Esbeck and is a 1988 graduate of Atlantic High School. She is married to Guy Somers. They have four children, Mikayla, who lives is Warrensburg, MO, Justin and Nadia who are both students at Iowa State University, and Lex Somers, who is in 9th grade.