(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council and guests said “Thank you,” to two Councilpersons who will not be returning to the Council’s Chambers in January, and welcomed two others who will fill their seats. Before Mayor Dave Jones Administered the Oath of Office to Dana Halder and Harlan Lee Sisco, the approved the appointments of Bill Garrett and Brad Henningsen to the Atlantic Airport Commission.

Dana Halder, At-Large Councilman Elect

Harlan Sisco, 2nd Ward Councilman Elect

Mayor Jones said Bill Garrett, the husband of Mayor Elect Grace Garrett, expressed his interest four-years ago in serving on the Commission. With the resignation of Dr. Trewet, the Airport Commission was unanimous in its decision to recommend Mr. Garrett. After his appointment was approved, Garrett said he takes the appointment seriously.

Bill Garrett

He said he started his pilot training in 2016 and finished it in 2017.

Following regular reports from the City Administrator and Council, Mayor Jones administered the Oath of Office to newly elected 2nd Ward Councilman Harlan Sisco. He’s lived in Atlantic for 11-years.

Next up was Dana Halder, who had previously served on the City Council. Mayor Jones welcomed Halder back to the Council. He won the 5th Ward seat over Richard “Dick” Casady during the Nov. 2nd election. Halder recalled his time on the Council, and how Garrett took over his seat in 2019

Mayor Jones then presented Mayor Elect Grace Garrett with her own gavel made by Atlantic resident Steve Livengood.

Mayor Dave Jones & Mayor Elect Grace Garrett.

Dave Jones credited his wife Rosie for supporting him over the years he’s served in public office. Mayor Elect Garrett presented the couple with a gift.

Rosie and Dave Jones

The Atlantic City Council will fill Garrett’s former At Large seat by appointment. The public has the right to petition for a special election within fourteen days after the appointment is made or the notice is published, whichever is later, and contains enough signatures of eligible electors of the city.

(Radio Iowa) – The supply chain shortage has had an impact on all types of materials right down to our favorite morning treats and carbonated beverages. Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience stores president, Darren Rebelez recently talked about the issue during a conference call with investors. He says getting supplies for their morning prepared food was one of the biggest challenges.

“We had some suppliers with donuts in particular who weren’t able to meet our needs — and so we were out of stock on some key top sellers. And that certainly impacted that category,” Rebelez says. It also became an issue for fountain beverages when cups were not always available.

“With dispensed beverages and fountain cups, when the cup is not there, we don’t believe we are losing that guest. We believe the guest will take a look at that — see that they don’t have a cup — and then they’ll walk two or three steps over to the cooler and pull out the beverage that they would have bought on the fountain,” he says. Rebelez doesn’t think they lost a sale either to every customer who couldn’t get their favorite donut.

“We definitely believe that there are some bakery guests who come in, maybe not found exactly what they were looking for in the prepared foods case, and moved over to the center of the store and made another purchase,” according to Rebelez. He says that showed up in increased sales of their prepacked donuts and other bakery items.

Rebelez says the lack of some supplies continued throughout the second quarter.

(Radio Iowa) – A 20-year-old Des Moines man will spend the next 12 years in federal prison for his role in transporting drugs from Mexico to Iowa. According to a news release from the federal prosecutor’s office, Jack Mazariegos-Galicia picked up kilos of meth in Mexico from an organization linked to a drug cartel. He was caught in a traffic stop in central Iowa in June of 2020.

Court records indicate a search found nearly five-thousand grams of pure “ice” methamphetamine in the vehicle.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says with a billion dollars sitting in the state’s Taxpayer Relief Fund, cutting personal income taxes — as quickly as possible — is the goal for House Republicans.  “We want to get that back in the economy,” Grassley says. The state’s economic emergency fund and cash reserve are full. Another account, called the Taxpayer Relief Fund, has more than a billion dollars because state tax revenue soared past official estimates. Grassley says Iowa is in an enviable position.

“This is good news when you look at other states. We have a billion dollars,” Grassley says. “Now we have to decide: ‘How’s it going to go back?’ We’re looking at, in lifetime, record inflation and other things that are going on, so we want to provide that relief to Iowans as quickly as possible, but I also think we need to do it in a way that we’re not necessarily picking winners and losers.” Fellow Republicans in the Iowa Senate AND Governor Kim Reynolds are all exploring tax cutting ideas, but no one is ready to reveal the details.

“We’re not all in agreement on one bill, but I think we are in agreement we want to continue to lower the rates on Iowans, so I think that being the goal, it’ll work itself out.” Business groups are pressing for a reduction in the state’s CORPORATE income tax as well. “While the number of a corporate tax rate may give some folks some sticker shock, don’t forget in Iowa we have some very, very what I would call aggressive credits and other things that we use to help incentivize business growth.”

A few years ago, Grassley led discussion of reducing the corporate tax rate IF the tax CREDITS were reduced as well, but could not find enough support to make those changes. The 2022 legislative session begins January 10th.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Sunday on an SUV resulted in the driver’s arrest. 77-year-old Sandra Kay Aparo, of Clarinda, was arrested for OWI/1st Offense. She  was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Department reports two arrests took place last week. On the 16th, 57-year-old Donald Duane Worth, of Lewis, was arrested in Adair, by Adair Police, for OWI/1st offense. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop at around 8:40-p.m., for failure to operate headlights and taillights. During the traffic stop, and while running Worth’s registration information, the Adair Police Officer noticed Worth pour something out his vehicle.

Worth admitted the substance was whiskey and water, and that he had consumed a couple of drinks at a bar, and that he stopped at the Kum and Go in Adair to get some food, before driving back to his semi truck. The Officer conducted a Field Sobriety Test on Worth, along with a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT), the results of which showed a breath alcohol content of .162%.  Worth was taken into custody soon thereafter, and transported to the Sheriff’s Office. He was released later that same night on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, on Dec. 12th, 26-year-old Aspen Renee Riley, of Bridgewater, was temporarily arrested in Bridgewater, for Driving While Barred. She was released at the scene with a citation.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) today (Monday) announced that the statewide, independent external review of its prison system is complete. Following the tragic events of March 23, 2021, the IDOC conducted the state’s standard bidding process to bring in an independent, outside organization to perform an in-depth security review of its prison system. Once the bidding process was complete, CGL Companies, a nationally recognized corrections consulting firm, was selected to lead the review.

Commenting on the completion of the external review, IDOC Director Beth Skinner said the following: “The completion of this review is the next step in improving the safety and security of operations in this department. There are challenges that lie before us but they are an opportunity to build upon our efforts that lead the country.”

Director Skinner went on to say, “I am thankful for CGL’s professionalism and hard work throughout this process. We look forward to carefully analyzing their findings and working hand-in-hand with our facilities around the state to implement them. The events that took place in Anamosa earlier this year were an unimaginable tragedy, and we continue to work through it together as a corrections family. I am confident that the completion of this review is another positive step in the right direction for this department.”

A summary of the findings and recommendations of the external review can be found here. The IDOC has also made available an updated timeline of safety and security measures implemented at the Anamosa State Penitentiary since March 23, 2021. A copy of that document can be found here.