(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic School Board, Wednesday, approved the 2022-23 Amended Certified Budget, which will not result in an increase in taxes, according to District officials. As previously mentioned, the amendment amounts to an increase of $793,569, for a total budget of $27,140,000. Increases come in the areas of Instruction, Total Support Services, and Other expenditures.

In other business, the Board approved the resignation of Paul Iekel, HS Cross Country Asst. Coach, and Contract Recommendations for Dalton Franken, Varsity Boys Basketball Coach, and Bri Loving – Paraeducator.They also passed a Resolution to transfer $21,120 from the General Fund to Activity Fund, for Protective Athletic Equipment, including: pads/girdles; helmets; helmet reconditioning, and additional pads/helmets. The Board approved a recommendation from HS Asst. Principal/Activities Director Andy Mitchell, for Winter Sport Coaches assignments, and 2023-24 Club Sponsors.

2023-24 Substitute Employee Pay Rates were also approved by the Atlantic School Board. Superintendent Steve Barber…

The Board, at the request for Superintendent Barber, approved student fees for breakfast and lunch, which are unchanged from the past six-years, as far as student fees are concerned, but food prices will increase the Adult Meal price from $4.13 to $4.85. They also approved the awarding of a milk contract to Andersen-Erickson, and the bread contract to Pan-of-Gold, both of which have served the district “well,” according to Steve Barber.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved a quote from Per Mar Security for the addition of a door entry key fob system for the district’s buildings, in the amount of $28,690 for installation, plus $350/month for operating costs. And, a change order for the storage shed in the amount of $31,300, that would increase the size of the shed 750 square feet, from 35×50, to 40×60 feet.

(Radio Iowa) – The Academy of Country Music has recognized an eastern Iowa native as the New Female Artist of the Year.
Thirty-three-year-old Hailey Whitters is from Shueyville, a small town about 10 miles south of Cedar Rapids. She moved to Nashville after graduating from high school. Whitters has been a songwriter, with hits like “Happy People” by Little Big Town in 2017. She’s touring with Shania Twain and is the opening act at concerts next week in Madison, St. Paul and Lincoln.

Whitters is scheduled to perform in tonight’s (Thursday’s) Academy of Country Music Awards show that’ll be hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks. Last year’s New Female Artist of the Year was Lainey Wilson, who has a role as a musician in the T-V hit “Yellowstone” and is nominated for six Academy of County Music Awards this year. Wilson and Whitters have co-written some songs and performed together before.

(Drakesville, Iowa) – A head-on crash in southeast Iowa’s Davis County, Wednesday evening resulted in a death, and two people injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2017 Honda Accord was traveling north on Ice Avenue south of Main Street in Drakesville at around 5:45-p.m., when it crossed the onto the shoulder. The driver over-corrected, sending the car across the center line of the road and into the path of an oncoming 1999 Chevy Suburban, driven by 54-year-old James J. McKelvey, of Bloomfield.

The driver of the car died at the scene. Their name was being withheld pending notification of family. James McKelvey, and a passenger, 21-year-old Emma F. Beechy, of Bloomfield, were both injured, and transported by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomfield and Drakesville Fire Departments, Davis County Ambulance, and Mercy1 helicopter. The crash remains under investigation.

Battle Creek, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Public Safety said Wednesday, that first responders were dispatched on May 4, 2023, to 500 Maple St. in Battle Creek, for a report of an unresponsive child. The child was transported to Horn Memorial Hospital in Ida Grove, and then transported to Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

The child died on May 5, 2023, at Children’s Hospital. An autopsy was performed by the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner on May 6, 2023. An investigation into the child’s death is on-going. The Ida County Sheriff’s Office is being assisted by the Ida County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Ida County Sheriff’s Office at 712-364-3146.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs say a warrant has been issued for a man wanted in connection with a stabbing that occurred late Wednesday night. 55-year-old Jeff Edward Smith, of Council Bluffs, is wanted for Willful Injury, 1st Degree Kidnapping, Harassment in the 1st Degree, and Domestic Abuse Assault – Strangulation w/bodily Injury.

The warrant stems from an incident that took place at around 11:11-p.m., Wednesday, in the 600 block of 5th Avenue, in Council Bluffs. The suspect’s girlfriend told Police that Smith assaulted her, held her against her will in their bedroom, stabbed her in the hand with a knife, choked her and threatened to kill her. Smith left the scene before officers arrived.

Jeff Edward Smith

Anyone with information about this case or the whereabouts of Jeff Edward Smith, is asked to contact Pottawattamie County Dispatch at 712-328-5737.