(Atlantic, IA) – The City Council in Atlantic, this (Wednesday) evening, passed resolutions for two separate appointments. The first was the appointment of Jackie Carl as the Atlantic City Clerk. Councilman Shawn Sarsfield, Chair of the City’s Personnel and Finance Committee, said the Committee had received over 40 applications, and from those held interviews with six candidates before making their recommendation to nominate Carl.

The Committee’s choice boiled-down to Jackie Carl, who has 21-years of City Clerk experience, having served Moville from 2005-to 2016, and Carter Lake from 2016-to 2026.

Carl has accepted a conditional offer of employment, with a FY 2026 salary of $80,000. She will also be credited with 40-hours of vacation time upon hire. Jackie Carl will succeed Laura McLane, who resigned to move with her husband to eastern Iowa. Currently, Rich Tupper is serving as the Acting City Clerk, in Atlantic.

Atlantic CC mtg. 2-4-26

The Council also passed a resolution appointing Cyndi Hartwig to the Library Board of Trustees, whose nine members serve six-year, staggered terms. She was issued the Oath of Office by Mayor Rob Claussen, Jr.

Atlantic Police Officer Joe Weaver (left) is issued the Oath of Office by Mayor Claussen, Feb. 4, 2026 (A-PD Facebook page photo)

The Mayor also presided over the swearing-in of Atlantic Police Officer Joe Weaver, who was hired full-time, in January, 2026. Weaver grew up just outside of Atlantic and is a graduate of the Atlantic High School. He attended Simpson College in Indianola, where he graduated in Dec., 2024, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Criminal Justice.

It was noted in the Council’s agenda that Joe Weaver assists with refereeing little kids’ wrestling, enjoys riding dirt bikes, working out, and hanging out with his friends during his down time. In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a resolution adopting the City’s Comprehensive Plan. They also passed Orders approving payments to various contractors, with the regard to the City’s Street Improvement program.

(Radio Iowa)- Heart disease is the number-one killer in Iowa, claiming more than seven-thousand lives each year. Cara Whipple, spokeswoman for the Iowa chapter of the American Heart Association, is urging Iowans to learn C-P-R because they need to do more than just call for help, they need to -be- the help.

“Rates of cardiac arrest outside of the hospital, it’s around 70%, and when that happens, nine out of ten times when they don’t have cardiac arrest in a hospital, they do not survive,” Whipple says, “and the largest reason for that is lack of bystander response.” The organization says more than 417-thousand Americans die from cardiac arrest every year, and Whipple says it’s vital that anyone can step in as a first responder — until the real first responders arrive.

“We really need folks to understand that cardiac arrest can happen anywhere. It could be the grocery store or a school event or perhaps while you’re at the gym,” Whipple says. “Our EMS providers in this state are fantastic, but we have a lot of volunteer responders and response times can be long.” The organization routinely offers free C-P-R courses, both in the classroom and virtually. As part of American Heart Month, Whipple urges people to take part in Friday’s “Wear Red Day.”

“We encourage everyone to get their red on, wear their heart pins if they’ve got them, and just anything we can do to elevate people thinking about their heart health,” she says, “and it’s never too young to start thinking about your heart health.” Friday is also Go Red For Women Day, to raise awareness of heart attacks and strokes in women.

For more heart health tips, visit heart.org.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would tax the liquid carbon dioxide flowing through a proposed pipeline has cleared an Iowa Senate committee, although lawmakers who advanced the bill say they’ll work on the mechanics of how the state tax would be assessed. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says he’s interested in having the state collect taxes from the project.  “The State of Iowa has invested substantially in the ethanol industry,” Dawson said. “…We’ve can’t just exempt things up front, let a bunch of revenue generate and then all the monies that we spent on these things, nothing is ever returned back to the taxpayer.” Jake Ketzner, a lobbyist for Summit Carbon Solutions — the pipeline developer, says the company opposes the bill.

“Just like any other tax, it increases the cost of doing business and it increases the cost of the service we would provide our customers, which in our case is the ethanol plant producers,” Ketzner said. “We’re rather see ethanol producers paying farmers more for their corn instead of paying for a new tax to the government.” Dawson, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, questions why Summit should get a special “carve out” after telling the Iowa Utilities Commission its project is a benefit to the public. “You can’t just say it’s a public benefit and then have a declaration made by the IUC for eminent domain and then the public doesn’t benefit,” Dawson said. Pipeline critics urged legislators to focus instead on a different bill focused on eminent domain, to protect the property rights of landowners who don’t want the pipeline on their farms.

Kathy Carter owns land in Floyd County that’s along the proposed pipeline route. “It’s a pat ’em on the head, make ’em feel good gesture,” Carter said. “Throw Iowans a bone and they’ll shut up.” Julie Glade, a Wright County landowner, also testified during the Senate subcommittee hearing. “I guess unless you in the senate know something we don’t, there is no pipeline yet. Why are you looking at a revenue stream from a pipeline project to nowhere right now? It seems like Senate leadership and the governor for some reason want this project to happen so badly, they have to manufacture reasons to push ahead.”

The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh. It would set two tax rates, one for carbon that’s eventually used to extract oil from underground reserves and a higher rate for liquid carbon directed to other uses.

(Radio Iowa) – Sioux City is looking to add to the license plate reading cameras police are already using. The city council approved allowing Police chief Rex Meuller to seek a grant to fund 21 more cameras.
“This is something that we value as an intelligence tool and for apprehension of the criminals, nothing more. So we’re just trying to be more effective. And when somebody presents a technology that can make us more effective, we want to try to utilize it for the benefit of the citizens,” he says.

It will cost around 77-thousand dollars to purchase the new cameras, and Sioux City would then have a total of 33 cameras. Mayor Bob Scott oppose adding the additional cameras, citing privacy concerns and the ongoing cost of running them.

“This is another one of these deals where we get a grant and then we got to come up with the money. I found out Sergeant Bluff, the businesses pay for it. They get sponsors for it. We’ll never do that, it’ll be on the taxpayers,” Scott says. “I’m just not into putting any more taxpayer dollars into technology right now.”

Chief Mueller says they are seeking private sponsor to pay for the ongoing future cost of using the cameras. The annual recurring cost would be 63-thousand dollars. The A-C-L-U of Iowa has raised concerns recently after Clear Lake and Corallville each added the license plate reading cameras. The A-C-L-U says their concern is the cameras would be used to let local government “track and spy on the very people they are supposed to represent.”

(Atlantic, IA)  – Cass Health and its affiliate organizations have released their scholarship applications for the upcoming school year. The deadline for all scholarship applications is Friday, April 3, 2026.

2026 Scholarships:

• Cass Health offers a $500 scholarship to a southwest Iowa student who is enrolled or accepted into a nursing program.
• Cass Health offers a $500 scholarship to a southwest Iowa student pursuing a degree in a health-related career.
• Cass Health Auxiliary provides $1,000 scholarships for students pursuing a health-related career.
• Cass Health Foundation offers $5,000 scholarships to a graduate from a Cass County high school with a goal of becoming a healthcare provider subject to licensure requirements in the State of Iowa, including testing to obtain certification and requires continuing education to maintain that licensure.
• The Cass Health Nurse Honor Guard is awarding a $1,000 scholarship to an individual with the goal of entering the nursing profession. Applicants must be accepted to or currently enrolled in a nursing program leading to completion of LPN, RN, BSN, MSN, or DNP. Pre-nursing, other pre-programs, and CNA students are not eligible.
• Cecile E. Kopecky Nursing Scholarship is awarded to a graduate of Atlantic High School or a nurse currently employed in Atlantic. Applicants must be accepted to or currently enrolled in a nursing program leading to completion of LPN, RN, BSN, MSN, or DNP. Pre-nursing, other pre-programs, and CNA students are not eligible.

Applications are available at casshealth.org/scholarships and can be submitted to Human Resources by the respective deadline. For more information, contact Kat Niemann, Human Resources Coordinator, at 712-250-8022 or nieka@casshealth.org.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would ban simulcasts of greyhound races for gamblers at Iowa casinos has cleared initial review in the Iowa Senate and House. Iowa ended live greyhound racing in Dubuque in mid-2022 and there are only two greyhound tracks still operating in the U.S. Both are in West Virginia. Carey Theil is with Grey 2-K Racing, an organization that has been lobbying to end greyhound racing worldwide.”There was only $2.4 million wagered on greyhound simulcasting last year,” Theil said. “That’s declined by 70% since 2018.” Forty-four states have banned live greyhound racing and lawmakers in seven other states have taken the step of banning simulcasting of dog races into casinos in their states.

“When greyhound simulcasting has ended at other facilities, there has been a migration from greyhound simulcasting to horse simulcasting. I believe,” Theil said. “If you look at simulcasting in total, 86% of all simulcasting in Iowa is on horse, not dog, so this is a very small piece of the overall simulcasting pie.” Doug Struyk is a lobbyist for Caeser’s Entertainment, which operates the Harrah’s and Horseshow Casinos in Council Bluffs. The company opposes the bill. “We have a not insignificant amount of traffic that comes from Omaha, where they do not simulcast dog races,” Struyk said. “We simulcast dog races and horse races. That allows us to bring traffic from Omaha that has recently legalized wagering.”

John Moss is executive director of the Iowa Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents over 12-hundred thoroughbred owners who race their horses at Prairie Meadows. The group ALSO operates all the simulcasts at the casino in Clinton. He says 18 percent of the bets on simulcasts of horse and dog races in Clinton are placed on greyhounds. “We significant flow from out of state that actually contributes to that,” Moss said. “We have a big group of individuals who come down from Wisconsin…We’re actually seeing an influx of people from Illinois.” Moss says the Clinton casino would take a half a million dollar hit if greyhound simulcasts end. Jeff Boeyink, is a lobbyist for Wild Rose Casinos, which operates the Clinton facility.

Boeyink says a number of people from Dubuque who used to watch live greyhound races there drive to Clinton to bet on the simulcast dog races. “The margins are not super great in these facilities, so you’re always fighting for traffic and so any amenity that brings traffic into the building is an amenity you want to keep,” Boeyink said. “It’s not a huge revenue source for us and I’m not here to argue the ethics of dog racing. I’m just telling you it brings people into our facility. That’s meaningful to us and if this sport is going to die, let it die on its own. Iowa doesn’t need to be a part of that.”

Boeyink also told lawmakers his reading of the bill indicates simulcasts of greyhound races could continue at Prairie Meadows in Altoona and a Council Bluffs casino if the bill becomes law. Live greyhound races at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs ended in December of 2015.

(Atlantic, IA) – A large crowd filled a conference room at the Atlantic Middle (this) Wednesday morning, where the Atlantic School Board was set to act on approving the resignation of High School Counselor Jesse McCann. School Board President Josh McLaren read a statement when the meeting got underway at 7:30-a.m. His statement is as follows:

“After careful consideration as the Board President, I decided last night (Tuesday night) that the Board would not hold this meeting this morning. Director (Gini) Jordan and I still wanted to be here to inform everyone of the situation…decision in-person. While we understand that there may be questions concerning the facts and circumstances related to current ongoing employment matters occurring within the District, the Board of the District cannot provide specific information regarding personnel matters, as this information is considered confidential under State law.

“We can assure you that the District takes any concerns for students, families or staff seriously and appropriately addresses concerns consistent with legal requirements and best practices. This includes investigating and working closely with outside legal counsel to evaluate any necessary and appropriate next steps. The Board of the District considers the safety and well-being of our students and staff to be the highest priority, and will continuously act in the best interest of our school community. Thank you for your support and understanding.”

As mentioned Tuesday, a social media post from the Atlantic Police Department said “The Atlantic Police Department has been made aware of an incident involving a school staff member and students. The Atlantic Police Department has been investigating and looking into the information that has been provided.” Their post did not name the employee who is being investigated.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Elliott was arrested at around 7:46-a.m. today (Wednesday), in Elliott. 41-year-old Cory Ross Smith was taken into custody on a Fremont County warrant for Failure to Appear on charges of Driving While License is barred.

Smith was turned-over to Deputies in Fremont County and held on a $2,000 bond.

(Greenfield, IA) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors have set March 3rd at 9:15-a.m., as the date and time for a public hearing on the vacating the Level-B portion of 350th Street, east of Stuart off of Whitepole Road. They also passed a resolution to that effect.

In addition, the Board acknowledged receipt of a Prestage Farms Manure Management Plan for their facility off of Gibbon Avenue, and the FY25 Southern Iowa Trolley Audit.

The Supervisors authorized Board Chair Jerry Walker to sign the contract and performance bond for the Orient Energy Center (OEC) paving project, the front page of plans for the FY26 Granular Surfacing Plans, and, they received a weekly Secondary Roads Department report from Adair County Engineer Nick Kauffman.

(Creston, IA) –  The driver of a vehicle that was struck Tuesday afternoon in Creston, was checked-out by medics after displaying an apparent shortness of breath, but was otherwise not transported to the hospital. According to the Creston Police Department, 21-year-old Anjel De Jesus Saturno-Hernandez, of Creston, was traveling south on S. Oak Street at around 4:35-p.m.  He told police he looked but did not see a full-size pickup truck being driven by 22-year-old Wyatt Beebe, of Creston, approaching from the east on Highway 34.

When he proceeded into the intersection, Hernandez’ vehicle was hit on the rear passenger side by the pickup. Damage from the collision amounted to $9,000 altogether. The SUV sustained disabling damage and was towed from the scene.

No citations were issued.