(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Attorney Vanessa Strazdas, last Wednesday, was ordered to serve two days in the Cass County Jail, following her voluntary plea of guilty on Feb. 9th, to Operating a Motor Vehicle while under the Influence (OWI) -1st Offense. The term must be served by no later than March 31st. In addition, Strazdas was assessed a fine of $1,250 plus any applicable surcharges and court costs.

Atlantic Police say Strazdas was arrested after crashing her car near the Atlantic Airport on Jan. 16. Her BAC (Breath Alcohol Content) was .159 (nearly twice the legal limit). Since her arrest, Strazdus has completed a court required Drinking Driver’s course and a Substance Abuse Evaluation. Because she complied with those requirements, the Judge did not order her to serve probation. She also submitted her Temporary Restricted License (TRL) to the Court, which waived one-half of the fine, accordingly.

Strazdas became the Cass County Attorney in Feb., 2019, after Governor Kim Reynolds announced the appointment of former County Attorney Michael Hooper to serve as a Fourth Judicial District Judge.

Davenport, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 19-year-old Noah Harlan Bierman, who was convicted of Assault While Participating in a Felony in Scott County, failed to report back to the Davenport Work Release Facility as required Saturday evening. Bierman is a White male, 5-feet 11-inches tall. He weighs 176 pounds and was admitted to the work release facility on October 13, 2021. Persons with information on Bierman’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Noah Bierman (IA DOC photo)

CORYDON, Iowa — A head-on collision between a car and a semi tractor-trailer Friday morning in southeast Iowa, claimed the life of a man from Chariton. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened on Highway 14 in Wayne County at around 8:30-a.m. For reasons unknown, a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 44-year-old Brian Irving, swerved in front of an oncoming semi near Corydon.

The 43-year-old driver of the semi, a man from Henderson, Nevada, tried to avoid the collision but could not. Irving died at the scene. The truck driver was not injured in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting 9-a.m. Tuesday, in their Boardroom at the courthouse. Their agenda is rather light for the morning. It includes the regular/weekly report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken, and discussion with regard to an economic development project in the unincorporated part of the County.

Other business includes the appointment of Cass County Zoning Commissioners, if any applications have been received and interested persons interviewed.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A local organization, Atlantic Business and Professional Women (BPW), has five scholarships available for 2022. The Iowa Business and Professional Women’s Foundation also has a scholarship available.  Persons who could benefit from these scholarships should contact Laurine Price, at 712-249-6688 or lprice_79@msn.com for an application, or local high school scholarship websites. All applications are due by or postmarked by: April 1, 2022

• The $750 Collen Scholarship is available to any female resident of Cass, Shelby, or Audubon Counties in Iowa. The student must be pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Computer Systems Management, Chemistry or Engineering. The student may attend college full-time or part-time.
• The $1,000 BPW and/or $1,000 Bev Mendenhall Nursing Scholarship is available to a Cass County resident non-traditional (has been out of high school 5+ yrs.) female or male who: (1) Is a United States citizen; (2) Has been out of the work force and is seeking to get back into the work force and needs additional education; (3) Completed high school five or more years ago and wants to start or resume their college education; (4) Demonstrates financial need, scholastic ability, leadership skills and career goals. The Mendenhall Scholarship honors the memory of a long-time active BPW member.
• The $1,000 Don Sonntag Nursing Scholarship provided by the generous donation from Don Sonntag. The scholarship is available to a female or male resident of Cass County, Iowa is a high school graduate or non-traditional student who is a US citizen and is pursuing education in the Nursing profession

The Atlantic Business and Professional Women (BPW) are honored to offer the Bev and Bart Webb Memorial $500 Scholarship. The Webb Family graciously donated memorial money for this scholarship to be awarded to an Atlantic High School Senior for 2022.

In addition, Iowa Business and Professional Women Foundation Scholarships are available:

The Iowa Business and Professional Women Foundation will award three educational scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year. Three $1,000 scholarships will be available to those who apply and meet the following criteria. The awards will be presented at the Annual IBPWF Meeting on April 30, 2022.

Applicant Criteria:

• Is a resident of Iowa; Is a United States citizen; Wants/needs to reenter the workforce but needs additional education; Wants to start or resume a college education. Graduated high school five (5) or more years ago (2016 or before);
• Demonstrates financial need, scholastic ability, leadership skills and career goals.

Applicant must*:
· Complete the formal application in its entirety by Friday March 25th. Forms are available at https://www.bpw-iowa.org/bpw-iowa-foundation-scholarship
· Submit a copy of official transcripts from an accredited institution of higher learning. (Transcripts if stamped “Issued to Student” are acceptable.)

Submit three letters of reference (on letterhead) from non-family members, i. e. employer, teacher, community leader, pastor/priest, etc., who can attest to applicant’s character and need for this scholarship. *Requirement: Application, Transcripts, and References must be submitted simultaneously by March 25, 2022.

The applicant need not be a BPW member except in the case of the applicant living out of state (Check overview document for definition of active member).
A 2022-2023 application form and overview document outlining the guidelines for the Educational Scholarship Program are available at https://www.bpw-iowa.org/bpw-iowa-foundation-scholarship

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s flower shops will be doing blooming — make that booming — business on this Valentine’s Day. Kelsey Thompson runs a flower shop in Algona and is vice president of the Iowa Florists’ Association. Just like any industry, she says florists are being impacted by supply chain issues, so she’s been planning for this day since last fall. “I pre-booked my flowers with the farms as early as October all the way through January,” Thompson says. “We are getting our orders in early so that we don’t run out for our customers.”

It will be a long but profitable day ahead and she says not everyone is looking for a dozen, long-stemmed red roses. “This year we’ve been selling a lot of mixed bouquets as well, as people like the different colors,” Thompson says. “Roses are amazing and they’re a Valentine’s classic but a lot of folks like just the mixed, bright colors as well.” And for those who do want the traditional box of a dozen red roses, it’ll be more expensive than last year’s bouquet. “This year, they’re up about 25-to-30 percent, my cost,” Thompson says. “We’re trying to make sure we’re keeping it reasonable for folks but I would say, at my store, you’re going to get a nice dozen for about $100 to $120.”

A study from the National Retail Federation found Americans spent more than 21-billion dollars on Valentine’s Day last year. That’s down about 20-percent from the 27-point-four billion they spent in 2020.

(Radio Iowa) – Inflation is making the dollar not go as far as it used to and that is a good reason for you to be sure you haven’t left any money unclaimed. State Treasurer, Michael Fitzgerald, says his office may be holding some or your dollars. “The State of Iowa is holding 460 million dollars — we have about a million names. It could be an estate — most of them are individuals — but it could be business, a church a little league,” he says.

The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt seeks to get that money back to those who maybe didn’t even know they had it coming. “Last fiscal year, January to December, we brought in 49 million dollars that belonged to Iowans. And our goal is to return every penny of it — but it just comes in so fast we can’t do it,” Fitzgerald says. Fitzgerald says there are a lot of ways people leave money behind. “People still forget about bank accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, and lockboxes. People buy stock and they forget about it or they move and for some reason the company can’t find them and send them dividends and it becomes abandoned and they send it to us,” Fitzgerald explains. “Check do get lost in the mail. And in this day and age — and they think it is junk mail.”

Fitzgerald says you can go to the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt website and enter your name to see if there’s anything there that belongs to you. “Put in your whole name like Michael Fitzgerald instead of just Fitzgerald, it will narrow it down. But if you just put in your last name and you might see some of your relatives on there. This is all public information,” Fitzgerald says. “So we ask people after you check your own name peruse it, you might see some of your relatives…check it out you might help somebody else find their money.”

Go to www.greatiowatreasurehunt.gov to see if you have any unclaimed money.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Board of Education would be directed to adopt standards for public high school courses on the Bible if a bill that’s cleared initial review in the Senate becomes law. Republican Senator Jeff Taylor of Sioux Center is a co-sponsor of the bill. He says public schools wouldn’t be required to offer a Bible course, but it could become an option as a social studies elective if school boards approve.

“I would welcome more teaching of religion from a religiously neutral point of view in our public schools and this one is saying the Bible,” Taylor says. “And why the Bible? Well, because obviously it has a disproportionate influence in American history and American culture and in western culture in general…For just reasons of cultural literacy, there’s merit to this bill.” William Jeynes is a professor at California State University Long Beach who is an advocate of Bible classes in public schools.

“The goal is to increase academic achievement and help students understand literature and history and clearly the Bible more than other religious books, much more than other religious books, has an impact in that way,” he said. “…I’ve done research on what’s taught in world religion classes and very understandably people are especially interested in the Muslim faith so that tends to be taught the most, by far, and so we do need this course.”

A lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association says some schools are already offering classes on world religions, including Christianity. Phil Jeneary, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards, says the state Board of Education already has a process for reviewing social studies curriculum. “We certainly feel that it should not be at the whims of the legislature,” Jeneary says. “…We don’t want the legislature to say that: ‘You have to learn this,’ and then a few years later a different make-up (of the legislature) comes and says: ‘No, you can’t teach that, but you’re going to now teach this.'”

Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames who’s a retired Iowa State University professor, says the bill’s narrow focus doesn’t fit an increasingly diverse society. “I think it sends the wrong message from the state of Iowa that we are unwilling to learn from all of the great insights into spirituality and religion and the human condition,” Quirmbach says.

The bill is eligible for a vote in the Senate Education Committee and must clear that committee by Friday to remain eligible for debate in the full Senate.

The UNI women’s basketball team had a tough time finding their shooting rhythm and lost at Missouri State 66-57 on Sunday afternoon.

Sydney Wilson scored 18 points and Abigayle Jackson scored 16 for the Bears. They coupled four players in double figures with their stifling top rated defense to earn the win.

UNI had two players in double figures with guards Karli Rucker and Kam Finley. The two guards both had 14 points in Sunday’s contest, including all but one of the team’s treys. Forwards Grace Boffeli and Bre Gunnels were just behind in scoring with eight and seven points respectively.

UNI is 16-8 overall and 9-4 in the Valley. Next up the Panthers host Drake on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.