OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Frigid weather that has sent temperatures plunging across Middle America also has power and gas utilities urging customers to dial down the thermostat. Utility companies serving Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri issued the plea Sunday and Monday for customers to conserve power as temperatures dropped to nearly 30 below in parts of western and northern Nebraska early Monday, sending the wind chill to as low as nearly 50 below in some places.

Omaha Public Power District, Nebraska Public Power District, Evergy in Kansas City, Missouri, and Summit Natural Gas serving parts of Missouri were among some of the utilities that issued releases Sunday begging customers conserve energy through Wednesday as the bitter cold was expected to linger for days.

Creston Police report a woman was arrested Friday afternoon, for Driving While Barred. 20-year old Amber Parmenter, of Creston, was later released from the Adams County Jail, on a $2,000 bond.

A public hearing is set to take place a little after 5:30-p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 17th) at City Hall, during a meeting of the Atlantic City Council. The hearing is with regard to an amendment to the City’s Zoning Ordinance, by changing certain real property from C-1 (Highway Commercial) to L-1 (light industrial), and changing the zoning maps to reflect the change. The change would allow Ray Armstrong to rezone his property at 1007 W. 6th Street, so as to further develop the property and use the built real estate, while remaining in compliance with zoning regulations.

Zoning Commissioner/City Administrator John Lund says the City’s Zoning Commission met on Feb. 9th, and concluded unanimously that the rezoning changes were not in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan, and therefore recommended against changing the District from Highway to Light Industrial. The Commission wants to see development occur at the location mentioned, but does not feel rezoning is the best way to see that happen. Lund says they will reconvene March 9th to fully review the relevant definitions and regulations for both C-1 and L1, to see if changes can be made to the Zoning Ordinance that reasonably accommodates development in the area, while also protecting the rights of abutting property owners.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will act on setting the date for a Public Hearing on the FY 2022 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Certain Levies. Juhn Lund says on property tax statements where no changes in assessed or taxable value have occurred, the City will show an increase of 2.59%, not the 2.87% shown on the public notice. He notes that “While 2.59% is the increase in dollars generated, it is not going to be reflective of the impact on the property taxes levied against individual properties. “There is no way to know,” according to Lund, “what the impact will be in year-to-year impact on taxpayers.” He says when other authorities set their levies, a taxpayer can calculate the changes in their property taxes through a certain formula (**Shown below).

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will act on setting the date for a public hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation (G.O.) Refunding Loan Agreement (RFLA) and to borrow money for the same. They will also set the date for a public hearing on a proposal to enter into a G.O. Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement and borrow money for the same, not to exceed $90,000. Their final action item, is to approve a change order in the amount of $11,429 for the Downtown Revitalization Project, as it pertains to 514 Chestnut Street.

And, in his report, City Administrator John Lund will present the FY 2022 Budget, 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, Budget Performance and Future Forecast, reports. The proposed Budget for FY 2022 totals $14,638,261, or a decrease of 11.19% ($1.8 million) for the FY2021 Revised Estimate of $16,482,269. Lund will report: the City’s combined property tax levy will remain at the same level set in the FY 2021 Budget; No increases to existing fees are proposed, and utility rates will remain unchanged. He will summarize by saying “Atlantic is in a stronger position as a municipal entity than most American cities. Altogether, the FY 2022 Budget continues our planning for the next decade of life. It positions our community to tackle its challenges by leveraging its strength, while continuing to be a community that is welcoming to families and businesses.”

**Taxation formula:

(Assessed Value) x (Property Tax Rollback) = (Taxable Value)

(Taxable Value) x (Combined Levy of All Taxing Authorities)/1,000 = (Gross Taxes Due)

(Gross Taxes Due) – (Applicable Tax Credits) = (Net Taxes Due)

The 7:07-a.m. Newscast with KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Authorities in east central Iowa are looking for a person involved in a deadly shooting overnight in Marshalltown.  Police say the incident happened a little after 3-a.m. Monday, at the Casey’s General Store on N. 3rd Avenue, in Marshalltown. KCCI reports Officers found a man with a gunshot wound at the store. The man died from his injury. His identity was being withheld pending family notification.

Surveillance still frame image of the shooting suspect (2/15/21)

Marshalltown police said the suspect is possibly a Latino man with an accent and is described as being short in stature, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Anyone with information is asked call the Marshalltown Police Department at 641-754.5725. Additionally, tips can be submitted by calling 641-753-1234, or via text messaging by texting the word “marshall” followed by the tip to CRIMES (274637), or online at www.marshallcountycs.com. All tips are completely anonymous and could earn a reward of up to $1,000 if the tip results in an arrest.

(Radio Iowa) – If you’ve always wanted to learn another language but haven’t gotten around to it — an I-S-U study shows it could provide an important benefit. An analysis by John Grundy finds a benefit linked to holding off Alzheimer’s disease. “People who are bilingual tend to be able to stave off symptoms of dementia by about four to six years later than comparable monolinguals. And that’s after controlling for things like socioeconomic status, education, and other things,” according to Gundy. John Grundy is an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State and says learning another language gives your brain different options when it faces a roadblock.

“The idea here is that learning two languages over the course of your lifespan really rewires the brain in a way that is protective as the brain starts to deteriorate in older age,” Gundy says. He says additional language learning gives the brain more knowledge to deal with things in another way. “It’s essentially exercising your brain. It’s not just bilingualism that does this. There are lots of experiences like higher-order education — and really anything that sort of challenges your brain over an extended period of time — really helps with protecting yourself against the symptoms that accrue with the neuropathology of for example Alzheimer’s Disease,” Gundy explains. So how old is too old to start learning another language and benefiting from it?

“I get asked this a lot and the answer which is great for everyone is that it is never really too late,” Gunday says. “So the more you immerse yourself in it and the more you challenge yourself — the better it will be. Of course, if you do it for a long period of time, generally the better the outcome. But it is never too late.” Gundy says whether it is a new language you learn or something else the key is to keep the mind active.

“Challenge your brain. Start learning a new language, start writing with your left hand, start taking different pathways home. It’s anything that if you can really challenge yourself and get a similar outcome with a different path,” he says. Grundy says the study did not substantially show that bilingualism deters Alzheimer’s disease incidence rates — it’s a form of cognitive reserve helping to fight off the initial symptoms of dementia until later in life.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans have seen their income impacted by COVID-19 in the past year and it’s raising fears at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that the state’s Chickadee Checkoff could see a drop in donations this year. Stephanie Shepherd, a wildlife diversity biologist at the D-N-R, says the checkoff — officially known as the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund — relies on donations via a line on state tax returns. “Things are going to be harder for folks,” Shepherd says. “Absolutely, that’s going to impact the ability for them to donate and that’s totally understandable and fine, but I think we have a nice core group of people who donate and I’m sure if they can, they will continue to contribute to wildlife conservation.”

On tax forms last year, around 72-hundred Iowans donated about 150-thousand dollars to the fund. That’s only about one-half of one-percent of all Iowa taxpayers. Shepherd notes that every penny donated is sent directly to the fund and there are no administrative costs. “It goes into our Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund here at the DNR which means that it is protected and must be spent on fish and wildlife. It can’t be spent on anything else, trails, outdoor recreation or anything like that,” Shepherd says. “One-hundred percent needs to be spent on fish and wildlife.”

The money goes directly to habitat development and restoration programs for some of Iowa’s most vulnerable animal species, she says. Unlike game animals which are hunted, like deer or pheasants, the fund is specifically for non-game species. “Everything from songbirds to bumble bees to bald eagles, that’s the kind of stuff we’re working on, day in and day out,” Shepherd says. “The Chickadee Checkoff is one of our major sources of funding to do that work and make sure those species are healthy and doing well in the state.”

There are more than one-thousand non-game wildlife species in the state, including creatures like salamanders, barn owls, turtles and monarch butterflies. Donations can be made in any amount starting at just one-dollar. The checkoff is on line 57 of Iowa Tax Form 1040, and it’s either automatically deducted from the refund or added to the amount owed. Shepherd says if every Iowa taxpayer donated a buck, it would mean one-and-a-half million dollars for wildlife and natural resources.

(Radio Iowa) – State Senator James Carlin, a Republican from Sioux City, will announce this (Monday) morning (8-a.m.) that he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Chuck Grassley. Carlin told the conservative Iowa Standard website he’s very concerned about the direction of the country. Carlin aired similar sentiments during a speech in the Iowa Senate on January 28th.

Iowa Senator Jim Carlin

“I think we have cause for concern,” Carlin said. “Are we free today? What have our legislators done on national and state levels?” Carlin didn’t use the phrase “cancel culture” in that late January speech, but Carlin argued freedom of speech is under attack.

“If you don’t think so, ask President Trump,” Carlin said. “The moment he lost the election, they took away his free speech on every media platform, immediately.” Twitter and Facebook banned Trump after congress certified the Electoral College results on January 6th. Carlin did not directly mention Grassley’s vote in the Senate to certify that Joe Biden won the Electoral College, but Carlin did question the outcome.

“Many of us believe, and I am one of those people, that our last election was the result of widespread fraud that never got a fair hearing,” Carlin said. “Representative government never got a fair hearing.” Carlin, who is 58, has been a trial lawyer in Iowa for 23 years and a member of the state senate since winning a special election in late 2017. Grassley, who is 87, has not announced yet whether he’ll seek an eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

A spokesman for Grassley’s campaign says the 2020 campaign just ended and Grassley is focused on serving Iowans and holding government accountable, as he’s always done.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are among the 43 Republicans who voted to acquit President Trump of inciting the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Both senators issued written statements Saturday night. Grassley said the acquittal does not excuse Trump’s conduct on and around January 6th, but Grassley said the House managers did not prove Trump committed incitement to insurrection.

Ernst said congress should not be in the business of using impeachment as a political tool to enact partisan revenge. In addition, both Ernst and Grassley said the Senate did not have the authority to try a private citizen like Trump.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bitter cold temperatures and dangerous wind chill levels are expected across much of the central United States at the start of the week. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill warnings for Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri at least through Monday because a blast of arctic air will dominate the weather in the region. Several inches of snow is also expected to fall across much of Kansas and Missouri Monday.

Forecasters warn that wind chill levels could fall below -40 degrees in parts of Nebraska and Iowa on Monday morning, creating concerns about frostbite and hypothermia for anyone out in the cold for long periods. Many school districts on Sunday announced they had cancelled classes for Monday.