(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, received an update from The Retail Coach Project Director Austin Farmer, who is working with the the Chamber and the City as a consultant to conduct market research and development to further high-impact retail recruitment and development strategies.

The Retail Coach, was hired by city in August, 2021 at cost of just over $32,000. They use an eight-step process to conduct a retail market analysis, which incorporates cell phone tracking to determine where the shoppers to Atlantic are coming from, and where Atlantic residents travel outside of the community to shop. The goal is to narrow the field of appropriate businesses to those that have the best chance of success in the community. The company also uses the data to work with existing businesses to help them fine-tune their inventory to provide the kind of merchandise currently unavailable.

Among the other steps is: determining retail opportunities, by matching potential restaurants and retails outlets to Atlantic; Development and redevelopment opportunities; Identifying and recruiting retailers and developers; Marketing and branding; retailer partners and development; ongoing coaching and support.

Austin Farmer (The Retail Coach staff photo)

Farmer said the cell phone data shows the foot traffic was being pulled in from an area larger than just the city limits. In fact Atlantic pulls from a population base of up to 33,000 (which includes surrounding counties and communities). That makes the City more appealing to retailers and restaurants. The data also shows good numbers where household income and age distribution, which is another draw for prospective retailer/restaurant franchisee’s, but the cost of certain franchises are what’s keeping some clients from locating here.

Another issue is finding the land for new businesses/restaurants. Farmer said the main area of interest is in the area of Wal-Mart, because they tend to draw small strip malls that cater to restaurant and retail space.

The top growth categories The Retail Coach found was needed here, include those in Pet & Pet Supplies, as well as Sporting Goods. Austin Farmer says with a new McDonald’s being built and Burger King set to refurbish their restaurant, Atlantic is showing prospective clients “It feels like there’s more happening here, on the ground…those are more positive signs…” that help Retail Coach with the (Business/restaurant) recruitment process.

The question was raised about the workforce. How can restaurants be interested in coming here, when other, established area restaurants are having to close or consider closing, due to a lack of employees? Farmer said “Fortunately what we’ve seen is most retailers and restaurants haven’t started trying to automate or cut back in terms of what they can or can’t do, based on [the] employee base. What we’ve seen is they’re trying to expand where they draw their retail base from.”

He said “There’s not a silver bullet” for the issue of employment, and that’s true coast to coast.

(Radio Iowa) – Senator Joni Ernst says a new federal crime should be established to punish people caught working as Mexican cartel scouts along the southern border.  “These spotters keep an eye open for the cartels and let them know where Border Patrol agents are,” Ernst says, “so they know where and when to direct drugs, trafficked human beings and weapons.” Ernst was among a group of Republican senators who visited the border late last week.

“While we standing there at the border on the river, across the river from us was a spotter for the cartel,” Ernst said. “…I mean, they are over there just taunting us with their presence.” Ernst says under her proposal, that spotter and others like him would face up to 10 years in prison if caught. Under current federal law, the penalty for those convicted of what’s called immigration-related entrepreneurship can be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Ernst says the coyotes who are being paid to guide migrants across the border are physically and sexually abusing women and girls.

Hella Sisca (Photo)

“When is this administration going to wake up and say: ‘Stop coming here, don’t take this dangerous journey,’?” Ernst asked. “When are they going to change their policies?” Ernst made her comments earlier today (Wednesday) during a news conference in Washington, D.C. For the current federal budgeting year, the Border Patrol expects its encounters with migrants at the southern border to reach levels not seen in 20 years.

In June, the agency made nearly 192-thousand arrests at the border. President Biden met with Mexico’s president a week ago and the Mexican leader agreed to spend one-and-a-half billion dollars over the next two years to shore up security in northern Mexico.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Glenwood Police Department reports two people were arrested Tuesday:

• 32-year-old Jessica Ethen, of Omaha, was arrested on a Mills County Warrant for Harassment 3^rd offense, bond set at $300 cash only.
• 46-year-old Daniel Shipley, of Glenwood, was arrested for Theft 5^th degree, bond set at $300 cash or surety.
  

(Radio Iowa) – This week marks the 33rd anniversary of the crash of United Airlines Flight 232 at the Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City. An exhibit honoring the emergency response is on permanent display at the city’s Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation. Museum director Larry Finley says visitors still come to learn about what happened that day when 184 of the 296 passengers and crew survived the fiery cartwheel crash down the runway and into a cornfield.

“It’s at least once a week when someone will walk through the front door and the first thing they will ask for is, ‘Is the 232 display open?’ and ‘How do I get to the 232 crash site?'” Finley says. “Anytime the museum’s open, the 232 display is open here in the museum, and also the crash site is right outside the museum here.” The pilot, Captain Al Haynes, radioed that the jetliner had lost all hydraulics and he could only make right midair turns with difficulty.

Capt. Al Haynes

Sioux City was the closest airport where he could attempt to land and that gave emergency rescue and fire units from Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota a chance to get to the airport and wait for the plane. Finley says, “Thirty-three years ago, a tri-state response to that crash, the medical community, the volunteers from throughout the area, the professional people from our own fire department, sheriff’s office, law enforcement people, fire-rescue showed up here — and it made a big difference as far as the number of lives that were saved.”

While it was a tremendous blessing to have such a broad and immediate emergency response, it also revealed a critical problem. “We didn’t realize that there’s three different sets of radio systems when the emergency people respond from three states,” Finley says. “We had no communications or very little communications between the emergency service units from the various states. That’s why we ended up with the StarComm radio system that we have now.” Finley says since that day, crew members and many others with connections to the crash visit the museum, many during this time of the year.

The captain’s chair and other wreckage. (Photos by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ)

“I have passengers and relatives of even some of those who lost their lives in the crash stopping in a regular basis,” Finley says. “They will actually travel by ground across the United States versus flying just so they can stop in Sioux City to visit the 232 display here in the museum, the crash site and also the memorial down on the riverfront.” The museum is located near the airport at 2600 Expedition Court.

(Radio Iowa) – The median price for a home sold in Iowa last month hit a record high, while the NUMBER of home sales is dropping according to the Iowa Association of Realtors. The median price for an Iowa home sold in June was a record 230-thousand dollars. That’s about 12 percent more expensive than the median price for Iowa homes sold in June of 2021. Homes placed on the market sold in an average of 27 days last month — that’s 18 percent faster than in June of LAST year. In the first six months of THIS year, there’s been a more than four percent drop in the number homes sold in the state.

In June, about 47-hundred home sales were completed. The Iowa Association of Realtors monthly report shows the number of homes available for sale is slowly increasing after a record low in May. Iowa Association of Realtors president Byron Menke says increased mortgage rates and sky-high home prices are affecting housing markets throughout the country, but if inventory continues to rise, home prices may stabilize.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s three congresswomen — a Democrat and two Republicans — have voted for a bill to make the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage federal law. The move comes after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should reconsider the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country. Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines says the bill that passed the U.S. House ensures marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples.

Congresswomen Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa and Ashley Hinson of Marion were among the Republicans who joined Democrats in supporting the bill. Hinson says she did so because it respects and maintains settled law. Same-sex marriages have been legal in Iowa since a state supreme court ruling issued in 2009.

The other Iowan serving in the U.S. House — Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull — voted against the bill.

(Griswold, Iowa) [UPDATED} – A capital campaign in Cass County to raise funds for an 88-hundred square-foot daycare center in Griswold has gone from private to public. Jared Wyman, of Griswold, President of the Noble Initiative Foundation, said today (Wednesday), they are very close to reaching their fundraising goal, and hope to have a groundbreaking ceremony this Fall.

The Noble Initiative Foundation, he said, was founded in November, 2018 following the closing of the Noble Center United Methodist Church. The church donated its remaining funds to develop a local childcare center serving Griswold and families from the surrounding communities. Wyman said the Noble Initiative is a 501(c-3) non-profit organization.

Noble Initiative Foundation President Jared Wyman (Ric Hanson/photo)

He said so far they’ve raised over 70% ($1.6-million) of their $2.3-million goal through grants and private donations, and from the Cass County Board of Supervisors. Land for the building was made available just south and east of the Griswold High School Football Field & Bus Barn, on the east side of Harrison Street.

Griswold Day Care Center floor plan.

The childcare center will provide quality, affordable year-round child care, including full-time, drop-in, and before and after school care. It will feature four childcare rooms to accommodate children from 6-weeks old to 4-years-old, including a separate area for before and after school care, for elementary age children.

In addition to fundraising, the Noble Initiative is searching for up to 40 volunteers to join them in the upcoming months, for a variety of purposes, including hosting events, writing “thank-you’s,” helping find facility furnishings and creating policies. Jared Wyman said there are opportunities for persons of all ages and backgrounds.

If you are interested, call (712)-789-1046, or go email griswoldtigercare@gmail.com.  Learn more at http://www.NobleInitiativeFoundation.org/ or find them on Facebook at Noble Initiative Foundation.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest Sunday evening, of a man from Red Oak. Deputies conducted a traffic stop at around 6:13-p.m. on Highway 34 at the Avenue of Industries (West of Corning), on a vehicle driven by Bruce Edward Swanson, for failure to maintain his lane. He was subsequently taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. At the Adams County Jail, Swanson’s BAC (Blood Alcohol Test) results showed .272%, or more than three-time the legal limit for intoxication. He was held in the Adams County Jail until seen by a Magistrate.

(Humboldt County, Iowa) – The pilot of a small airplane made an emergency landing Tuesday, in a Humboldt County soybean field. According to reports, the pilot was flying home to Colorado after attending a wedding in Wisconsin, when his aircraft ran out of gas. He brought the plane down safely in the field off of Utah Avenue. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office said someone gave the pilot some gas and he took off again off of the gravel road on Texas Avenue nearby.

The pilot has agreed to pay the farmer back for the damage his soybean field.

(Radio Iowa) – A couple who live across the street from the governor’s mansion is seeking a zoning change so they can sell guns out of their home. A hearing with the Des Moines Zoning Board is scheduled for July 27th on the request from Travis and Elizabeth Aslin. The couple told Axios they conducted a few online gun sales from their previous home in a Des Moines suburb as a hobby and let customers pick up the guns at their house in Grimes.

Des Moines officials seeking to deny the couple’s request to sell guns near the governor’s residence will have to show the home business would endanger public health and safety or impact the neighborhood. Those are the guidelines from a law Governor Reynolds approved aw last month that restricts city and county ordinances for home based businesses.

During House debate of the legislation, Republican Representative Skyler Wheeler of Orange City said Iowans should be able to operate a business out of their home if they aren’t disturbing neighbors.