The Atlantic City Council will hold its first meeting of JUNE this Wednesday, beginning at 5:30-p.m., in their Chambers at the Atlantic City Hall. First up on their agenda, is the review of a permit request by Wild Willy’s for a Community Fireworks Demonstration scheduled for June 12th. If the permit is approved, the demonstration will take place at the Little League diamonds across from the KJAN Studios on north Olive Street. It’s intended to be a family friendly event, with the possibility of food vendors on site. Wild Willy’s is owned by local business owners, and as such, subject to the Local Option Sales Tax, which benefits the City. City Administrator John Lund says “If residents desire to buy fireworks, we [The City] should encourage them to buy locally.” Under an agreement, the debris afterward, would be cleaned-up by the Boy/Girl Scouts.

The Atlantic City Council will also act on an order with regard to an application for the closing of East 6th Street between Chestnut and Poplar, from 10-a.m. until 12:30-p.m. June 13th, for the benefit of children during a church service. The Council has traditionally allowed requests for street closures that benefit small community events like block parties. City Administrator John Lund says “A closure for a religious event would be similar in nature,” and should be approved.

The Council, Wednesday, is expected to set June 16th as the date for a Public Hearing on the passage of an Ordinance (#1009), that would amend Chapter 6 of the City’s Code of Ordinances, changing the method of election to runoff elections. John Lund says Atlantic currently has a “plurality-takes-all” system, where someone only needs to get the most votes on the first and only ballot, to win. As such, only 50.01% of the vote is required to become Mayor, a member of the Council, and Park Board. Iowa allows for two types of elections, either the current system, or an alternative where a true majority of voters is required to win. Lund says the benefits of changing to a majority system, include: The winner of the final vote has a genuine mandate to lead the City by a majority of the voters, and can claim their leadership and priorities are what Atlantic wants; and, it prevents a scenario where the Mayor is the plurality winner, not because they are a respected individual in the community, but because they have a devoted base of support and respected candidates divide the vote. In this scenario, according to Lund, someone could become Mayor for four-years that half Atlantic or even a super majority activity opposes.

Lund says the Personnel and Finance Committee reviewed the options during their meeting on May 26th, and unanimously recommends the Council change the election system to a majority, run-off election. In order for a motion to that effect to pass, the Council must first set the date of a public hearing and pass each reading during their meetings on June 16th, July 7th and July 21st. In related business, the Council, Wednesday, will also set June 16th as the date for a public hearing on an ordinance amendment that would change the term for Park Board members from six-years to four-years, which the Park Board favors.

The Council will also act on the setting of wages for 2021 Pool personnel, and, review the contract and bonds for the West 22nd Street Sidewalk Project. Afterward, they will act on passing a Resolution approving the project contract and bonds. John Lund says the FY22 Budget calls for $117,500 to construct the walking path, which was awarded to Henningsen Construction during the Council’s meeting May 19th, and came in under budget, in the amount of $103,904.56.

Officials with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation have announced the Foundations’ 2021 grant award recipients. According to their report, after a thorough evaluation process, the PCCF grants  committee – a group of county residents and board members – elected to award 40 Community Impact Grants totaling $60,040 to area nonprofit and city organizations, a 10% increase in available grants from the 2020 grant cycle.

Annually, Community Impact Grants funding is eligible to any tax-exempt, nonprofit organization or governmental entity for creative or impactful projects that meet a clear, identifiable need in Pottawattamie County. Grants are allocated to projects in a variety of focus areas, such as: Arts & Culture, Community Betterment, Community Engagement, Education, Environment, Health, Human Services, and Youth. The list of grant recipients, their projects and award amount, can be found below:

Sheriff’s officials in Ringgold County, Sunday, said a central Iowa man died over the weekend during a canoeing accident on a farm bond. Sheriff Rob Haley says his office received a call at around 10:40-p.m. Saturday about Daniel Clint Ahrens, of Adel, who went missing during a fishing excursion on a rural farm pond near Ellston. Upon law enforcement and rescue crew’s arrival at around 11-p.m., a canoe was found upside down in the water, about 15-feet from shore. Ahrens’ body was found about 40-minutes later, also about 15-feet from shore, in about eight-feet of water.

The man was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, where the cause of death was pending results of an autopsy. The Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Mount Ayr Fire, the Ringgold County Dive Team, Union Township Fire Department, Ringgold County Emergency Management, the Ringgold County Medical Examiner, and Ringgold County Ambulance.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an Adams County warrant for Failure to Appear in court. Authorities say 29-year-old Nathan Allen Aldrich, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 9-p.m. in the 1300 block of N. Broadway. He was transported to the Adams County Jail, and held on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The passport program that offers prizes when you visit state parks is back this year. Iowa Tourism Office spokesperson, Jessica O’Riley, says they launched the program last year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the state parks. “It was such a phenomenal success that we thought we need to bring it back this year,” O’Riley says. “We had nearly 30-thousand check-ins at parks across the state with last year’s version. So now we have relaunched it with new prizes to entice people to get outdoors and explore again this year.”

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is partnering with the Tourism Office on the program.  “If you check into ten of the 62 participating state parks — the first one-thousand people to do that — win a state park passport t-shirt. A highly coveted t-shirt I am sure,” O’Riley says. The prizes ramp up as your visits increase. She says if you check into 30 parks you can win one of four activity trackers and then your check-ins each month qualify you to win a larger prize, such as a paddleboard and watersport accessory in June.

You can find out more about the passport by visiting traveliowa.com/passport or by texting PARKS to 515-531-5995.

On this Memorial Day, Monday, May 31st, several area communities are planning to hold activities, including:

• The Atlantic Memorial Day Service at the Atlantic Cemetery Field of Glory will include a cannon fired by members of The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – Camp #23 at 10 am. There will be a speaker, placement of wreaths, Atlantic Color Guard and SUVCW (Rifle Squad “Fall In”) and an Honor the Dead flyover at approximately 11 am.
• Adair Memorial Day Service will be held at 10 am at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier at Sunnyhill Cemetery in Adair. Volunteers are welcome to help take down the flags today, at 4 pm.
• Anita Memorial Day Service will be held at 10:30 am at the Anita Evergreen Cemetery. All Legion members wanting to participate should be at the Legion Hall by 9 am. Sponsored by the Anita American Legion Post #210. The service at Caring Acres will be held at 9:30 am. Bleachers will not be provided, all those attending will need to bring their own chairs.
• Anita Congregational UCC’s Annual Memorial Day Dinner will be held from 11 am – 1 pm. They are celebrating 150 years! They will be serving ham balls, cheesy potatoes, corn, green beans, dinner roll, drinks and desserts. Cost is $12 for adults, $6 for kids and kids 4 and under are $4. Carry-outs: Lynn Stephenson – 249-2392; Tim Miller – 250-0307; Eric Miller – 250-0121. Public is welcome!
• Newtown Avoca Historical Society Ice Cream Social will be held from 1-4 pm at Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum (504 N. Elm St.). Enjoy free ice cream while you check out their NEW Quilt display and Silent Auction Fundraiser for Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum. Museum hours: Memorial Day and weekends 1-4 pm.
• Brayton American Legion Post #350 Memorial Day Services will start at the East Nishnabotna river bridge east of Brayton at 10 am. Services will also be at Oakfield Cemetery, Bowen Cemetery and Oak Hill Cemetery.
• The Exira Lions are having a Memorial Day breakfast at the Exira Community Center from 8 am to 1 pm. Serving pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee. Free will offering. We will be open for in house dining.
• Griswold Memorial Day Service will be held 10:30 am at the Griswold Cemetery Circle of Flags. Featured speaker: Lieutenant Colonel Bill Backhaus. Handicap accessible parking available. In case of rain, services will be held at the Griswold Community Building. Sponsored by the American Legion Post #508.
• Lewis Volunteer Fire Department Memorial Day Breakfast: Serving Pancakes and Sausage. Drive Thru Orders Available for your Free Will donation, from 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
• the Red Oak Scouts BSA, the Montgomery County Court of Honor, and the Montgomery County Family YMCA’s Togetherhood Committee will be placing American flags throughout the Evergreen Cemetery and at the graves of respected veterans. Service projects are designed to make a meaningful impact while being rewarding and convenient There’s no need to register, just bring face mask coverings to wear to practice safe social distancing practices, gloves, walking shoes or hiking boots, hat, and water down to the Evergreen Cemetery and come with family or friends to place flags around headstones.
• The Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Court of Honor will be placing large American memorial flags along the walkways throughout the cemetery starting at 6 a.m. And the Red Oak Scouts BSA will be placing small flags around the cemetery by the grave sites of our Veterans at 6:30 a.m. Both projects will need people to take down the flags at 4 p.m. as well. The beautiful Evergreen Cemetery is located at 1900 North 8th Street in Red Oak, Iowa and the meeting place for this project will be at the front of the cemetery. If inclement weather comes in later the flags may need to be taken down early.
• Prescott United Church Disciples’ Memorial Day Dinner (405 6th Ave, Prescott, IA), Quilt Bazaar and Bake Sale, 11-a.m. until 1-p.m; Menu includes Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, green bean casserole and dessert. Dining room will be open and you can also call ahead and take out 515-669-5375. Adults $8 with Kids 5-12 $4 and under 5 FREE.

Police in Des Moines say a man was arrested Sunday, after wielding a machete and allegedly lighting an apartment on fire. KCCI reports authorities said it happened at the apartments located at 1100 E. Seneca. The call came in as a domestic dispute. The caller told the dispatcher that the man was armed with a machete.

Police say he then set the apartment on fire. Officers evacuated the people who live there. No one was injured in the incident. The man, who was not immediately identified, was being charged with domestic assault with a weapon, and two counts of first-degree arson.

(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds helped search Sunday for a missing boy who was last seen late Thursday morning in Montezuma. Sunday was Xavior Harrelson’s 11th birthday. About 375 volunteers and 125 law enforcement officers searched areas within a mile of the boy’s home and in rural areas around Montezuma.

Mitch Mortvedt of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spoke with K-C-R-G T-V. “We covered a lot of area, a lot of territory,” he said. “We couldn’t be more appreciative of the people that did show up.” Mortvedt says this is classified as a missing child case — NOT a kidnapping.

Xavior Harrelson

Searchers have gone door-to-door in Montezuma and dive teams have searched Diamond Lake which is about a mile west of Montezuma.

FORT MADISON – The Iowa Department of Corrections, Sunday, said 87-year-old Robert Overstreet Sr., an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, died Friday evening due to natural causes. Overstreet had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 2nd Degree from Scott County. His sentence began on April 8, 1971.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Sunday evening, released a report on arrests and citations issued over the past week. At around 3:40-a.m. Saturday (May 29), 29-year-old Madeline M. Simmons, of Des Moines, was cited and later released for OWI/1st offense, following  a traffic stop.

Friday night, 40-year-old David Junior Richman, of Des Moines, was transferred from Adair County to meet with Des Moines Police, under a warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault with bodily injury, an aggravated misdemeanor that comes without bond.

On May 25th, 36-year-old Derik Wayne Bud Pickrell, of West Des Moines, was arrested at the Polk County Jail, on an Adair County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault while impeding the flow of air/blood, and Driving While Barred. His bond was set at $2,000.

At around 3:30-p.m. on May 24th, 32-year-old Evan James Wilber, of Bay City, Michigan, was arrested on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Trespass causing damage greater than $300, with regard to an incident that took place at a property in the 29-hundred block of Delta Avenue, in rural Bridgewater. Wilber was released that same afternoon on a $100 cash bond.

And, at around 4:50-a.m. on May 23rd, 22-year-old Will Donald Gordon, of Creston, was cited and released at the scene, for OWI/1st offense, after he was pulled over for erratic driving and speeding.