The Atlantic City Council breezed through their agenda in about 30-minutes, Wednesday evening. Following Public Hearings…

• The Council authorized Library Director Michelle Andersen to apply for a USDA/Rural Development grant for financial assistance to purchase new Atlantic Public Library computers, computer desks, related equipment, and to help finance new flooring in the Library, along with painting of the upper level.

Combined, both projects are expected to cost $80,970, with grants and other proceeds available, amounting to $69,440. The Library Gift Fund is likely to pick up the balance of the bill.

• The Council passed a Resolution pertaining to FY2022 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Certain Levies, as previously explained.
• They also passed a Resolution “Taking additional action on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Refunding Loan Agreement” (as previously explained), and “Authorizing the use of a Preliminary Official Statement in Connection” with the agreement.
• And, the Atlantic  City Council passed a Resolution Adopting the Preliminary FY2022 Budget and set the date for a public hearing on the Budget as well as the proposed FY2022 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Budget. Both will take place during the Council’s next meeting on March 17, 2021.
• A separate Resolution was passed to enter into a solid waste management loan agreement, with regard to the 28-E organization that operates the Cass County Landfill.

In other business, the Council approved the setting of April 1st as the bid date, and April 7th as the date for a  public hearing, on the Atlantic Animal Shelter building addition. You may recall, the engineer’s original estimate for the project was $151,620, but the lowest bid came in at $180,300. Snyder and Associates Engineer Austin Sonntag said Wednesday, there were some adjustments to the dates for the project completion.

Sonntag was asked by Councilman Dick Casady if Snyder’s had increased the amount of their estimate. Austin said they have spoke recently with the original contract bidders about that.

The Lorene Eppelsheimer estate has gifted the City $135,000 to benefit animals at the shelter, with the intention of increasing the number of cat cages and moving them to a separate area away from the dogs. It will also have a proper food storage area, an exam and grooming table, in addition to a more efficient water heater. Additional gifts have been received in the amount of $2,000, and City officials will be looking for grants and funds from the budget to help make up for the deficit.

In other business, the Council approved the reappointments of Melissa Ihnen to the Board of Adjustment as well as the Planning & Zoning Commission, along with Dave Sturm and Ted Robinson, to the Utility Board of Trustees.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have arrested two men in the shooting death of a Clive man last month. Fifty-one-year-old Columbus Plum Lewis, of Des Moines, has been charged with first-degree murder. Police also arrested 55-year-old Virgil Alva See, also of Des Moines, for first-degree theft and accessory after the fact. Lewis is accused of shooting 52-year-old Darrell Merriweather, of Clive, who died on Saturday.

Police say Lewis fled the scene after Merriweather was shot. He was arrested Sunday on several unrelated warrants. Investigators say See was at the scene of the shooting and they later found Merriweather’s ID card, debit card and credit cards at See’s home.

Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau reports 42-year-old Dustin French, of Red Oak, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (Class D Felony) and one count of Theft in the 2nd Degree (Class D Felony) following an investigation by the Bureau.

The charges against French, a former licensed insurance producer, stem from an investigation which began in April of 2020. According to criminal complaints filed by the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau, French provided false information to his insurance company in order to obtain insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.

On March 2, 2021, French answered to the charges in Montgomery County District Court and was released on his own recognizance. Trial will be set for a future date. No additional information will be provided at this time.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

(Radio Iowa) – As the pandemic is forcing many tens of thousands of Iowans to work from home, the state’s official jobs website is offering some new options. Iowa Workforce Development is adding a Remote/Work From Home jobs display to its website in an effort to help job seekers who are specifically looking for that type of opportunity.

Workforce director Beth Townsend says the new tab should make it easier for Iowans to identify and apply for those jobs, noting, there are more than 76-thousand overall jobs available statewide on the site. Townsend is also encouraging the state’s employers to post their remote and work from home opportunities on IowaWORKS.gov.

(Radio Iowa) – COVID-19 ruined vacation plans for countless Iowans in the past year, but more than 300 Iowa high school students are getting a full refund on a band trip that was shut down by the virus. Lynn Hicks, spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General, says a Colorado-based travel outfit, Voyageurs International, had offered what it was calling the Ambassadors of Music Tour and 307 Iowans paid in advance.

“They signed up for this band tour of Europe, it was cancelled because of the pandemic,” Hicks says. “They got part of their money back but the contract said that it was less $1,900.” The Iowa students paid more than 63-hundred dollars each for the tour and accompanying adults paid 67-hundred, while about 40 Iowans paid at least two-thousand dollars more for a side trip to Greece.

“A lot of the students and their parents came to us, we talked to the company and found out the company had received some of the money back from the vendors that they worked with,” Hicks says. “We felt it was best that they return the full amount to the students and that’s what happened.” The Iowa Attorney General’s Office alleged the company violated several laws, including the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. The company denied the charges but agreed to pay back the full 610-thousand dollars to its Iowa clients.

“We appreciate that they worked with us on this,” Hicks says. “The company did mislead the Iowans in how they handled this event, so in the end, we think it’s a nice end to the story.” The A-G’s office is in now in the process of contacting the Iowans and will send them refund checks.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A decision by the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district to stick with remote learning in the midst of a pandemic could end up costing him his job. Television station WOI reports that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is seeking to strip Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ahart of his administrator license.

The board says it found probable cause that Ahart failed to submit or implement a lawful plan to return students to the classroom for the 2020-21 school year as required by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The license is a state requirement to hold the position of schools superintendent in Iowa.

[Updated] (Radio Iowa) – After blasting those who are spreading what she called misleading and inaccurate information about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for COVID-19, Governor Kim Reynolds took the shot herself on live T-V Wednesday morning. “I wouldn’t ask Iowans to do anything that I’m not willing to do,” Reynolds said. The governor’s husband, Kevin, and top public health advisor Kelly Garcia were also vaccinated during the governor’s televised news conference. “Is she done?” Reynolds asked, moments after getting the shot. “Wow, o.k.”

Earlier, Reynolds said there’s been unwarranted criticism of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, the third to be approved for use nationwide. “This information is misleading and quite frankly it’s irresponsible to position any vaccine as a less desirable option when it’s undergone the same rigorous clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy.” Reynolds calls the Johnson and Johnson vaccine a “game changer,” since it is a single dose shot which doesn’t require a booster several weeks later, as the others do. Plus, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine can be stored in a standard refrigerator.

Tyson is setting up mass vaccination sites at its meatpacking plants in Iowa this week. Reynolds says within five weeks, the goal is to have employees at 456 food processing and manufacturing plants in Iowa vaccinated. All Iowans who live and work in congregate settings — like assisted living facilities — should be vaccinated by the first week of April as well. State officials say both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been given to ALL nursing home residents and employees who wanted it. The roughly 25-thousand doses of those two vaccines the state had been receiving each week for that purpose will now be made available to eligible Iowans through Walgreens and C-V-S pharmacies.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors for Iowa say a Marion man has been convicted of forging and counterfeiting postage stamps. Prosecutors say in a news release that a federal judge in Cedar Rapids found 42-year-old Bradley Jon Matheny guilty Tuesday after a one-day trial of seven counts of postage meter stamp forgery and counterfeiting and three counts of export violations. Prosecutors say Matheny used forged and counterfeited postage meter stamps to ship most of the more than 28,000 packages he mailed to his eBay business customers between November 2015 and May 2017. Matheny faces up to 65 years in federal prison and a $2.5 million fine when he’s sentenced at a later date.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Council Bluffs was arrested on numerous charges, Tuesday. 33-year old Lisa Marie Sivard was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense, Possession of Methamphetamine/1st Offense, and Possession of Adderall 1st Offense. Sivard was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $1,000 bond.

And, on February 27th, Cass County Deputies arrested 31-year old Brady J. Murphy, of Anita, for OWI/1st Offense. Murphy was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to an accident last Saturday, on Main Street, in Griswold. A collision between a 2011 Chevy Traverse owned & driven by 32-year old Jessica Lea Shoemake, of Hastings, and a 2018 Jeep Cherokee, owned & driven by 23-year old Allyson Leann Watson, of New Virginia, happened at around 1:30-p.m., as the Chevy Traverse was backing out of a parking space on Main Street.

The vehicle was struck on the driver’s side rear by the westbound Cherokee. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Chevy Traverse is estimated at $3,500; damage to the Jeep Cherokee is estimated at $4,500.