Members of the Atlantic School District’s Board of Education are set to meet Wednesday night. Their meeting, in the High School Media Center, begins at 6-p.m., and includes action on contract recommendations/Letters of assignment for: Jim Wallace – Substitute/Activity Driver; Aubrey Stuart, Middle School Paraeducator; and Mark Anderson, High School Set Designer, and, General Education as well as Special Education, contracts.

The School Board will also receive a regular update from Bob Sweeney with regard to the District’s Facility Projects, and they’ll discuss “Labor Management Committee.” Additional action items include setting the dates/times for public hearings (as follows):

• 2019-20 Amended Certified Budget, Feb. 12th at 6-p.m.
• 2020-21 School Master Calendar, Feb. 12th at 6:15-p.m.

Following other business, the Board will adjourn, and move into a closed session (as allowed under the Iowa Code) for an annual evaluation of Superintendent Steve Barber.

The Adair County Board of Supervisor’s will meet 9-a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 8) in a regular session in their Boardroom at the Adair County Courthouse. On their agenda is Debt Levy discussion with Adair County Auditor Mandy Berg, along with talk about a copier lease. The Board will then receive several Fiscal Year 2021 funding requests, including those from:

• The Adair County Historical Society
• Adair County Tourism
• Southern Iowa Trolley
• SICOG (Southern Iowa Council of Governments)
• MATURA
• Adair County AG Extension
• and the Library Association.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) – The City Council in Webster City has rejected a plan to sell a portion of a city park, heeding the pleas from residents who filled the meeting chamber at City Hall. The vote Monday night deflated a proposal to sell 1.25 acres of East Twin Park to a developer that wants to build a Dollar General store at the site. The Messenger reported that some people who lined the sides of the council chamber held signs that said “Save the park” and “Webster City is not for sale.” Nearly 30 people spoke against the sale; no member of the public rose in favor.

The Midwest Partnership Development Corporation, an economic development corporation serving Adair and Guthrie counties, will hold their annual dinner and program January 23rd, at the Casey Community Building. Officials say Colleen Conrad and Kacey Peterson, both from Casey, are guest speakers for the event. Conrad and Peterson will speak about on how they began to get involved in Casey, how the grant committee began, the restoration of downtown buildings and new businesses opening on Main Street. (you read their biographies below).

The cost of the annual dinner is $27 per plate or $160 for a table of six. RSVPs are requested by January 17th to Sarah Gomez at (515) 523-1262 or sgomez@midwestpartnership.com. Registration is also available online at https://www.midwestpartnership.com/annual-dinner.cfm. Social hour begins at 5:45 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the Annual Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.

Midwest Partnership is a collaborative economic development effort to facilitate the retention, expansion and attraction of businesses to create jobs and improve quality of life in Adair and Guthrie Counties.

About Colleen Conrad: Colleen Mullen Conrad, grew up in Casey, Iowa and has recently focused her efforts on preserving the heritage and improving the economic conditions of her hometown. As a volunteer, entrepreneur, business owner, and philanthropist she supports the efforts of both the Casey Historical Society and the Casey Service Club, as well as the town’s public library. In late 2016, following a public call for volunteers, Colleen helped to establish what would eventually become the Casey Grant committee, a small team of citizens and partners tasked with helping to improve and revitalize the historic town to help provide the best quality of living of its residents, both today and in the future.  Colleen has spent the last year alongside her husband, Dr. Corey Conrad working with local contractors and designers to bring life back to some of Casey’s long abandoned and derelict downtown buildings. Those efforts led to the city’s first catalyst grant in 2019 and the complete renovation of two more century-old buildings on Main Street with the opening of Pioneer’s Pub & Grub, restaurant and bar owned and operated by the couple.

For Colleen Conrad, Casey will always be home, and regardless of where this world leads her, she will never forget her roots; proudly serving her community as just another small-town Iowa girl with a big heart, and even bigger dreams.

About Kacey Peterson: Kacey Peterson was born and raised in Guthrie County and has lived and worked in rural communities throughout her life.  Her involvement on multiple nonprofit boards, including her role as the Public Policy Chair and President of the Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association (IMHCA), has given her the opportunity to advocate at the state and federal levels on behalf of underserved communities and citizens throughout Iowa for the past decade. That work involves identifying and passing legislation and government policy to bring valuable mental health resources to the state’s most rural and at-risk communities.

In 2015, Kacey joined forces with the local Boys and Girls Club and several of the local schools to explore grant opportunities for youth-based programming in Guthrie County; a partnership that spanned the course of several years as a valued member of the organization’s Board of Directors. She joined forces with Colleen Conrad and a handful of other volunteers in 2015 to establish the Casey Grant Committee, and has been actively involved in the town’s revitalization efforts since that time. As current citizens and parents of a vibrant first grader, Kacey and her husband, former city councilman Travis Peterson, are committed to their hometown’s preservation efforts, hoping to instill in their son, a fifth-generation Caseyian, the same sense of pride, appreciation, and love of community they have come to hold in their own hearts.

Atlantic, IA – The January session of “Healthy U” will be held Monday, January 27, 2020, at Cass County Health System. The program, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery will be presented by Keith Lodhia, MD, MS.

Dr. Keith Lodhia

Dr. Lodhia offers neurological care at the CCHS Specialty Clinic and is affiliated with MD West ONE. He practices general neurosurgery encompassing the brain, spine, and peripheral nerves with an emphasis in spinal surgery, having particular expertise in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.

Dr. Lodhia is board certified by The American Board of Neurological Surgery, and his areas of research include spinal surgery, tumors of the spine, and brain hemorrhages. Healthy U will be offered at noon on Monday, January 27th. The program is part of a free educational series (with various topics) offered monthly  in Conference Room 2 inside the main atrium of the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic. The public is invited and welcome to attend, but reservations are required as a meal is provided for all attendees. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Cedar Rapids police have arrested a man suspected of sexual misconduct while driving a school bus. Linn County Jail records say 57-year-old Thomas Williams is awaiting arraignment on charges of kidnapping and sexual exploitation by a school employee. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. A letter sent Monday to parents by the College Community School District said officials were informed Thursday about what the district said was “inappropriate behavior by a bus driver towards a student” during that morning’s route.

(Radio Iowa) — State Climatologist Justin Glisan says the month of December was warmer than average for the second straight year. “We were actually six degrees above average statewide. The average temperature was 28-point-nine degrees,” Glisan says. “It’s interesting — last December 2018 — we were five-point-one degrees above average. So warmer than last year.” The amount of rain and snow in the month was not very notable. “Statewide we were one-point-three-two inches of precipitation — and that’s just two-tenths of an inch below average….we were kind of a balancing act. Northwestern Iowa saw above average precipitation — including snowfall — while southern Iowa and eastern Iowa were below average precipitation wise,” Glisan says.

Glisan says warmer weather had an impact on the normal snow-rain mix of precipitation for December. “Normally in December we get eight-point-three inches of snowfall. Preliminary numbers have us at two-point-four,” according to Glisan. He says the overall average temperature for the year that just ended wasn’t too far from the norm. “Temperature wise we were at 46-point-eight degrees and that ranks us preliminarily as 42nd coldest. We have 147 years of record keeping across the state,” Glisan says. “so, it’s kind of more of a ho-hum year when we are talking temperature wise.”  The amount of rain however was in the top ten. “We had 41-point-five-two inches of rainfall plus snowfall — and that makes it the ninth wettest on record — and again these records go back 147 years. You recall back to 2018 — it was actually the second wettest year behind the great flood year of ’93. We had a little over 45 inches last year — with the record being 48 inches in 1993,” Glisan says.

He says the timing of the wet months in 2019 obviously did not work out well in a state that depends on agriculture. “May was the sixth wettest May on record, spring was the 12th wettest. And then we get into dryness concerns moving into July and August. And then we get to September — ninth warmest — 15th wettest,” he says.  Glisan says he expects the same type of variable conditions to continue into the new year.

In Atlantic, rain and melted snowfall in December amounted to just .7” (Seven-tenths of an inch). Normally, we would see 1.11 inches. The most precipitation during December happened on the 28^th, when we received .6” rain here at the KJAN Studios. The most snow (.6”) fell on the 15^th. The average High for last month was nearly 41-degrees (40.9), which was 8-degrees warmer than normal. The warmest (and record-setting) day, was on Christmas Day, when we topped out 60-degrees. The average Low of 20 (19.9), was 5-degrees warmer than normal. Our coldest mornings were on the 17^th and 18th, when we bottomed out at 9-degrees both days.

During the month of January, our High in Atlantic is typically around 29 (29.4), and the average Low is 9 (9.3). Precipitation (rain and/or melted snow) is normally around .84” (a little more than ¾ of an inch).

Red Oak Police arrested two people on separate charges early this (Tuesday) morning. At around 12:26-a.m., 35-year old Richard Sperry Germar, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving While Suspended. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $566 bond. And, at around 3:45-a.m., 30-year old Madison Marie Bowling, of Red Oak, was arrested for Public Intoxication. Her bond was set at $300.