(Radio Iowa) – There will be some new items on display at the Everly Brothers Family Heritage Day today (Thursday) in Shenandoah. The day celebrates Don and Phil Everly–two of the founding fathers of rock and roll. Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association marketing director Shelly Warner says the materials are on display at the Depot Restaurant, the Everly Brothers Childhood Home and the Greater Shenandoah Historical Museum. “After the passing of their mother, Margaret Everly, and Don’s passing, the family had been settling the state, and Margaret’s home was sold. We always knew Margaret saved a lot of things, so they picked out certain items they were willing to part with, and had them on an online auction,” she says. She says Everly Heritage Foundation President Bill Hillman purchased the items that include a look at the duo’s early years.

“We have a scrapbook which was from their childhood beginning in Chicago, when they first left Kentucky, and they started school there,” Walker says.. “Later, here in Shenandoah, it continues through their childhood to when they first started performing on the radio.” Some of the Everlys’ toys will also be available for viewing behind a glass case at the Depot. Warner says the toys are in great condition.”There’s a train, there’s a race car, there’s a few other things that are really well preserved, thankfully, Margaret, their mother, was really diligent about that,” she says.

New display items at the museum include a guitar autographed by the Everlys. The museum and Everly Brothers home are open today (Thursday) from 1 to 4 p-m. Another celebration highlight is music by Richie Lee and the Fabulous 50s at the Depot from 6 to 9 p-m.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A 34-year-old Omaha woman will serve a minimum of 70 years in prison for a fiery drunk-driving crash that killed four people including her own children. WOWT-TV in Omaha reports Rachel Bickerstaff was sentenced Wednesday to 140-180 years in prison for four counts of motor vehicle homicide as a result of the tragic downtown Omaha crash that killed her 5-year-old, 18-month-old and newborn; as well as the other driver, 70-year-old Michael Sales of Council Bluffs, who died at the scene.

Douglas County District Court Judge Moll Keane sentenced Bickerstaff to 35-45 years for each count. She could be eligible for parole in 70 years due to Nebraska’s “good time” law. Prosecutors called it one of the worst drunk-driving cases they’ve ever dealt with in Douglas County.

Bickerstaff pled “no contest” to the charges in March. A fifth charge of DUI causing serious bodily injury was dropped as part of the plea agreement. The charges stem from the crash on Sept. 27, 2024, near 10th and Douglas streets, where investigators say Bickerstaff reached a top speed of 142 miles per hour and ran a red light going over 100 when she hit Sales, who was on his way home from work.

Bickerstaff received another charge of assault of a confined person in May. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says she assaulted her cellmate while in jail. Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that while the horrific crash wasn’t intentional, it also wasn’t an accident.

Bickerstaff’s attorney told the judge that her client had a tough childhood. She had witnessed and endured a lot of abuse in her home, and started drinking and doing meth at age 12. Bickerstaff apologized in court, saying that she lost everything in the crash and asked the court to understand that she made the most tragic decision of her life when she got behind the wheel while drunk.

(Updated/Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s share of a legal settlement with the maker of the opioid drug OxyContin is nearly 38 million dollars. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and 54 attorneys general from states and U-S territories signed onto the settlement with Purdue Pharma and the family that owns the company. Half of Iowa’s nearly 38 MILLION dollar share of the settlement will go to local governments in Iowa. The other half will go into a state fund set up to distribute money from settlements with companies that made, marketed and sold opioids. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says the settlement is bittersweet because OxyContin is an extremely addictive drug. State records indicate 238 Iowans died of an opioid overdose in 2023, although the names of the opioid taken are not listed.

Ten other companies that made or sold opioids have already agreed to settlements and have paid the State of Iowa over 56 MILLION dollars. After three years of negotiations, the legislature agreed this spring on a plan to distribute the money from the State’s Opioid Settlement Fund. This latest settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family must be approved by a court before the money reaches Iowa and other states. The U-S Supreme Court rejected a settlement offer last year that was nearly three BILLION dollars less and would have shielded the Sackler family from civil lawsuits related to OxyContin’s use.

(Radio Iowa) – A policy that goes into effect January 1st gives Iowa school districts more authority to choose what qualifications school bus drivers in each district must have. Commercial Drivers Licenses will STILL be required, plus a C-D-L endorsement to drive a school bus and any vehicle with more than 14 passengers. However, the Iowa Department of Education’s 14-hour course for school bus drivers will be optional and schools may require completion of the federal government’s far shorter entry level course instead.

Republican Representative Thomas Moore of Griswold says the policy is meant to address the shortage of school bus drivers. “For many of us during the summertime as we’re driving around and going through communities, we see those yellow school buses with signs of ‘Drivers Wanted’ on the sides of them,” Moore says.

Representative Monica Kurth, a Democrat from Davenport, says the new policy is like Swiss cheese, with no consistent standard for all school districts. “The safety of those children in school buses should be considered a statewide issue,” Kurth said. Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, says reducing safety training isn’t the way to address shortages in Iowa’s workforce.

“When we have a shortage of brain surgeons, are we going to say, ‘No more med school?’ Bus drivers are carrying our state’s most precious cargo — our children,” Baeth says. “This is not a place to cut corners.” Moore says the policy lets school officials make local decisions about school bus safety.  “I believe that the school districts are going to continue with the Department of Education programming,” Moore said. “But if a school district decides that they are the most qualified to decide over the Department of Education, I believe that is highly responsible.”

Governor Reynolds signed a bill last week that outlines the new options for school bus driver training. Federal data indicates that when U-S schools started last fall, there were about 12 percent fewer bus drivers than there were in 2019.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, during their regular meeting this (Wednesday) evening, passed an amended, FY2025 Budget. Their action followed a Public Hearing, during which there were no comments. City Administrator John Lund explained this will not affect taxes paid by citizens of the City.

An additional $365,000 in transfers was also amended, which Lund says is a routine matter. The Council then passed a resolution “Declaring [a] surplus and Authorizing [the] Transfer” of funds, and passing a resolution approving the transfer of funds for FY2024-25.

Councilman Gerald Brink asked Lund if that’s something the City has to do regularly.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council considered and acted on passing the second reading of an ordinance amending the City Code of Ordinances, by changing the current run-off system of City elections back to a “Plurality takes all,” which the City previously had, up until July, 2021, as well as the second reading of ordinances that:

• Change the speed limit on 29th Street from 35- to 30-mph, from Chestnut Street to the Southern City limits.
• Change the speed limit on 29th Street from 35- to 30-mph from Chestnut to Palm Street.
• Amends the language on Ordinance 1059 to read “On 29th Street from the Palm Street intersection to a point 800 feet West of [the] intersection.” The reduction to 35-mph remains unchanged.

The Council awarded the contract for 2025 Concrete Street Improvements to Bluffs Paving & Utility Company of Crescent, in the amount of slightly more than $1.203-million. There were five bids for the project. City Engineer Dave Sturm, with Snyder & Associates Engineers, said their original cost estimate for the projects was $1.36-million.

UNION COUNTY — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today (Wednesday), confirmed the recovery of a body from Three Mile Lake in Union County. The individual, identified as 41-year-old Ryan Woosley, of Creston, was found at 3:30 p.m.

The DNR was notified at 3 a.m. about a missing person who was last known to be at Three Mile Lake to night fish on June 16 and had not been heard from since. DNR officials discovered a car in the north boat ramp parking lot and an overturned boat in the lake. Initial searches of the lake by DNR law enforcement did not locate the victim. Local law enforcement joined the effort, utilizing a thermal drone to continue the search until daylight hours.

Ryan Woosley (Photo posted to a public social media by his daughter)

The Southwest Iowa Dive Team (Midwest Regional Dive Team – comprised of members from Union, Adair, Adams, Cass, Montgomery, Page and Ringgold Counties) was then called to assist with the recovery efforts. Utilizing sonar technology, the dive team successfully located the body, which was recovered shortly thereafter.

Severe weather that moved through the area on June 16 may have contributed to the incident.

The Iowa DNR was joined in the search and recovery by the Union County Sheriff’s Department, the Midwest Regional Dive Team,  Afton and Creston Police Departments.

(Radio Iowa) – Nearly four-thousand Iowa Army National Guard soldiers are in the midst of three weeks of rigorous summer training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. The commander of the ground troops, Brigadier General Derek Adams, says this training should prepare them for anything.

“This training is, is the best. And most difficult that the army has to offer. And so if you train on the most difficult scenarios against the toughest adversary, you’re prepared to do any operation that would be called upon for the for the unit,” he says. Colonel Tony Smithart, the 734th Regional Support Group Commander, says troops from the Second Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Divisions and nearly 18-hundred soldiers from across the state who will soon be going overseas are among the soldiers taking part in the training.

“The key mission for the 734th Regional Sport Group is to build combat power for forces to flow into an assigned mission and we’ve received about six-thousand soldiers for the exercise, two-thousand pieces of equipment that the 734th R-S-G has received and moved into staging yards for the forces that are deploying to the exercise to be ready to do their mission,” he says.

This is the final training step for the soldiers who will be deployed overseas as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

ATLANTIC- Cass County Relay For Life is hosting a Putt-Putt for a Purpose, a family fun event at Sunnyside Range in Atlantic on Sunday, June 29th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Everyone is invited to come play a round of putt-putt for $25 for a 4-member team or $10 for an individual. The fun will also include a driving range contest for $5 for 3 balls. Prizes
will be awarded.

The event will also allow for cancer survivors, caregivers, and community supporters to enjoy camaraderie and a meal. Atlantic Hy-Vee will be graciously providing a free meal for attendees and Sunnyside Range will have their concession stand open for other goodie purchases. Thanks to Shift Atlantic for making Sunnyside Range available.

Luminaries will be displayed in memory or support of loved ones at the event and are available for purchase for $10 each. Please contact Jodi Christoffersen at jodichristoffersen@hotmail.com, call 712-254-1409, or visit relayforlife.org/casscountyia Survivors can also register at the website or call 1-800-227-2545 OPTION 4 in order to receive a 2025 Relay For Life Shirt.

General donations to Cass County Relay For Life can also be made on the website or by dropping off to Kristi Schmidtke at Rolling Hills Bank & Trust in Atlantic.

The Cass County Relay For Life Committee hopes to see all cancer survivors, caregivers, and community supporters on Sunday, June 29th at Sunnyside Range for an evening of fun, support, and fundraising. Thanks to the Cass County community for continuing to fight back against cancer.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Dignitaries and honored guests were present this (Wednesday) afternoon, for a groundbreaking ceremony for the new, Vision Atlantic/Camblin Hills Housing Development project. Vision Atlantic President Christina Bateman served as the program’s host. She began by recognizing the late developer Don Sonntag, and Atlantic visionary, the late Bob Camblin.

Bateman said for decades, Don Sonntag was “at the heart of commercial and housing development in our city.”

Austin Sonntag

Sonntag’s grandson Austin is also a developer.

Christina Bateman presented the Sonntag family with a “Legacy Award, in his honor. Bob Camblin, Christina Bateman said,  was a tireless advocate throughout his life for economic development in Atlantic.

Bon Camblin’s daughter Jenny

His youngest daughter, Jenny spoke of her father’s legacy on behalf of her family. She choked-up when she said her “dad would be extremely humbled and honored” if he was there today (Wednesday).

His family was also honored with a Legacy Award from the Vision Atlantic Board of Directors. Bateman acknowledged the City of Atlantic’s donation of the land, the Comes family, for being willing to sell the land and allow the project to become a reality, Snyder and Associates Engineers, and Carley Construction for laying the groundwork for the next steps in the project, along with many others. The 49-acre Camblin Hills Development will feature 142 new homes, a park with a playground, walking/bike trail, and the Lakin Foundation Child Development Center of Atlantic.

John Hoich

John Hoich, with the Lakin Foundation, spoke briefly prior to the groundbreaking ceremony on the newly constructed Lakin Foundation Boulevard. He said the goal of the Lakin Foundation is to grow cities, especially unincorporated towns, to save them from disappearing, and bringing people back to make all the communities they serve, thrive.

The Foundation and the Community Vision Foundation for Western Iowa partnered to establish a $23-million investment fund which Vision Atlantic will borrow from to build all 142 housing units. As the loan is repaid, up to five-percent of the fund balance will be donated back to Vision Atlantic, to establish a long-term community endowment fund which will support local needs such as affordable child care.

Attendees at the event also heard from Donna Dostel, with the Community Foundation for Western Iowa, and Debi Durham, Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), prior to the official turning of gold plated spades with chunks of dirt, to signify the ceremonial christening of the site.

(UPDATE 4:12-p.m.) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirms that a dive team recovered the body of an adult man from a Union County lake on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier in the afternoon, a spokesperson for the DNR said the water search at Three Mile Lake was precautionary after authorities were told the missing man was going to be in the area.

The lake is located about 5 miles north of Afton.

Previous report:

(Creston, Iowa) – Members of the Midwest Regional Dive Team, with members from Union, Adair, Adams,  Cass, Montgomery, Page and Ringgold Counties, were called late this (Wednesday morning) to 3 Mile Lake in Union County, to search for a missing man.

Family members posted on social media that Ryan Woosley was fishing alone on the lake late Monday night in a John boat shortly before a storm hit the area. His car was located in the area, but Woosley has not been seen since. In addition to efforts of the Dive Team, a Police report was filed.

Photo posted to social media by the daughter of Ryan Woosley, who is missing from 3 Mile Lake.