The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting 6-p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24th, at the High School Media Center. On the agenda is discussion with regard to a Public Hearing for the Certified Budget, and the 1:1 Computer Plan.

Action items on the Board’s agenda include:

• The High School HVAC Replacement Project
• Approving the resignations of Chemistry/Physics Teacher James Todd, as well as HS 1:1 Paraeducator Rebecca Drake.
• The Board will also act on Open Enrollment Applications and
• 2021-22/2022-23 Master Contracts with the Atlantic Education and Employee Associations.

Following regular business, the Atlantic School Board will enter into a closed session to conduct Superintendent Steve Barber’s annual evaluation.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A southwest Iowa man was sentenced Friday, February 19th in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to serve 15-years (180 months) in prison in connection with a child pornography charge. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 63-year old Mark Fredrick Sandell, of Red Oak, must also serve five years of supervised release among completion of his imprisonment.

At the time Sandell committed the present offense, he was on supervised release for a previous conviction of Receipt of Child Pornography. At sentencing, Sandell’s term of supervised release on the prior conviction was revoked and he was ordered to serve 30 months in prison consecutive to the 180-month sentence – for a total sentence of 210 months. Both sentences were imposed by a United States District Court Chief Judge.

The investigation began when the Nebraska State Patrol conducted peer-to-peer Internet network investigations and discovered that an Internet Protocol address associated with Sandell
received child pornography files. On February 27, 2020, a search warrant was obtained and executed at Sandell’s home located in the 1800 Block of Eastern Avenue in Red Oak. Sandell was
at his home and admitted to police he was in possession of child pornography. Officers seized numerous electronic devices and a forensic examination identified a total of 483 videos and 125
images of child pornography.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security – HSI, Nebraska State Patrol, and the Bellevue, Neb. Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the
United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports, that on Friday, February 19th, 33-year old Casey Gantt, of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to nearly 12.5 years (151 months) in prison, and must serve five years of supervised release. On December 15, 2020, Gantt’s co-defendant, 42-year old Angela Garges, also of Council Bluffs, was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Both sentences imposed by a United States District Court Chief Judge in Council Bluffs District Court.

The investigation was initiated by the Iowa Department of Correctional Services Fourth Judicial District when Gantt failed to meet with his parole officer. Iowa parole officers went to
Gantt’s home located at the 300 Block of Huntington Avenue in Council Bluffs and upon arrival encountered numerous people, including Garges, inside his home. Officers located over 500 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and $4,600 in United States currency in Gantt’s home.

On January 24, 2020, Council Bluffs Police responded to Best Western Inn in Council Bluffs to serve a warrant for a room rented by Garges. Officers searched the hotel room for the wanted person and located 111 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, and the Iowa Fourth Judicial District Probation and Parole Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office said Monday (today) there were two recent arrests. At around 5:30-a.m. Saturday, 24-year old Victoria Anne Griffen was arrested, after a deputy observed a Chevrolet Equinox in the center of the median in Council Bluffs, near the 8 mile marker of Interstate 80. Griffen was charged with OWI/1st Offense, and Failure to Maintain Control of Motor Vehicle. The report also indicated she was taken into custody for Possession of Marijuana.

And, last Thursday, 35-year old David Michael Theisen was arrested following a traffic stop, in Carson. Theisen was charged with Driving While Barred.

(Radio Iowa) – Upgrades are planned for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch. A bill in the Iowa legislature would create a partial state tax credit for donations to the project. The last updates were completed in 1992.  “And by the way, that is the longest time period of any presidential library in the United States to go without having a major renovation.”

That’s Allan Hoover the third, the great grandson of the only native Iowan ever elected president. The goal is to complete this new round of renovations by August 10, 2024 in honor of Herbert Hoover’s 150th birthday. “Great granddad felt a genuine bond with Iowa, so much so that he chose West Branch to his final resting place along with his wife Lou Henry,” Allan Hoover III says.

“…When he was a young boy he was in his father’s blacksmith shop in West Branch…Great granddad stepped on a hot piece of coal that I imagine not only hurt, but it left a mark on his foot that would be there the rest of his life,” Hoover says. “He affectionately called this mark his ‘Brand of Iowa’ that was with him every step of the way as he went through life at the Paris Peace Conference, Secretary of Commerce, in the White House and the years beyond.”

The National Archives oversees 13 presidential libraries, including Hoover’s. The National Archives requires 90 percent of money to be raised before any construction and renovation of the libraries may start. Governor Kim Reynolds is asking legislators to appropriate five million dollars in state tax dollars, plus create a state income tax credit worth 25 percent of any donation an Iowan makes to the project.

(Radio Iowa) – Fire struck a six-story building on the Iowa State University campus, Monday morning. The fire at Ross Hall was reported just after 6 A-M and the Ames Fire Department had it extinguished by 6:45. I-S-U officials say the fire started in a custodial closet on the first floor. Ames police say there was one person in the building at the time of the fire who made it out safely. Reports say there is smoke damage throughout the building.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and the building is closed. Ross Hall is used for a variety of classroom instruction, primarily in English, history and political science.

The CAM Speech and Debate team has had some huge recent successes. JoAnn Brahms and Gabe Rouse both earned National Speech and Debate Association National Qualification. Both students will compete virtually in the National Tournament. They are the first CAM students to qualify for nationals since 1989.

Brahms qualified in Informative Speaking. Brahms also recently reached 750 points in NSDA and earned a Triple Ruby honor. Rouse qualified in Humorous Interpretation. Jack Brahms also is an Alternate Qualifier in Informative Speaking. Paige Jensen also recently earned her 750 points in NSDA and earned Triple Ruby honor. Mady McKee and Faith Nath have both recently earned 500 points in NSDA, earning them both the Double Ruby honor.

Another recent honor was the CAM Large Group 9th Readers Theater earning All-State status. This group includes freshmen, Lilly Applegate, Kylie Nelsen, Natalie Behnken, Olivia South, Carly Dennis, Bradyn Bohnsack, Dalton Reed, and Jack Brahms.

District Individual Speech competition is scheduled for February 27th at CAM High School.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports three people were arrested, booked into the Adair County Jail, and then released on citations, over the past week. At around 12:20-a.m. Saturday, 27-year old Thompson Lee Jones, of Creston, was taken into custody following a traffic stop, in Orient. He was subsequently taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. Test results indicated his Breath Alcohol Content (BAC) was .088%, or slightly above the legal limit for intoxication.

Just before 3-a.m. Saturday, 67-year old Merle Dean Burris, of Stuart, was arrested by Stuart Police, for OWI/1st offense. His arrest followed a traffic stop on a vehicle with its headlights off. A test at the Adair County Jail showed Burris’ BAC was .091%.

And, at around 7-p.m. Thursday, 39-year old Mitchell Tyler Killion, of Orient, was arrested in rural Fontanelle, for Driving While License Denied or Revoked for OWI, after he was pulled over for having a headlight out.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests over the weekend. On Sunday, 55-year old Timothy Jay Blank was arrested on a Page County Warrant for Criminal Mischief 4th Degree.

Timothy Blank

Blank was arrested in Coin following a short foot pursuit. He was transported to the Page County Sheriff’s Office and held on $1,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

Wesley Stogdill

On Saturday, Page County Sheriff’s Office responded to a vehicle in the ditch on Highway 59, about one-mile north of Shenandoah. When deputies arrived, a Shenandoah Police Officer was already on the scene, where a 2017 Ford Edge was located in the east ditch. An investigation determined the vehicle didn’t appear to have hit anything. It was just stuck in the snow. As a result of the investigation, 39-year old Wesley Joe Stogdill was arrested for OWI/2nd Offense. Stogdill was transported to the Page County Sheriff’s Office and held on $2,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.