Atlantic may have a new Activities Director lined up for the departing Matt Alexander after tonight’s Atlantic School Board meeting.

A report from Carroll Broadcasting has indicated that Fort Madison Activities Director Andrew Mitchell has removed himself from consideration for that position at Carroll Community School District because he has accepted an offer to become Assistant High School Principal and Activities Director in Atlantic.

Atlantic Community School District Superintendent Steve Barber did not confirm or deny Mitchell being the guy when contacted by KJAN. He said they are in the process of determining that position and it would be discussed at tonight’s school board meeting.

The Atlantic School Board is set to meet at 5:30pm at the Atlantic High School Media Room.

Atlantic has been looking to replace current Assistant High School Principal and Activities Director Matt Alexander, who is leaving this summer to become the Superintendent of the OA-BCIG School District.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed an immigration enforcement bill that bans so-called sanctuary cities. The Republican governor signed the bill privately on Tuesday. The news was tucked into a press release about 16 other bill signings. The new law will require law enforcement to follow requests from federal agents to hold a jailed person suspected of being in the country illegally. Local governments risk losing state funding if they don’t comply with the law.

Attorneys say the provision could open the state to litigation. Community organizers argue the bill will lead to racial profiling. Lawmakers who supported the measure called it a public safety issue. Reynolds highlighted the legislation in a gubernatorial fundraising email. Sanctuary cities is a catch-all label for jurisdictions that limit local involvement in federal immigration enforcement. Iowa doesn’t have any sanctuary cities.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a Burlington man accused of using an electric guitar to kill his mother say he’ll use an insanity defense if he goes on trial. The defense notice was filed Monday in Des Moines County District Court for 30-year-old Garret Selters, who’s charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 17 slaying of 56-year-old Linda Selters. Authorities say he swung the guitar into the back of her head. Police say Linda Selters had called for help that day, saying her son was having an “episode.”

Officers found Garret Selters outside, pacing and stating that he’d killed his mother. So far doctors have concluded Selters is incompetent for trial but is being treated in hopes of restoring his mental competency. A hearing on the issue is set for April 23.

The Iowa Department of Education says there was a small decrease in the statewide graduation rate for high school students in 2017. The Education Department says the number of students who graduated in four years dropped from 91-point-three percent in 2016 to 91 percent last year. The department says its goal is to have 95 percent of students graduate in four years. The annual dropout rate remained at two-point-eight percent. The graduation rate in Iowa has increased by nearly three percent since 2011 and the department says despite the small drop last year, there have been long-term gains in every demographic subgroup of students.

Graduation rates for African-American students for example, have gone up four years in a row and by more than nine percent since 2011.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Wednesday), signed a drunk driving reform bill that will require all first-time convicted drunk driving offenders to have an ignition interlock installed on their vehicle as a condition of receiving a temporary restricted license, or “work permit.” The new law supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) makes Iowa the 32nd state with an ignition interlock law for all drunk driving offenders. MADD National President Colleen Sheehey-Church said “Iowa now joins 31 other states and Washington, D.C. in recognizing that ignition interlock technology is needed — after the first offense — to stop the horrendous tragedies caused by the leading killer on our roads. Time and again, we help grieving victims who have lost a loved one in a crash caused by a repeat drunk driving offender. There’s no excuse for this, and we know that the only way to stop someone intent on driving drunk is to literally block their vehicle from starting.”

Ignition interlocks require drivers to blow into the device before their vehicle will start. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all-offender interlock laws reduce drunk driving recidivism by 67 percent. A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found interlocks reduce the number of impaired drivers in fatal crashes by 16 percent. Sheehey-Church said “The evidence supporting ignition interlocks just keeps stacking up, which is why MADD is continuing our national movement to pass all-offender ignition interlock laws in all 50 states. We are proud to add Iowa to the growing list of states with this lifesaving law.”

This week, April 8^th through the 14^th, is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon told the Board of Supervisors during their meeting this (Wednesday) morning, that the week is set aside to recognize the role 9-1-1 dispatchers and communication center operators have in public safety. Kennon said there is over 70-years of experience at the Cass County Communications Center, spread among seven dispatchers. The least experienced member has three-years behind the console. Another has over 20-years worth of experience. The ratio of employees is equal, male-to-female. He said it’s a very diverse group. Their ages span from 20-to 50. Some have had prior experience in dispatching, including State Radio (Iowa State Patrol) and from other dispatch centers across the state.

Kennon says all that experience will come in handy with the way technology is evolving. He said last year they began to accept text-to-911 messages. In the coming years, they’ll be able to take pictures- and videos-to 911 information. He said in the future, dispatchers will be tasked to do more, not less where their job is concerned.

In other business, the Cass County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Chuck Burnett, of Atlantic, to the Cass County Zoning Board of Adjustment, to replace a member of the Board who passed away earlier this year. And, the Board tabled the appointment of a Cass County Weed Commissioner until their next meeting. The Board also approved a request from the City of Atlantic, to abate all tax, penalties and interest on a total of 10 city-owned parcels. They also passed a Resolution entering into an agreement to abate the tax and assign a tax certificate on a County-held Tax Sale Certificate for a parcel in Cumberland, and Griswold.

ELKADER, Iowa (AP) — A driver has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the crash deaths of two 16-year-old boys in northeast Iowa’s Clayton County. Court records say 20-year-old Kory Doeppke is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide while driving under the influence. County Sheriff Michael Tschirgi has said Doeppke was headed west when he didn’t halt at a stop sign near Edgewood on Feb. 16 and collided with a northbound pickup. The two fatally injured boys were in the back seat of Doeppke’s car. Officials identified them as Brady Edwards and Izaiah Drinkwater.
The pickup driver wasn’t injured. A hearing on a competency examination of Doeppke is set for May 22.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Campaign workers for Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cathy Glasson have unionized. The Campaign Workers Guild says in a press release Wednesday that a union contract was ratified this week for Glasson’s campaign staff. The new national guild says it’s the first electoral campaign in Iowa history to unionize. It marks the latest group of political campaign workers to unionize around the country.

Glasson is a nurse and president of the Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents Iowa workers at schools and health facilities. She is one of six Democrats seeking the party nomination this year in the June gubernatorial primary, along with two Libertarians. They’re running to unseat Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in the November election.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a child was injured in a fire that broke out in a downtown Mason City apartment. Firetrucks were dispatched around 7 p.m. Tuesday to the apartment, which is situated above a commercial building. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that a police officer was seen taking a child to an ambulance and comforting a woman who’d left the apartment with the child. Firefighters soon had the flames under control.

With the April 17 tax deadline approaching, the Internal Revenue Service is urging taxpayers and tax professionals to be alert to identity theft scams, especially a new email version currently pretending to be from “IRS Refunds.” As the filing season comes to a close, thieves are stepping up their efforts, warned the Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners. The Security Summit, a partnership between the IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry, continues to take steps to combat tax-related identity theft. The “IRS Refunds” scam is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to trick people into opening a link or attachment associated with the email. This link takes people to a fake page where thieves try to steal personally identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers. Often these links or attachments also secretly download malware that can perform many functions, such as giving the thief control of the computer or tracking keystrokes to determine other sensitive passwords or critical data.

The IRS does not randomly contact taxpayers or tax professionals via email, including asking people to confirm their tax refund information. The IRS initiates most contacts through regular mail delivered by the United States Postal Service. However, there are special circumstances in which the IRS will call or come to a home or business, such as when a taxpayer has an overdue tax bill, to secure a delinquent tax return or a delinquent employment tax payment, or to tour a business as part of an audit or during criminal investigations. Even then, taxpayers will generally first receive several letters (called “notices”) from the IRS in the mail. Note that the IRS does not:

• Demand that taxpayers use a specific payment method, such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. The IRS will not ask for debit or credit card numbers over the phone. Taxpayers should make check payments to the “United States Treasury” or review IRS.gov/payments for IRS online options.
• Demand that taxpayers pay taxes without the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say is owed. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to those who owe any taxes. Taxpayers should also be advised of their rights as a taxpayer.
• Threaten to bring in local police, immigration officers or other law-enforcement to have taxpayers arrested for not paying. The IRS also cannot revoke a driver’s license, business license or immigration status.
• Threats like these are common tactics scam artists use to trick victims into buying into their schemes.
• With scams like these circulating, taxpayers and tax professionals should take ongoing security precautions to protect their identities and their computer networks from identity thieves.

Here are a few basic security steps for taxpayers:

• Always use security software with firewall and anti-virus protections. Make sure the security software is always turned on and can automatically update. Encrypt sensitive files such as tax records stored on computers. Use strong, unique passwords for each account.
• Learn to recognize and avoid phishing emails, threatening calls and texts from thieves posing as legitimate organizations such as banks, credit card companies and even the IRS. Do not click on links or download attachments from unknown or suspicious emails.
• Protect personal data. Don’t routinely carry Social Security cards, and make sure tax records are secure. Shop at reputable online retailers. Treat personal information like cash; don’t leave it lying around.