A reminder, fireworks may be used in Atlantic to celebrate the coming of the New Year, but there are restrictions on when they may be used. City Code says fireworks are permissible “New Year’s Eve starting at 6 p.m. and ending on New Year’s Day at 12:15 a.m.” Also, “No fireworks of any type shall be discharged within 300 ft. of any Public school building, assisted living facility, or hospital.”

Penalties for violating the Ordinance is as follows:

A. “Any person who violates the provisions of the fireworks discharging ordinance or without reckless intent causes injury, property damage or a fire shall be guilty of a scheduled municipal infraction punishable by a $250 fine in addition to established court costs.

B. Persons who violates the discharging fireworks ordinance after having been found guilty of a previous municipal infraction involving fireworks shall be cited for a municipal infraction with a fine of $600 plus associated court costs.”

For other cities in the area, contact your local City Hall or look online for their posted ordinances, as available.

Red Oak Police arrested a woman Sunday night, for Operating a vehicle While Intoxicated (OWI) – drug related. 26-year old Joslin Nicole Davies, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:35-p.m. following a traffic stop at the intersection of 3rd and Oak Streets, in Red Oak. Davies was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond. Sheriff’s Deputies from Cass and Montgomery Counties assisted Red Oak Police during the incident.

MAYSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says more manufacturing jobs are coming to his State. Bevin said in a statement that Pella, Iowa-based Precision Pulley and Idler plans to locate a $10.8 million manufacturing and distributing operation in an existing 105,000-square-foot building in Maysville and will hire 134 full-time employees over the next 10 years. The company supplies idlers, pulleys, bearings and other products.

PPI President and CEO Roger Brown said the Maysville facility allows additional capacity to meet the company’s growing demands. The company operates 12 facilities in the U.S. and also has locations in Canada and Chile. Bevin says the jobs will benefit the economy in northeastern Kentucky.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2020 Iowa Caucuses are 399 days away, but the leaders of Iowa’s two major political parties say it’s already “Caucus season” in Iowa. The next Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for February 3rd, 2020, but a couple of dozen potential Democratic presidential candidates and two declared candidates have made their way through Iowa already. On the Republican side, Donald Trump has held three campaign-style rallies here since he was elected president in 2016.

The priority for the party leaders who are hosting the 2020 Caucuses? Make sure the voting goes smoothly on both sides. “This is the one, strong bipartisan part of the job that, quite frankly, I rather enjoy,” says Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann. He was the party’s chairman during the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. That’s when Microsoft developed the reporting system for Caucus results from both parties. Troy Price has been the Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman since July of 2017 and he was just reelected to another two-year term in the job.

“Whatever system we end up using, we always do a lot of testing around it and we always have back-ups in case it doesn’t work,” Price says. The Iowa Caucuses are party events, so the two parties have to raise money privately for all the expenses. Iowa Democrats will have NEW expenses this time around, as NATIONAL party leaders have imposed new requirements, like allowing absentee participation.

“As well as some of the other mandates, too, in terms of like making sure we can re-canvas, recreate what happened on Caucus Night, so we know there is going to be additional expense,” Price says. “We just don’t know the final tally of that, but we are planning it’s going to cost more than what it has in the past and we are prepared to raise the resources to make sure we run a caucus that’s going to be accessible to everyone.”

In 2019, Iowa Democrats will host their presidential candidates at two annual party fundraisers — one in the summer and one in the fall. Kaufmann says the Iowa G-O-P’s leadership hasn’t yet decided when Republican party fundraisers will be held in 2019.   “I will tell you that I’m not going to provide a platform by which people, on our dime, can beat up on our Republican president,” Kaufmann says.

He says “legitimate” Republican challengers to Trump may emerge in 2019 and Kaufmann says they’ll be welcome at G-O-P events if they avoid “mud-slinging” and focus on their policy differences with the president.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Utility crews extinguished a fire at a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska over the weekend. The Nebraska Public Power District says the fire was discovered in the basement of the facility around 9 a.m. Saturday while crews were investigating a hazardous gas. It was extinguished before 10 a.m. The utility says the fire never threatened public safety.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A major financial rating agency has lowered its bond ratings for an Iowa town because of how it is financing a $70 million arena project. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that S&P Global Ratings pointed to Coralville’s bank loans with variable interest rates to pay for the planned 5,700 seat arena set to open in 2020. City leaders say they remain confident the project does not threaten the city’s finances.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman whose son died from a drug overdose has had a chance to hear his heart beat again in the chest of an Ohio man who received it as an organ donation. The Quad City Times reports that Lisa Bragg met Friday in Davenport with 45-year-old Kenneth Vogelsong, of Sherwood, Ohio. Bragg’s 27-year-old son, Markus Abbott, died in January, and his heart was transplanted in Vogelsong.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In 2008, Barack Obama won the hearts of Iowa Democrats. Today, his supporters are looking more pragmatically for someone who can simply seize the presidency from Donald Trump in 2020. Niki Neems, a Democratic activist in Iowa city, says that ideally she would want to fall in love with the new candidate the same way as she did with Obama. But she adds that the candidate’s ultimate success at defeating Trump is more important. Neems says, “So, for me, it’s OK to just fall in like.”

A suicidal man led Police in Council Bluffs on a chase Sunday morning, that resulted in his arrest and hospitalization. Authorities say at around 8:24-a.m., officers were dispatched to the 2500 Block of South 17th St. in Council Bluffs for a 44-year old Council Bluffs man threatening suicide by holding a gun to his head. As officers arrived in the area, the suspect fled the area in a vehicle, at a high rate of speed. Officers saw the suspect holding, what they believed to be a gun to his head.

A pursuit ensued and the suspect fled the area getting on I-80 westbound at the South Expressway.  continued to I-29 North where he made a U-turn at mile marker 57 in the median, to head back into Council Bluffs on North 16th Street. Officers were able to use the PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique) at South 16th Street and 7th Ave. where the vehicle was disabled. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident.

The suspect had numerous self-inflicted wounds all over his body from a knife, and he made comments to the officers on scene he wanted to die. He was transported to the hospital for medical attention and evaluation. There are charges pending for Felony Eluding, Domestic Abuse-Serious, Reckless Driving, Disobedience to a Police Officer and Interference with Official Acts.

Officers from the Iowa State Patrol and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s office assisted in the arrest of the suspect. At this time the suspect’s name is not being released until he is formally charged.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Utility crews extinguished a fire at a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska over the weekend. The Nebraska Public Power District says the fire was discovered in the basement of the facility around 9 a.m. Saturday while crews were investigating a hazardous gas. It was extinguished before 10 a.m.

The utility says the fire never threatened public safety. NPPD and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate what started the fire and evaluate the utility’s response. The Cooper nuclear plant continued operating throughout the incident on Saturday.

Cooper sits along the Missouri River in southeast Nebraska near Brownville about 80 miles south of Omaha and across the river from Iowa.

Police in Red Oak, late Saturday night, arrested a woman for assault. 71-year old Diane Elaine Charmeda, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:15-p.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Charmeda was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

One person died and another was injured during a crash on Interstate 80 Saturday night, in Polk County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2018 GMC pickup driven by 37-year old Travis Gonzales, of Bondurant, was traveling at a high rate of speed westbound on I-80 a little after 10-p.m., when his truck struck a 2016 Ford Focus from behind, just before the east mixmaster (the I-80/I-235/I-35 interchange). After the impact, both vehicles entered the north ditch, where the car struck a tree. The driver of the Ford was not identified. The victim who died at Mercy Hospital, was a 24-year old. The unidentified person who was injured was 22-years old. Both were wearing their seat belts. The injured person was transported to Methodist Hospital by medical helicopter. Their names were being withheld pending notification of family.

The accident remains under investigation, with charges pending the results of the investigation.

Stuart Fire and Stuart Rescue, along with Menlo Fire and Rescue were called into service for a single vehicle accident just east of Menlo, Saturday evening. Officials said two patients were extricated, with one being transported by Mercy One helicopter. The other person was transported by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.The accident happened at around 10-p.m. Saturday, as a 2000 Chevy Silverado was traveling north on Ranch Trail Road near White Pole Road. The vehicle went out of control on a bridge and hit the guard rail before going airborne. The pickup cleared a creek and landed on its wheels in the east ditch. No names have been released.

Image from the Stuart Fire Dept. Facebook page