Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones, Wednesday night, addressed efforts by persons on a social media site, “Connect Atlantic,” to bring high-speed internet to the community, through means other than MediaCom and Century Link. Jones said he’s been “Getting ambushed” by “Connect Atlantic” in efforts to work with Mediacom to bring 1 gig service to more customers in town. (click on the left side of each audio bar to listen)

High-speed internet is in-place in the community, but it’s not as wide-spread as many would like. Jones said many would prefer the City to build its own fiber-optic infrastructure and run the system, but the Mayor says that would be too costly.

He said in speaking with City Administrator John Lund, Jones said even if Atlantic had 40-percent of the market, 75-dollars of every 40-percent would go to pay the debt for the internet system.

Councilman Gerald Brink said having a City-operated internet service can be a huge financial burden that may be difficult to recover from.

Jones said right now, it appears the best use of tax dollars in the City of Atlantic, is to work with Mediacom to get the best deal, and keep on top of the company if problems crop up. He said many of the problems people are experiencing are internal (due to old wiring in their homes or an old router). He said he’s been asked why it’s taken so long to bring high-speed internet to town, when other, smaller communities nearby have, or are in the process of getting, the service.

He says that’s because they have their own, local phone companies that have applied for and received, grants. Atlantic doesn’t have a telephone company.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of drivers facing tickets issued by Iowa Transportation Department officers want a judge to order the agency to stop issuing those citations. The Des Moines Register reports the group filed a motion Tuesday asking for an injunction. The drivers are trying to capitalize on a ruling last month where a Polk County judge said the agency didn’t have authority to enforce most moving violations. Transportation Department spokeswoman Andrea Henry says the agency plans to fight the motion.

GRANDVIEW, Iowa (AP) — Firefighters in southeastern Iowa have rescued a worker from more than 200 feet up inside a 620-foot industrial chimney at a MidAmerican Energy plant. The Muscatine Journal reports that rescue workers were called to the Louisa Generating Station in Grandview late Tuesday afternoon to save an employee trapped 230 feet up. Rescuers climbed interior ladders and skywalks and used ropes to lower the employee down in extreme heat and low visibility inside the chimney.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A former Burlington City Council member has been sentenced to up 20 years in prison after entering an Alford plea to three counts of third-degree sexual abuse involving teenage girls. The Hawk Eye reports that Chris King entered the pleas Tuesday. An Alford plea is one in which a defendant maintains innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence for conviction.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in control of the Iowa House have chosen the same top leaders to run the chamber for the next two years. The GOP announced Wednesday that Rep. Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake will continue as House speaker. Rep. Chris Hagenow of Windsor Heights will serve as majority leader.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – November 17, 2016 – Iowans preparing to shop for their annual family Thanksgiving dinner feast can be glad the efficiency and diversity of today’s livestock farmers is working in their favor to keep their traditional meal affordable.  According to the annual American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Thanksgiving Dinner Price Survey, a holiday meal today comes in at just under $5 a serving for a family of 10; that means the entire family can feast for a total of $49.87, compared to last year’s cost of $50.11.

The AFBF price survey of the classic staples of a Thanksgiving meal showed a 24 cent decrease from last year. “Prices for turkey spiked last year because turkey farmers were hit hard by the Avian Flu virus, which devastated flocks and reduced fresh and frozen turkey stocks nationally.  That’s not the case this year,” says IFBF Director of Research and Commodity Services Dave Miller.  “In addition to turkey, ham is also quite a bargain this time of year since inventory is robust nationwide.”

Turkeys in all sizes, cuts and choices line grocery store shelves today, for less than 50 cents a pound, thanks to improvements in farming, livestock nutrition and crop science.

It wasn’t always that way; back in 1915, farming challenges meant turkeys were much smaller and not as readily available, which meant that adjusted for today’s prices, they would’ve cost customers $6.59 a pound! But, it’s not just the Thanksgiving turkey that’s a bargain today. This year’s survey revealed price relief for consumers for pumpkin pie mix, milk, a veggie tray and miscellaneous items needed to make the meal.

The continued affordability of the Thanksgiving staples is a testament to the advances and ingenuity of the American farmer.  “We see that in nearly every aspect of farming today,” says Miller.  “From 1860 to 1930, there was very little change in yields or technology, but now, with the advent of enhanced seed technologies, better equipment and knowledge, Iowa farmers today can produce substantially more, on substantially less land.  For example, today’s modern combine can harvest 150 times more than farmers of the turn of the last century.  Back in those days, bringing in a corn harvest meant someone was out there, pulling a horse-driven wagon, hand-picking a crop.  Today’s corn crop is 600 percent more productive and labor is probably 100 times more productive than when the gathering of this kind of data began.”

The survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of celery and carrots, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk, in quantities sufficient to feed 10 people.  The average cost of turkey this year is $22.74 for a whole bird, or $1.42 per pound, which is a decrease of 30 cents per whole bird.  Turkey production is up about 8 percent this year nationally, rebounding from the Avian flu crisis.  Rolls increased the most in this year’s holiday meal, up 9 percent, (21 cents from last year).

This year’s Thanksgiving survey was the 31^st annual study conducted by AFBF.  Every region of the country was represented in the annual AFBF Thanksgiving Price Shopping Survey, with 148 volunteer shoppers participating in 40 states.

Griswold City Attorney Dave Wiederstein, Wednesday evening, issued a statement from Griswold Mayor Jeb Peck, with regard to our report on the resignation during Tuesday evening’s Griswold City Council meeting, of nine members of the Griswold Rescue Squad.

In the statement, Mayor Peck said “The City Council met in closed session on Monday evening with the Rescue Department Captain, Julie Kline.  No decisions were made by the Council as it pertained to her continued role as Captain.  Ms. Kline did tender her resignation as Captain on Tuesday, which was followed by the apparent resignations of other members of the Department.  Often in the past, the City has relied on neighboring rescue departments for emergency assistance, and it will continue to do so during this transition.”

Cass County E-9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert backed up that statement, when he told KJAN News Wednesday afternoon, that the Griswold area will not be without Emergency Medical Services.

Medivac Ambulance has always been simultaneously dispatched to any emergencies as a backup to Griswold Rescue.Other nearby rescue squads (Elliott 1^st Responders and/or Red Oak Rescue) could also provide mutual aid if requested. Otherwise, he said, the Communications Center will operate in a business as usual mode, and continue to dispatch Medivac as needed.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green, Wednesday, made his official announcement of retirement from his position. Green submitted a letter to the Mayor and City Council that was read by Mayor Dave Jones. The letter said in-part, “I will be retiring from the Atlantic Police Department effective December 28, 2016. I plan to take vacation from December 14th to December 28th, making my last actual working day the 13th of December.”

Green graduated from the Atlantic High School in 1977 and served three-years in the Marine Corps before beginning a career in law enforcement with the City of Harlan, in 1980. After working about 18 months, he took a job in Texas, working for the private sector. Green returned to law enforcement in August 1986, when he joined the Atlantic Police force, and worked his way through the ranks to become Chief in 2008. Altogether, he has 32-years experience in law enforcement. He spoke with reporters outside the Council Chambers after their meeting concluded, about the support he’s received from the Council. (Click on the left side of the audio bars to listen)

Green also spoke highly of his officers and staff on the Atlantic Police Department.

Steve Green choked up and turned around to leave the interview, as he spoke about what he would miss most about the job.

Soon, he will become Supervisor Green, taking a seat on the Cass County Board of Supervisors after winning the Primary and Nov. 8th General Election, during which he ran unopposed. In his letter to the Council, Green said he would “Especially like to thank those many, many citizens who have come forward in the past year to make it a point to show appreciation to the Atlantic Police Department. In a time when law enforcement has been under attack physically, politically and socially; many groups, and private citizens, have stepped forward with cards, letters and refreshments seeking to assure my officers that they have our backs in these difficult times.”

“These tokens of support,” said Green, “have been paramount in maintaining morale among the officers.” Succeeding Green as Chief of Police, will be Lt. Dave Erickson.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies, Wednesday afternoon, arrested a 14-year old male from Elliott, on an assault charge. The arrest took place at around 4:50-p.m. following a reported incident of simple assault. The juvenile was processed at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and then released to a legal custodian.

Police in Red Oak have arrested a Council Bluffs woman again, for Escape From Custody. 35-year old Debra Lee Pankers was taken into custody on a valid Department of Corrections warrant. Pankers was arrested in the 700 block of N. 3rd Street at around 4:12-p.m. and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was being held without bond.

Pankers was previously arrested Sunday evening on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Escape from Custody after she escaped from the Residential Facility in Council Bluffs.

The 59 Republicans elected to serve in the Iowa House for the next two years have re-elected Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake as the top G-O-P leader in the House. The group met in private today (Wednesday) to start discussing what priorities to pursue in the 2017 legislative session, but Upmeyer, who will serve as House Speaker, isn’t revealing details of the G-O-P’s agenda.

“The information has not yet been all synthesized,” Upmeyer says. In the past six years, House Republicans have passed bills to cut Iowans’ personal income taxes, but those bills were never considered in the Democratically-led state senate. Now Republicans will control the debate agenda in the senate for the next two years, but Upmeyer isn’t ready to say what tax policy Republicans in the legislature may pursue.

“We’re certainly going to study that topic,” Upmeyer says. “I don’t know where we’ll end yet.” Upmeyer says beyond reducing “duplication” and looking for inefficiencies in the state budget, it would be a “stretch” to expect state agencies will be shuttered or programs ended. “People want solutions. They want to be heard and to make the state run a little better, but I think we’re still, maybe, deciphering some of the message,” Upmeyer says. “…We’ll have many conversations about many things and today I’m pretty confident that we’ll come up with a good budget that meets the needs of Iowans and is very responsible, so we’ll see. There are lots of ideas and we’ll see which ones actually gain traction.”

Upmeyer told reporters she is “not entirely sure” what the G-O-P agenda may be on state funding for schools. She’s suggesting there will “be discussions” about collective bargaining rights for unions that represent government workers, including teachers, but Upmeyer’s not revealing much. “We’ll see where that goes,” Upmeyer says. Bill Dix of Shell Rock will be the top G-O-P leader in the Iowa Senate next year. He told reporters last week that legislators “need to do a better job” of making government “smaller and more efficient.”

Upmeyer says the most of the “angst” among voters was over the gridlock and inaction in the FEDERAL government. “Certainly in Iowa we want to guard against having that same kind of environment, but things in Iowa actually had been working pretty well,” Upmeyer says. “So I think at the same time that we’re focusing on the things we’ve done well, I think we also have to focus on the things where there are opportunities for changes and improvements, so I think we listen…We do more listening and less declaring right now.”

House Republicans will meet again in December to discuss policy options. In the meantime, Upmeyer is suggesting legislators keep seeking suggestions and opinions from their constituents.

(Radio Iowa)

KJAN News has learned nine members of the Griswold Rescue Squad resigned during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Griswold City Council. City Manager Lora Hansen could not comment on the matter, and Cass County Attorney David Wiederstein, who also serves as the City Attorney for Griswold, was not immediately available for comment. Persons with knowledge of the situation say the issue or issues at hand had been brewing for months and finally came to a head during last night’s meeting.

Cass County E-9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert told KJAN News the Griswold area will not be without Emergency Medical Services. Medivac Ambulance has always been simultaneously dispatched to any emergencies as a backup to Griswold Rescue, and he says it’s his understanding there are still three- or four-members of the team still on-board to respond. Other nearby rescue squads (Elliott and/or Red Oak Rescue) could also provide mutual aid if requested. Otherwise, he said, the Communications Center will operate in a business as usual mode, and continue to dispatch Medivac as needed.

Koppert said he spoke with a City official, who said they will consult with their City Attorney, to determine what the next steps should be.

We will pass along more information, as it becomes available.

Marne and Atlantic Firefighters have been called to a bailer fire that has spread into a grass fire on Highway 173 near the intersection with Fairview Road, northwest of Atlantic. The call came in at around 2:20-p.m.  No injuries have been reported. The fire was extinguished by 2:40-p.m.

Photo courtesy Mike Kennon (Cass Co. EMA)