The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday evening, awarded a contract for the construction of the Washington Elementary parking lot project. The parking lot will include 95-marked stalls and room for seven additional unmarked spaces.

Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm said bids for the project were opened at 2-p.m. Wednesday. There were five contractors bidding for the project which was estimated by Snyders to cost a little more than $444,000. The Board had earlier decided they would accept the lowest bid. The low bid of $418,731.70 was received by Precision Concrete Services of Atlantic.

Other bids came from: Carley Construction ($444, 280.10); United Construction Services of Atlantic ($462,625.25); Henningsen Construction, Inc., of Atlantic ($466,039.88), and Absolute Concrete from Slater, IA ($499,346.30).

Sturm said two of the sub-contractors for PCS are Berg Electric, for the lighting, and Stamp Construction, for the demolition work and grading. Both companies are based in Atlantic, so Sturm said “We have a local contract here all around.” The project includes a seven-inch thick, Portland Cement Concrete pavement. The deadline for “substantial” project completion is August 16th. That means it must be open for use by that date. Failure to meet the deadline will mean $2,500 per day fine in liquidated damages for the contractor.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved additional contract recommendations following those we’ve previously announced. The latest includes: Jenny Madsen – Extended School Year; Julie Phippen – Summer Vocational Rehab, and Mallory Kirchhoff – Summer School Paraeducator.

And, the Board approved an increase of 2% for FY 2019-20 principals’ salaries, which includes FICA and IPERS.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest at around 4:30-p.m. Wednesday, of 57-year old Jason Troy Waters. The Red Oak man was arrested in the 1600 block of N. Broadway, on a charge of Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 cash bond.

(Radio Iowa) — Two men who say they were abused by priests joined the Iowa Senate’s Democratic leader today (Wednesday) in calling on Iowa lawmakers to do more for victims of child sex abuse. Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the state’s attorney general should investigate the Catholic Church. Petersen also says Iowa’s criminal and civil laws for child sex abuse cases are the most restrictive in the nation.

“Our laws do not protect our communities from sexual predators and I think we cannot continue to ignore this,” Petersen said. “There is case after case across this country.” The period for filing CRIMINAL charges is too short, according to Petersen. Child sex abuse victims in Iowa have until they’re 33 years old to file a CIVIL lawsuit. Sixty-seven-year-old John Chambers of Des Moines says studies show 52 is the average age when a victim reveals they were abused as a child.

“Adults that bottled this up and held it in for so many years,” Chambers says. “And there are a lot of us.” Tim Lennon, who grew up in Sioux City, says he was 43 years old when he first remembered being molested by the priest in his childhood church. “Those memories are the fire, the anger that I feel for what happened to me,” Lennon says. “…What happened to me should not happen to another child.”

Lennon, who now lives in Arizona, is a national leader in the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He plans to hold a news conference outside the Sioux City Diocese office tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Lennon says the Catholic Church should release the names of bishops, nuns and others involved in the church who are accused of sex abuse.

ALLEMAN, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a worker has died after falling from a tower near Alleman in Polk County. Sheriff’s Sgt. Heath Osberg says the man was working on the tower when he plunged to his death around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Osberg says there are several towers in that area for cellphone and radio transmissions.

The man’s name and other details haven’t been released yet.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A violent offender shot this month by Iowa City police had been released from jail days earlier, despite probation violations that could have kept him behind bars.

Hours after bonding out of jail on a charge of assaulting a police officer, Michael Cintron Caceres allegedly robbed an Iowa City gas station at knifepoint early May 7. Two days later, he allegedly burglarized other businesses before he was shot and wounded after fleeing from police officers.

Now the Department of Correctional Services, which was responsible for supervising Cintron Caceres during his probation, says the 34-year-old is “a danger to the community” who should be jailed indefinitely.

And the Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating whether officers appropriately used deadly force when they sought to apprehend him early May 9.

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — Winnebago County supervisor and former NFL defensive lineman Mike Stensrud faces misdemeanor charges after police say he showed up drunk and armed at a board meeting this week.

The Mason City Globe-Gazette reports police were called Tuesday to the Winnebago County Courthouse after the board meeting adjourned. Police say the 63-year-old Stensrud had been drinking alcohol from a cup during the meeting, and an alcohol breath test he took showed his blood alcohol level at .09. Anything above .08 is considered legally intoxicated.

When asked if he was armed, Stensrud acknowledged having a pistol, which an officer took from his pocket. Stensrud is charged with public intoxication and carrying a firearm while under the influence.

He told the Globe-Gazette he had sought treatment for his drinking in January and had been sober until Tuesday, saying “I just blew it.” Stensrud played football at Iowa State and in the NFL for a decade before retiring in 1989.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests. Today (Wednesday), 26-year old Keegan Michael Johnson, of Stanton, was arrested at around 11-a.m. for Driving While License barred, and Operation of a vehicle with expired plates. His bond was set at $2,000.

On Tuesday, 19-year old Charles Lee Shadbolt, of Villisca, was arrested at the Regional Corrections Facility in Council Bluffs, on a Montgomery County Bench Warrant for Violation of Probation. His bond was set at $5,000.