Patrons of the Atlantic Community School District will have to vote for three, new School Board members in September. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein reports two long-time Board Members, Dennis Davis and Phil Hascall, along with Rod Hartwig, have decided not to run for re-election. Nomination papers for offices to be filled in 2015 can be filed with your school board secretary through July 30th, 2015. All offices are for four-year terms. Amstein says following the September 8th School Board elections, those persons who win the vacant seats will be provided with the necessary training to get them started.

Hartwig is the newest member of the Board, having served for nearly four-years. Davis has served for 29-years, while Hascall has been on the Board for about 12-years. Amstein said all three Board members have expressed various reasons for not running for re-election. For Hartwig, Amstein says it was because of his job commitments and changes in the Ag economy. Amstein says Davis probably thought that after 29-years it was time for new leadership to step-in, and Hascall thought along the same line.

In other business, Mike Amstein said the Board, after some lengthy discussion, approved the District’s Affirmative Action Plan that has to be updated every two-years. They also awarded bids for: Concrete work on the High School parking lot; New bleachers at Schuler Elementary, and fuel contracts for the coming school year. The Board budgeted $20,000 for the parking lot repair, and around $25,000 for the bleachers (which he expects to come in at under $20,000).

The Board also approved a Cooperative Sharing Agreement with the Clarinda Community School District for Girls, and possibly Boys Swimming.

The Atlantic Police Department reports three, recent arrests. On Monday, 23-year old Tiffany Lillard, of Cumberland, was arrested for Felony Theft in the 2nd Degree. Authorities say the woman was arrested following an investigation into an alleged theft by an employee of the Atlantic Hy-Vee Store. Upon further investigation, it was learned Lillard had also allegedly been stealing money from nursing home patient’s accounts in the form of gift cards since September 2014. The loss amounted to just over $9,840.

Last Wednesday (July 8th), officers with the Atlantic P-D arrested 42-year old Jeremy Jameson, of Atlantic, on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County, for Violation of Probation. That same day, 28-year old Jacky Walters, of Walnut, was arrested on a Pott. County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault.

All subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The makers of Templeton Rye have agreed to settle three lawsuits stemming from claims the company made about the production of its whiskey. The Des Moines Register reports that documents field in Polk County District Court show that the settlement agreement requires the company to change labeling on its bottles and language on its website.

Specific details about the settlement aren’t yet public since the document hasn’t been filed in an Illinois court where two of the three lawsuits are filed. The company’s co-founder says he can’t comment because a judge hasn’t approved the agreement.
The lawsuits claimed that the company marketed its whiskey as being made in Iowa, when its recipe actually was based on a stock spirit made in an Indiana distillery.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials in northwestern Iowa say the discovery of more than 100 endangered cacti could increase the cost of a Sioux City road project. The Sioux City Journal reports that the project for design improvements to Southbridge Drive may now include the relocation of about 116 prickly pear cactus plants. The cactus is a protected plant species in the state.

City Engineer Glenn Ellis told the City Council during a meeting Monday that the relocation and other associated costs could come to an additional $100,000. The City Council voted agreed Monday to have an engineering firm create a new project design.

Police in Creston report the arrest Monday evening of a Creston man. 43-year old Steven Jehn was taken into custody at around 6:30-p.m. on a charge of OWI/2nd offense. Jehn was being held in the Union County Jail on $2,000 bond.

And, no injuries were reported following a collision between a semi and a pickup truck Monday morning. Creston Police say a 1999 Peterbilt semi hauling a grain/gravel dump trailer, was traveling east on Highway 34 at around 8:40-a.m., when 83-year old William Ticknor, of Creston, who was traveling west in a pickup truck, failed to yield the right of way as he attempted to turn left onto Oak Street.

When the pickup stopped on the highway for some reason, the driver of the semi, 79-year old Glen Nelson, of Emerson, swerved but could not avoid the collision. The semi hit Ticknor’s 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup broadside, causing a total of $2,500 damage. No citations were issued.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs may become the first Iowa city to allow bowhunting to reduce its turkey population. The Daily Nonpareil reports Public Health Director Donn Dierks on Monday proposed enacting a bowhunting season to City Council members.

Dierks says the season would be similar to the city’s deer hunting season. It would apply only to female turkeys, occur in the fall and be limited to land covered by the deer ordinance. Hunters would need to pass a proficiency test.

Council Bluffs would be the first Iowa city to enact such a season, but Dierks says other communities are considering it. Dierks says the hunt would reduce turkey numbers, which have let to numerous complaints. He plans to make a formal request for council approval later this month.

Authorities in Montgomery County arrested two people on drug charges early this (Tuesday) morning, and are searching for a third suspect. According to Red Oak Police, 42-year-old Michael Avery Forest Cave and 60-year-old Linda Jane Cochran, both of Red Oak, were arrested. Police, assisted by Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies and the Mills County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 unit, executed search warrants at residences in the 200 block of East Market Street and the 100 block of West Grimes Street. The bust went down at around 12:45-a.m.

Cave faces charges that include Conspiracy to Deliver a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Unlawful possession of prescription pills, Interference with official acts and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Cochran was charged with Possession of a controlled substance/marijuana, Unlawful possession of prescription pills and Possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were being held in the Montgomery County Jail, with bond set at $100,000 for Michael Cave, and $1,000 for Linda Cochran.

Authorities are also on the lookout for 33-year-old Jacob Allen Cochran. He faces a Delivery of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, charge. Anyone with information on Jacob Cochran’s location is asked to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 712-623-6500 or Montgomery County Crimestoppers at 1-888-434-2712. Police say residents not to confront the man. Instead, you should immediately contact authorities.

The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The family of fallen Omaha police officer and Iowa native Kerrie Orozco is being given a check for 215-thousand dollars from the sale of “Kerrie On” t-shirts. The 14-thousand-plus t-shirts were printed by Ideal Images of Omaha where president Peter McCann says he’s amazed at how quickly they sold.

McCann says, “In all honesty, my goal was 10,000 so to hit 14,000, we’re still selling t-shirts, so who knows?” The company teamed up with the Iowa-based Hy-Vee grocery store chain to sell the shirts and they also have been popular online and are continuing to sell nationwide. McCann says he wanted to do his part.

“Being able to do these things is, to me, why I really like being in business,” McCann says. “This is rewarding to be a part of this. Our staff worked so hard, ‘What time do you need me?’ and also, the off-duty police officers were coming in the Saturday afterwards and they were wanting to make deliveries.”

The 29-year-old Orozco was shot to death while serving an arrest warrant in May. The suspect was also killed. Orozco was a Walnut, Iowa, native and a resident of Council Bluffs. She left behind a husband, two stepchildren and a newborn baby girl. That new daughter, Olivia, was born several months premature in February and was due to come home from the hospital the day after Orozco was killed.

(Radio Iowa)