Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein says there’s mostly good news to report when it comes to the District being taken off the Iowa Department of Education Association’s (IDEA) “Watch list,” for “Schools/Districts in Need of Assistance” (SINA/DINA)…those schools failing to live up to the standards of “No Child Left Behind.” He said the District was removed from the “watch” list in the categories of reading and math, based on the Iowa Assessment test results. He added that there’s not a lot of districts in Iowa that can claim that achievement.

The Atlantic High School is on a “Delay 2” schedule in Math. The IADE reduced the number of “Non-proficient” kids by 10-percent. In reading, even though the scores went up, officials didn’t reduce the number of non-proficient students. Last year’s bench mark was 100-percent. The Middle School is listed as a SINA 5 school, even thought the reading scores went up. In Math the school is in Delay 3, after reducing the number of non-proficient students by 17-percent.

The Schuler Elementary School is listed as a SINA 2 in both Reading and Math. The Washington Elementary School remains on the Watch list, after a “Smarter Balance” test, which the State of Iowa is dropping, so it remains to be seen how that will affect future scores. Amstein said also, the State is looking at developing a different type of ranking system.

The Iowa Legislature is supposed to look at the matter and implement a new system in the fall of 2015, that may replace the SINA/DINA list. He said thus far though, the District as a whole as made progress.

Amstein said also, 24 new teachers were welcomed to the District Monday morning, in advance of the first day of school on Wednesday. In other business, the Board of Ed approved a renewal of an SRO (School Resource Officer) agreement with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Corey Larsen will continue to serve in that role.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The president of the Iowa Farmers Union says a few corporations are gaining more control over growing, processing, marketing and delivering our food. Jana Linderman, of Cedar Rapids, says concentration in the ag industry is hurting rural economies and the environment while driving independent family farmers off the land.  “It cuts into their ability to market their product in a competitive way,” Linderman says. “A lot of my growers are turning more and more to local markets and small-scale processing for that reason because that’s the only way for them to get a fair price for their labor.”

Linderman says they’re not huge, but those local markets provide farmers with a niche opportunity for getting their products to consumers. “The bigger challenge is finding local processers that are available to do that,” she says. “Of course, a lot of them have to turn to state-inspected facilities which limits some of their marketing availability but it’s a good opportunity, especially for our beginning farmers. Tyson Foods recently sold its poultry facilities in Mexico and Brazil to Pilgrim’s Pride and J-B-S. Linderman says Tyson’s recent acquisition of Hillshire Brands is another worry.

“It’s very concerning,” she says. “There’s already so much concentration, so few processors for our meat producers, any kind of livestock production, it’s not just poultry, it’s everything. Any further concentration in that sector is concerning to us.” Linderman says the Iowa Farmers Union wants the U-S Justice Department to thoroughly review the proposed Tyson-Hillshire merger.

(Radio Iowa)

An Adams  County man was arrested late Monday night in Montgomery County, following a traffic stop. Sheriff’s officials say 43-year old Allen William Heath Pafford, of Nodaway, was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. Pafford was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

And, Police in Red Oak report the arrest of a man and woman Monday evening. 44-year old Shelby Joann Olivares, and 45-year old Lynn Kenneth Houtchins, both of Red Oak, were arrested for Breach Of Peace. The pair were taken into custody at around 6:45-p.m. in the 500 block of e. Market Street, in Red Oak. They were brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond, each.

A man and woman were arrested early this (Tuesday) morning, following the execution of a search warrant early, in Villisca. At around 12:25-a.m., deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office conducted the search at 101 w. 5th Street, and as a result, arrested 52-year old Kimberly Dawn Hanshaw, of Villisca, for Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Also taken into custody, was 44-year old John Maurice Peterson, of Villisca. He’s been charged with Unlawful Possession of Prescription Pills and a Drug Tax Stamp Violation.

Both suspects were being held in the Montgomery County Jail on bond amounting to $2,000 for Hanshaw, and $5,000 for Peterson.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

ELDON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found in an Eldon bait shop. The body was found Monday morning in the Main Street Bait Shop. The Wapello County Sheriff’s Office says the body was identified as 64-year-old Darrell Teeter.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A U.S. Department of Agriculture report indicates Iowa’s corn and soybean crops are looking good. The USDA says 76 percent of the corn crop was in good to excellent condition, and 75 percent of the soybean crop was in good to excellent condition. Topsoil moisture also was in good shape in most areas, with 71 percent of Iowa farmland rated as adequate, 23 percent short and 3 percent very short. The remaining 3 percent had surplus moisture.

EDDYVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Cargill Inc. has agreed to pay more than $187,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act at large oil storage facilities in Iowa and Nebraska. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 says the privately held multinational corporation lacked a response plan at two facilities that outlined procedures for addressing serious oil discharges. The facilities are located in Blair, Nebraska, and Eddyville, Iowa.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Oelwein’s mayor has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting two girls four years ago. Larry Manus is being held on $125,000 bond. Manus took office in January after narrowly defeating Larry Murphy last November. The Fayette County sheriff says his office started investigating Manus a month ago.

Atlantic High School FFA Advisor Eric Miller reported some good news during Monday evening’s meeting of the Atlantic Board of Education. During the Cass County Fair, you may recall KJAN broke the news about a $5,000 donation from the Trevor Frederickson Foundation for the construction of a new, FFA Food Stand on the Cass County Fairgrounds. During Monday’s School Board meeting, Miller said another donor had come forward pledging a large amount of money for the cause.

Miller said Farm Credit  Services of America is also stepping forward to contribute $5,000. That puts the total so far for contributions toward the stand at just shy of $20,000. Miller said there are still some grants they intend to apply for  in order to meet their goal of $25,000-to $30,000. Local contractors, he said, have talked with officials about doing the work and gathering materials. Miller said with the two large donations, they’re set to get the new Food Stand in-place in time for next year’s Cass County Fair.

The FFA Food stand is run between the Griswold, Atlantic and CAM School Districts. Miller said the current Food Stand has been in dire need of replacement for many years. He said “20-years ago when I was a high school student in Anita, it needed rebuilt then, so it’s time to move on with this.” He said they’ve also raised between eight-and nine-thousand dollars from the sale of food the past two-years at the fair, to help pay for the new FFA Food Stand. The final total of funds raised from the sale of food at this year’s fair has not yet been fully tabulated.

In other news, Miller asked the School Board for permission to take a group of young people to the 87th Annual National FFA Convention and Expo, October 29th through November 1st, in Louisville, KY. He said the students who attended last year’s convention enjoyed themselves and found new inspiration to pursue a career in Agriculture or a related field.  He said seven students — who have yet to be selected — will make the 11-hour drive to Louisville, beginning at 6-a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29th.

FFA officials say some 60,000-plus people are expected to attend the Expo. Our local youth will stay in a Holiday Inn Express hotel which provides a Continental Breakfast. The schedule of events includes tours of Louisville on Oct. 30th.Their stops will include the Louisville Slugger baseball bat manufacturing plant and museum, Churchhill Downs, and some area farms. The students will also hear from four keynote speakers and attend workshops for leadership skills and more, and be able to attend concerts by Justin Moore, Easton Corbin, Scotty McCreedy and Danielle Bradberry, along with the Springs Band. Among the scheduled speakers during the event is Tyson President and CEO Donnie South.

Students will apply for one of the seven seats on the trip. Faculty and staff will then choose those students who will be lucky enough to make the trip this year. Another factor in determining who goes on the trip, is the FFA point system, where students receive points for attending meetings and other events locally, and around the State. Last year, 17 students applied to go on the trip. Miller says this year, that number will probably be closer to 25. He said they would love to be able to take more students, but at this point, it’s not financially feasible for the district. Funds for the trip are paid for entirely out of the district’s FFA account, which means some students who otherwise not be able to attend are eligible to do so.

Monies for that fund are raised in-part, through activities such as the current sale of FFA grown sweet corn near the bus barn, here in Atlantic. Miller said students were expected to be out early this (Tuesday) morning to harvest some 60 dozen ears of corn. The previous harvests (100 dozen every 5 days) sold out at Hy-Vee since the corn became available last week. The sale brings in about $350 per week just for the sweet corn alone.

Iowa Democrats and Bruce Braley’s campaign are drawing attention to comments Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst made during an A-B-C interview late last week. “What we see going on in Iraq right now, if this current administration had followed guidance from military leaders many years ago, we would not be in this situation,” Ernst said. Jeff Zeleny, ABC’s Senior Washington correspondent, asked: “Do you support the limited airstrikes that were started this morning?” Ernst replied: “I can say is what I would have supported is leaving additional troops in Iraq longer and perhaps we wouldn’t have this situation today.”

Ernst is a battalion commander in the Iowa National Guard who served in Iraq in 2003 with a unit that ran convoys from Kuwait into southern Iraq. Darin Adams of Marshalltown was stationed in Iraq for two and a half years and he was recruited by the Iowa Democratic Party to offer a rebuttal to Ernst’s statements on Iraq. “I guess my first thought when I read it was just shock at the disconnect that Ms. Ernst has with the American public,” Adams said. “The American public wanted to pull out of Iraq, you know, unless we want to create permanent bases in Iraq which is not what the people want and not what the Iraqis want.”

Adams, a military strategist, served a year in Baqubah (buh-KOO-buh) and a year in Mosul, two cities which are now threatened by the Islamic militants who’ve seized control of large swaths of Iraq. Critics of the Obama Administration argue if some U.S. troops had been left in Iraq they could have sounded an early warning about the so-called ISIS militants. Adams says America’s military community knew a decade ago that what’s happening now could happen. “I mean, how big of a force would we have to put in Iraq to not have the situation go the way that it is? How many troops is enough?” Adams asks. “How many dead American soldiers is enough? When do we say, ‘Hey, we’ve given you all the resources you need to be successful, but this is an Iraqi problem that needs Iraqi solutions.'”

A spokeswoman for the Ernst campaign says Ernst believes President Obama should have worked harder to negotiate an agreement with the Iraqi government that would have kept some U.S. troops in the country. In March, Ernst criticized Obama’s approach to the Ukraine crisis. There’s been an anti-war vein in Iowa politics over the years. In 1991, Chuck Grassley was one of just two Republican senators who voted against the Gulf War resolution. In 2002, though, Grassley voted for military action in Iraq.

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican, voted for the first Gulf War, but in 2002 Leach voted against sending U.S. troops back to Iraq, arguing it could weaken the fight against terrorism. Leach lost his bid for reelection in 2006. He endorsed Barack Obama’s bid for the White House in 2008.

(Radio Iowa)

EDDYVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Cargill Inc. has agreed to pay more than $187,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act at large oil storage facilities in Iowa and Nebraska. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 says the privately held multinational corporation lacked a response plan at two facilities that outlined procedures for addressing serious oil discharges.

The facilities are located in Blair, Nebraska, and Eddyville, Iowa. Each facility produces and stores more than one million gallons of oil. The EPA identified the issue during site visits in 2013. The Minnesota-based company submitted response plans in June 2014.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A U.S. Department of Agriculture report indicates Iowa’s corn and soybean crops are looking good. The USDA says Monday that 76 percent of the corn crop was in good to excellent condition, and 75 percent of the soybean crop was in good to excellent condition.

Topsoil moisture also was in good shape in most areas, with 71 percent of Iowa farmland rated as adequate, 23 percent short and 3 percent very short. The remaining 3 percent had surplus moisture.

Recent rains soaked some areas of Iowa while leaving others relatively dry. That’s reflected in the survey showing some areas had only three days suitable for field work while other had more than six days during the week ending Aug. 10