The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education, Monday night, approved the hiring of some new teachers. Superintendent Mike Amstein read from a list of recommendations submitted by the district school administrators. Among the new hires is Eric Waldstein (Wald-stine), as Physical Education & Social Studies teacher. Waldstine will also serve as Head Coach of the Trojan Football Team.  His wife Hillary Waldstine will serve as the Level 2/3 Special Ed teacher.

Ashley Hack was recommended as a temporary Level 1 Special Ed Instructor at Schuler Elementary. Kelly Juhl was hired as the High School Business Teacher for the upcoming school year. Juhl comes to Atlantic from the Exira/EHK School District.

Also coming to Atlantic from the Exira/EHK District is Stephanie Graham, who will serve as High School English Teacher. And Alisha Lindquist, who previously worked in the CAM School District, was hired as K-1 Multi-Age position.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

CHEROKEE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a person who was found in the Little Sioux River in northwest Iowa. Investigators say a local resident discovered the body in the river near Wescott Park on Monday afternoon. Sioux City television station KTIV says authorities have confirmed the body is that of a local resident, but a name wasn’t released. Investigators say they aren’t ruling out foul play.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Senate Government Oversight Committee continues its investigation into executive branch practices with a hearing focused on construction projects at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. The committee placed seven witnesses under oath to discern whether state bidding practices were followed and money was appropriately spent on construction projects designed to update and expand the housing facilities at the home. About $100 million in projects were authorized by the Legislature and were eligible for federal grants that pay 65 percent of the costs. The first project began in 2008.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say a 14-year-old girl charged with attempted murder and other crimes should be tried as a youthful offender, a hybrid alternative to Iowa’s juvenile and adult court systems. The Buchanan County Attorney’s office has filed a motion to move the case out of the juvenile court system. The girl is accused of using a cord to choke a staff member at Four Oaks, a facility on the state’s Mental Health Institute campus in Independence.

LAKE DELHI, Iowa (AP) — Delaware County supervisors have delayed bids for a planned bridge replacement because of concern the project timing might interfere with grant funding from the state. The Delaware Board of Supervisors rejected the lone bid of $426,673 to replace the Turtle Creek Bridge. The bridge is intended as part of an effort to improve public access to Lake Delhi, which was drained in 2010 when a dam collapsed.

ZWINGLE, Iowa (AP) — A fire that destroyed an eastern Iowa barn was apparently caused by twin 5-year-olds who were curious about fire. Tthe Friday afternoon fire near Zwingle destroyed an old barn and damaged another nearby barn as well as other out buildings.. Two 5-year-old children apparently started the fire by using a cigarette lighter to burn twine in the barn. Authorities say the children had received fire prevention training in school and were apparently curious. The children escaped unharmed.

The lastest U-S-D-A crop report out Monday shows a majority of the corn and soybean crops have emerged, but some farmers are heading back to the fields. Corn and soybean growers in six-county area of southwest Iowa have to replant thousands of acres of crops destroyed by last week’s wind and hail storms. Iowa State University’s Southwest Iowa Extension Agronomist, Aaron Saegling rates the damage that stretches from Oakland to Council Bluffs as- among the worst he’s seen during his 25-year career.

“Those plants are gone. They’re not laying down in the field. They’re gone. They’re just not even in the field,” Saegling says, “And so that tells me there is probably as much wind as hail. We have some fields that are pretty bare.” Saegling says farmers can try to get a crop out of some of the fields.  “There will be a lot of soybean replanting. A lot of the corn I don’t believe will make it. …so a lot of those acres will probably not be replanted because it’s pretty late in the year.”

Saegling says many barren fields will be getting erosion-preventing cover crops. The report says 98-percent of the corn crop has emerged, which is 18-percent ahead of last year and four percent ahead of the five-year average. The U-S-D-A report says soybean planting is nearly complete and 87-percent of the crop has emerged. That’s three weeks ahead of last year and about one week ahead of normal.

(Radio Iowa)

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) — Two western Iowa men are accused of stealing more than 500 flagpoles from the Carroll American Legion over Memorial Day weekend. The Carroll Daily Times Herald reports that 37-year-old Christopher Lee Gay and 20-year-old Chance Abel Kinney, both of Lake City, were arrested on Sunday. The men were charged with first- and second-degree theft and were released from jail on a promise to appear in court.

Police Chief Jeff Cayler says investigators are seeking a third suspect, whom he declined to identify. The suspects allegedly stole two trailers with an estimated 550 metal flagpoles and tried to sell them at two salvage yards. Salvage yard workers declined to buy the poles, and were able to identify at least one of the suspects.

The poles are worth an estimated $16,500.

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) — Officials in Carroll are more closely enforcing maximum occupancy limits in the city’s public library after a former City Council member threatened to report overcrowding to the state fire marshal. The Carroll Daily Times Herald reported Monday that former council member R.W. Collison sent the letter last week to Fire Chief Greg Schreck.

Collison noted that hundreds of children attend summer reading programs at the library and would be in danger if the building had to be vacated quickly because of a fire or other emergency. Officials were measuring the building and planned to post maximum occupancy signs of about 100 people. Some library programs may need to be moved to other sites.

Collison has supported redevelopment of the library. He’s opposed proposals to build a new library.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Monday night approved the hiring of Eric Waldstein as the new Head Football Coach. Waldstein comes from Aberdeen, S.D., where he taught Health and Wellness classes, is a strength and Conditioning Coordinator, and has been Head Football Coach at Presentation Junior College since 2012.  He succeeds Nick Ross, who resigned in April.

Eric Waldstein (Photo from pcsaints.com)

In addition to his coaching duties, Waldstein will be a Physical Education and Social Studies teacher at the Atlantic High School. His wife, Hillary, was hired as a Level 2 & 3 Special Ed instructor at the high school. Athletic Director Matt Alexander said Eric Waldstein has junior college head coaching experience and is well qualified for the position. He was one of 7 finalists for the job,5 of whom were from within the district.

In a Press Release, Alexander says Eric Waldstein began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Morningside College in Sioux City, and since that time has had the opportunity to coach at several 2 and 4 year colleges including Simpson in Indianola, IA and Cornell College in Mount Vernon, IA. Coach Waldstein has also been either the head or assistant coaches at junior colleges in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Alexander says Coach Waldstein’s experience and background will be a great asset to the Trojan football program. He’s expected to meet with his staff this Friday. Waldstein and his family are making plans to get moved to the community in the near future.  He and his wife have two children, Xander, age 6, and Ryan, age 2.

A Harlan man died after a single vehicle accident this (Monday) morning. The Shelby County Sheriff’s say 71 year old Kelly Doonan of Harlan died following the accident near 915 Timber Road in rural Shelby County. Doonan was driving a 1998 Chevy Pickup northbound on Timber Road around 7:15am when he lost control, left the roadway and struck a tree in the front yard. Doonan was transported to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan and was pronounced dead. The pickup was a total loss. The Shelby County Sheriff’s were assisted by Medivac Ambulance, Harlan Fire Department and Kimballton Fire Department.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An audit of Veterans Affairs facilities has found nearly 1,000 veterans who requested an initial appointment in Iowa or Nebraska over the last decade, but have not yet been seen. The report released Monday says 987 enrolled veterans sought appointments at one of three facilities — two in Iowa, and one in Nebraska that serves western Iowa.

The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System had 606 appointment requests during the last decade that have not been scheduled. The VA Central Iowa Health Care System had 274 requests, and the Iowa City VA Health Care System had 107.

The report shows 317 new patients who were placed on waiting lists for initial appointments. New patients are placed on waiting lists when an appointment can’t be scheduled within 90 days.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County say one person was transported to a hospital in Council Bluffs following an accident Saturday afternoon, northeast of Malvern. Judy Smith was a passenger in a 2007 Pontiac driven by Charles Smith, of Red Oak. She was taken by Malvern Rescue to Jenny Edmundson Hospital following the rear-end collision just west of the intersection of Highway 34 and 330th St.

Officials say a 1999 Plymouth driven by Jerico Coy, of Omaha, was traveling west on Highway 34 behind the Smith vehicle, and failed to notice Smiths’ car before running into the back of it. The accident happened at around 12:15-p.m.