Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones, Wednesday evening, administered the Oath of Office to the City’s newest Police Officer. The Mayor read the oath to Jeremy Seufert, and welcomed him to the force. Seufert was joined by his wife Melissa and their three children, as he raised his hand and accepted the Oath. He replaces an officer who left the force to join the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

Officer Jeremy Seufert and family

In other business, the Mayor introduced Sarah Schorle as the Council’s Atlantic High School liaison. Schorle can’t vote during Council proceedings, but she can ask questions and is welcome to attend all meetings and sit at the Council’s desk. Sarah gave a brief biography of herself, which includes her employment with KJAN as a part-time announcer.

She said she’s a Junior at the Atlantic High School,  and is very involved in Speech and Debate. She mentioned she began a Student Congress at the school this year, adding that her “Interest in government has definitely been piqued.” Sarah is also involved in band and choir. She said she was “Thankful to have this opportunity and to observe how a City Council works, especially being from a student council.”

The Council Wednesday evening heard a presentation from Chris Nelson, with Gronwald, Bell, Kyhnn & Co., P.C./CPA’s, with regard to the FY 2017 City of Atlantic Audit, and the approved an Order to close 6th Street, from Chestnut Street, west to the east side of the alley between Chestnut and Poplar, every Thursday evening from 4-until 7, for “Produce in the Park,” that begins May 31st and concludes Sept. 27th.

The Atlantic City Council then passed a Resolution that approves the contracts and bonds with Carly Construction, for the 2018 Street Improvement Project. And a Resolution “Approving [a] Bond Purchase Agreement, Providing for the Issuance of General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds, Series 2018 and Providing for the Levy of Taxes to Pay the Same.” Chip Schultz with UMB Bank was on-hand to explain the steps needed to borrow $2.68-million from the open market, for various capital improvement projects.

The Council also held the second reading of an ordinance that would essentially remove the north/south stop signs at 6th and Sunnyside Lane, in an effort to improve traffic flow, and considering the amount of traffic expected to be generated by the ethanol plant currently under construction. Councilman Chris Jimerson said the ethanol plant is close to being completed, and he warned citizens traffic may be congested due to the inflow and outflow of trucks delivering grain and hauling ethanol out.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A dog impounded by the city of Des Moines two years ago under the city’s vicious animal ordinance won a court battle Wednesday in which the Iowa Court of Appeals declared a portion of the city’s ordinance unconstitutional.
Pinky, a 9-year-old mixed breed dog, was taken into city custody in March 2016 after an altercation with a neighbor cat, Rebel.

Both animals were allowed outside without restraint and it’s unclear who started the fight but both survived. City officials blamed Pinky and she was taken away from her owner after the city’s chief humane officer concluded she exhibited “vicious propensities” under the city’s dangerous animal ordinance. She was initially to be quarantined for a week but a day before release the city chose to declare her a dangerous dog and notified owner Dianna Helmers of plans to euthanize her.

Helmers fought a two-year battle to save her and get her released. She was elated with the court’s ruling. “It’s long overdue but, of course, they will probably fight it and they will try to keep her locked up even longer,” Helmers said.

The case ended up in front of the Iowa Court of Appeals after Helmers lost the case before an administrative law judge and a state district court judge, who in July 2016 upheld the dangerous dog designation. The five-member appeals court, in a split 3-2 decision released Wednesday, said the definition of a dangerous dog as one that exhibits vicious propensities is unconstitutionally vague. The opinion written by Judge Mary Tabor also said the ordinance leaves too much discretion in the hands of city officials to determine which animals are considered dangerous.

In a separate opinion agreeing with the majority of the court, Judge Richard Doyle was critical of the city of Des Moines for being “unwavering in its mission to kill Pinky.” He points out the owner of the cat wanted to settle things with Pinky’s owner from the beginning and the veterinary bills were paid by homeowner’s insurance. He said Pinky’s owner offered to take her out of the city of Des Moines to her licensed animal shelter two hours away near Reinbeck to live.

“Sounds like a win/win solution — Pinky’s life is spared and Des Moines is freed of what it perceives as a threat of harm to its citizens,” Doyle wrote. “So, I ask again: Why can’t this dispute be settled?” The two judges who disagreed said Helmers failed to prove the ordinance is unconstitutionally vague.

City Attorney Jeff Lester said the city is disappointed with the ruling from the “profoundly split” appeals court. He said the dog shook the cat violently causing substantial injuries requiring 36 staples to close its wounds. “The dog had been previously found to be a high-risk animal, was not licensed and lacked current rabies tags as legally required,” he said. He said she’s humanely confined with regular exercise and veterinary care. The city has offered to send the dog to a “no kill shelter” outside the state of Iowa but Helmers has declined, he said.

Helmers’ attorney, Jamie Hunter, said the city indicated plans to appeal the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court but Lester said the city is weighing its options. The city has not allowed anyone to visit Pinky in two years, Helmers said. “If you’re going to fight this the least you can do is let her come here with me be able to have a life see her old family and just live her last couple of years she has left in some kind of piece and serenity,” Helmers said.

The Iowa State Patrol Wednesday evening, released additional information with regard to an accident involving a Bedford School District bus. The accident happened at around 8:10-a.m. Wednesday. Authorities say a 2008 Ford pickup driven by 62-year old J. Fred Lischer, of Bedford, was traveling north on Lake Road from the stop sign, entering into the intersection with Highway 2, when the pickup struck a westbound 2014 Thomas School Bus on the driver’s side door in the middle of the intersection. The bus, driven by 53-year old Garry Rankin, of Bedford, was carrying students from the Bedford School District.

The Patrol says after the collision, the bus came to rest in the south ditch on its side, while the pickup came to rest at the point of impact. The bus was transporting two adults and 13 students at the time of the crash. Three students and one adult, along with both drivers were transported to the hospitals in the area. Other than the driver’s of both vehicles, the other adult was identified as 62-year old Jean Cavin, of Grant City, MO. The two juveniles, ages 11 and 13, were not identified.

Rankin was wearing his seat belt. Lischer, Cavin and the students were not wearing seat belts. Garry Rankin was transported by Taylor County Ambulance to CHI Health Mercy Hospital. Lischer was transported by Clarinda Ambulance to St. Francis Hospital. Cavin was taken by Clarinda Ambulance to the Clarinda Regional Medical Center, along with the 13-year old, who was taken to the hospital by New Market Ambulance. The 11-year old was taken by Clarinda Ambulance to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Nebraska.

The remaining 10 students were transported to the hospital by their parents to be checked for injuries. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the DOT and other emergency agencies, including Clarinda and Shenandoah Fire and Rescue.

Local government officials warn property taxes on homes and farms will rise if a 150-million dollar annual state payment to cities and counties ends. State lawmakers ordered a 10 percent cut in commercial property tax rates in 2013 and the state payments were promised back then to make up for lost local tax revenue. House Republicans have crafted a proposal to gradually eliminate those payments over the next four years. Lucas Beenken of the Iowa State Association of Counties says going from 150-million in state support to zero in five years will be a huge hit to local governments.

“Far too rapid to be able to just absorb without raising property taxes significantly or looking at cuts in services,” Beenken said. Robert Palmer of the Iowa League of Cities says while some urban and suburban areas have seen development and growth in property taxes, much of the state has not. “Many more areas across the state still need the attention of the state legislature,” Palmer says.

Some officials are asking legislators to give cities and counties the authority to levy new property taxes specifically for police and fire department budgets. Others say the cuts Iowa lawmakers ordered in property taxes on apartment buildings have been a hardship and should be repealed. Doug Struyk is a lobbyist for the cities of Des Moines, Iowa City and Waukee where there are large tracts of apartments.

“Those are large users of our services,” Struyk says. “There are students who go to school there. There are domestic problems that happen there. They certainly use a lot of our roads and infrastructure, yet we have declining revenue coming from those areas.”

Community colleges eventually would lose three-and-a-half million dollars in state support annually under the House G-O-P’s plan. Public school districts would be impacted, too. Josh Hughes, president of the Interstate-35 School Board, says his district would take a 20-thousand dollar hit. “That’s more than half of a new teacher’s starting salary,” Hughes says.

House Appropriations Chairman Pat Grassley says Republicans will consider all the input and the plan could be delayed a year. However, Grassley says legislators still need to act this year — even if the reduction in state support doesn’t start until July of 2020. Grassley says that would give local officials enough time to cut budgets or raise taxes to adjust to reduced state support.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Regents has proposed raising tuition at the state’s three public universities by an average 3.5 percent, but the plan would give much higher increases to thousands of students.

Iowa State University officials seek to expand the practice of charging different tuition rates for certain majors, such as science, technology, engineering, business and math. The proposal would have some students paying rates up to 33 percent more than standard tuition, the Des Moines Register reported .

University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Iowa have been employing differential tuition rates for more than a decade. Programs that involve laboratory or studio work cost more to provide. Differential tuition also puts costs where they’re incurred instead of spreading it across all programs, officials said.

Majors affected by the new proposal include athletic training, earth science, economics, meteorology and psychology. The rates would be phased in over two to three years, with some only applying to juniors and seniors. “This is going to be tough for those students because it might deter them from pursuing the majors that they are really interested in,” said Cody Woodruff, an Iowa State sophomore and vice speaker of the student government senate.

The proposed rate increases are expected to generate almost $25 million in additional revenue for the universities. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill last week authorizing $35.5 million in cuts to balance the state budget. The University of Iowa and Iowa State University’s budgets were cut by $11 million. The regents are expected to vote on the proposal in June.

Calling all parents, students, and community members- do you know a teacher who deserves recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty? The Atlantic Rotary Club is seeking nominations for the 5th Annual Rotary Club of Atlantic Outstanding Teacher Award, and would love to hear from you! The award, designed to recognize excellence in education in the Atlantic Community Schools, can be given to any certified, full-time teacher who spends at least 60% of his/her time instructing students.

The teacher selected will receive recognition at a school employee event, and will also receive a $3000 cash award.  The award may be used to enhance the educational resources of the teacher, further the teacher’s education, or for any other purpose which the selected teacher deems appropriate.

This is the fifth year for the award, which has been a “long-time goal” for the Atlantic Rotary Club, according to Ted Robinson, 2018 Rotary Teacher Award Project Chair.

“The Atlantic Rotary Club has been a dedicated supporter of education in the community for many years through senior scholarships, and annual events such as senior recognition and new teacher welcome. In addition, they are frequent contributors through funding for many school needs such as updating technology in the classroom, supporting curriculum for local preschools, and a number of other school requests. Members of our club have been continually insistent that we also recognize and support the talented educators that are the heart of our schools, and we are very happy we have been able to continue this program.”

Lisa Munsey, Atlantic Middle School math teacher was the 2017 award winner. Past award winning teachers have had “exceptional nomination forms and letters of support from the community,” according to Robinson. “We are hoping to continue the tradition of a strong pool of applicants this year. The selection process is always difficult, but we enjoy seeing the dedication to students and the art of teaching that comes through in each of the nominations.”

For teachers to be considered for the 2018 award, completed nomination forms, including letters of support, must be received by Friday April 20th. Nominated teachers will be evaluated based on their skill with students, classroom management, parent communication, peer interaction and community involvement. Teachers must be nominated by three individuals- they can be current or former students, parents of students, co-workers, or any combination of these. Forms were sent via email to all current parents through from the Atlantic Community School System in March. Application materials may be found on the Rotary Club of Atlantic website:  www.atlanticrotary.com under the Grants and Scholarship tab.  Hard copies of nomination forms may also be picked up from any school administration office, or at First Whitney Bank. Completed nominations may be dropped off, or mailed, to First Whitney Bank, Attn: Ted Robinson, P.O. Box 271, 223 Chestnut Street in Atlantic.

It is the intention of the Atlantic Rotary Club, through this award, to recognize and reward outstanding educators in our public school system who exemplify the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” through their continuous dedication to students, parents, peers and the larger community, as well as the art and practice of education. This award is funded by proceeds from the Atlantic Rotary Club’s annual auction, which is made possible by the generous donations of local businesses and community members.