The Atlantic Police Department reports 41-year old Ada Wilson, of Atlantic, was arrested Wednesday for Violation of a No Contact Order. 42-year old Levi Stroup, of Atlantic, was arrested the same day, on a Montgomery County warrant for Violation of a No Contact Order. Both subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

And, the Police Department says a bicyclist suffered minor (Non-life threatening) injuries, after he was struck by a vehicle in front of the Atlantic Middle School Wednesday, at around 1:50-p.m. Officials report a vehicle driven by Brenda Koch, of Atlantic, was traveling east on 11th Street in front of the Middle School, when her vehicle struck 12-year old Merrick O’Dette, of Atlantic, as he was in a painted crosswalk. Koch’s vehicle sustained $100 damage during the accident. She was cited for Failure to Yield the Right of Way.

An event being held Friday and Saturday in Avoca, is designed to provide the public with a variety of information on a plethora of public and private services available in the area. Chad Brockman, Commander of the sponsoring Avoca American Legion Fred Funston Post #227, says they’ve spent the past couple of months contacting organizations and local governments, who will be a part of the first-time “Community Helping Community Fair.” Brockman said they’ve reached to the Social Security Administration, Veterans Administration, and Western Iowa Development Association. Representatives from Iowa Western Community College, will be there to talk about their Certificate Program, and more.

Others include: The Visiting Nurses Association; Angel Care; Home Instead of Senior Care; Pine Cone, LLC (with regard to bill pay, mail review, insurance claim processing, etc.); West Central Community Action; Boy and Girl Scouts; Catholic Charities and many, many more. The Community helping Community Fair takes place at the Avoca American Legion Hall on Friday, from 9-a.m. Until 7-p.m., and on Saturday, from 9-a.m. Until Noon. There is no charge to attend. Legion members brainstormed over what information they thought area residents might want to learn more about. Brockman said it wasn’t about trying to sell products.

He said their main focus was to bring non-profit, service-based organizations to one central location where information can be disseminated. The event was spread over two days. In addition to all the information that will be available, they’ll help you get fueled-up for the day. He says there will be free donuts in the mornings, and soup over the lunch hour on Friday.

The Avoca American Legion is funding the entire venture. For more information, go to www.americanlegion227.com.

A recent study finds about one in three Iowans is overweight or obese, prompting renewed concerns about the threat of diabetes. Dr. Griffin Rodgers, a renowned diabetes researcher, says identifying diabetes early and properly managing the disease can help prevent a host of health problems. “In the state of Iowa, about 7.7% of adults have been diagnosed with the disease, but that varies with age groups,” Dr. Rodgers says. “Between 45 and 64-year-olds, it’s about 11 or 12%, but that jumps up to 21% if you consider people who are 65 and older.”

For people of all ages, Iowa’s rate of those diagnosed with diabetes is a full point-and-a-half below the national average of 9.2%. In Iowa, 32% of adults are obese or overweight, which leads to an increased likelihood of health problems, like diabetes, which may significantly impact quality of life. Rodgers says the biggest obstacle is, many people have diabetes and don’t know it. “About one in four people, it’s estimated, have diabetes and are totally unaware of it,” Rodgers says. “Obviously, if the disease is undiagnosed, it’s not treated and untreated diabetes can lead to serious health conditions like heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and even death.”

Iowans need to pay attention to their health and make visits at least once a year to their physician for check-ups. That doctor should be able to help spot the development of diabetes before conditions worsen. “Some of the common symptoms are being very thirsty, urinating often, having blurred vision or losing weight without trying,” Rodgers says. “Since these are sort of non-specific symptoms, you can probably guess that they’re ignored or they’re rationalized as being the result of something else.”

Rodgers is the director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, based in Bethesda, Maryland. He encourages people with diabetes to examine how managing their diabetes can fit into their lives and empower them to take specific steps to improve their management with the support of a care team. To learn more, visit www.niddk.nih.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the City has been recognized as a Neighborhood Champion for the fourth year in a row by American Express. Atlantic will participate in the 7th Annual Small Business Saturday to support small businesses. Bailey Smith, Executive Director at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, said they are “Excited to partner with all of the Atlantic Area businesses to create shopping incentives and activities to celebrate Small Business Saturday.”

Founded by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday® is a day to celebrate the small businesses that help support our community. American Express created the Neighborhood Champion Program to help rally communities around Small Business Saturday and is working alongside numerous business organizations to support local Small Business Saturday celebrations throughout the country. Participating organizations include: the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), the International Downtown Association, the Latino Coalition, the National Main Street Center, the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

American Express recognizes communities that have strong participation. The on-going Shop Local Initiative and Passport Program, presented by First Whitney Bank & Trust, and overall community support has helped Atlantic achieve this national recognition. Smith said “It’s a great opportunity for Atlantic to receive positive, national exposure. Atlantic has everything you need and this day is just an added reminder for the community how important their support and participation in shopping local is to keeping Atlantic a vibrant place to live.”

November 25th marks the 7th annual Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to supporting the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small business owners can learn more about taking part in Small Business Saturday and download free marketing materials on www.shopsmall.com. Consumers can visit www.atlanticiowa.com to find merchants to shop at on Small Business Saturday.

Some small towns continue to thrive even as their populations drop and those towns are the subject of research by a team from Iowa State University. Kimberly Zarecor (ZARE-core), director of the interdisciplinary design program in the I-S-U College of Design, says the outlook in these towns is overwhelmingly optimistic. “We are looking at communities that are losing population, which is a common thing among rural communities all over the country,” Zarecor says. “We want to look at communities that, even if they’re losing population, they seem to have stable or improving quality of life perceptions among the people in the town.” The communities are being referred to as “shrink smart” towns. “This means people still feel like it’s a great place to live. When they’re asked questions about their neighbors and their community and the support system and the services, they feel they’re all good and possibly improving, even while they’re losing population in the community,” Zarecor says. “We think these places are special.”

I-S-U has won a one-year, $100,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation to study these “shrink smart” communities in Iowa. She says, “What we’re really interested in is quality of life and how their towns can deal with the issues of being small, being rural and losing population.” Work is underway to identify some of the communities. Since 1994, I-S-U has polled residents in 99 small Iowa towns, one in each county. Researchers hope to chose a half-dozen or so towns from that list. “There’s a certain perception that small towns aren’t doing well or that they’re on their downward swing,” Zarecor says. “For us, we want to think about what are the ways in the cycle where more people are moving into metro areas, what’s the future cycle for small towns. Maybe we’re going to see people moving back to small towns and what draws people to those towns.”

An advisory board for the study includes representatives from the Iowa League of Cities, Iowa City and County Management Association, small-town government officials and the Iowa State University Extension.

(Radio Iowa)