The Atlantic Fire responded Wednesday night to a report of a vehicle fire near the gas pumps at the central Casey’s Store (701 Poplar Street). The call came in at around 8:22-p.m.  Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees told KJAN News a man in a pickup truck had just fueled-up his vehicle and started to back away, when he smelled fuel and soon thereafter, saw flames. He managed to put the fire out with an extinguisher before fire crews arrived.

McNees said the cause of the fire was not clear, but it could have been a bad fuel or brake line. The brake line was damaged by the fire. He said also, that the vehicle had a “nice motor,” and that the owner had done a lot of work on the engine.

The fire department was on-hand to assist with the clean-up. Atlantic Police and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office were also on the scene. Fire crews returned to their base about 12-minutes later.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, reported two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Tuesday. 34-year old Nicole Jean Cronland, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at around 9:35-a.m. in Malvern, for Driving Under Suspension and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $900. And, at around 6:15-p.m. Tuesday, Deputies in Mills County arrested 48-year old Yancey Sean Gonzalez, of Bloomer, WI, for Possession of Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300.

Late Tuesday night, 28-year old Jonathan Lee Million, of Emerson, was arrested in Mills County on a warrant out of Pottawattamie County, for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held in the Mills County jail without bond.

The Iowa Association of Realtors monthly report shows around the same number of house sold this May as sold last year — but they are selling at a faster pace. Association president, Cindy Miller, says its an issue of the proper supply of the best selling homes. “We have a little bit of a shortage,” Miller says, “and it’s not a shortage, shortage. Just more of not what people are looking for.” She says buyers are looking for homes priced in the middle of the range.

“We need a lot more houses that are going to be more in the medium housing price instead of way high up, or way real low,” Miller explains. “We just have that shortage around the 120-125 mark for the new home buyers.” Miller says the demand for these types of houses has made it a good time for those who want to sell them.

“We’re finding that they sell fairly quickly and we’re finding multiple offers on one house coming up,” Miller says. The competition for those houses has pushed up the median sale price of homes by five-point-four percent compared to last year. The median price is now 155-thousand dollars. Miller says interest rates are helping people make the decision to buy.

“The rates are very good right now, they are still low and at a good rate for people to get into a house,” Miller says. There were four-thousand-398 homes sold in May of this year compared to 44-hundred-three sold last May. The average days on market was 75 while last year in May it took an average 85 days.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department reports two recent arrests.

On Friday, June 16th Atlantic Police arrested 55-year-old Rodney Pace of Atlantic on a Nebraska Warrant for Fraud. He was taken to the Cass County Jail and held pending transport.

On Tuesday, June 20th Atlantic Police arrested 27-year-old Joseph White of Atlantic on an Adair County Warrant for Probation Violation. He was taken tot he Cass County Jail and held pending transport.

The Cass County Sheriff’s office released details Wednesday on three recent arrests.

On Sunday June 11th the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 26-year-old Cody Allen Pleis of Lewis on a charge of Simple Assault. Pleis was taken to the Cass County Jail and released on his own recognizance the following day.

On Thursday June 15th the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 21-year-old Dayton Duane Hansen of Kimballton on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for three charges of Supplying Alcohol to a Minor (Serious). Hansen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $3,000 bond.

On Monday, June 19th the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrested 25-year-old Brandon Michael Jacobsen of Griswold on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for Interference with Official Acts (Simple) and Reckless Use of a Firearm (Simple). Jacobsen was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $600 bond.

Healthy Cass County as part of their Cass County Community Health Improvement Plan has a goal to provide fluoridated water at the recommended levels in all Cass County communities by 2021. What is the buzz about water fluoridation, anyway, you might ask? Water fluoridation is the adjustment of fluoride in drinking water to the level that is effective for preventing tooth decay. It has been named by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the twentieth century, and over 70 years of research show it is safe and effective.  Today, fluoridation is still the most cost-effective way to prevent dental cavities in Cass County residents. The CDC states that for every $1 invested in fluoridation there is an average of $38 savings in dental care. Water fluoridation is beneficial for reducing and controlling tooth decay and promoting oral health across the lifespan.

Evidence shows that water fluoridation prevents tooth decay by providing frequent and consistent contact with low levels of fluoride, ultimately reducing tooth decay by 25% in children and adults. Of children 6-12 years old screened in Cass County, 30% showed signs of untreated tooth decay, surpassing the state average by a landslide. Despite these facts, some Iowa communities are deciding to discontinue, or have never offered, this public health benefit to their residents. In the last few years, systematic reviews of community water fluoridation studies have all reinforced the safety and efficacy of fluoridation in preventing dental decay in both children and adults. The overwhelming majority of the world’s health care organizations and leaders within the scientific community firmly support the practice of community water fluoridation and continue to encourage community leaders to fluoridate local water systems at concentrations recommended by the CDC as an economical, safe and effective means to control the major public health problem of dental caries.

The optimum fluoride level for the prevention of tooth decay, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is 0.7 mg/L. Water that has a natural fluoride level of less than 0.6 mg/L shows no scientific evidence to be sufficient for the prevention of tooth decay. Currently only two of our Cass County communities are fluoridating their water systems.