Chamber Ambassadors in Atlantic met recently with local Masons, while visiting Atlantic’s Masonic Lodge. The lodge is a beautiful building located in historic downtown Atlantic and recently available for event rental. There are two rooms, a smaller and a larger room. The lodge has a kitchen, stage, tables and chairs.

For rental inquiries, please contact Donnie Drennan at United Group Insurance.

Pictured: Sharon Guffey-Lewis, Steve Lewis, Randy Dill, Gary Warwick, Donnie Drennan, John Bricker, Joe Mewhirter, Russ McNeese, John Schroeder, Dr. Mitch Peerbolte, Bill Saluk, Keith Leonard D.V.M., Lucas Mosier, Melanie Petty, Dan Mehmen, Chrystal Christensen, Russ Joyce, Kate Olsen, Rich Perry, Nedra Perry, Sue Muri, Jolene Roecker, Arlene Drennan, Carol Schuler, Lana Westphalen, Dianne Gipple and Pat McCurdy.

Police in Glenwood arrested a local man Thursday. Officials say 20-year old Dalton Sacca, of Glenwood, was arrested on a charge of Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $566.

(9-a.m. News)

A man from Madison County was sentenced Thursday to more than six-years in prison in connection with an incident at the Madison County Courthouse last year. U-S District Court Judge James Gritzner sentenced 30-year old Cory Lee Daugherty, of Earlham, 77 months in federal prison for possession of firearms in the Madison county courthouse.

Cory Lee Daugherty

Daugherty will also be required to serve three years of supervised release following his release from prison. His sentence will run consecutively with his ten years prison sentence in State court for possession of controlled substances, and concurrently with his five year State sentence for escape.

In a written plea agreement filed January 20th, 2015, Daugherty admitted that on March 24th 2014, he entered the Madison county courthouse to be sentenced in State court for a drug-related felony, and that after he was sentenced, a Madison county deputy attempted to take him into custody at which time he struggled with the deputy sheriff in the court room. Daugherty pulled a firearm from the deputy sheriff during the struggle and was able to escape from the Madison county courthouse while deputies pursued.

A short time later, Daugherty was taken into custody. At the time of his sentencing in State court, Daugherty was a prohibited person who could not possess firearms. The investigation was conducted by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

(9-a.m. News)

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The 7:06-a.m. report w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The U.S. Senate Thursday, approved Loretta Lynch to be the new U.S. Attorney General despite “no” votes from both of Iowa’s Senators. Republican Joni Ernst spoke with Iowa reporters by phone from Washington shortly before the vote on Lynch’s confirmation. “After closely reviewing her testimony, I am not confident Ms. Lynch will act independently from President Obama when the role requires and therefore could not vote to confirm her as attorney general,” Ernst said.

Lynch, currently the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, was confirmed on a vote of 56 to 43 — with 10 Republicans voting for President Obama’s pick to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. Iowa’s senior Senator, Chuck Grassley, voted against Lynch. Ernst said she has “serious concerns” about Lynch’s decision to defend President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

“She agreed that it was O-K for him to use executive amnesty in the manner that he did and because of that, I don’t see that she is operating independently. She is being influenced by the political decisions of the White House rather than relying on current law,” Ernst said. Lynch will become the first African-American woman to hold the position of U.S. Attorney General.

(Radio Iowa)

Frost and freezing conditions hit the state the last couple of nights and that has grape growers hoping they don’t see another drop in production like the one brought on by the cold last season. State Viticulture Specialist Mike White says he had not had any reports of damage following Wednesday’s freeze warning. “For the most part things look pretty good in Iowa. There might have been a vineyard or two in southern Iowa in a low area that might have had some frost, but I think right now we’re looking pretty good,” White says.

White says however, grapevines do have some built in insurance against frost damage. He says each plant has three buds inside with the first being 100 percent fruitful. “Now if it gets out there with one or two leaves and let’s say its April 27th and you get a frost, well the secondary bud inside there will bust open, and it has the ability to produce maybe 30 to 50 percent of a crop,” according to White.

White says the third layer will not produce fruit but it will sustain the plant through the season. He says wineries last year took a hit from a cold and wet spring and a late summer thunderstorm in western Iowa. Yields were cut by as much as 40 percent. Iowa has more than 100 wineries across the state.

(Radio Iowa)

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst is praising the passage of a bill designed to help law enforcement prosecute human traffickers. “The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act also provides much need support to the victims of this, what I consider modern-day slavery,” Ernst says. “It also enhances law enforcement’s ability to bring these perpetrators to justice and brings forward stiffer penalties for criminals.” The trafficking bill was approved in the Senate this week on a vote of 99-0.

“This marks an important step to combat the spread of human and sex trafficking,” Ernst says. “We can no longer turn a blind eye to the human rights crisis happening across the country.” In addition to the law enforcement tools and victims’ fund, the legislation qualifies child pornography production as a form of human trafficking and creates a Human Trafficking Advisory Council composed of survivors to formulate recommendations to the federal government.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad has asked several state agencies to monitor the outbreak of a deadly form of bird flu that’s reached Iowa and led to an emergency declaration in Minnesota. In Iowa, the flu is confirmed in Buena Vista and Osceola counties. Nearly 4 million chickens at one farm will be destroyed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Agriculture says a turkey farm in Sac County has become the third farm in Iowa to have confirmed cases of bird flu. The farm’s 34,000 turkeys will be killed to contain the virus. The farm is within a six-mile monitoring zone of the first turkey farm identified in Iowa to have the H5N2 virus.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some international trade partners are declining to buy egg and poultry products from states affected by a deadly strain of bird flu while others are excluding imports only from counties where the virus has surfaced. Agriculture officials say the food supply is safe. But Mexico, Japan and Canada are among 33 countries declining to accept poultry products from entire states, including Iowa.

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teen was killed and his passenger escaped after their truck plowed through barricades blocking what had previously been a bridge and submerged in a creek. KCCI-TV reports 17-year-old Zachary Meacham, of Guthrie Center, died in the crash Wednesday at Brushy Creek in Guthrie County. The crash remains under investigation.