The four-year graduation rate at the Atlantic High School fell below the statewide average for 2011-12, according to the Iowa Department of Education. That news came from Atlantic Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, during Monday night’s meeting of the Atlantic School Board. The graduation information from the DOE was broken down into a four- and five-year study, or cohort. Amstein said Atlantic’s 4-year cohort was 84.55, while the statewide average was 89.26%.

Atlantic’s five-year graduation rate was 91.87, which was slightly above the statewide average of 91.40%. Amstein said 11 students dropped out of the district last year, making the dropout rate 2.50%, while the state average is 3.20%. Amstein says while the five-year graduation rate and drop-out rates are below the statewide average, there is still much work to be done within the district to address the higher-than-average 4-year cohort, and the dropout rate.

Amstein was concerned that the graduation rate in the district for the 2011-12 calendar year was the lowest recorded over the past five-years. He said the administrative staff needs to sit down and try to determine what needs to be done to correct to graduation rate and address the dropout issue. He says they conduct exit interviews with students to find out why kids drop out, but no two circumstances are the same, and the reasons vary.

The Iowa Department of Education (IDE) has collected individual student level graduation and dropout data since the 2004-2005 school year, through Project EASIER (Electronic Access System for Iowa Education Records). In the EASIER system, each student has an assigned unique state student identification number. Iowa’s 2009 graduating class was the first group of students to have a statewide identifica­tion number for five years.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Five entities that want another Interstate 29 exit to be built south of Sioux City are preparing to underwrite a nearly $400,000 study.   The Sioux City Journal says  the cities of Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff and Salix, along with Woodbury County and an arm of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, are backing the idea. The exit would serve Sioux City’s Southbridge Industrial Park and the county-proposed Liberty Industrial Park.

Plans to ask the Iowa Department of Transportation for the exit failed last year when local officials couldn’t agree on whether to ask the department to rebuild the Port Neal interchange or build another to the north.   Sergeant Bluff Mayor Dale Petersen says a new interchange would make the area more accessible to businesses.

Officials with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau and area law enforcement agencies are reminding motorists about the next Special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP).

STEP

Law enforcement agencies throughout the state will be out in force beginning tomorrow (Thursday, March 14^th) through Sunday, March the 17th, looking for motorists who are violating traffic laws during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The theme is “Don’t Press Your luck. Buckle up day and night.”

The sTEP program consists of five high-visibility enforcement waves throughout the year, meant to get motorists to change their driving behavior by buckling up, slowing down, driving sober, and obeying all traffic laws, in order to reduce the number of vehicle crashes and save lives.

During last year’s St. Patricks weekend sTEP wave, there were more than 16,279 traffic violations reported by 234 law enforcement agencies that together, had more than 1,600 officers working the enforcement effort. After the St. Patrick’s weekend sTEP, law enforcement will be gearing up for the same effort May 20th through June 2nd…during the Memorial Day Holiday.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The Atlantic High School will host a public meeting tonight with regard to consolidation of the Exira-Elk Horn Kimballton School Districts. Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein announced during the district’s Board meeting in January, that Exira-EHK officials requested an “impartial setting” for the meeting, which takes place in the A-H-S Auditorium, beginning at 6-p.m.  Also in attendance, will be representatives with the Green Hills and the Heartland Area Education Agencies.

No decision is expected tonight on the reorganization of the districts, but this will likely be one of the final steps in the process.

A four-year old Pottawattamie County boy was injured Tuesday, after a dresser fell on him inside his Macedonia home. According to the Omaha World Herald, deputies with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call around 4:22-pm. Rescue crews from Macedonia and Treynor also responded. Officials say the child suffered a head injury but was breathing and conscious when they arrived.

The boy was transported to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, suffering from possible life-threatening injuries.

w/ Ric Hanson

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Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall reminds residents of the county that your second-half tax payments of real estate and mobile homes are now due. The tax may be paid online at www.iowatreasures.org. You can also use your credit or debit card for the payments made at the Treasurer’s Office. The deadline for payments without penalty is Monday, April 1st, 2013.  Payments postmarked by April 1st will be accepted without penalty.

Slick roads may have contributed to an accident early this morning near the Interstate 80/Highway 71 interchange, northeast of Atlantic. Dispatch reports from the Cass County Communications Center indicated a two-vehicle personal injury accident involving a pickup and a semi/tanker truck happened at the I-80/Highway 71 interchange on Highway 71, at around 5:37-a.m.  Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac responded to the scene. The 36-year old driver of the pickup, who was from Nebraska, was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. A report on his injuries is not currently available. The semi’s tractor was reportedly leaking fuel from one of its tanks following the collision.

Deputies reported the road to be slick this morning, and the Iowa DOT’s website at 511ia.org, shows all roads north of Highway 71/92 interchange are partially to mostly covered with snow,  ice or slush.

A male resident in a group home in Lenox was arrested Monday night for allegedly assaulting a member of the homes’ staff. According to the Lenox Police Department, authorities were notified about the incident at around 6-p.m.  They were told an 51-year old male resident of the facility had choked a female employee and was threatening to stab her with a knife.

Police were able to disarm the unidentified man and take him into custody. He was taken to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital in Corning for treatment of injuries, then later taken to the Clarinda Mental Health Institute (MHI) by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say their investigation is ongoing and the case is being reviewed to determine if the man is competent to face charges.