THROWBACK NEWS
Ten years ago, astronaut Peggy Whitson was scheduled to take off for her second flight in space. To see what else happened 10, 20 and 50 years ago, see THROWBACK THURSDAY, page 2A. >>
OPPORTUNITY
The Creston/O-M football team battles ADM Friday in a matchup of teams looking for their first district win. For more on the game, see SPORTS, page 7A. >>
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2017
No evidence found in Board hears Corning bomb threat legislative
SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
report, begins Ferrara discussion By ALEX FELKER
CNA staff reporter afelker@crestonnews.com
CNA photo by CARTER ECKL
Pictured is Southwest Valley High School, which was forced to evacuate students after word of a bomb threat spread Wednesday afternoon. The Adams County Sheriff’s department cleared the scene and later determined that no threat was ever issued.
By CARTER ECKL CNA staff reporter ceckl@crestonnews.com
A possible bomb threat at Corning Elementary and Southwest Valley High School was reported cleared as of Wednesday afternoon by the Adams County Sheriff’s office. According to a statement from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, around 11:40 a.m. dispatch received a call from Corning Elementary, regarding a reported bomb threat. “Adams County Dispatch received a call from the Corning Elementary School regarding a bomb threat. An individual had called the Elementary and stated they’d heard of a bomb threat, but they were not sure which building the bomb was in,” read the statement.
The statement goes on to say that no such threat was ever made. “While speaking with the original caller, it was determined that they’d received a phone call from a family member and were informed of a school lockdown and bomb threat on the radio. Upon further investigation, the school lockdown they were informed of happened at the Shenandoah Schools earlier on this morning. “There was not a threat made toward Southwest Valley Schools. This information was not learned until the schools were evacuated and dismissed for the day.” Southwest Valley Schools Superintendent Willie Stone told the News Advertiser in a statement that the school handled the incident effectively, but will continue to plan for any similar
scenarios moving forward. “We have things we are going to work on,” said Stone. “We’re going to debrief with the Adams County Sheriff and emergency medical services people so that we can be better at it next, so we can make sure we are more prepared.” As far as procedure Wednesday, Stone felt the school handled the situation well.
“IT’S NOT something you ever want to plan for, but you need to have a plan for.”
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WILLIE STONE
Southwest Valley superintendent
“After finding out we were all clear, we all felt
it was a great test to see where we are at,” said Stone. “It’s not something you ever want to plan for, but you need to have a plan for.” Stone thanked the support of first responders who set up a perimeter and cleared the scene. Local law enforcement didn’t locate anything they believed to be a threat. Both schools went on lockdown after receiving word of the reported threat before students were eventually released early. All school buildings were reopened by 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, allowing students to retrieve their vehicles and any possessions they may have left behind. All Villisca schools remained in session and students were not released.
The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) Board of Trustees heard its annual report on the state legislature during Tuesday’s regular meeting. The Iowa State Legislature ended its 2017 session in April. Next year’s session begins Jan. 8, 2018. Briefing the board was Dave Palmer, legislative consultant for the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees (IACCT), and registered lobbyist Jerry Fitzgerald. Palmer first delivered to the board some good news with regard to budgets. “Last year,” said Palmer, “if you looked at what the governor slated for cuts to us (community colleges) and how we came out, we did extremely well. “And I know,” Palmer said, “when you get cut, it’s hard to spin it as good, but if you think of in total the swing in fiscal year ‘18 was $13 million, we saved quite a bit. So we did very well, and we’ll do very well again this year.” Then delivered to the board was the less-good news, explained by lobbyist and former lawmaker Jerry Fitzgerald. “We’re going to have a trouble-budget year this year,” said Fitzgerald. “We don’t know how much yet — they won’t know until January. The December REC (state revenue estimate)
“THEY’RE going to have to deal with it during the regular session. And what that means is we’re going to have some issues.”
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JERRY FITZGERALD
Registered lobbyist talking about the state legislature’s budget woes
again, will matter more than we want it to matter. So that’s going to be a big issue. “We know they’re (the legislature) in trouble,” continued Fitzgerald. “We thought they might have a special session, but they actually got some July money in, in June, and so they didn’t have to have a special session. So they’re going to have to deal with it during the regular session. And what that means is we’re going to have some issues.” Fitzgerald then fielded questions from the board with regard to a variety of legislative issues. Primarily discussed was state tax credits and property taxes. According to Fitzgerald, in next year’s legislative session, the legislature will likely address or at least attempt to address both the tax credit issue, and changing how “backfill” property taxes are allocated. Backfill property taxes are funds that cities, and entities like SWCC that benefit from public funds, might be SWCC | 14A
CNA photo by CARTER ECKL
First responders:
CNA photo by CARTER ECKL Sarah Beaman, left, and Heaven Spencer pretend to respond to an emergency while Spencer mimics a reply on the radio Wednesday evening at the Creston Fire Cookin’: Tyler Mahan picks up a pancake off the stove-top during the annual Fire Prevention Station. The Creston Fire Department hosted its annual pancake dinner during Fire Prevention Month pancake dinner Wednesday evening hosted by the Creston Fire Department to promote fire safety and fire prevention. Month to spread awareness in fire safety and prevention.
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Copyright 2017
Volume 134 No. 94
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