Week of Dec 15 2007 - 7:00pm to Dec 22 2007 - 6:59pm

    Ventura School leaders have decided to not contest the Dec. 4 vote which left the district one vote shy of passing a $2.7 million bond issue.
    The School Board met with a citizen’s committee which prepared the proposed project and determined it would not challenge the vote in court.
    Last week Cerro Gordo County Auditor Ken Kline met with the co-chairpersons from the polling site in Ventura to follow up allegations that three voters were not allowed to cast ballots and were not given provisional ballots.  Kline then shared his information with Ventura leaders, who in turn spoke with those not allowed to cast ballots.  
    “It was the consensus that all the votes that could have been counted, were counted,” said Ventura Superintendent Dan Versteeg.    
    Versteeg said the School Board and committees working on the school improvement measure will give the issue a rest and likely pick it up again in late January.
    The $2.75 million bond issue would have provided for renovation to the existing high school, along with the addition of new science classrooms.
    The issue, which needed 60 percent for passage, received 59.96 percent of the needed votes.
    Iowa law states the soonest the district could put the issue to another vote would be six months from Dec. 4, or approximately June 4.  However, law also prohibits an election from coinciding with a primary election, which this year takes place June 3.  The earliest the district could have a vote would be three weeks later, or approximately June 24.

by Cynthia Findley
for the Mirror-Reporter
    Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright stepped briskly into the Surf Ballroom last week and addressed the 100 attendees who had gathered to hear her message in support of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.  
    “I have just returned from India and Israel—and now I’m in another important “I” location—Iowa,” said Albright.  “And the leaders of those and many countries are asking what is happening in the U.S.?  They are familiar with Ms. Clinton and would be able to work with her.”  
    Later in her remarks, Albright praised the Iowa caucus process and described the grassroots democracy in Iowa as “remarkable.”
    The former Secretary, who served under President Bill Clinton, began her comments with a dogged analysis that “essentially the world is in a mess.”  She noted she spent her entire life studying the world political climate and believes the United States’ reputation is “in tatters.”  
    She outlined five major trends she sees coming and laid them out as significant challenges for the next president.
    Those trends, according to Albright, include major escalation in the number of terrorist and extremist organizations, non-effective methods for controlling nuclear weapon development, a swing away from democracy throughout the world, expanding globalization increasing the gap between the richest and poorest nations, and the increasing challenges of global warming and energy security.
    Albright responded to Sen. Clinton’s recent statement in which she named Pakistan as the country which “scared her the most.”
    Albright called the instability in Pakistan “an international migraine headache” and said she supports the Clinton candidacy because she believes that Clinton brings “unparalleled global experience” to the table.  

    Early deadlines will be in effect for the next two issues of the Clear Lake Mirror-Reporter, Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
    The Tuesday Christmas and New Year’s holidays will force printing of the newspaper to occur earlier than usual.  However, the newspaper will still be published, as usual, on Wednesdays.
    Deadline for the Dec. 26 edition of the newspaper will be noon Thursday, Dec. 20.  
    The deadline for the Jan. 2 edition will be noon Friday, Dec. 28.
    The Mirror-Reporter office will be closed Monday, Dec. 24, and will close at noon Monday, Dec. 31.

    Clear Lake Schools have announced classes will be dismissed at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, to begin the holiday break.  The change is an adjustment from the published school calendar.

    Increasing payroll costs, bad debt, rising fuel and insurance costs, vehicle-related expenses, and fixed Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements have led the Clear Lake City Council to raise its ambulance service user fee.
    The Council approved the first of three readings of an ordinance Monday night which will raise rates effective Jan. 1, 2008.
    While the fee for a non-emergency transport-basic life support will remain at $400, emergency transport-basic life support will rise from $450 to $525.  Non-emergency transport with advanced life support will go from $450 to $600 and emergency transport with advanced life support will increase from $500 to $660.  Advanced Life Support 2 will go to $715 from the current $650.
    City Administrator Scott Flory said the increases are consistent with what is currently being charged for the same level of services provided by the City of Mason City’s fire department and ambulance service.
    Flory and Fire Chief Doug Meyers explained that  Medicare and Medicaid comprise 70 percent of the total customer base for the City of Clear Lake’s service. Because the reimbursement rate for those two classes of payers is fixed and remains the same regardless of what the City bills, the roughly 30 percent of payers who have insurance or are private pay must cover the remaining balance for the service.   
    The men noted the city’s increase in its mileage charge, from $8.50 to $12.50 (patient per mile) will be paid by Medicaid and Medicare because those programs allow charges of up to $12.50 per mile.
    Flory said the rate increases will not eliminate the need for the service to be subsidized by the city.  

    Steve Nicklaus, of rural Clear Lake, has been selected by Clear Lake Sanitary District Trustees to fill a position on its board left vacant by the death of trustee Tom Lincoln.
    According to Sanitary District Superintendent Kevin Moler, 10 persons expressed interest in serving the remaining two years of the term held by the former city administrator and public servant.
    Nicklaus was named to the post at the Board’s Dec. 11 meeting.  Moler explained the board discussed the qualities of all applicants and concluded that Nicklaus would be a valuable Board member.
    Nicklaus became a permanent resident of Clear Lake in January 2007 following his retirement from the insurance business in Eagle Grove, Iowa.
    Wanting to be an independent businessperson, Nicklaus bought a small independent insurance agency in Eagle Grove in 1981.  With little actual insurance knowledge, and no experience at that time, but lots of determination and willingness to learn and work hard, he expanded the agency to several times its original size primarily through internal growth plus four small acquisitions prior to selling the agency in 2001. He worked three-quarter time for the new owner until January of 2007 when he retired from the daily agency schedule.  
    Being the owner was challenging and rewarding, he said, but being an employee added some valuable insights as well.  “Retirement” has allowed him to devote more time to new ideas, products, relationships and innovative ventures which adds yet another dimension to his professional life.
    As he was in Eagle Grove, the Iowa State University graduate enjoys serving volunteer organizations in a variety of capacities.
    “I am a firm believer in contributing to your community,” he said.