Home Care In Atkins, IA

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Snowfall totals in eastern Iowa generally fell in the 2 to 5 inch range that we predicted ahead of the winter storm’s arrival, though an isolated higher band of totals centered on Dubuque county occurred. There, 6 to as much as 9 inches of very wet and heavy snow accumulated.

Find the total from near where you live below, sorted by county name (list updated at 4:00 p.m. on 2/9):

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Over $100,000 was wrongly spent or went uncollected under the watch of a former city clerk of Atkins, the State Auditor reported in a new special investigation requested by city officials.

The office of Auditor Rob Sand said it identified $51,598.59 of improper disbursements, $21,255.38 of unsupported disbursements and $27,941.53 of uncollected utility billings.

“However, because City records were not sufficiently maintained, it was not possible to determine if additional amounts were improperly disbursed or if additional utility transactions were improperly recorded or not properly billed and/or collected,” the audit reported.

The Atkins City Council requested the investigation, Sand’s office said, because of concerns about financial transactions under City Clerk Amber Bell, who began in 2015 and resigned under a separation agreement in late 2020.

Beyond findings that Bell mishandled money, the audit revealed that members of the council had lax financial polices and didn’t routinely justify or review the spending of tax money — including agreeing to allow a contractor who cleaned city buildings to stay on the city’s dental insurance plan even though she wasn’t an employee.

“Had City officials developed and implemented policies and procedures to segregate duties, review bank reconciliations, required and reviewed utility reconciliations, and maintained supporting documentation, City officials may have identified undeposited utility collections and improper disbursements earlier,” the audit reported. “In addition, the implementation of controls may have reduced the opportunity for the City’s funds to be improperly disbursed or not properly deposited.”

The audit found that Bell was paid too much in salary and overtime and made $2,035.75 in improper purchases with a city credit card, “which included items such as a $50.00 purchase from Nail World in Cedar Rapids for a manicure, food and restaurant purchases, and video on demand purchases.”

The audit questioned why the city spent $405 on memberships to Sam’s Club.

“Based on our review of the City’s disbursements, the City does not make a significant number of purchases from Sam’s Club. In addition, according to City officials we spoke with, the membership is periodically used by City employees for personal purchases which are paid for with their personal funds,” the audit found. “Because the City does not make significant purchases for City operations from Sam’s Club, the public purpose served by the annual membership fees is not apparent.”

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And, the audit found, the City Council allowed holiday bonuses for some of its employees, even though there was no policy calling for it. Bell received a total of $645 in bonuses in 2015 and 2016, the audit found. Five other employees got them also.

“We determined the bonuses were awarded with the City Council’s knowledge and approval. However, the City Council did not document the public purpose served by the payments,” the audit reported.

ATKINS — A new satellite taproom is bringing a mainstay to Atkins’ Main Street with the fourth expansion of a Dyersville brewery.

Textile TapHaus, opened in May, is bringing to this Benton County town a growing trend in Iowa: the rapid expansion of local breweries and taprooms across the state.

“You could tell there’s a lot of new homes and neighborhoods around town, and there was nothing really here for them to do,” owner Tom Olberding said. “We thought it would be neat to bring as much of the brewery as we can to this town.”

The new taproom, with more than 20 taps featuring brews from Textile Brewing Company, River Ridge Brewing and other Iowa producers, is solidifying Textile’s rapidly growing footprint across northeast Iowa. After acquiring River Ridge Brewing in Bellevue and opening another taproom in Cascade, the fourth location will be part of the brand’s foundation as it settles.

If you go

What: Textile TapHaus

Where: 76 Main Ave., Atkins

Hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

Website: textiletaphaus.com/

Details: Open for dine-in and carryout with a full menu of locally brewed beers, sours, Bavarian pretzels and flatbreads. Patio service available seasonally.

The space

Inside the restored former Atkins apartment building is a dining room where industrial charm and historic finishes replicate vibes similar to Textile’s Dyersville and Cascade locations.

“Since it has the Textile name, we wanted it to look and feel as much like the brewery as we could get,” Olberding said. “I feel like we did a pretty good job of that.”

The building, which previously served as a general store for what used to be a “railroad town,” brings similar parallels to the brewery’s Dyersville location, which was renovated in 2019 after being built as a gasoline engine factory in 1908 and serving as a sewing factory from 1910 to 2017.

Interior details stitch together authentic historical nods at every turn.

Over the concrete bar, early 20th century sewing machines have been transformed into one-of-a-kind chandeliers by Tomy toy designer Chris Huisman of Dyersville. Functional tap handles feature actual tools of the textile trade, re-employed to pour beer. Edison light bulbs drape the front windows and glow with their old-fashioned wiring at every turn.

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Table tops have been made out of old sewing tables; original hardwood floors have been restored to their former glory; and reclaimed wood from local barns accents walls. Sewing tools, sewing machines and sewing tables are repurposed from the Dyersville factory’s stock left in that building before it was renovated.

The Atkins location also features a full patio for warm-weather months, with an upcoming calendar of summer activities like volleyball.

The beer

Textile TapHaus keeps nine Textile beers, two River Ridge beers and several other rotating guest breweries on tap — all showcasing ever-evolving Iowa talent in a growing local craft beer scene.

“It’s to get people to try new things, really,” said Preston Geerts, manager of the Atkins location.

“Craft beer people tend to like variety and something new. We don’t keep the same thing on tap real long,” Olberding added.

With Textile beers produced using local hops and grains whenever possible, the owner said the brand’s diversity is its strength across beer types, particularly with traditional German and European styles.

“Other breweries tend to focus on one or two styles of beer,” he said. “We feel like we’re solid in all types.”

Light lagers, one of their specialties, showcase a certain talent as one of the hardest beers to brew, he said. Unlike with IPAs, hops cannot be used as easily to cover up imperfections or flaws.

The Atkins Ale, one of their signatures noted as a good “gateway” to the brand’s offerings, is a prime example of their strengths in balanced brews.

Textile’s sours also stand out, he said, because they “still taste like beer.”

“We don’t over fruit our beer,” Olberding explained. “We do have different flavored sours, but it’s more of a subtle flavoring so that the beer still is at the forefront.”

The food

With a full menu of massive Bavarian pretzels, flatbreads and cauliflower-crust pizzas, food is not an afterthought at the taproom.

Adorned with layers of toppings, shareable pretzels become a sweet or savory entree in their own right — from cinnamon rolls to pizza.

“We just wanted something to keep people there for maybe one more beer,” Olberding said. “It’s like being at a festival in Munich — the Bavarian pretzel and the beer cheese.”

With no need for fryers or a full kitchen, the model also works well for adaptive renovations at new locations like Atkins.

The owner

A Dyersville native, Olberding returned to Iowa several years ago after managing pharmacies for CVS Pharmacy in Georgia. After returning to Iowa to do the same, the opportunity to buy a sewing factory and transform it into a brewery presented itself.

With encouragement from a friend, he learned how to make beer and started renovating the building, thinking it would be a side business as he continued to work as a pharmacist.

In less than four years since he first opened in Dyersville, he now runs four locations.

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The Benton County community of Atkins just keeps growing. And that growth is liable to speed up in the coming years with completion of the nearby Highway 100 bypass.

Atkins, located near the Linn-Benton County line, had a population of about 1,700 people at the last census count in 2013. That’s up about a thousand people since the mid 1990’s and city leaders think the population these days is probably closer to 2,000. The community is growing at a rate of 12 percent a year.

And the community is about to break ground on a project to help deal with that growth now and in the years to come.

The city is set to break ground on a new sewage treatment plant that, over the years, could amount to as much as an $8.25-million dollar project. New Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulations are prompting some of the plans. But town leaders, like city council member Diane Herman, say they also want to put the infrastructure in place to handle a community as large as 4,000 people. And they need to get started now while there is still time.

“It’s coming, we’re going to have to handle it. It’s a lot of what we’ve been told to do and we’re trying to make decisions on what we have to do,” Herman said.

Herman said the city council wants to ease into the project although a ground breaking on the first phase could take place in a couple of weeks. The entire $8.25-million cost, if tacked onto the water and sewer bills of residents all at once, could increase the monthly amount by $50.

The city is looking at issuing bonds and other options to keep the total amount more affordable and to cut costs where they can.

Still, Herman said, residents shouldn’t be surprised the community is launching ambitious infrastructure expansion plans to prepare for the future. All they have to do is look around at all the new homes going up to see a lot has changed in this once-small community.

Amber Cross, who moved to Atkins in 1990, can certainly see it.

“Yes, we wonder what happened to the town. It used to be a 2 x 4 town and now it’s getting bigger and bigger. It used to be cornfields all around. Now, it’s houses,” she said.

City leaders look at the progress of the Highway 100 bypass just a few miles to the east and wonder just how much faster the community will grow once that roadway is open providing direct access to the northern parts of Cedar Rapids. There are some who speculate Atkins will become the western-most suburbs of Cedar Rapids at one point in the future.

They figure they need to start preparing for a much larger community because there is no going back.

Voice actor Victoria Atkin worked hard to record the voice of fictional 19th century freedom fighter Evie Frye for Ubisoft’s 2015 adventure, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. But, without Atkin’s involvement, someone using AI has now made Evie speak all the lead character’s lines in Bethesda’s 2011 epic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Why it matters: Video game voice actors are fearing that the ability for generative AI to replicate their voices may cost them work and, more fundamentally, control of their own voice.

Details: Atkin discovered the Evie-Skyrim recordings this month when a friend sent her some files to listen to via a user-made mod, or software add-on, for Skyrim.

What they’re saying: “I was upset and confused,” Atkin tells Axios.

State of play: Voice actors have been raising concerns about generative AI’s impact throughout the year, while receiving minimal protections and public reassurances from the game industry.

One of those negotiators, Zeke Alton, said on Atkin’s Performance Capture Podcast last week he hoped unresolved AI concerns that contributed to the SAG-AFTRA TV and movie actors strike would motivate game companies to come to an agreement with actors in their sector.

The bottom line: Patricia Summersett, who provides the English language voice for the eponymous princess in Nintendo’s recent Zelda games, recently told Axios that AI is the “biggest discussion” for voice actors right now.

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