(Massena, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation Board is holding Vermicomposting (Worm Composting) Workshop. Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning says the program will be held at the Outdoor Classroom shelter, located at 76977 Tucson Rd, Massena, IA on Saturday March 25th 2023, 1 PM, all ages are welcome to attend.

Kanning says “Let worms EAT your kitchen waste! All types of composting will be discussed as well!” There is an option, she says, to make and take your own worm bin, for a suggested donation of $25/bin.

(Monroe County, Iowa) – A single vehicle accident north of Albia late Wednesday night, resulted in the death of a man from Pella. The Iowa State Patrol reports 29-year-old Michael Hurley Raper died at the scene, when the 2007 Honda Ridgeline he was driving left the road on southbound Highway 137, just south of 655th Avenue. The pickup entered a ditch, went airborne, and rolled over. The accident happened at around 11:30-p.m.

(Radio Iowa) – A new A-A-R-P report finds the 330-thousand unpaid family caregivers contributed work that would be worth five-point-two BILLION dollars in 2021. A-A-R-P Iowa director, Brad Anderson, says that’s an increase of one BILLION dollars — due in part to severe shortages of workers in the field. “There are a lot of people that are out there right now looking for home based care services, but they’re unable to find them because of the workforce shortage. And so that means that family members are having to step up,” Anderson says.

Anderson says another the reason for this increase is the population of residents over the age of 65continues to grow. “Now we have more people that are going to need care, and then fewer people providing that care. So caregivers are going to be asked to do a lot in the coming years and we need policies in place that support them,’ Anderson says. The study found family caregivers contributed an estimated 310 million hours in unpaid care with the dollar figure derived from pay rate of 16 dollars, 80 cents an hour.

(Reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – As March Madness starts in Des Moines today (Thursday) with the opening rounds of the N-C-double-A basketball tournament, betting is sure to be big business, especially with six Iowa teams in the men’s and women’s contests. The Iowa Gaming Association reports Iowans wagered 233-million dollars last March, with college hoops accounting for most of it. Susan Sheridan Tucker, an educator on problem gambling, says those office bracket pools can be a lot of fun.

Gamblers are no longer just betting on the outcome of games, but a wide variety of in-game opportunities. With the wide availability of sports books in Iowa, Sheridan Tucker says she has concerns about how easy it is to bet on mobile apps.

Sheridan Tucker says it’s no coincidence that Problem Gambling Awareness Month and the basketball tournament are both in March. An estimated 68-million Americans will wager more than 15-billion dollars on the N-C-A-A tourney this year. Anyone who thinks they may have a problem can call the Your Life Iowa hotline at 1-800-BETS-OFF.

(Radio Iowa) – Water utilities in Iowa and nationwide would be required to monitor drinking water for six so-called “forever chemicals” under a proposal from the U-S Environmental Protection Agency. The measure sets legally enforceable levels for PFAS chemicals in drinking water. The health concerns of these chemicals include cancer and decreased fertility. University of Iowa researcher David Cwiertny says the proposal is a fairly aggressive nationwide standard.

Cwiertny says, “It puts a lot more community water systems in play that will need to figure out treatment to be in compliance and deliver water that the EPA would deem as safe.” Corey McCoid, supervisor of Water Supply Operations at the Iowa D-N-R, says the agency has been testing for PFAS across the state. He says the department can only require drinking water providers to notify the public about what’s in their drinking water, at least until the E-P-A limit is in place.

“One of the big challenges to this point is nobody knew what to treat for, or at what level,” McCoid says, “so you can’t design a new treatment plant, if that’s what’s needed, until you know what that final number is going to be.” The D-N-R says six Iowa water supplies exceed the limit of the four-parts-per-trillion level that’s proposed by the feds. The E-P-A is taking public comments on the rules and hopes to finalize them by the end of this year.

(Kellerton, Iowa) – A two-vehicle crash in Ringgold County, south of Kellerton, Wednesday night, claimed two lives and resulted in one person being injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2010 Chevy pickup driven by 54-year-old David Patrick Love, of Mount Ayr, was southbound on 170th Avenue (a gravel road) at around 8:45-p.m., approaching 110th Street. A 2022 Chevy pickup driven by 44-year-old Donna Kay Allen, of Afton, was northbound at the same location.

Both vehicles were traveling in or close to the center of the road and not yielding half of the roadway as they traversed a hill. The pickup drivers could not see each other coming, and collided, with their left front corners striking.

Following the impact, Donna Allen’s pickup bounced backwards, coming to rest on the east road edge. The other pickup veered off the road. Dispatch reports said there was a fire as a result of the collision. Both drivers died at the scene. Neither was wearing a seat belt. A passenger in the Allen pickup, 46-year-old Shawn William Allen, of Aften, was also not wearing a seat belt. He was transported by Mercy helicopter to Mercy Hospital.

Multiple emergency and law enforcement agencies responded to the scene.

(Atlantic, Iowa) [Updated]– The City Council in Atlantic, Wednesday evening held a longer than normal session, as part of their busy agenda. First-off, the Council recognized Adult Services Librarian II Jody Allumbaugh, who began working in the Library in 2013 as a Library Page, working downstairs and in Youth Services. Mayor Grace Garrett said Jody progressed upstairs to Adult Services and has multiple responsibilities.

Mayor Grace Garrett congratulated Jody on her 10 years of service. Library Director Michelle Andersen presented her with a personalized pen and pencil set for her dedicated service.

(Left) Atlantic Library Director Michelle Andersen presents Jody Allumbaugh (right) w/a personalized pen/pencil set on her work Anniversary.

Next, the Council heard from Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator & 911 Services Director Mike Kennon, who spoke about Severe Weather Awareness Week, March 27th through the 31st. Kennon said Wednesday March 29th at 10-a.m., is the Statewide Tornado Drill.

Kennon says the sirens will be tested this Friday and likely next Friday, also, at Noon on both days, to make sure they are all functioning. The City has over a dozen sirens spread out in the community. Statewide Severe Weather Preparedness/Awareness Weeks are an opportunity to increase awareness of and response to severe weather hazards.  They are scheduled throughout the spring, targeting a time before the spring severe weather “season” typically begins in that state.

Please mark your calendar and plan to participate in the tornado drill for your local area, as this is an opportunity to test your communication methods as if it were a real situation. You should note also, when there is a Tornado Warning, once the danger has passed, there will not be an “All-Clear” siren, as was traditionally practiced.

There will only be a siren during a Tornado Warning or if one has been visually confirmed. On a related note, he reminds residents of Cass County, to sign up for Alert Iowa. And, a Storm Spotter training course will be held April12th in the courthouse courtroom, featuring a representative from the National Weather Service in Johnston. Kennon said also, the Dispatch Center (Comm. Center) is currently looking to fill an open position.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council passed a Resolution setting April 5th for a public hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement and to Borrow money…in a Principal Amount not to exceed $90,000. They also passed a resolution establishing a job description for an Animal Shelter Assistant, Opening a Position, and Setting Compensation for FY 2023.

One of the final matters the Council approved, was agreeing to sell City-owned property at 1310 Chestnut to Jay and Kelsi Eden, in the amount of One-dollar. The house is in serious disrepair, and has foundation issues. The Eden’s intend to take care of the issues and landscaping, to the tune of about $200,000, and then “flip” the property, allowing it to have a higher valuation on the tax rolls.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has sent Governor Kim Reynolds the state government reorganization plan her staff and a consulting firm developed over the past year. It reduces the number of state agencies from 37 to 16. It also shifts some government functions, like fire investigations and services for students with disabilities, to different areas of state government.

“We’ve been working on this bill, we’ve been discussing this bill since the start of session,” Representative Jane Bloomingdale, a Republican from Northwood, said. “This is a simple bill — ha ha, 1600 pages — but this is a bill that is necessary. It’s time.

“We are going to streamline state government, we’re going to save taxpayer dollars, we’re going to reate efficiencies and, with all of that, we are going to better serve all of Iowans.”

The Iowa House. (RI photo)

Fifty-eight House Republicans backed the bill. All Democrats and five Republicans voted against it. Democrats say efficiency in state government is important, but the bill was rushed through the process and no changes were made to improve it. Representative Amy Nielsen, a Democrat from North Liberty, said the bill lets the governor fire administrators “on a whim” and gets rid of salary limits, so the governor can decide the pay for top state agency officials.

“I don’t think that consolidating power into the governor’s office makes state government more efficient and it certainly won’t save taxpayers any money,” Nielsen said. “…We are one part of a three branch governement and it’s really disappointing to see the capitulation of all of our power to the governor’s office.”

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said the bill “diminishes the legislature’s role” in determining how state government is run. “We will have a Democratic governor sooner than some folks in this room think,” Konfrst said. “…There are some things in here that I think if a Democrat was in charge, some folks in this room wouldn’t like a Democratic governor to have power over.”

Democrats raised concerns about having the leader of the agency that serves blind Iowans be appointed by the governor rather than selected by an independent board of blind Iowans. Representative Bloomingdale announced at the end of debate that Governor Reynolds is promising to keep the current Iowa Department for the Blind director in that role.

“This governor’s not going to hire cronies…She’s going to hire the best people she can find and when we have a Democratic governor, they’re going to do the same thing,” Bloomingdale said. “They’re going to hire the very best people they can find and if they don’t do the job, they lose the job.”

The bill eliminates about 200 full-time positions in state government that aren’t currently filled. Reynolds, in a statement released after this afternoon’s vote, called the bill “transformational” in dealing with a “bloated bureaucracy”

(Radio Iowa) – The U.S. Surface Transportation Board today (Wednesday)  approved the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads — a move that eventually will triple train traffic through parts of eastern and southern Iowa.

Board chair Martin Oberman talked about the decision in an online news conference. “One of the underlying factors that we found in this merger is that putting these two small railroads together, will actually provide a stronger competitive landscape in the rail industry visa vie these much larger railroads,” he says.

Oberman says there has been much discussion about the consolidation of the industry — but the board found this to be a unique circumstance.  “One of the key aspects of this merger, which is different from all past mergers that I’m aware of, is that it is end to end. The the roots of CP and KCS do not overlap, they do not serve the same origins and destinations. So there will be no loss of a parallel competitive route by putting these two railroads together,” Oberman says.

Martin Oberman. (photo from STB video)

He says there are many gateways in the rail system that overlap and give shippers an option and this agreement will protect that. “This decision imposes a requirement that all of those gateways remain open on the same open terms that exists today without the merger,” Oberman says. “And we imposed a very stringent supervision of that requirements so that it is complied with.”

Oberman says the benefits to the economy from the merger will be substantial. “Single line service between Canada through the United States and Mexico will enhance trade enhanced productivity, enhance shipper opportunities to expand their own businesses. That was one of the key factors that led us to find that this merger is in the public interest,” he says. Oberman also says safety was a factor as he says despite recent events — rail transportation has far fewer accident issues when shipping dangerous materials than shipping on the highway system.

There were hearings in Iowa on the merger and that included people opposed to the increased traffic, noise and plans to shut off some rail crossings. Several cities agreed to settlements with Canadian Pacific to finance improvements around the tracks. Davenport approved a ten million dollar settlement, while Muscatine and Bettendorf each approved three million dollar settlements with the Canadian Pacific.

(Radio Iowa) – A Senate committee has approved a bill that would gradually eliminate the state income tax — if state tax revenues continue to grow. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “It is a continuation of modernization and competitiveness of our tax code here in Iowa,” Dawson said, “…not only for families to come here, to stay here but as well as for businesses to recognize that Iowa has a very competitive and compelling footprint here to locate.”

Governor Reynolds signed a bill into law last year that will gradually reduce the state income tax to 3.99%. This new bill would cut the rate to 2.5% by 2028 and it would reduce Iowa’s corporate income tax from 5.5% to 4.9%. “We can’t rest on our laurels and think what we accomplished is all we can do,” Dawson said.

The five Democrats on the committee voted against the move. Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said getting rid of the state income tax will lead to cuts in state services. “The state income tax is half the state revenue,” Quirmbach said. “So how are we going to pay our bills?”

According to Quirmbach, 56% of the state budget is spent on education and getting rid of half of state tax revenue would mean the state universities would dramatically raise tuition and class sizes would double in K-12 schools.

“I understand the short term benefit, pelvically, from saying: ‘Oh, whoopie, we’re going to cut taxes,’” Quirmbach said. “I don’t like paying taxes any more than anybody else, but I know that my constituents value education. They want their K-12 schools to be first in the nation again, which they aren’t right now.”

Dawson said cuts won’t be necessary if the state budget and tax cuts are “managed appropriately.” He said under the bill, state income taxes are only reduced if there’s money in the Taxpayer Relief Fund. State tax revenue that’s above expectations or left unspent at the end of a budgeting year is deposited in that fund.

Republican lawmakers are also developing a plan to reduce property taxes. Governor Reynolds has said she’s left drafting of property tax cuts up to GOP lawmakers because her priority this year was state-funded education savings accounts for private school expenses — something she’s already approved.