(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Wellness Program Coordinator Brigham Hoege says the Atlantic Food Pantry has a message for Atlantic and Cass County Community: “2022 has been an eventful year for the Food Pantry with persistent food insecurity locally and nationally, and also a successful move to a new facility here in Atlantic.

“We want to express our sincere thanks for the extraordinarily generous donations to the Atlantic Food Pantry by the churches, community service groups, businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals throughout the county who have contributed food and funds, sponsored food drives and collection boxes, and served meals to help those in need. The community has been truly generous in its support, as always.

“With food costs higher than in past years, client attendance numbers have remained steady around 75 households per week. During 2022 there have been approximately 3600 household visits to the pantry with supplemental food distributed to the 9000 individuals in those household visits. These totals include multiple visits by some households during the year, according to their need.

“The Pantry particularly expresses our gratitude to the organizers, contestants, and contributors who participated in the Scrooge Contest which has been fundamental to the pantry’s operation for so many years. Also, we want to acknowledge the community contributions of the Cass County Local Food Policy Council which has distributed live garden food plants and helpful food information to our clients and organized Mobile Food Pantry distributions periodically throughout the year. Our Pantry has also benefited in many ways from its affiliation with Food Bank for the Heartland, the large food bank in Omaha, which provides significant amounts of donated food for distribution in Cass County by its several pantries and other groups.

Thank You!

The Volunteers, Board, and Clients of the Atlantic Food Pantry”

(Radio Iowa)  – It’s the season of giving and many Iowans are wanting to make charitable contributions before the calendar year runs out — out of generosity and for the tax benefits. As you decide who should get a check, Bao Vang at the Better Business Bureau is encouraging us to do our homework to avoid being ripped off. “Watch out for charity name confusion,” Vang says. “Scammers want to trick you into thinking they are someone else, including a reputable, credible organization that you already have a special connection with.”

If you have any doubts, Vang says to do your research to ensure a charity is on the up and up, and don’t donate right away to anyone who calls. “Resist the pressure to give immediately and on the spot,” Vang says. “Rushing you is one of the most common tactics of scammers. When you feel rushed, pause, take a breath and think about the offer.”

If you think you’ve been scammed, go to the BBB’s scam tracker and report it.

On the web at bbb.org

(Glenwood, Iowa) – A traffic stop Saturday in Glenwood resulted in the arrest of a Pottawattamie County man. Glenwood Police Department arrested 36-year-old Rikki Lillard, of Council Bluffs, for Driving under Suspension, Possession of a Controlled Substance and for having Contraband in a Correctional Facility. Lillard’s cash or surety bond was set at $5,300.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The man who has delighted travelers from near and far with his Christmas lights display for more than 50 years, died Sunday, Christmas Day, on his family’s farm. Jack Baird, of rural Red Oak, was 91. His obituary says “Jack loved everything about the joy and message of hope at Christmas time. When he started hanging lights on the farm to brighten the season for his own children, he had no idea of the joy he would bring to thousands of people as he grew the tradition to what it is today. For over five decades, he was always planning the next additions to enhance the display. His happiest moments each year were hearing from others that the lights made their Christmas more special.”

Funeral services for Jack Baird are set for 10:30-a.m. Saturday (Dec. 31st),  at the Center Ridge Presbyterian Church northwest, of Red Oak.  The Baird family said on their social media post today (Tuesday) that “The Christmas lights will be shining 5-10 pm nightly through this Sunday, New Year’s Night, as a loving tribute to the man who always held the spirit of Christmas in his heart.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (December 27, 2022) — The Wellmark Foundation has notified seven organizations in Iowa and South Dakota that they will receive a Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grant funds. These projects, each playing a role in ending food insecurity, will help enhance local food production and build capacity for healthy food consumption. Among the organizations and projects selected to receive a 2022 MATCH Grant from the more than $310,000 in funding, is the City of Atlantic Mollett Park Community Garden Expansion (Atlantic, Iowa). The Mollette Park Community Garden Expansion will increase access to healthy foods by expanding available edible landscaping and community gardens, and building new raised garden beds. In addition, educational signage will be installed regarding the benefits of growing, harvesting and consuming fresh produce. A shared produce stand will be installed for all community members to use.

Elsewhere in the area, a grant was awarded to the Dalla Terra Ranch Foundation, for Improving Farm Efficiency to Expand Impact (Earlham, Iowa).  Supporting the needs of refugee and immigrant farmers, the Dalla Terra Ranch Foundation provides individuals with 3-5 acres of land for up to 5 years, along with business development support. Dalla Terra Ranch Foundation will improve roads, pathways and transportation options to improve efficiency for farmers. New water access and creation of additional fields will allow more farmers to participate, expanding access to local sources of fresh produce.

Laura Jackson, executive vice president, Health Equity, Access and Improvement for Wellmark and Wellmark Foundation board chair, said “Each project included here has the potential to make a positive, long-term impact on the overall health and well-being of their community which will enhance the quality of life for generations to come. We’re excited to see the planning, focus and community engagement within each of the selected applications.”

The grant funds are contingent upon the organizations securing the required dollar-for-dollar match. To ensure community support for these projects, organizations have until March 1 to secure their matching funds. Jackson said “The Wellmark Foundation recognizes sustainable changes take time and we are pleased to continue to offer these grant opportunities to support the overall health and well-being of local communities.”

Since its inception in 1991, The Wellmark Foundation has awarded more than $63 million in grant and special project funding to initiatives that positively impact the well-being of Iowans and South Dakotans.

Here are the other grant recipients and their projects:

• CommUnity Crisis Services Improving Food Security: CommUnity Mobile Pantry Vehicle (Iowa City, Iowa). CommUnity Crisis Services distributes healthy foods to more than 45,000 Johnson County residents. The purchase of “The Farmers’ Truck” will create a mobile pantry aiding in distribution of food, and provide refrigeration services for additional foods such as diary and meat. In addition, a mobile pantry will ease the physical requirements of volunteers.
• Des Moines Area Religious Council DMARC-ket Southside Food Pantry & Healthier New Year Project (Des Moines, Iowa). The Des Moines Area Religious Council will purchase two freezers to support the Southside Food Pantry allowing for additional produce and meat storage and increased shelf life of healthy foods. The Healthier New Year Project will provide food boxes containing fresh produce during the off-season when produce is more expensivve. The boxes, which will support five partner pantries and two mobile units, will also contain a healthy recipe card.
• Eat Greater Des Moines Healthy Food Access for Healthier Habits (Des Moines, Iowa). This healthy food project will allow for the purchase of a refrigerated cargo van that will double the number of deliveries made each day and increase the capacity to partners and organizations with limited staff or resources for transportation. In addition, this project will increase cold food storage capacity and the opportunities to work with local farmers and growers to safely collect, store and deliver fresh, healthy foods.
• Makoce Agriculture Development Regenerative Poultry Production on the Pine Ridge Reservation (Porcupine, South Dakota). Makoce Agriculture Development will provide education, materials and hands-on training to aspiring farm families and producers of all ages. This project also aims to increase community involvement through education on the local food system, poultry production and business opportunities to create a larger food system.
• Youth & Family Services, Inc. Fullerton Farm Production Project (Rapid City, South Dakota). This project will allow for planning and procurement of safe, fresh produce from Fullerton Farm and other local producers by Youth & Family Services (YFS) kitchens that provide meals for YFS participants. New farm infrastructure and personnel will be put in place. In addition, hands-on gardening education programming will be created for children and families.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Montgomery met Tuesday morning at the courthouse in Red Oak, during their regular weekly meeting. The Board received an update from Barry Byers, Assistant to the County Engineer.

(And) He said they’ve been working on their 5-year construction plan and construction budget and 2024 budget on the Engineering side of the budget. Montgomery County Development Corporation Executive Director Steve Adams provided the Board with the MCDC Annual Report. Among the items he spoke about, was the vacant Kmart building.

He said also, they conducted seven small business consultations over the past year, five were business start-ups and two were those with acquisition and expansion plans. The health inspector, he said, was in last week, and the Neighborhood Bake House should be open sometime this week. Adams said also, they will not be renewing their contract with Retail Strategies, after having had 10 different Zoom meetings and one sight visit. The group was hired to conduct retail recruitment for the County.

Montgomery County Township and other officials who were elected in November, 2022, were sworn-in, and sealed bids were opened for fuel. The Board approved a bid by Eric Anderson for $1,128.75 for the supply of fuel. They also acted to approve/disapprove Homestead and Military Credit applications, and scheduled some of the Budget sessions for their next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 3^rd, from 9:30-until 11:30-a.m., and following a break that same day. Additional sessions will be held Wednesday, Jan. 4^th, from 10-a.m. Until Noon, with additional time as necessary.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest at around 12:30-p.m., Monday, of 28-year-old Darren McCay Wilker, from Creston. Wilker was arrested at his residence on two counts of Domestic Abuse Assault. He was taken to the Union County Jail, and later released after seeing the Magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – As 2023 looms, the experts say about eight in ten New Year’s resolutions are broken by the second week in February. One popular vow that’ll be made on Saturday night is to lose weight. Nutritionist Heather Rasmussen says for Iowans who are positively committed to eating right and getting off the couch, they can absolutely get on course to better health. “It should be done all year ‘round but the new year gives people an opportunity to reevaluate what they’re doing both diet-wise and physical activity,” Rasmussen says, “and maybe to change their mindset and create some goals surrounding their health including diet and exercise.”

Anytime you form a goal, she says it allows you a chance to pause, look over your situation and make changes to your lifestyle, even if the change is temporary. Rasmussen says permanently changing dietary habits is extremely difficult, so for those trying to stay on the diet wagon, a slow-and-steady approach may be ideal. “People get overwhelmed and say, ‘Okay, I’m never going to eat pizza again in my entire life,’ and then they just don’t do it because it’s too much,” Rasmussen says. “Thinking about my patients, what are your short-term goals? I know you want to lose 50 pounds but what do you want to do for this month, or this week?”

If you find yourself slipping on your nutritional mission, it might help to scale back long-term goals in favor of more short-term ones. Good habits, especially ones drastically different from typical lifestyles, are hard to start and even harder to keep. Research shows that on average, it takes about 66 days for a habit to become automatic.

(Radio Iowa) – Licenses for a chance to snag one of the state’s most unique fish are now on sale. The D-N-R’s Missouri River fisheries supervisor, Chris Larson, says paddlefishing licenses are on sale through January 7th.”It’s one fish per license that you can purchase two licenses of there’s some available after January one,” he says. The season starts February 1st and runs through April 30th on the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers. The paddlefish season returned in 2015 and Larson says there are still many who like to participate. “It’s kind of remained pretty steady the last few years, it’s been around 300 to 400 licenses sold per year. Most of the non residents only sell out — there are 50 non-resident licenses — but we have plenty of resident licenses available,” he says.

Paddlefishing stopped in 1986 to protect fish numbers, and Larson says they have done okay since things restarted. “They’ve remained stable over our sampling. We did some sampling back in the middle 2000s and Nebraska and Missouri also look at their populations,” Larson says. “They’re all pretty steady as far as the numbers go, and paddlefish move all up and down the river. They go from Gavin’s Point Dam up north of Sioux City, all the way down to Tennessee and back.”

Paddlefish are snagged on the bottom of the river with heavy duty rods and 50 to 100 pound test line. Larson says you need to physically be ready because snagging involves more work than simply dropping a line in the water and waiting — but he says it’s also not that difficult to do. The drought has left water levels lower in the Missouri — which Larson says may be a good thing for those seeking the paddlefish.

Paddlefish catch(DNR-photo)

“It should probably help concentrate the fish into the deeper pools. So yes, it could be an advantage advantageous season depending on what Mother Nature does with snowfall and snow melt and stuff,” he says. I know in the past I’ve heard from different paddlefish anglers that they do better earlier in the season before the fish start moving up river. And sometimes they do better later in the season because it’s been too cold and the fish aren’t moving yet. So it kind of varies from year to year.”

A resident paddlefish license costs 25-50 and a nonresident license is 49 dollars. You must also have a valid Iowa fishing license. For more information about Iowa’s special paddlefish season, visit www.iowadnr.gov/paddlefish.