(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning (Nov. 13th), will canvass votes from the Nov. 5, 2024 General Election. The canvass takes place as part of the regular weekly Board meeting, which begins at 8:30-a.m. Wednesday, in the Red Oak Courthouse Supervisor’s Meeting Room. Following a canvass of the votes, the Board will act on passing a resolution certifying the outcome of votes cast during the General Election, as outlined in the Code of Iowa.

In other, regular business, the Board will act on approving the Treasurer’s semi-annual report ending-fund balance as of Oct. 31, 2024, in the amount of $15,280,458. They will also act on approving the Recorder’s report of fees for Oct. 31st, in the amount of $22,958.50, and Claims payable for Nov. 13th, in the amount of $1,284,556.94.

The next, regular meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors takes place on Tue., Nov. 19th, beginning at 8:30-a.m.

(Radio Iowa) – While today (Monday) is Veterans Day, a solemn service on Wednesday will recognize three former Iowa State University alumni who served in the military and made the ultimate sacrifice. Megan Moore, with the I-S-U Memorial Union, says the Gold Star Hall Ceremony has been a tradition on the Ames campus for more than two decades. “Our first honoree is Air Force Second Lieutenant Max Harvey Collins. He died when his aircraft crashed on takeoff during the Korean War,” Moore says. “We are also honoring James Wayne Harrick, Junior. He was a captain in the Air Force, and he was on a mission when his plane was lost near North Vietnam.”

This year’s third honoree is Army First Lieutenant Sidney Peterson, who served in World War Two and died after taking on anti-aircraft fire aboard a B-26 Marauder. “These wonderful service members were young men, and they were Iowa State students studying various degrees here, and so part of the ceremony is we tell their personal story,” Moore says. “We tell from the very beginning, stories from when they were born and what their family life was like, and then we do go into detail of what their life was like here at Iowa State.”

Wednesday’s program is scheduled to begin at 4:15 P-M at the ISU Memorial Union.  “The Gold Star Hall Ceremony did start in 2003 and it’s our way to remember and honor Iowa State students who died while serving their country,” Moore says. “Their names are engraved into the walls and so every year, we select a handful of our service members who are in the Gold Star Hall to be honored at our ceremony.”

The Memorial Union was built in 1928 as a memorial to Iowa State students who died in World War One. It has continued to be a living memorial for students who died in future conflicts and names have been added to the walls throughout the years.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will meet Wednesday (Nov. 13th), beginning at 9-a.m. in their courthouse Boardroom. On their agenda is:

• A Quarterly Report from Cass County Conservation Executive Director Micah Lee, for the quarter ending June 30, 20224.
• An Annual Report from the Cass County Library Association.
• A presentation by Cass County Tourism President Laura Kanning, with regard to a new, interactive brochure.

The Board will also discuss, and possibly act on:

• A lease agreement with the 4th Judicial District as it pertains to County-owned property off of S. Walnut Street.
• The issuance of a county credit card with a $2,500 spending limit, to Cass County Public Safety Communications Director Mike Kennon, and Bobbi Jo Steffensmeier.
• Approval of a Federal-Aid agreement for the replacement of Bridge 269, over the Jim Branch of 660th Street.

And, the Cass County Board of Supervisors will receive a regular report from County Engineer Trent Wolken before conducting the 1st Tier of the November 5, 2024 General Election Results.

(The full agenda and Zoom link/Call-in information can be found here:Agenda – 2024.11.13 – for publication-2)

DES MOINES, Iowa — The jury has come to a verdict following the two-week-long court case of the Safris family vs. Urbandale Schools. WHO-TV reports the lawsuit was filed by the Safris family alleging that negligence and ignorance of policy led to their daughter being assaulted by a male classmate during her middle school English class, eventually causing her to become suicidal. Their daughter had sent nudes to a male classmate in the fall of 2018, he later began assaulting her and sharing the nudes with others in the school after she refused to go out with him.

The jury has been tasked with determining if the school was negligent in its supervision of the classroom and reporting the incident. They have also been asked to determine if the alleged assault has permanently affected the girl, resulting in lifelong consequences. The Safris family alleges that because the photos were reportedly spread throughout the school and several students were aware of them, administrators and teachers should have also noticed something and opened an investigation. The defense argues that nobody ever reported the issues, not even the victim or students, so they weren’t aware. They also explained their in-depth policy, ensuring that if they had been aware of the issue they would have acted swiftly and made sure the issue was addressed.

The jury heard testimonies from teachers and students in the school, each providing different perspectives on whether they knew about the photos and if they knew there were issues surrounding the victim and the male classmate. They also heard from several administrators who laid out their clear policy and all the steps they took. Finally, psychologists were asked to give their perspectives on the issue and the lasting effect of the incident on the victim.

The jury was also presented with evidence proving the existence of policies and procedures that were in place to keep the students safe. They also saw messages that were exchanged between administrators and the family. The court also presented the jury with a detailed outline of the sequence of events beginning with the fall of 2018 until the present day.

The jury was released to deliberate at the end of court Thursday, they reconvened at 9 a.m. on Friday where they remained sequestered until a verdict was reached. A verdict has been reached but the full report was not immediately released due to the Veteran’s Day holiday.

(Mound City, MO.) – The Missouri State Patrol reports a man from Council Bluffs was injured during a motorcycle accident Sunday night, in northwest Missouri. The unidentified 48-year-old male suffered serious injuries and was transported to the Fairfax County (MO.) Community Hospital before being flown by LifeFlight to the Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

According to the report, the crash occurred at around 9-p.m. Sunday, as the 1984 Honda motorcycle was traveling south on Highway AA. The machine struck a deer and then skidded across the center line of the road before traveling off the east side of the road. The motorcycle came to rest on its right side off the east side of the road.

The Missouri State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Atchison County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department.

(Creston, Iowa) – Three people were arrested on separate charges over the last three days, in Creston. According to the Creston Police Department, 26-year-old Gordon McKensie Carroll, Jr., of Osceola, was arrested at around 1:24-a.m. Sunday, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arrested in the 400 block of New York Avenue, and transported to the Union County Jail. He later posted a $1,300 bond before being released.

There were two arrests Friday, in Creston: At around 7:07-p.m., 47-year-old William Peter Fargo, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Failure To Appear on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Fargo was booked into the Union County Jail and later posted at $1,000 bond; And, 43-year-old Clinton Lawrence Hoffman, of Diagonal, was arrested at around 11:19-p.m., Friday, for OWI/2nd offense. Hoffman was later released after posting a $2,000 bond.

Creston Police said also, an individual reported Friday morning, that his silver, 2014 Chevy Impala was stolen. The loss was estimated at $1,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Enrollment at the three state universities has been holding steady recently, but there are some challenges ahead. Regents associate academic officer Jason Pontius says enrollment remains down from the record peak in the fall of 2016.  “Forty percent of that drop over that time are from Chinese national students who are choosing not to attend our universities,” he says. “And another factor that is influencing that is nationally, there’s been about a seven to ten percentage point drop in the percent of high school graduates that are choosing to go to college.”

He says there has been some recovery of the international students. “That recovery is not coming from Chinese students. It is actually coming, in part, from students from India that are increasingly attending our universities,” Pontius says. The enrollment at Iowa State, the University of Iowa and Northern Iowa is about 81 percent undergraduate students, and around 59 percent of those students are Iowa residents. Pontius says one of the issues ahead is a drop in the size of high school classes.  “Looking at a 15 percent decline between 2025 and 2029,” he says. “That data is coming from American Community Survey data. It is a sample, and generally speaking, the samples are pretty good.”

Pontius says the decline is going to likely hit nationally, but it is not evenly distributed,  “So there are major differences by region and state. The two regions that are expected to be hit the hardest are the Northeast and the Midwest, and with the least amount of impact in generally the South,” Pontius says.  Pontius says some are calling it an enrollment cliff, but he doesn’t believe it will be that severe. “While the nation looks like the class of fall of 2025 is going to be the high water mark, we are going to go it looks like a little bit higher in 2026 before the decline begins,” he says. “So yes, there is a decline. I hesitate to call it a cliff. And yes, we are looking to have the second one starting again around 2034.”

He says another issue the state schools face are surveys showing more high school graduates going directly into the workforce and bypassing college. ” That climbed in particular during COVID. Obviously, the hourly wage has gone up significantly during that time, and that may be driving some of it, and it also probably is driving some of the decline in college going rates,” he says.

Pontius made his comments during a report to the Board of Regents at their meeting last week.

(Radio Iowa) – An eastern Iowa company that offers innovations for the quilting industry is marking its 50th year in business this week with a series of events, give-aways, classes and celebrations. Melissa McAfee, president and owner of Nolting Manufacturing, based in Hiawatha, says they make what are known as “longarm” quilting machines, which are a big help for individual home quilters all the way up to the industrial level.

“Doing a large quilt like queen size or king size, it can be really difficult to try to have consistency in your stitches and the way it looks and a lot of fabric to try to get through that small area,” McAfee says, “whereas your longarm actually is on a big frame, and you walk with it. You have it all set out so your machine moves versus your fabric moving.” A series of 14 classes are being offered for novices and experts in a range of quilting-related topics.

“We have classes starting here on Tuesday, throughout the whole week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday classes, and we have some free, some paid classes,” McAfee says. “They’re all on our website, www.nolting.com, and we’re going to be having some cake and lots of specials on our longarms.” While it’s predominantly something women do, McAfee says plenty of men are involved in quilting, especially from the technology side. Plus, she says quilting isn’t just for grandmothers, either.

Nolting Pro – Longarm Quilting Machine (Nolting image)

“When I first purchased the business in 2019, the overall quilting market was about $4.2 billion,” she says. “A market survey just came out showing that in the next year or so, it’s going to be up to a $5-billion market, so it is growing, and it’s growing fast.” The company was founded in 1974 by Fred Nolting, who designed and engineered the longarm quilting machine.