(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is reminding persons interested in hunting during the upcoming seasons, that hunter safety classes are being offered in Cass County next month (September). There are limited number of classes. Anyone born after January 1, 1972 needs to be certified in order to purchase a license. 11 years and older may attend hunter safety. Youth under the age of 16 can get a license without hunter education but must be hunting with a licensed adult.

If you have any questions regarding hunter safety, please go to the Iowa department of natural resources’ (DNR) website.

(Radio Iowa) – Deere & Company, Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer, is releasing its third quarter earnings report today (Friday) in an online conference call. Deere officials say the company is continuing to grow and thrive in the face of economic setbacks in the global marketplace. Rachel Bach is Deere’s manager of investor communications. Bach says, “John Deere achieved higher production rates in the third quarter resulting in a 25% increase in net sales, despite ongoing supply challenges.” The Quad Cities-based Deere reports net income of $1.88 billion for the third quarter, compared with net income of $1.66 billion in the third quarter last year.  “Financial results for the quarter included an 18% margin for the equipment operations,” Bach says. “Ag fundamentals remain solid with our order books beginning to fill for model year ’23 products reflecting continued healthy demand as we look ahead.”

For the first nine months of the company’s fiscal year, net income reached $4.88 billion, also an increase from $4.68 billion for the same period last year. The production and precision agriculture division reports sales increased for the quarter, which officials say was due to higher shipment volumes and price realization. “The construction forestry markets also continue to benefit from demand contributing to the division’s strong performance in the quarter,” Bach says. “Similarly, order books are now extending into 2023 providing visibility into the new year.”

With one quarter remaining in the company’s fiscal year, net income attributable to Deere is forecast to be in a range of seven to seven-point-two billion dollars. “Net sales and revenues were up 22% to $14.1 billion, while net sales for the equipment operations were up 25% to $13-billion,” Bach says. “Net income attributable to Deere & Company was $1.884 billion or $6.16 per diluted share.”

In a news release, Deere chairman and C-E-O John May said: “We’re proud of the extraordinary efforts by our employees to increase factory output and get products to customers under challenging circumstances. At the same time, our results reflected higher costs and production inefficiencies driven by the difficult supply-chain situation.”

(Allamakee County, Iowa) – An investigation into the May 9, 2022 death of a northeastern Iowa man has resulted in an arrest. The Lansing/New Albin Police Departments along with the Iowa DCI announced today (Friday), 67-year-old Andrew Raymond Karvel is charged with Murder in the 1st Degree, in connection with the death of 83-year-old Daniel William Lundy, in the Lansing/New Albin area. Police responding to a medical call where a man was unconscious and not breathing, determined Lundy was deceased.

Karvel remains in the Allamakee County Jail, where he is being held without bond. The investigation remains active. Authorities say no further information will be released at this time.

The Lansing/New Albin Police Department is being assisted by the Iowa DCI’s Major Crimes Unit, Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Thursday, of 37-year-old Jacob Jones, from Glenwood. Jones was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, until seen by a magistrate judge.

(Radio Iowa) – August has been a busy month for an 18-year-old from northern Iowa who is the 2022 Iowa State Fair Queen. Mary Ann Fox of Osage was crowned the queen of the Mitchell County Fair on August 3rd and 10 days later she won this year’s State Fair Queen contest. “It was quick, it was exciting and I like to say that it didn’t give me a chance to get my nerves running. I just got thrown into it,” Fox says, with a laugh. She does not consider herself a pageant person. “Not at all!” she says. “This definitely wasn’t anything that I had specifically wanted to accomplish.. I was just here to promote my county and promote my background and promote agriculture.”

Fox graduated from Osage High School this spring. As state fair queen, she has been awarded eight-thousand dollars in scholarship money. “Starting on Monday, I will be a freshman at Iowa State University,” Fox says, “and I will be majoring in ag engineering.” Fox was recently elected as a regional officer in the Future Farmers of America officer. Her dad raises corn and cattle. “I like to say that my future plans within the 10 or so years are to find an answer to a problem going on in agriculture and just to make farmers like my dad — make their lives easier,” Fox says. “…I love looking out at a field of corn, so I just hope to end up there again.”

Mary Ann Fox. (Iowa State Fair photo)

The job of State Fair Queen means Fox is spending a fair amount of time in the livestock rings, handing out ribbons to exhibitors showing all sorts of animals. “I’ve had some people tell me to be careful so one of them doesn’t step on my foot,” Fox says, ” but I know my way around the animals and I’m just there to see the smiles on the 4-H and FFA members’ faces as I hand them their purple ribbon.” Fox has attended the state fair all her life, but has never been an exhibitor. Fox was crowned State Fair Queen last Saturday night and she says there was a bit of a mad dash soon after. “Growing up on the farm, I have three times as many jeans as dresses, so I definitely had to go shopping for dresses on Sunday morning,” Fox says, with a laugh. “Since then I’ve loved just being able to be at the Fair every single day and being able to watch the sun rise in the morning and the sun set at night. I just love it here.”

The final day of the 2022 Iowa State Fair is Sunday, but Fox will continue in her role through the opening weekend of the 2023 State Fair. She’s planning to visit as many county fairs and events next summer as she can.

The Atlantic Police Department will be partnering with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic, IA on Monday August 22nd for a special traffic enforcement project. Officers and Deputies will be focusing part of our enforcement in the city of Atlantic and part in the county. The Labor Day “Step Wave” is underway now, through September 5, 2022, with law enforcement agencies focused this “Step Wave,” on Impaired Drivers.

Always remember to plan ahead if you will be celebrating with an impairing substance. If you plan to indulge, plan for a sober driver to take you home. Call someone to give you a ride if you feel impaired! Is it your turn to be the designated driver? Take the role seriously and do not partake in alcohol or any other drugs.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two men were arrested Thursday, on separate warrants. 35-year-old Keegan Patrick Rooney, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on two Mills County warrants for Violation of Probation. He was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail and held on a $10,000 bond. And, 42-year-old Randy Dean Burton, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday night on a Douglas County, Nebraska, warrant for Failure to Appear. Burton was being held without bond, in the Mills County Jail.

(8-a.m. News)

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston, Thursday morning, arrested a woman wanted on a Union County warrant for Theft in the 4th Degree. 54-year-old Bertha Mayes, of Creston, was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, and later released on a $1,000 bond.

(Iowa DOT Roadside chat) – Many Iowa school districts open their doors for students next week, which means you’ll be seeing school buses loaded with our most precious cargo. Do you know when it is safe and legal to pass a school bus?

SCENARIO 1: YOU ARE TRAVELING ON A TWO- OR THREE-LANE ROAD

• Approaching the bus from the rear: When you see flashing red or amber warning lights, you are not permitted to pass the school bus and should be prepared to stop. Stop behind the school bus when the school bus stops and the stop arm is extended. Stop no closer than 15 feet from the rear of the bus and remain stopped until the stop arm is retracted and the school bus starts moving again. Proceed with caution.
• Meeting the bus from the front: When you see amber warning lights flashing you must slow your vehicle to no more than 20 mph and be prepared to stop. Stop in front of the school bus when the school bus stops and its stop arm is extended. Remain stopped until the stop arm is retracted. Proceed with caution.

SCENARIO 2: YOU ARE TRAVELING ON A ROAD WITH TWO OR MORE LANES IN EACH DIRECTION 

• Approaching the bus from the rear: When approaching from the rear, the rules are the same as for a two- or three-lane road. When you see flashing red or amber warning lights, you are not permitted to pass the school bus and should be prepared to stop. Stop behind the school bus when the school bus stops and its stop arm is extended. Stop no closer than 15 feet from the rear of the bus, and remain stopped until the stop arm is retracted and the school bus starts moving again. Proceed with caution.
• Meeting the bus from the front: When meeting the bus in one of the opposite two lanes (or more), you do not need to stop, even if the bus has stopped with lights flashing and stop arm out. The bus is not permitted to load or unload children who must cross this type of roadway unless there are official traffic control devices or law enforcement present. This is the only time you may pass a school bus that is stopped and has its stop arm extended.

Find out more at https://iowadot.gov/schoolbus/highway-safety/requiredstopping.

(Radio Iowa) – The annual Sergeant Floyd Memorial Encampment is taking place this weekend in Sioux City. Floyd was the only member of the Lewis and Clark party to die during the exploration of the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Dan Whitlock is a member of the Sergeant Floyd tri-state chapter, which recreates what was known as the Corp of Discovery Expedition. “On the grass area there they’re going to pitch their tents and set up a campsite and it will be arranged as well as we can make it look similar to what the campsite might have looked like when the Corps was here. We try to make it as historically accurate as we can,” he says.

The encampment Saturday coincides with the actual date of Sergeant Floyd in August of 1804. Whitlock says a painted rock patterned after the freedom rocks in Iowa will be dedicated as part of this year’s event. “It’s technically not a freedom rock, because it’s a different depiction. We’re not depicting just the U-S military’s and honoring the soldiers that have been in conflict,” he says. “We’re showing images of different scenes of what took place on August 20 of 1804 when Floyd died was buried.”

Sgt. Floyd encampment (Sioux City Public Museum photo)

Floyd was buried on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River where a monument to him now stands. Whitlock says the expedition rock is located further upriver. “After they were finished burying Floyd, they got in their boats, went upriver and camped overnight at Floyd River,” Whitlock says. “I think in my opinion — just based on what I’ve read — probably the planning for what to do next started there.”

The rock dedication is set for 10 a-m Saturday. A reenactment of Floyd’s burial will be held Saturday at 6 p-m at the Floyd Monument. The activities for the event are free on both Saturday and Sunday.