(Harlan, Iowa) – The Board of Supervisors in Shelby County met Tuesday morning at their meeting room, in Harlan. Auditor Mark Maxwell reports in his minutes of the meeting, that Todd Valline appeared before the Board to present current happenings and urgent notifications that are prevailing in the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Valline noted that the free lunch program initiated during the covid pandemic has been stopped, the Shelby County Food pantry is in dire need of food and funding.

Tony Buman, Shelby County Assessor, was on hand also, to present three separate parcels for tax abatement the parcels for abatement totaled $1,760.00. Two were not listed as exempt, one was a mobile home on another owners property that did not get taken off the tax rolls when it was removed several years ago. (The parcel numbers were 832812000006, 830727404900 and 832702000070). All three Supervisors voted in favor of the abatements.

Shelby County Treasurer Carolyn Blum reported her office was having software issues that had not been receiving immediate attention when the deadlines approach from the financial software vendor Tyler Corporation.

Bryce Schaben, Shelby County Roadside Manager, Wellness Coordinator and Safety Coordinator was present and announced his retirement to the Board of Supervisors. Schaben asked the Board to approve Melissa Arkfeld to his position of Wellness Coordinator starting November 2nd, 2022 and the Safety Coordinator position be approved to be Jake Holloway. The Supervisors approved both nominations.

Shelby County Auditor, Mark Maxwell advised the board that his office is preparing for the September 13th Harlan Community School District Election ballot that contains two measures for consideration. A portion of the Annex building has been vacated by Iowa community Kitchen. There are two trees that need to be removed from the Courthouse grounds, the Supervisors advised the Auditor to get someone from Shelby County to do the work. The annual TIF Debt Certificate was presented to the Supervisors for approval by Auditor Maxwell. The certificate details income and expenses by the County TIF ordinances in fiscal year 2022.

The Corley Community Club submitted application to the State of Iowa for their annual liquor license renewal, it requires Supervisors approval. Noting no issues with the Corley Community Club, a motion to that effect was passed unanimously.

The Shelby County Board of Supervisors then considered the expenditure of the budgeted $6,000 to be paid out in fiscal year 2023 for a beaver bounty. Keeping the waterway damaging beaver population controlled has been a boon to county outdoor maintenance departments and has made soil and water conservation structures less prone to damage from the controlled population of the animals. The bounty was then approved by the Supervisors by a unanimous vote after a motion to approve a $25.00 per tail bounty including the fact that the tails are limited to 20 at one time per application and also 20 per person per week.

Brandon Burmeister, Shelby County Engineer, told the Board he is currently working on a wage scale for foreman positions in his department. The immediate need has been found in the Bridge Foreman position. The Board approved granting the bridge foreman an immediate $1.00 an hour increase in wages. The Supervisors then asked Burmeister to continue the wage scale discussions and present the wage scale proposal at budget time. Burmeister said also, a road grinder rented has assisted in the remakes of granular road surfaces. It was noted that the results seem to be turning out very well. Many other current projects were presented to the Supervisors before they adjourned their session.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in the Glenwood area are discussing what may happen to the property once the state facility that provides residential care to adults with intellectual disabilities is closed in 2024. Devin Embray, the superintendent of Glenwood schools, says his district had developed plans to build a new elementary school, but they’re now evaluating whether a building on the Glenwood Resource Center campus can be renovated.

Embray says the state would have to agree to turn over a building that’s ready for development, however.

The Glenwood Resource Center campus covers a thousand acres and at one time the middle school for the Glenwood Community School District was on the property. The Glenwood School District has just under two-thousand students and officials are concerned about enrollment losses as employees at the Glenwood Resource Center leave the community for work elsewhere. Embray says his district is working with Iowa Western Community Community College and Iowa Workforce Development about retraining programs for the state employees.

(Davenport, Iowa) – One person died when they were struck by a semi tractor trailer Tuesday night, on the northwest side of Davenport. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2018 Freightliner semi was traveling west on Interstate 80 near mile marker 291 at around 9-p.m.  A passenger car was stopped on the inside shoulder. An occupant of the car exited the vehicle and walked into the path of the semi, before being struck. The person died at the scene. Their name was withheld pending notification of family.

The driver of the semi, 46-year-old Kurt Von Dallmeyer, of Wellman, was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

Fort Madison, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reported Tuesday (today), that 82-year-old John L Barrett was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 1:25 A.M., Saturday, September 3, 2022 while in hospice at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Barrett was housed at the facility due to chronic illness.

Barrett had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 1st Degree from Pottawattamie County. He began serving his most recent sentence on August 1, 1986.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, Tuesday afternoon, said a man from Warren County died from injuries he suffered during a rollover accident Monday night, east of Greenfield. The Sheriff says 42-year-old Sean Alein Hagen, of Prole, was driving a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, westbound on Highway 92 at around 10:30-p.m., when the SUV left the road and entered the north ditch near 2432 Highway 92.

The vehicle continued westbound and re-entered Highway 92 before going back into the north ditch. The SUV continued westbound in the ditch, striking a No Passing sign. It re-entered the roadway again, at the intersection with Orange Avenue and Highway 92, where the vehicle went into the north ditch and rolled about 3 1/2 times before coming to rest.

Hagen – who did not wear a seat belt -was ejected from the vehicle through the roof. While providing aid to him, medics advised they could smell alcohol coming from Hagen, and they advised he informed them he had previously consumed alcohol, prior to the accident. He died at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – Michigan based Trinity Health completed its acquisition of the Iowa-based MercyOne medical system on September 1st. MercyOne C-E-O Bob Ritz says patients across Iowa won’t notice any immediate change as the early transition involves business systems. “We have two different sets of what I’ll call infrastructure, underneath operating our organization, we’ll be moving to one,” he says. “So rather than having two payroll systems, for example, we’ll have one.” Ritz says this process will take two years to complete and that’s when patients will notice the change.

“Patients will see a marked improvement in our ability to move their information with them wherever they go in our system of care. So we have upwards of 400 locations across Iowa,”he says, “and if a patient moves from location one to location two because they need to get additional services or see a different doctor, or whatever the case may be, all that information will go with them.”

He says that should be ready by the spring of 2024. Ritz says there are no plans to rename MercyOne, and they don’t anticipate any drop in employee numbers. Ritz says they are still struggling to find staff in what he calls the prolonged aftermath of a global pandemic. “We continue to rely on outside agencies to help us with temporary staffing. And we see that across the country. And I don’t want to use the word all hospitals, but I would I would bet safely that the majority of hospitals in the country are having the same type of situation,” Ritz says.

Ritz says staffing will continue to be an issue moving forward — just as it is for a lot of businesses. “It’s been a big challenge to help all the colleagues that are part of our organization, we get the help they need to take care of the patients we care for. We’ve relied on outside agencies, and they’ve been great for us. But it’s not, you know, it’s not a long term solution. And it’s, quite frankly, it’s very, very costly,” according to Ritz.

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the country with operations in25 states. MercyOne was founded in 1998 through a collaboration between Catholic Health Initiatives, now CommonSpirit Health, and Trinity Health.

(Radio Iowa) – A southeast Iowa educator has been placed on administrative leave and a student faces expulsion after the video of an incident at Pekin Community School District building was posted on social media Friday. The video shows a student punching and kicking another student while on the floor in a lunchroom.

After several punches and kicks to the head, a staffer can be heard saying stop and then the staffer enters the frame, but the assault continued. Even after being separated for a few moments, the student kicked the downed female victim two more times before leaving the frame.

A statement from Pekin Superintendent Derek Philips stated the event “does not meet our high expectations for a safe school environment.” Once the video was circulated on social media, questions arose about how the staffer handled the situation. The staffer, who is not identified, has been put on leave with pay until further review.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Sept. 6, 2022) — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today (Tuesday) on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November.

“The weather could not have been better for Farm Progress Show attendees last week as exhibitors highlighted and demonstrated the latest innovations across the ag sector,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “Now that we are past the Labor Day holiday and the days of summer dwindle, farmers are keeping a close eye on outlooks in preparation for harvest. With the potential for warm and dry conditions through fall, we need to remain vigilant for potential fire hazards as combines start to roll.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report

Continuing mostly dry conditions across most of the State resulted in 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending September 4, 2022, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Fieldwork included harvesting corn for silage, cutting hay, seeding cover crops, and preparing equipment for harvest.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 16 percent very short, 30 percent short, 53 percent adequate and 1 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 19 percent very short, 31 percent short, 49 percent adequate and 1 percent surplus. Moisture levels in the Northwest, West Central, Southwest, South Central and Southeast Districts of Iowa continued to be a concern with over 50 percent of both topsoil and subsoil considered short to very short.

Corn in or beyond dough stage was 96 percent. Seventy-one percent of Iowa’s corn crop reached the dent stage or beyond, 3 days behind last year but 1 day ahead of average. Ten percent of the State’s corn crop was mature, 2 days behind both last year and the 5-year average. Corn condition remained 66 percent good to excellent. Ninety-seven percent of soybeans were setting pods. Soybeans coloring or beyond reached 20 percent, 5 days behind last year and 4 days behind the 5-year average. Soybeans began dropping leaves at 2 percent, 1 week behind last year and almost a week behind the average. Soybean condition rated 66 percent good to excellent. Oats harvested for grain neared completion at 96 percent.

Seventy-six percent of the State’s third cutting of alfalfa hay was complete, 5 days behind average. Pasture condition rated 32 percent good to excellent. Producers were supplementing short pastures with hay and grain.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Harlan Police Department report six arrests took place from August 18th through Sept. 1st.

September 1, 2022: Donald David Jacobsen, age 42, Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Jacobsen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault.

August 31, 2022: Ricky Lee Komor Jr, age 21, Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Komor was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with driving while suspended and possession of a controlled substance; Alejandro Hernandez, age 21, Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop. Hernandez was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with driving while suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia; Tammy Jo Sales, age 53, Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop. Sales was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with driving while suspended, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance.

August 20th: Mamuch Diw Guin, age 32, Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Guin was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

August 18, 2022: Lydell Jay Smith, age 36, Omaha, NE, was arrested on an active warrant. Smith was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports four property damage (no injury) accidents took place between Aug 19th and the 31st…

• 08/19/2022: Cheryl Beaver of rural Clarinda, was operating a 2013 Lincoln MKT pulling northbound out of her driveway in the 2400 block of 180th. Cael Wagoner was operating a 2011 Chevy Silverado traveling west on 180th just east of Beaver’s driveway. Beaver stated that she didn’t see Wagoner’s vehicle and struck it. No injuries were reported. No damage was reported to Wagoner’s vehicle. Beaver’s vehicle was estimated at $2000.
• 08/20/2022: Megan Sands of Red Oak, was the driver and only occupant of a 2020 Ford Escape traveling northbound in the 1800 block of E Ave. The passenger side tires of Sands vehicle dropped off the pavement. Sands vehicle went into the east ditch, struck a guide wire for a power pole which cause the vehicle to roll in the northbound ditch. No injuries were reported. Damage to Sands vehicle estimated at $35,000.
• 08/22/2022 Osvaldo Munoz of Fort Smith, AR was operating a 2005 Ford Mustang turning east onto Highway 2 from W Avenue. Scott Hardy of rural Shenandoah, was operating a 2014 Ford F150 eastbound on Highway 2. Munoz pulled into the path of Hardy and then continued to drive eastbound on Highway 2. Hardy followed and called PAGECOMM dispatch. Munoz stopped in New Market, IA approximately 3 miles from the accident scene. No injuries were reported. Damage to Munoz’s vehicle is estimated at $500. Damage to Hardy’s vehicle is estimated at $2500.00. Munoz was cited for Failure to possess a valid License.
• and on August 31st, David Weuve of Haverhill was operating a 2012 Peterbilt pulling a livestock trailer southbound on Highway 71 in the 1200 block. Weuve struck a cow owned by Dustin Fast of rural Villisca, that had wandered onto the Highway. Damage to Weuve’s vehicle was estimated at $20,000. The value of Fast’s cow was estimated at $1,500.