(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.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – A traffic stop at around 10-p.m., Sunday, in Shenandoah, resulted in a man’s arrest on drug charges. Authorities report a vehicle was stopped for an equipment violation in the 800 block of W. Nishna Road, and upon further investigation, the driver, 51-year-old Richard Jay Wells, of Fort Madison, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. Wells was also cited for Failure to Provide Proof of insurance (non-accident related), and Open Container. Additional charges are pending.

(Carson, Iowa) – Officials with the City of Carson said Monday that the City experienced a loss of water pressure Monday morning, due to a broken water main.  The leaking main was isolated.  Residents were reported to  have water, but the water pressure may be low.

Officials say “It will take some time for the water tower to restore regular water pressure,” and they apologized for the inconvenience.  As a precaution, the City of Carson remains in a boil order for the entire community until further notice.  The water conservation declaration remains in place.  Residents should boil water as a precaution. Bring all water used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth or preparing food to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using. Or, use bottled water. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water. Tap water can be used for bathing and similar purpose.

For more information regarding the boil order and water conservation declaration visit www.carsongov.com.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report Officers were dispatched at around 6:12-p.m. Monday, to 11 South Shore Drive at Lake Manawa State Park, to assist the fire department with a water rescue. It was reported a 17 year old male and a 17 year old female were in the water at the time of call.

When officers arrived, the two subjects were at the edge of ice holding themselves up. Water level was currently at their shoulder height. Upon the fire departments water rescue team arrival, divers pulled each of them out of the water and transported them to an ambulance.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

Both subjects were transported and treated at Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. At this time it does not appear the injuries are life threatening.

(Radio Iowa) – Studies find nearly 75% of crashes in Iowa happen in less than two inches of snow, and researchers at the University of Iowa are looking into the ideal commute times. Professor Jon Davis, in the UI Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, says the timing of your drive can make a world of difference. “The commute is something that we often don’t think about as part of the actual workday in regards to health and safety,” Davis says, “but it really is, for a lot of people, the most dangerous thing they do all day.”

More people on the roads means more opportunities for a collision, and when the roads are slick from rain or snow, the risks of a fender-bender rise exponentially — especially during the busy morning commutes.

Jon Davis (UI photo)

“In our work, we actually looked at the different commute times and where we saw winter weather really playing a role in crashes began around 6:30 and didn’t start to taper off until 9,” Davis says. “So, if you can wait longer or avoid it all together, you are going to improve the safeness of your drive.”

During the height of the pandemic lockdown, 40% of Iowans were working remotely, and that number is still 25-to-30%. When the weather’s foul, Davis suggests if you can work from home, do, or at least go in later.

“If you delay your commute into work, you’re really increasing your safe drive,” Davis says. “It’s a lot less hazardous. Even waiting 30 minutes or an hour to go into work — and for those who can work remotely, you can completely remove that risk. It only takes a small amount of snow to make that drive more hazardous.”

The UI research found workplaces that adopt policies for flexible work start times or for telecommuting will empower workers to avoid hazardous driving conditions. “We put time and resources into making work-from-home easy. People have set up home offices, learned how to use different software to do virtual meetings, so let’s make use of that infrastructure,” Davis says. “For those people who have that option, it’s great if they can exercise that option when weather is bad.”

If you have to be at work in person and the weather’s foul, remember to dress for the conditions, bring along blankets, snacks, water, have a fully-charged cell phone and a full tank of gas.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports two arrests:

• On Dec. 11th, 48-year-old Jeremy Leslie Williams, of Clarinda, was arrested for Assault with Bodily Injury, following an incident that occurred at the Page County Jail. Inmate Dylan Joseph Hansen was allegedly assaulted by Inmate Williams. WIlliams’ bond was set at $1,000 (with 10% to the courts).
• On Dec. 19th, 52-year-old Bryan Allen Dennis, of Omaha NE., was arrested on an active Page County Warrant for interference with official acts. Bond was set at $300 (cash or surety).

“A charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

(Radio Iowa) – The 2023 Iowa legislature will convene next Monday, with Republicans holding a super majority in the Senate and Republicans in 64% of the seats in the House. The minority leaders in the legislature started meeting with State Auditor Rob Sand after Democrats had a disappointing 2022 Election.

“Three of us came together on Election Night and realized that we were sort of a next generation of leaders. We were all elected in 2018 — all three of us and here we are, in charge,” House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says. “We decided that it was important that the three of us sit down and have conversations about what of what we can do moving forward.”

Sand, who will start his second term as state auditor next week, was the only Democrat running for statewide office who won in November. “I think that a lot of people appreciate that I have just a different approach to politics,” Sand says. “We’re in a place where it seems like a lot of people want to divide us, They want us to look at each other and think that we’re enemies and I take the opposite approach.”

Sand says a lot of people are hungry for public officials who do things differently. “I guess my permanent position on this stuff is I want to serve the whole public,” Sand says. “I recognize that being the only statewide or federal Democrat means there are some expectations on me and I’m happy to be helpful because I think the party has a lot to offer.”

With Republicans in charge of the legislative and executive branches of state government, Konfrst says the goal is to make it clear what Democrats would do differently.

“Iowans are tired of divisive politics. They’re tired extremism. They’re tired of people just playing politics,” Konfrst says, “and we want to point out when moves are made up here that we think are purely political and not what Iowans are asking for.”

Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says “turning down the volume” on political rhetoric and finding solutions is important. “We’ll work with anybody — Republican, Democrat, independent — who wants to move Iowa forward,” Wahls says. “We know that there are a lot of challenges facing our state.”

There will be 16 Democrats in the Iowa Senate next year — with Republicans holding a 34-seat supermajority. In the House, Democrats will hold 36 of the 100 seats.