(Guthrie Center, Iowa) –  The May 13th meeting of the Guthrie Center CSD’s Board of Education will include a Public Hearing on the District’s 2023-24 Amended/Certified Budget. The meeting and hearing begin at 7p.m., Monday, in the AC/GC High School Media Center, in Guthrie Center. The full meeting agenda is as follows:

(Adair, Iowa) – A public hearing on an amended 2023-24 Certified Budget will be held Monday, as part of the Adair-Casey School Board meeting, which begins at 7-p.m. in the Adair-Casey Junior High Media Center, in Adair. View the full agenda below:

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services and Atlantic Parks and Rec will host a health fair in honor of National Mental Health Awareness Day. The event will be held this Thursday, May 16^th from 4-until 6-p.m., at Atlantic City Park. The Amos’ Fabulous Foods Food Truck will also be at the Atlantic City Park at this time. The public is encouraged to attend to see what programs and resources Cass County has to offer. In addition to this event, the community is encouraged to wear green on May 16^th. Green is the official color for Mental Health Awareness.

Tracy Van Zee, a mental health therapist at Zion, will be offering Sand Tray Therapy Demonstrations along with Dance Fitness. Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services, she says, “Wanted to sponsor a community event to provide resources, education, and advocacy to promote Mental Health Awareness Month.  Our goal is to help people understand that mental health is just as important as any physical health issue and should be treated the same way as physical conditions are.  We want to talk about it, educate others, and end the stigma surrounding mental health.”

Community resources at the fair will include Cass Health Senior Life Solutions, Cass County Coalition for Mental Wellness, The Holistic Center, St. Croix Hospice, Therapy Place, Quit Line Iowa, Produce in the Park, Family Connections, Healthy Cass, and more.

If you have any further questions, please contact Billie Butler at (712) 243-5091 or bbutler@zioniowa.org.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports the driver of a pickup truck suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries during a single-vehicle accident this (Sunday) morning, in Creston. Authorities say 21-year-old Andrew Frederick Weis, of Creston, was driving a 2013 Chevy Silverado pickup “in a reckless and careless manner” eastbound on Summit Street around the intersection with Cherry Street, at around 4:12-a.m., when the vehicle went through a yard in 500 N. Cherry Street and hit a tree.

The pickup continued to back up before striking another tree. The police report says Weis was arrested for OWI. He was transported to the Union County Jail.

Two accidents occurred Saturday, in Creston. Officials say at around 4:15-p.m., a collision between an SUV and a passenger car occurred at the intersection of S. Elm and Clarke Streets, in Creston. The report says the driver of the 2014 Ford Escape – 22-year-old Kylee Jo Lamasters, of Creston, and her passenger – both told police they were traveling south on Elm Street, when the passenger noticed a 2018 Chevy Malibu allegedly run the stop sign before colliding with the SUV. The passenger in the SUV claims she saw the driver of the car – identified as 19-year-old Justin Charles Parsons, of Creston, looking down at something, just before the collision.

Parsons told police he was “Very worked-up and agitated,” and claimed that he stopped, but did not see the SUV before pulling out into the intersection. Medics examined all three accident victims and cleared them for release.

An investigation determined evidence at the scene, including skid marks, led police to believe Parsons was traveling above the posted speed limit when his car entered the intersection and struck the SUV. Field Sobriety tests were performed on Parsons, but there were no signs of impairment. Parsons was cited for Failure to obey a traffic control device. Damage from the collision amounted to $25,000.

And, an accident that happened at around 8:25-a.m., Saturday, caused about $3,500 damage, but no one was injured. Creston Police say a collision between two passenger cars – a 2008 KIA Optima and a 2001 Toyota Echo – happened at the intersection of W. Jefferson Street and Sumner Avenue. Authorities said the driver of the KIA (51-year-old Chad Allen Hammons, of Creston) told them he was waiting to turn right, out of the alley behind his house, and could not see the oncoming Toyota (Driven by 35-year-old Alfredo Jose Rojas Briceno, of Creston), because there was a van parked to his left.

When Hammons pulled out of the alley, his car struck the front passenger side of the Toyota. Briceno confirmed through a translator app on his phone, the story was correct. No citations were issued.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop just before 2:30 this (Sunday) morning, in Montgomery County, resulted in an arrest. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 25-year-old Cheyenne Marie Haidsaik, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 1900 block of Ironwood Avenue, and after an investigation, was charged with OWI/1st offense. Haidsaik was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop Saturday night resulted in the arrest of a Red Oak man. According to Red Oak Police, a vehicle driven by 29-year-old Juan Carlos Gregario-Reyes was pulled-over at around 10:30-p.m. in the 1900 block of G Avenue, in Red Oak. Upon further investigation, Gregario-Reyes was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000.

(Onawa, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report a western Iowa man was arrested Friday in connection with a fatal shooting. 48-year-old Jamie Allen was taken into custody without incident by the Monona County Sheriff’s Office. He was transported to the Monona County Jail and charged with Murder in the 1st Degree, a Class-A Felony.

Authorities say the Monona County Communications Center was notified during a 9-1-1 call at around 5:42-p.m., Friday, that a shooting had occurred in the 1900 block of Granite Street, in Onawa. When deputies arrived, they found 47-year-old Stacey Allen deceased.

Jamie Allen

The Iowa DCI assisted in the investigation.

(Leon, Iowa) –  A crash Friday night east of Leon, in Decatur County, claimed two  lives, and resulted in two people being injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the crash happened at around 7:40-p.m., at Highway 2 and Lineville Road, when the driver of a 2019 Chevy Equinox failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of the two roads. The SUV struck a 2023 Chevy pickup, causing the driver of the SUV, 55-year-old Robin Ann Reaves, of Urbandale, and her front seat passenger, 46-year-old Lance Eugene Reaves, of Lineville, to be ejected. Both died at the scene.

The driver of the pickup, 36-year-old Levi Clark Merritt, of Osceola, was transported to the Decatur County Hospital for treatment of what were described as non-life threatening injuries. A 10-year-old juvenile male passenger in the pickup was  treated for injuries, and released.

None of the accident victims were wearing seat belts.

(Iowa & the Midwest) – Skywatchers who were away from city lights saw some awe-inspiring sights Friday night into early Saturday morning, as mostly clear skies allowed the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights to make a stunning appearance. The images flooded social media. The event occurred due to a geomagnetic storm –  called a coronal mass ejection, or CME – that was rated as level G5. This is the first G5-level storm since October 2003. The light show is expected to diminish late Sunday.

The source of the solar storm is a cluster of sunspots on the sun’s surface that is 17 times the diameter of the earth. The spots are filled with tangled magnetic fields that can act as slingshots, throwing huge quantities of charged particles towards our planet. Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.

Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a relatively more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800km per second. Here are some of the pictures shared on the National Weather Service’s Facebook page:

St. Cloud, MN

Johnston, IA

Emmetsburg, IA

Brooklyn, IA

Boone County, IA

Greenfield, IA

Newton, IA

(Midwest) – Prices for farmland in Iowa and surrounding States during the first three-months of 2024 approached nearly $30,000 per acre. That’s according to a report by Successful Farming, which shows on average, prices ranged from a low of $7,000 to $16,250 per acre. The highest price in Iowa was $29,600 per acre near Orange City, in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County.

Two tracts of land amounting to slightly more than 117.4-acres, sold on Feb. 27th for a total price of approximately $3.5 million. Both tracts had easements with Summit Carbon Solutions, a carbon pipeline company. Five tracts located near Sioux Center, Iowa, were sold at public auction on March 7th, for a total of about $7-million.

Feb. 23rd, on farmland located 7 miles southwest of Sheldon, Iowa, 80 acres were sold at public auction for $20,300 per acre, for a total of roughly $1.6 million.