(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has confirmed two new members to the state board that will decide whether proposed carbon pipelines get built in Iowa. Attorney Erik Helland, a former Republican member of the state legislature, was confirmed to serve as chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board on a 39-11 vote. After two terms in the Iowa House, Helland worked in Alaska’s state government.

During a Senate Commerce Committee meeting on Helland’s nomination, Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig said Helland was “working on process and was actually an efficiency driver (in Alaksa)…by looking at how state government worked and finding efficiencies and increasing productivity of case management.”

Some Democrats like Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said Helland doesn’t have the right qualifications to be on the utilities board. “The electric utility industry has some very complicated issues these days with regard to engineering and how to incorporate non-point sources of electric generation, wind generation, etc.,” Quirmbach said today on the Senate floor. “There are also some very complicated economic issues.”

Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, called Helland “a great fit” for the Utilities Board. “I had maybe some concerns as well about not having a lot of background in the utilities industry,” Dickey said during Wednesday’s Commerce Committee meeting, “but I also think on this issue that may be a good thing because he comes in without expectations and may be more open to looking at the processes and the different things that face the Utilities Board whether it be with the pipeline or regulations or rates and whatever things that will come in front of him.”

In a separate vote today, all 50 Senators supported confirming Sarah Martz, the director of engineering for utilities on the Iowa State University campus, to the Iowa Utilities Board. Martz has degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

“Sarah has spent her career in the energy industry, spending time at Alliant Energy optimizing power plants, researching solar performance in the Midwest and piloting new technologies like energy storage in Iowa communities,” Senator Waylon Brown, a Republican from St. Ansgar, said late this morning.

Quirmbach said Martz has “superb” qualifications. “Her expertise and experience will catapult her into a leadership position in the Utilities Board,” Quirmbach said. “She should, in fact, be the chair.”

The other member of the board is former state Representative Joshua Byrnes, the former general manager of Osage Municipal Utilities.

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – The open burn ban that has been in place for Pottawattamie County has been lifted effective today, Thursday, April 20th, 2023. Pott. County Emergency Management officials say recent rounds of precipitation combined with warm soil moisture will promote a quicker greening of dry fuels. Additionally, as planting season is underway many fields are being worked which also contributes to the elimination of fire fuels in our cropland areas.

Although the ban has been lifted, citizens are urged to continue minimizing their open burning activities and always use caution when conducting an open or controlled burn. Always have an emergency plan when burning; clear combustible materials from the area of the fire, ensure you have an accessible water source near the fire area, and always contact the Pottawattamie County 9-1-1 on their non-emergency number (712-328-5737) to report the location of your burn before ignition and after the fire is out.

Cass Health in Atlantic has been made aware of a series of scam phone calls that appear to be from the main hospital phone number 712-243-3250. According to CCHS Director of Communications, Ann McCurdy, “The caller states that they are with Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants and want to discuss their radiology results. Nebraska Iowa Radiology Consultants ceased operations several years ago. These are not legitimate phone calls and residents should disregard.”

McCurdy warns “If you have received or do receive one of these phone calls, please leave a detailed message with the Cass Health Information Systems team at 712-243-7578.”

(Radio Iowa) – A large sinkhole south of Knoxville is growing. The sinkhole is in an area where coal was mined decades ago. Marion County officials closed a gravel road on Friday after being alerted to the hole, which was 30 feet in diameter and about 20 feet deep. County officials say the hole has grown wider, up to 40 feet in diameter.

Representatives from various county and state agencies met Wednesday to come up with a plan to determine what has caused the collapse and how to mitigate the damage.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A burning ban has been lifted for Adair County and Guthrie County starting Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. The ban that prohibited open burning in Adair County and Guthrie County, including all the cities within the counties has now been removed. Emergency Management Deputy Coordinator Jeremy Cooper says the previously dry conditions throughout the region that caused an increase in fire responses throughout Adair and Guthrie County has been eased with the exceptional amount of rain we have received this week. As we look ahead, it appears to be off and on-again rain chances in the coming week or so, therefore it was the decision of the local Fire Chief’s to have this Burn Ban removed.

“Adair and Guthrie County Fire Departments have seen the effects of fires during control burns that suddenly become uncontrolled” according to Cooper. He says “The tragic accident in Northern Guthrie County is a prime example of these kinds of situations that our Local Fire Chief’s were trying to avoid by issuing a Burn Ban.” Authorities said Alex Krueger, of Bagley, remains in serious condition at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Burn Unit. He was seriously injured when burning field debris spread to his cultivator. He managed to escape, but not before suffering extensive burns.

Jeremy Cooper said “I urge everyone to take the time and thank their local Fire Department for the dedication to the communities they serve. Issuing a Burn Ban is not taken lightly and is a hard decision for our Departments to make as they understand everyone has work to get done.”

When you plan to do a controlled burn, it is best practice to contact your local Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office and inform them of your controlled burn prior to ever lighting the fire. Have location, date, and time information of your controlled burn to provide to them so they can prevent potential false alarms for our local Volunteers.

For more information on burn bans and the law or to check the current status of burn bans statewide on the State Fire Marshal’s statewide burn ban website: https://dps.iowa.gov/divisions/state-fire-marshal/burn-bans.

(Mills County, Iowa) – A man from Pacific Junction was injured Thursday morning in Mills County, when the vehicle he was driving collided with a semi on 202nd Street. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports a 2004 Ford driven by 46-year-old Corey Manley was traveling east after completing a gradual turn in the 55000 block of 202nd Street. A 2016 Freightliner semi driven by 50-year-old Arthur Sales, of Council Bluffs, was westbound, when, according to a witness, the car came around the corner “out of control.” The witness, who a was traveling westbound about a car’s length in front of the semi, said he had to pull off to the side of the road to avoid a collision. When he looked in the rear-view mirror, he just saw “A cloud of dust” after the Ford hit the semi.

Sales saw the car coming, but was unable to avoid the collision. The semi pushed into a ditch during the ensuing collision. Corey Manley was transported to Methodist Hospital by Glenwood Rescue.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five arrests from over the past week. Wednesday evening, 57-year-old Timothy Scott Tompkins, of Omaha, was arrested on I-29, following a traffic stop. Tompkins was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $2,300.

Tuesday evening, Mills County Deputies arrested 55-year-old Jolene Kay Christensen, of Omaha, following a traffic stop on I-29. She was also arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Bond was set at $2,300.

There were two separate arrests Monday, in Mills County. At around 12:14-a.m., 25-year-old David Ben Jorgensen, of Omaha, was arrested on Highway 34 at Kidd Road, for Theft in the 1st Degree. Bond set at $10,000. And, at around 9:40-a.m., Monday, Mills County Deputies arrested 53-year-old Melissa Renee Pedersen, of Carroll, on a warrant for Driving While Barred. She was taken into custody at the Greene County Jail. Bond was set at $2,000.

And, last Sunday, 22-year-old Orland Estrada, of Omaha, was arrested for Simple Assault. Bond set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percent in March. Last month’s two-point-eight percent unemployment rate is half a percent lower than it was a year ago. The percentage of working age Iowans who have a job or are actively looking for one increased to 68-point-two percent. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend says it’s a sign people who quit a job or retired during the pandemic are returning to the labor market. “Even though it’s a positive sign the unemployment rate is dropping we really are focused on getting more Iowans back in the workforce,” Townsend says. “We were at about 69.5% before the pandemic and so we want to get back that number or even higher.”

The retirement rate was higher than projected during the pandemic and Townsend says there are a combination of factors prompting those people to return to the workforce. “Whether it’s due to inflation impacting their retirement savings and if they’re on a fixed income, it’s not going as far as they planned…and older workers who may have retired earlier than they had planned wanting to come and because we have so many open jobs they can be more selective,” Townsend says. “Obviously the higher wage has gone up significantly across all industries, so there’s greater opportunity to earn more money in today’s job market.”

Government records indicate 27-hundred workers started new jobs in March. Nursing and residential care facilities were responsible for most of the thousand or so jobs added in the health care sector.  “Nursing has always been the highest demand occupation,” Townsend says. Over the past three months, Iowa’s manufacturing sector has bounced back from what Townsend describes as a weak fourth quarter. “We’re doing well in manufacturing. We’ve added 700 jobs in March. We’ve added almost 2000 jobs in the last three months in manufacturing. We’re up 3900 jobs in manufacturing since last March. We’re up 3800 jobs in construction since last March,” Townsend says. “Manufacturing and construction are trending in the right direction in Iowa.”

There were about a thousand job losses in Iowa’s transportation, warehousing and utility industries. Townsend says that may be due to supply chain issues. The leisure and hospitality industries in Iowa have added more than 51-hundred jobs since last March as the sector continues to bounce back from pandemic closures.