(Glenwood, Iowa) – One person suffered from back pain and was transported to the hospital, following an accident Monday evening, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Department reports a 2008 Honda driven by 21-year-old Brian Jaworski, of SIlver City, was traveling south on 287th Street near Barrus Road at around 5:30-p.m.,when the vehicle crossed into the wrong lane of travel and ended-up in a ditch. The vehicle then ramped a field entrance and crash on the other side. No charges were filed.

No injuries were reported after a 2020 International semi rolled away unoccupied, while it was parked in the I-29 southbound rest area, Friday afternoon. The driver was outside the vehicle when it began to roll away. The semi came to rest in the west portion of the ditch on I-29.

Mills County authorities report also, 32-year-old Tyler Eldon Buckner, of Emerson, was arrested last Friday evening, for Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $300.

(Radio Iowa) – Another proposal for revamping Iowa’s 44-year-old Bottle Bill has won bipartisan approval in a House committee and could be debated by the full House early next week. Just like a version pending in the Iowa Senate, it would no longer require grocers, convenience stores and other retailers that sell beer and pop to accept the empty bottles and cans and pay the nickel deposit fee in 2023. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, says if that change takes effect, it’s a significant step.  “Progress around this place is sometimes slow,” Epperly says. “Something like this is more of a quest.”

But grocers object to another section of the House proposal that would require them to pay another half-a-cent per container. “For us, payment to opt out of a government mandate is something principally that’s very challenging,” Epperly says, “let alone the amount that we’re talking about here.” He estimates the bill would require grocers and retailers to pay an additional 50 million over five years. R.G. Schwarm, a lobbyist for the Iowa Recycling Association, says it’s a positive step to double the handling fee for redemption centers which are struggling to stay in business. However, Schwarm says the plan, as written, appears to let all retailers opt out of accepting cans — and there aren’t enough redemption centers to deal with the volume of empties containers.

“There are 44 counties that do not have a redemption center…It’s largely in rural Iowa and that’s where our concerns lie,” Schwarm says. “When we remove a significant amount of infrastructure for redemption, that’s where we’re going to make it more difficult for Iowans to redeem.” The House plan also proposes a new tax credit for beer makers that’s connected to the number of empty beer cans that are redeemed for the deposits. Representative Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant, is the leader of a group of House members who’ve been working on a compromise. He says lawmakers hear about the Bottle Bill from Iowans daily.

“It’s something that we know we have to do. I mean this isn’t just a, ‘O.K, it’s not working. We’ll see what we can do.’ This is, from our leadership, ‘Get something done,'” Lohse says. “And we are tired of talking about it. We know we need to have action. Now’s the time to do it.”

Lohse, who owns a grocery store, says the proposal requires all the private businesses involved to participate in changes in the bottle and can redemption system. A House subcommittee reviewed the plan at 8 a.m. this (Tuesday) morning and the House Ways and Means tax-writing committee approved it two hours later.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday morning, unanimously approved increases the County Board of Health had approved earlier, with regard to septic system, time to transfer and water well, permits. Jotham Arber, with Cass/Guthrie Environmental Health, said the fee schedule has not changed in 10-years, until now.

He says the County wasn’t breaking even, based on what the Sanitarian was billing and what the homeowner was paying for those permits.

The new rates ($225 for Septic systems; $300 for title transfer, & $175 for Water Well permits) will take effect July 1, 2022. The changes were approved by the Cass County Board of Health, and needed approval of the Supervisors before it goes into effect on July 1st.

The Supervisors also heard from Mick Allen, representing the Atlantic Golf and Country Club. He asked the Board to approve a water usage permit for irrigation, that would allow them to pump water out of the Nishnabotna River. A line on a map the Supervisors received shows the proposed pipeline that would be used, to draw water.

Allen says about five-or six-years ago, they spent about $55,000 to put four wells in. Due to the drought, those wells have gone dry.

He says they’re projecting that on a year with little-to-no rain, in extreme conditions, they would have to pull between 100-to 200,000 gallons out of the river, on a daily basis. After some discussion, the Board approved the request, pending approval and receipt of permits from the Iowa DNR.

(Lewis, Iowa) – Two families are offering a $5,000 cash reward for information that leads to the return of a church bell in Cass County. Drue Kirchhoff, with Southwest Iowa Tiling, in Griswold, says the bell was located in front of the United Congregational Methodist Church in Lewis.

The church bell has a long history of being in the area, but Kirchhoff wasn’t sure of its age.

The United Congregational Methodist Church of Lewis’ bell (file photo)

He believes the bell was made of cast iron, which is a hot commodity these days for its salvage value, especially when it’s included with other, heavy metals. He’s asking salvage yards to be on the lookout for the bell.

Kirchhoff, and Rob and Marlo Stamp with Stamp Construction, in Atlantic, are offering the reward for the return of the bell, no questions asked.

If you or someone you know has information that may help the Cass County Sheriff’s Office with their investigation, please call 712-243-2206.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Firefighters Association, Saturday night, presented The Fire Department of the Year Award, to members of the Red Oak Fire Department. The award – which was presented in Ames – is given to a department that significantly supports the Iowa Firefighters Association and the Fire Service in at least one of many areas such as fire prevention, legislation, convention, membership, etc.

The nomination addressed several attributes that the Red Oak Fire Department contributes:

• The ever-growing response area for Fire/EMS coverage of service.
• The extraordinary level of competency and assistance exhibited on Mutual Aid Fire Responses
• The overall contribution to the Fire Service through the continued support of training, logistical assistance to other departments, as well as fire ground competency.
  

  (Photo: L-R-Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce, Captain Kenny Hamman, and Lt. Brian Hamman)

The Red Oak Fire Department is partnered with the Iowa Fire Service Training Bureau as one of the seven testing locations in the state, which allows firefighter students in the southwest Iowa portion of the state, a location to come to for certification testing to help eliminate the need to travel to Des Moines for testing. The partnership also allows our location to be available for various training events. The Red Oak Fire Department has also been able to assist a few other departments with logistical information. They are developing their department operations to be very similar to how Red Oak is designed (staffing, funding, response guidelines, etc.)

The award directly reflects every member of the Red Oak Fire Department. The amount of time each member dedicates to the department is astonishing. This is a combination of training, shift work, emergency responses, and special events. Each Firefighter possesses a mastery of expertise, and when you bring all those folks together, you have a genuinely outstanding fire department. This is also demonstrated by all the other departments that we get to work with. The Fire Department of the Year award is a direct reflection of each Firefighter and their families for the massive amount of sacrifice and support that they invest in making sure our communities are protected.

This is also a reflection of the support the Fire Department receives from the Red Oak Community, City Administration and Council, the surrounding communities, and the surrounding fire departments. The Red Oak Fire Department extends a heartfelt thank you to all of you for everything you have and do for our department!!!!

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A grain elevator fire in Red Oak, late Monday morning caused an undisclosed dollar amount of damage to an exterior dryer stack. No injuries were reported. According to officials, the incident happened at the Bunge Corporation on Fernwood Avenue, a little after 11-a.m.

When the first crews arrived on the scene they observed fire coming from the northeast stack, as well as a field fire directly north of the facility. The employees had been safely evacuated.
Firefighters fought the dryer stack and a nearby field fire at the same time. There efforts concluded at around 1-p.m., with both fires extinguished and hot spots cooled off.

Photo via Red Oak Fire Dept.

Bungee staff said the dryer stack unit could be repaired. Fire officials said Bunge safety staff and maintenance personnel were instrumental in their tackling the ground operations.

The Montgomery County’s Emergency Management Agency, the Montgomery County Sheriff Office, Montgomery County Communications and the Red Oak City Water Department assisted Red Oak Fire at the scene.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – One person suffered minor injuries, and one person was arrested, following a three-vehicle accident at around 11:06-p.m. Monday, just outside of Red Oak. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 26-year-old Daniel James Wilson, Jr., of Red Oak, was in a Chevy Impala, and stopped at the red light for the construction zone on the River Bridge, just east of Highway 34 and G Avenue. A Pontiac G6 driven by 20-year-old Alyssa Anne Bartmess, of Clarinda, was stopped behind Wilson’s vehicle, when an eastbound Chevy pickup driven by 55-year-old Steven Lynn Henderson, of Oakland, NE., struck the Pontiac from behind.

The impact pushed the car into the Chevy Impala. Authorities say Bartmess was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital for treatment of her injuries. Henderson was arrested for OWI/1st offense, and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond. All three vehicles were totaled.

Sheriff’s deputies were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Police and Fire personnel.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop Monday evening in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of man from Nebraska. According to Red Oak Police, 48-year-old Rafael Hernando the 4th, of Omaha, was pulled over at around 7-p.m. in the 2300 block of N. Broadway Street. An investigation determined Hernando had a suspended driver’s license. It was further determined that the vehicle he was driving, had been reported stolen out of Omaha. Hernando was charged with Driving While Suspended, with bond set at $491. Additional charges are pending.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans in the Iowa House are proposing a new 12 million dollar scholarship program for students at Iowa’s three public universities. House Speaker Pat Grassley says it’s an effort to address workforce shortages in specific occupations. “I think it’s a really creative idea and something new that we definitely want to have on the table,” Grassley says.

Half of the money would go to juniors and seniors studying to be teachers. The other six million would go juniors and seniors seeking degrees in other occupations which are in high demand. Grassley says it’s a way to put money into the three state universities to directly address a lack of qualified employees. “This put us in a position for the Regents to compete for those students to go into those high demand occupations,” Grassley says, “to get more money into each of the Regents institutions.”

Each student could get up to 10-thousand dollars over two years in scholarship money. Grassley says the final 25-hundred dollars would be paid if the student stays and works in Iowa for a year after graduation. “To try to encourage folks not only to enter high demand jobs, but to stay in the state and work,” Grassley says.

Republican Representative David Kerr of Morning Sun is chairman of the House subcommittee that drafts a budget for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. “It’ll be a great recruiting tool here in Iowa for each of the regent universities to attract students and they need students because of the enrollments are decreasing,” Kerr says, “but I think this is a great plan that they’ll jump on board with.”

A spokesperson for the Board of Regents says the board is very appreciative”of any proposal to provide additional financial aid to students. The board that governs Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I has asked legislators to provide a general budget boost of 15 million dollars for the three state schools.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the U.S. Supreme Court is on the brink of overturning Roe v Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion — but she says banning the procedure in Iowa requires a complex set of moves. “There’s never been a more important moment in the history of the pro-life movement,” Reynolds said. “Decades of organizing, voting and above all praying are paying off.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this summer on a Mississippi law that bars abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Reynolds cautions Iowa cannot adopt a similar law here under current conditions. Reynolds has appointed a majority of the Iowa Supreme Court’s justices. She’s asking the court to overturn a 2018 ruling that said women have a right to an abortion under IOWA’s constriction. Reynolds also is backing a proposed constitutional amendment that says the state’s constitution does not guarantee abortion rights.

“As a movement we’re closer than ever to one of our foremost goals,” Reynolds says. “…I won’t rest until our laws and our society recognize that all people, no matter how small, are entitled to the right to life.”

Reynolds made her comments during a rally in the statehouse rotunda. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa says there’s a long fight ahead to keep abortion rights in Iowa. The group says if Reynolds is reelected in November, there is a very real possibility abortion will be outlawed in a few short years.