(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports nomination papers were filed Wednesday, for a spot on the November General Election ballot. Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns says Richard Hoffman has filed to run for Union Township Trustee. Again, that’s for the November General Election, and not the June Primary.

The filing periods for the November 8, 2022, General Election are:

•U.S. Senate, U.S. Representative and State Office: February 28 – March 18, 2022 (5:00 p.m.)

•County Office: March 7 – March 25, 2022 (5:00 p.m.)

Ag Extension, Soil & Water Conservation District, Hospital Trustee: Anytime up until August 31, 2022

March 7, 2022 was the first day for candidates nominated by petition to file nomination papers for county-wide or township offices with the County Auditor’s office. The last day to file is Friday, March 25, 2022.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, made an official change of command in the Police Department. The Council paid special recognition to Police Chief Dave Erickson, who is retiring at the end of the month, after more than 25-years of service to the City. Mayor Grace Garrett gave a brief biography of the Chief, and his long career not only with the City, but serving our Country in the U-S Marines.

Once his stint with the Corps was over, Erickson worked for the Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and a member of the Atlantic Police Reserves from 1996-to 1997.

Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett congratulates Chief Dave Erickson for his service to the City & the Country.

With his departure on March 31^st, the Council moved ahead with appointing the Mayor’s choice to succeed him, Devin Hogue, and Lt. Paul Wood as the first ever Assistant Police Chief. Lt. Hogue has served the force in Atlantic since August, 2011. He also spent several years and a substitute teachers with the Atlantic Community School District, and has been very involved in school emergency preparedness and many community programs. The Mayor explained why the Assistant Police Chief’s position was created.

Left to right: Chief Dave Erickson; Lt. Paul Wood; Lt. Devon Hogue.

Lt. Wood has been with the department since Nov. 2004. He’s also served as member of the Atlantic Fire Dept. since 2007. Both men bring extensive experience and knowledge to their respective proposed positions. In other business, the Council appointed of Bev Moffatt to the Beautification Committee. They Adopted the Final, FY 2023 Budget for the City of Atlantic, along with the FY 2023 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

Both actions followed public hearings, during which there were no comments. The Atlantic City Council also Amended Seasonal Wages for the Atlantic Parks & Recreation Dept. for 2022, and have passed a resolution “Setting salaries for appointed officers and employees of the City of Atlantic,” for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

One of their final items of business, was to adopt a resolution for the Plans, Specifications and Form of Contract for the Bull Creek Improvement Projects, and, the awarding of a contract for the improvements to Caliber Construction out of Adair, in the amount of $369, 039.03. City Engineer Dave Sturm said they received four bids for the project, all of which came in under the Engineer’s Cost Estimate.

Prior to adjourning the meeting, Mayor Garrett asked business and residential property owners to get into the spring cleaning spirit.

(Radio Iowa) – House Republicans appear poised to vote for a year-long moratorium that would prevent the companies planning to build carbon pipelines from seeking eminent domain to seize property along the pipeline routes. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton presented the plan in the House State Government Committee and all but one Republican voted for it.

“The name on a deed on a piece of paper that makes you a landowner does not subject you to all this government crap,” Kaufmann says. “That’s what this is about.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says pipeline companies would still able to negotiate easements with landowners, but this would let the legislature weigh in next year if the companies seek mass condemnation of land.

“There are people that want the project, people that have signed up,” Grassley said. “We’re not trying to break those agreements because we respect private property rights on both sides.” Democrats on the committee, like Representative Mary Mascher, didn’t object to the idea, but to the unusual parliamentary move used to advance the proposal.

“My no vote today is not because I don’t want to address this. I think we need to, but let’s do it in the right way,” Mascher says. “Let’s be transparent with our voters, let’s put it on the agenda…and have an opportunity to hear from all sides.” Kaufmann says voters don’t care about legislative procedures.

“Nobody should be surprised what we’re doing here. Give me a break. We do things all the time to make sure that legislation gets accomplished,” Kaufmann said. “The people back home that are affected…they don’t give a shit about the process. They care about results.” The proposal is now eligible for debate in the full House.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association paints a dim picture for Iowa and its aging population. Geriatricians are rare here. Those are primary care doctors who have special training to treat older adults. Lauren Livingston, spokeswoman for the association’s Iowa chapter, say Iowa has a little over two dozen geriatricians and the report says we’ll need well over a hundred by 2050 to meet demand.

“We need an increase of almost 450% for geriatricians across the state,” Livingston says. “Surprisingly, there are only 26 practicing geriatricians in Iowa, which seems very small — and it is — compared to the population and the increasing aging population.” There are four gerontology programs in Iowa — at Iowa, Iowa State, U-N-I and at Des Moines Area Community College. As the prevalence of Alzheimer’s rises in Iowa, so does the need for dementia care workers who can diagnose, treat and care for those living with the disease.

“One thing would be training primary care physicians and other health specialists to recognize diseases like dementia that come across in older age,” Livingston says, “so, training more doctors, even if they’re not geriatricians, to recognize those signs and be able to refer them on to a geriatrician or another specialist.” About six-million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including some 66,000 Iowans. The report calls Iowa a “dementia neurology desert,” where the demand for direct care workers is projected to grow by more than 40-percent in the coming years while their availability will likely fall.

“There are 20 U.S. states that have been deemed ‘dementia neurology deserts’ which means they have less than ten neurologists per 10,000 people with dementia and that doesn’t even include people living with other diseases that might see a neurologist,” Livingston says, “so that’s a crisis as well.” In 2018, Iowa had more than 19-thousand home health and personal care aides. The number of these workers will have to increase 34-percent just by 2028 to meet the growing demand. See the full report, 2022 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, at the website: alz.org/facts

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery Count Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Red Oak was arrested at around 9:15-a.m. today (Wednesday). Authorities say 52-year-old Kristen M. Hughes, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on a warrant charging her with Failure To Appear on an original charge of Disorderly Conduct-Raucous Noise. She was taken into custody at her residence and taken to the Montgomery County Jail, where her cash bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is using 100 million dollars in federal pandemic relief money for upgrades at the state’s eight commercial airports. “While COVID was a massive for air travel, traffic is projected to grow significantly moving forward,” Reynolds says. “…Now is the time to maintain this momentum and ensure ongoing growth.”

Ten million dollars will be split equally among airports in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Sioux city, Waterloo, Mason city, Fort Dodge, Burlington. The other 90 million will be distributed based on passenger traffic in 2019. The projects being financed with this money are to be completed by 2026.

(Radio Iowa) – A former Principal Financial global economist who’s been the chief economist in state government for the past two years says as the recovery picks up steam, there are potential pitfalls ahead.  “What worries me the most is inflation and what’s happening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how that’s going to impact food and gas prices. I think that is a real risk ahead, a chance for real headwind when you look at the job market, whether you look at Iowa or nationally.”

That’s Robin Anderson, the state chief economist who leads the research and policy division in the Iowa Department of Revenue. Anderson says the most recent jobs report for January shows Iowa’s manufacturing sector, which had been sluggish before the pandemic, has bounced back.  “Job growth has picked up nicely over the last three months,” Anderson says. “In addition, the number of unemployed dropped as well to 2200 and this happened even as participation increased, suggesting even people reentering the labor force are finding jobs.”

Anderson says the Federal Reserve’s move to slightly increase interest rates probably won’t have much of an impact on the job market.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors held a Public Hearing on the FY 2023 Budget and FY ’23 Compensation Resolution. Having received no comments, written or otherwise, the Board acted on motions to approve each. The Budget was unanimously approved as published. The budget shows a levy of 5.99278 per $1,000 taxable valuation for Urban and 9.94278 per $1,000 dollars taxable valuation for Rural. The full budget is posted on the Adair County website.

Board Chair Matt Wedemeyer explained the specifics of the Compensation Resolution, as determined by the Compensation Board….

Supervisor Jodie Hoadley wanted to address a misconception about the Supervisors’ compensation…

In other business, the Adair County Supervisors approved their membership renewal with SICOG (The Southern Iowa Council of Governments). And, they held a public hearing on a classification change of a portion 305th Lane, south of Bridgewater, to a Class C road. The classification provides a means to limit access to roads that primarily serve adjacent farming operations. County Engineer Nick Kauffman mentioned during his report, an upcoming project, will require a traffic detour, affecting Casey.

And, a few adjoining counties are planning to work together on the project that’s expected to begin in FY 2023.

The plan is to apply for safety funding, which would reduce that amount by approximately $76,000. Kauffman said the remainder could be paid for through the TIF account, but nothing is set in stone at this point in time. Among the Board’s final order of business, was action on approving a contract and performance bond for a Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) Culvert project for IN33 Eureka, and they authorized Chair Wedemeyer to sign the final voucher for the N34 Richland Road bridge project.

Kauffman then provided the Board with an update on his department’s maintenance and activities. He mentioned work is nearly complete on the N35 Summit bridge, work has resumed on the Lake Road, and ditches are being cleared north of Orient.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests:

On Sunday, 27-year-old Daniel Jacob Brown, of Exira, was arrested for Prohibited Acts, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Person Ineligible to Carry Dangerous Weapons, Operating Non- Registered Vehicle, Driving while License is Suspended, and Improper Rear Lamps. His arrest followed a traffic stop on 600th Street.

On March 10th, 39-year-old Thomas William Holzer Jr., of Harlan, was arrested following a traffic stop near the intersection of Highways 59 and 44.  Holzer charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Cannabidiol – 3rd or subsequent offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana  – 3rd or subsequent offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia .

And on March 8th, 32-year-old Amanda Louise Lavender, of Kiron, was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 59, in Shelby County. Lavender was charged with Driving while License denied or Revoked, Prohibited Acts, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Improper Rear Lamps, and Failure to Use Safety Glass.

Note: Criminal charges are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

(New Market, Iowa) – A woman from Taylor County has announced her bid to become a State Representative in the Iowa House, for District 17. Iowa House District 17 includes Taylor, Ringgold, Adams, and sections of Union and Page counties. Devon Wood (R-New Market) said in her press release, “I love Southwest Iowa. We have great folks who know the importance of hard work, faith, and family. I look forward to supporting our agricultural and small business roots while holding the line on taxes, supporting life, and bringing even more job opportunities to Iowa.”

(Left) Devon Wood

Wood is from a sixth-generation farm family in Taylor County and grew up working in the family cattle business. She is seeking her first term in the Iowa House. Wood graduated from the Shenandoah High School and attended Simpson College, where she served as Chair of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans, Chair of the Simpson College Republicans, and clerked in the Iowa House of Representatives. She also serves as a board member on the Iowa Nursing Home Administrators Board.

Devon Wood lives in New Market on the family farm, working alongside her parents Dan and Brenda.