(Omaha/Valley, NE) – The National Weather Service is compiling information with regard to the severe storms that passed through Nebraska and Iowa, Tuesday evening and Tuesday night. In this area:

• Pea-size hail was observed at KJAN in Atlantic, at around 9:45-p.m.
• Pea-to-Dime size hail in Templeton (Carroll Co.) at 9:19-p.m. along with 70-mph winds
• A Tornado debris signature was picked-up on radar 4-miles NE of Logan (Harrison County) at around 8:20-p.m. The debris signature continued northeast until just east of Woodbine.
• At around 9:25-p.m., the public reported one-inch diameter hail in Malvern (Mills County)
• Dime-size hail was reported in Little Sioux (Harrison Co.) at around 8-p.m.
• Nickel-size hail was reported 3 miles W. of Ute (Monona County), at around 5:35-p.m.

There were numerous reports of tornadoes or funnel clouds out of northwest and north central Iowa, including near Gilmore City and Humboldt, along with large hail. Gilmore City had tennis ball size (2.5″ hail at around 6:48-p.m.  There were many reports of winds near or in excess of 70-p.m. at the line of intense storms passed through the state.

(Hamburg, Iowa) – A woman from Missouri was arrested Tuesday on a warrant associated with an incident that occurred in Fremont County on Feb. 19, 2022. According to Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope, on Feb. 19th, Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office initiated a pursuit of a vehicle driving 100 mph southbound Interstate 29 near the 8-mile marker. During the pursuit, deputies observed the driver throw a firearm from the vehicle. The gun was recovered and found to be reported stolen out of Missouri.

Deputies and Missouri law enforcement agencies pursued the vehicle south of Mound City, Missouri, approximately 50 miles from the start of the pursuit, where spike strips were deployed, ending the pursuit. The driver of the vehicle, 35-year-old Crystal Clark, of St Joseph, Missouri, fled from the vehicle and was later apprehended by Missouri law enforcement and released pending Iowa charges.

Crystal Clark

A warrant was requested, and on April 12th, 2022, Clark was extradited back to Fremont County Iowa. She was taken into custody on charges that include: Theft 2nd Degree; Eluding while participating in a felony, and Trafficking in Stolen Firearms. Clark’s bond was set at $15,000.

Creston, Iowa— Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources report a collapsed streambank and broken sewer line on Hurley Creek, in Creston, resulted in a wastewater discharge to the creek today (Tuesday).

The cast iron sewer line broke when the streambank caved in. Discharging at about five gallons per minute, the untreated wastewater is entering Hurley Creek near the North Spruce Street bridge south of West Spencer Street.

The DNR advised keeping children and pets away from the creek for 24 to 48 hours after the discharge stops.

The city was working to quickly repair the broken line.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden visited an Iowa ethanol plant this (Tuesday) afternoon to highlight his administration’s move to allow nationwide sales of E-15 during the summer months. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says it’s the single most important step Biden could have taken to keep fuel costs down this summer.

“It’s keeps a cheaper fuel that’s more ‘Made in America’ in the market when we’re dealing with these overseas oil embargoes of Russia and all this stuff that’s driving up prices,” Shaw says. In parts of rural Iowa, E-15 is about 30 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline with 10 percent ethanol and it’s a cheaper option near Shaw’s office in suburban Des Moines.

“Down the street from me there’s one store on one side of the street that’s selling E15 10 cents under and the store on the other side of the street is selling it for 20 cents under E10,” Shaw says, “so you know which one I go to.” Some stations in Minnesota and other parts of the country have E-15 priced 50 cents a gallon cheaper than E-10.

The Trump Administration moved to allow year-round sales of E-15 in 2019, but a recent court ruling in a lawsuit filed by the oil industry would have blocked sales in much of the country this summer.  “We really appreciate what President Biden is doing not just to help Iowans and Americans save money this year, but E15 won’t leave the marketplace,” Shaw says.

“There won’t be a disruption and we’ll continue to work with them on a permanent fix.” There are 22-hundred gas stations in Iowa and about 275 of them offer E-15. “Consumers who have access to E15 are going to continue to save money,” Shaw says. Shaw was among the crowd at the POET plant near Menlo for today’s (Tuesday’s) event.

(Radio Iowa) – President Biden has taken a temporary step to ensure E-15 can be sold year-round.

Biden spoke about the decision to a crowd of invited guests inside an ethanol plant near Menlo Tuesday afternoon.

Biden says energy prices are the major driver of inflation right now.

Emily Skor is executive director of Growth Energy, a trade association for ethanol producers. Skor says the president has made a commitment to find a permanent fix.

In 2019, the Trump Administration moved to allow nationwide E-15 sales from June to mid-September.

Twitter photo of Pres. Biden at POET Biorefining, via Christian Datoc, White House Correspondent, Washington Examiner.

A federal judge ruled in favor of the oil industry’s challenge of that move and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. That means the litigation path for addressing this issue is closed and Skor says the industry is pursuing two options: E-P-A action or passage of a bill in congress.

Iowa Farm Bureau president Brent Johnson says ethanol is a major market for one of Iowa’s main crops and Biden’s announcement helps stabilize the ethanol industry.

Biden made the announcement in a storage barn for dried distillers grain — by by-product of ethanol production and hosts left a 300 ton pile of it inside for the event.. Michael Walz is a V-P for POET, the company that owns the facility Biden visited.

POET operates 33 ethanol plants in eight states.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department reports three, recent arrests. On Saturday, April 9th, 24-year-old Miranda Marie Shamblin, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Shamblin was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with assault and interference with official acts.

On April 6th, 27-year-old Mackenzie Ann Robinson, of Harlan, was arrested by Harlan Police on an active Shelby County warrant. Robinson was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with violation of a no contact order.

And on April 5th, 28-year-old Brandon Christopher Allen, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service. Allen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with violation of a no contact order.

(Radio Iowa) – The bird flu outbreak throughout the state is helping to drive up egg prices. Economist Brian Earnest with CoBank, which is part of the Farm Credit System, says the nation already saw a significant decrease in egg layers due to the pandemic. The virus will only exacerbate the shortage. “If we continue to see these flock depopulations, especially at the rates we’ve been seeing, that continues to put pressure on availability even into this fall,” Earnest says.

The outbreak has already led to the culling of 24 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks across the nation. Earnest says the price of wholesale eggs rose to three dollars a dozen last month. He says prices are likely to fall in the summer but tight supply will continue to plague the industry. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig says he’s concerned about seeing a repeat of the 2015 outbreak which took a one-point-two BILLION dollar toll on the state.  “We’re all interested in looking at the cost of food right now. There’s food price inflation for a lot of reasons. But we don’t want to add on top of that shortages because of high path,” Niag says.

Rembrandt Enterprises laid off more than 200 workers after the northwest Iowa egg producer lost its flock of more than five million chickens to the virus.

(By Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests. At around 7-a.m. today (Tuesday), 33-year-old Audrey Elise Martin, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Her bond was set at $50,000. And, at around 9:25-p.m. Monday, 30-year-old Aaron Ray McDaniel, of Malvern, was arrested for Driving While Revoked or Denied, with bond set at $1,000.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office said also, a woman from Malvern and a passenger in another vehicle, were transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, following an accident Sunday afternoon near 32295 Lambert Avenue. Authorities say a 2012 Chevy driven by 78-year-old Marilyn Hexon, of Malvern, was traveling east on Lambert Avenue out of Malvern. A 1950 Chevy driven by 74-year-old Clifford Leach, of Hastings, was behind Hexon’s vehicle, which was traveling at a slower speed.

Maxson slowed to turn into a driveway. When Leach attempted to pass her vehicle, the two Chevy’s collided. Maxson told authorities she had her turn signal on, but Leach said he didn’t see the light flashing.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, voted to adopt a 2022 Cass County Trail Plan in an effort to support trail development within the County. SWIPCO Planner Danielle Briggs addressed the Board, prior to the vote. She said the old trail plan was out-of-date, so they began fresh in 2020 efforts to update the plan that was delayed due to COVID and other matters. She said main reason for updating the plan is to use it as a tool for grant funding necessary to move the trails program forward.

Dave Chase, President of Nishna Valley Trails, thanked those who put in a considerable amount of time to develop the plan. Those persons included Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh, Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning, Conservation Director Micah Lee, and Danielle Briggs.

SWIPCO’s Danielle Briggs talks about the Cass Co. Trail Plan

Chase said “high on the list of trail projects was the connection of the T-Bone Trail to Atlantic.” As it is now, that trail terminates about three-miles northeast of town.

He said through donations and grant funding, “we’re funding new funding is coming on-line,” and they’re working with Golden Hills RC&D in Oakland, to connect the trail to the rest of western Iowa. Chase said there is no tax asking connected with a request for the plan to be adopted. In other business, the Board passed a Resolution to approve a bridge repair project on West 6th Street (The Airport Road). Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken says the joint County-City project is on west 6^th Street over the Nishnabotna River. The project’s cost is $392,414.00 to repair the abutments, replace the steel beams, and bring the bridge back up to its’ legal load rating of 80,000 pounds. Currently, the bridge is carrying a three-ton load limit. The project wouldn’t start until 2023.

And, the Board approved a Resolution for the use of ARPA funds to purchase an enclosed trailer for the Cass County EMA.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – April 12, 2022 – The Iowa Transportation Commission, during their meeting Tuesday morning in Council Bluffs, approved an amended grant for a RISE grant (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy), to Audubon County.

In Audubon County, a scope of work and grant award change was approved for a modification of the previously awarded Immediate Opportunity RISE grant to remove 100th Street improvements and construct additional intersection improvements to County Road M-66 and 100th Street. Officials say the amendment is necessary to provide improved access to the proposed expansion of Puck Enterprises, a liquid manure application equipment manufacturer. This project is anticipated to be completed by October 2023.

The Commission also approved a grant to Sioux City, for up to $665,264 from the city share of the RISE Fund and $665,264 from the county share of the RISE fund, for a Local Development grant to assist in paving approximately 2,470 feet of Alicia Avenue and construction of a left-turn lane on 225th Street located on the south side of town. This project is necessary to provide access to 37 acres for warehousing purposes. This project is anticipated to be completed by August 2023.