(Stuart, Iowa) – The drivers of two semi tractor-trailer trucks were injured when the vehicles collided Monday morning on I-80 near Stuart. The Iowa State Patrol reports both semi’s were westbound at around 10:35-a.m. in the right-hand lane, when a 2000 Western Star semi – driven by 42-year-old Marcus De Andre Sewell, of San Antonio, TX – failed to complete the lane change prior to making a pass.

The rig collided with the left rear of a 2019 Freightliner semi, driven by 30-year-old Jean Sahens, of Del Ray Beach, FL.  Both rigs came to rest in the traveled portion of the road, blocking westbound traffic.  The drivers were transported by Stuart Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Both were wearing their seat belts.

Traffic was detoured for about 3-hours at Stuart, while the wreckage was being clear.  As of early this afternoon, only the right lane remained blocked.

(Radio Iowa) – A legislative committee has voted to temporarily delay implementing a new state rule governing the care of livestock after major Iowa farm groups objected. The rule was originally scheduled to go into effect April 1st. It would have forced veterinarians to examine animals they’re prescribing drugs for or visit the site where the animals are being raised at least once in the past year. Eldon McAfee is an attorney for the Iowa Pork Producers Association. “By going to a hard and fast time deadline — within the past 12 months — affects our facilities quite a bit and we believe the best professional judgement should be respected on behalf of the veterinarians,” McAfee says.

Current rules call for timely and medically necessary visits, but Dr. Duane Ray, chairman of the Iowa Veterinary Medicine Board, says it’s time to put some teeth in the rule to protect animal health.  “To be quite honest with you, I’m a little stunned that the Pork Producers and the Farm Bureau are lobbying against this…The Iowa Veterinary Medicine Association is solidly behind this,” Dr. Ray said. “…We have hog producers managing veterinarians. That has to stop.” Dr. Ray says this is a critical time with African Swine Fever detected in the Dominican Republican and Haiti. “If we get African Swine Fever in Iowa, it’s going to make COVID look like a walk in the park,” Dr. Ray said. “…All swine movement stops for 72 hours. That means the packing houses shut down. All semis stop, so we need veterinarians in the field, familiar with these operations, so we can get this controlled.”

The board has been negotiating with the pork industry for a year over this new rule, according to Dr. Ray. “One of the veterinarians who represented one of the large corporate swine operations commented: ‘There’s no way I can physically get to all of my clients in 12 months,'” Dr. Ray said. “My response was: ‘Are they really your clients…If you can’t get on that farm for 30 minutes in 12 months…or are you just sitting in a corporate office signing scripts?'”

The legislature’s Administration Rules Review Committee voted to delay implementing the rule for 70 days, but committee members warned the commodity groups the rule will go into effect in June as is if they don’t engage in good faith negotiations. Representative Mike Sexton, a Republican from Rockwell City, says it’s become common practice for a case of antibiotics to accompany semi loads of pigs delivered to large scale confinements. “Those pigs aren’t sick,” Sexton says. “Nobody’s looked at those pigs. We’re just going to have a huge, onhand supply of registered antibiotics that a non-veterinarian is going to be able to administer. That’s the problem.”

Dr. Ray told legislators he’d been called to examine a sick calf and learned the farmer had treated the calf with antibiotics that came with a shipment of pigs, drugs that are not to be given to cattle.

(Harlan, Iowa) – In an update to our report on Friday, the Iowa State Patrol says two men were transported by Harlan Medivac to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, following a collision that took place March 4th, north of Harlan. Authorities say a 2015 Chevy Colorado pickup driven by 79-year-old Ralph Henry Heese, of Tennant, was westbound on Shelby County Road F-32 at around 10:05-a.m., at the same time a 2020 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer driven by 59-year-old Brian David Soll, of Charter Oak, was traveling north on Highway 59.

The Patrol says when Heese failed to stop at the posted intersection, his pickup struck the rear dual tires of the semi’s tractor, and then spun around before hitting the semi’s trailer. The pickup came to rest in the east ditch, just north of the intersection, facing east. The semi came to rest in the east ditch, north of the intersection, with the power unit (Drive section) facing south, and the trailer jack-knifed.

Both men suffered suspected minor, non-incapacitating injuries. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $50,000. No citations were issued.

DES MOINES – Today (Monday), Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the signing of a disaster proclamation for Buena Vista County, in northwest Iowa, in response to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – or, Bird Flu – effective immediately, and continuing through April 5, 2022. The proclamation allows state resources from Iowa Homeland Security, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and other agencies to assist with tracking and monitoring, rapid detection, containment, disposal, and disinfection. The proclamation also waives regulatory provisions related to commercial vehicles responding to affected sites.  

The recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections in birds do not present an immediate public health concern, and it remains safe to eat poultry products. If producers suspect signs of HPAI in their flocks, they should contact their veterinarian immediately. 

The USDA has confirmed a positive case at a commercial turkey flock in Buena Vista County. On March 1, 2022, a positive case was confirmed in a backyard, non-commercial flock in Pottawattamie County. 

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Department of Labor says it has recovered unpaid wages for workers at a Sioux City meat processing plant. The Labor Department says their investigation found the Seaboard Triumph Foods pork processing failed to pay 413 employees for work completed before and after their shifts, such as set up, clean up, and knife sharpening. The Department says this violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying the employees for all hours worked — and not paying overtime at time and-a-half when workers exceeded 40 hours in a workweek.

It says nearly 332-thousand dollars ($331,807) in back wager were recovered for the workers.

Police in Glenwood report the arrest on Sunday, of 33-year-old Seth Peters. The Plattsmouth, NE. man was arrested for serious assault. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail, until seen by a Magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) – The experts now say at least four tornadoes touched down in southern Iowa late Saturday afternoon, claiming seven lives and damaging or destroying more than 50 homes. Meteorologist Chad Hahn, at the National Weather Service, says much of the area that was hit by the twisters got four or five inches of snow late Sunday and this (Monday) morning, which is slowing recovery efforts. “Fortunately, we had three teams out yesterday and we got a good cross-section of the areas that were impacted,” Hahn says. “Unlike the December 15th event where we had multiple tornadoes along the derecho line and the squall line that moved through the state, these were a little bit different in that they were consistent on the ground for a long time.” During that December derecho, Iowa was hit with 61 tornadoes, a record for December and a record for one day. Tornadoes can strike during any month, but Hahn says this developing pattern is highly unusual.

“Severe weather isn’t rare in the month of March. We have had severe weather events during March in the past and early March as we saw a couple of years ago in the southern part of the state,” Hahn says. “What made this one truly unique or rare was the magnitude, number one, and two, just the persistence that these tornadoes were able show and exhibit.” The Enhanced Fujita scale classifies tornadoes from weakest (EF0) to most powerful (EF5). Of Saturday’s four tornadoes, two were rated as E-F-2s and two were rated as E-F-3s, while Hahn says it’s possible the twister that hit Winterset may be rated even more powerful. That E-F-3 was on the ground nearly 14 miles, and two of the others lasted even longer. The E-F-3 that hit Red Haw State Park in Chariton, killing a camper, was on the ground more that 16 miles, with peak winds of 138 miles an hour. Another twister landed near Leon, grazed Garden Grove and Humeston before pulling up near Derby in Lucas County. It was on the ground more than 19 miles. Hahn says it was an intensely lethal storm system and that duration of tornadoes is atypical.

“It is a very rare scenario to have a storm of this magnitude in early March,” Hahn says. “Severe weather is common as we see the seasonal change, as we start to see the cold air masses clashing with the warm air masses coming up from the south, but to have something of this scale is what made this one very rare.” A fourth tornado developed near Allerton and passed near Corydon. It rated as an E-F-2 with peak winds of 118 miles an hour and was on the ground about 7.5 miles. All four tornadoes struck during the 5 o’clock hour late Saturday afternoon, with the Leon/Garden Grove/Humeston/Derby tornado lasting the longest, at 27 minutes.

The Winterset tornado is still being studied and Madison County is now a state disaster area.

(Radio Iowa) – Many Iowans heard tornado sirens wailing for more than an hour Saturday evening and night (Including here in Atlantic), but others who were in harm’s way heard nothing.
Residents of Newton may have initially been caught off guard by Saturday’s severe weather outbreak, because the city’s emergency sirens did not go off when the city was officially placed under a tornado warning. However, all other sirens in Jasper County did go off and did work properly, according to local emergency management officials. According to the Jasper County Sheriff’s office, there was an initial programming issue with the sirens in Newton, which has since been fixed.

According to the sheriff’s office, the north side of the community of Newton did receive some damage from Saturday’s severe weather. A portion of the roof was torn off TPI Composites Incorporated in Newton, according to a local spokesperson. The sheriff’s office says several trees were downed in Kellogg and several homes were damaged in the town of Newburg, as well. No serious injuries were reported within the county. Elsewhere in the state, at least four tornadoes claimed seven lives, six of them in Winterset.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously voted to expand a law adopted two decades ago after a 17 year old who hid her pregnancy killed her baby. The current “Safe Haven Law” allows a parent to leave an infant at a health care facility 30 days after birth and the parent will not be charged with abandonment. The House bill would expand that time frame to 90 days. Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City says the three month time frame is a good compromise to update a law passed in 2002. “During that time in Iowa, over 53 children have been surrendered to the State of Iowa by parents who felt that they could not care for those children,” Mascher says. “I look at each and every one of those children and the fact that we’ve had that law in place and it has made a difference in their lives, I’m hoping, for the better.”

Representative Anna Osmundson of Volga says the program has helped many women and children at critical times in their lives. “There should be more done to bring awareness to the program, so perhaps during the interim we could work on this a little further,” Osmundson said.

The tragic case of an infant who was strangled and found abandoned in a snowbank in the town of Chelsea, Iowa, was the catalyst for Iowa’s Safe Haven Act. Texas was the first state to adopt a “Safe Haven” law in 1999 and now every state has adopted the policy. In seven states, the infant must be 72 hours or younger. Iowa is among 23 states that currently have a 30 day time frame.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports three arrests. On Sunday (3/6/22), 36-year-old Douglas Edward Woodward, of Creston, was arrested at Lakeshore Drive and Mckinley Park. He was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault and Disorderly Conduct-Fighting/Violent Behavior. Woodward was being held in the Adams County Jail without bond, until seen by the Magistrate.

Early Saturday morning, 31-year-old James F Randolph, of Ohio, was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County Warrant for Failure To Appear on an original charge of Disorderly Conduct-loud or raucous noise, and Interference with Official Acts. Randolph was being held in the Union County Jail on a $2,600 cash or surety bond.

And, Friday afternoon, 20-year-old Elyice Bolin Stow, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County Warrant for Sex Abuse 3rd Degree a Class C Felony. Stow was being held in the Adams County Jail on $10,000 cash only bond.

Authorities said also, a woman residing in the 300 block of N. Maple Street in Creston, reported March 2nd, that sometime between 7-pm March 1st and 7-am March 2nd, someone stole a Christmas light projector from her yard. The loss was estimated $25.