(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors have a light agenda for their meeting Tuesday, at 9-a.m.  The Board will receive a report from Engineer Trent Wolken with regard to the Secondary Roads Dept. maintenance tasks and activities. They will then formally accept the resignation (effective April 15th), of Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman, and decide the best method of moving forward to fill the vacancy.

Board Chair Steve Baier said last week he thinks they will have interviews wrapped-up in a couple of weeks, with Sunderman’s replacement in-place by mid-March, to work with him until his last day in office. Sunderman announced on Feb. 16th that he is resigning after more than 37-years as an elected county official.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors will act on approving a Class-C liquor license application for the Griswold Golf and Country Club. And, of applications have been submitted, they’ll act on the appointments of a Brighton and Massena Township Trustee.

(West Des Moines, Iowa) – January’s real estate activity was steady and similar in many ways to last year at this time according to the Housing Trends by the Iowa Association of REALTORS® (IAR). Home sales bumped up less than a one percent in January 2022 when compared to sales in January 2021. Median sales price rose 3.4 percent over January 2021. The IAR says 2,649 homes sold in January 2022 with new properties coming on the market dropping 9.9 percent compared to new listings in January 2021.  The median sales price for January 2022 came in at $185,000 compared to $179,000 in January of last year.

Officials say homes sold very quickly in January at an average of 41 days on the market. That is over 21 percent faster than January 2021. The number of homes available for sale continues to be low in many price ranges. Our inventory of homes was 16.5 percent lower than in January 2021 with only 6,896 homes on the market. According to IAR President Byron Menke, “Due to January’s typical winter weather, we saw the seasonal trend of slightly lower overall sales and less homes on the market. Potential sellers can take advantage of less competition on the market and a strong demand from buyers. Mortgage rates are still well below the historical average. We encourage buyers to get pre-approved and speak to a local Realtor® about starting the buying process.”

Statewide Market Report for January

View the Detailed PDF Report on Statewide Statistics

Housing Market Reports by Iowa County

View Reports on Single-Family homes.

View Reports on Townhouse-Condo homes.

The information used to create the IAR January Housing Trends Report was current as of February 15. The information is subject to change due to the dynamic nature of the IAR’s housing statistics system, which is based on data from the local participating MLS (multiple listing service) systems.  The Iowa Association of Realtors® is the state’s largest real estate professional organization representing over 8,000 members and affiliates. The IAR releases a Housing Trends Report each month.

(Radio Iowa) – The only oak species that are native in all of Iowa’s 99 counties is facing some disease issues. The D-N-R’s Tivon Feeley, says they are seeing a lot of Bur Oak Blight. “And that is a fungus that is on the leaf. And it tends to overwinter on the bud scales where the leaf will come out the nest year and infects the tree next spring,” according to Feeley. “The numbers of Bur Oak Blight have been kind of fluctuating. We’ve seen it high, the last couple of years it has been low. But once you have it — if you don’t treat the treat it — the tree will eventually decline. And those numbers are now showing up in our forest inventory data.” He says it’s a concern from two aspects.

“You’ve got the landscaper, you know the person who owns the property that wants the beauty of these big bur oak trees out there. And then you’ve got it from the forestry perspective/. If you are out in western Iowa in the Loess Hills, it’s one of the drought-tolerant oaks that you can grow — and if you want you can harvest,” he says. While there is a treatment — he says it is not the best for a large scale.

He says it is an injectible fungicide that you inject in the spring. “The problem with bur oak blight is it is so common that the treatments are only affordable and can work in small capacities like one or two yard trees. It’s not something you can use to treat a forest worth of bur oaks,” Feeley says. He says if you suspect you have a tree is suffering from Bur Oak Blight, get the problem correctly diagnosed before any management decisions are made. You can send samples to the Iowa State University Plant Diagnostic Clinic for testing.

(Radio Iowa) – A Casey’s convenience store in the town of Maxwell is permanently closing its doors after two recent fires, which officials are labeling as suspicious. The first fire to affect the business occurred on February 3rd with a second fire being reported at the same store on February 6th. On Friday, the company announced it would not replace the store. That means there is no longer a place for the town’s nearly 900 residents to get gas or warm food without leaving town.

Officials say the next closest place to buy gas is in Collins, which is five miles to the east, but that location has only pumps and not a store. The next closest place to purchase both gas and food items is in Huxley, which is nine miles to the west. Community leaders say they’re now working to try to attract another gas station to Maxwell.

The Story County sheriff’s office is continuing its investigation into the cause of the recent fires, which have put the Casey’s convenience store in Maxwell out of business.

(Radio Iowa) An Ames man was stabbed to death early Saturdaym and his roommate is charged with first-degree murder.  Police located the victim, 39-year-old Maccarone DeClements, who they say had been stabbed in the upper torso with a knife by his roommate. Officers also located the suspect, 39-year-old Robert Lon, of Ames, inside the home, and placed him under arrest.

DeClements was transported to an area hospital by air ambulance where he later died. Lyons, the suspect, is now charged with first degree murder, a class a felony. H’s currently being held in the Story County Jail.

At this time, it’s not clear what circumstances may have led to the stabbing.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) — A collision between a moving vehicle and a parked vehicle, Saturday evening, resulted in the arrest of a woman on OWI and other charges. According to Shenandoah Police, the accident happened in the 800 block of 6th Avenue, at around 7:30-p.m., Saturday.

Authorities say after further investigation, 37-year-old Amber Michelle Hughes, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated/1st offense (a serious misdemeanor), and child endangerment resulting in bodily injury (a Class D Felony).

Hughes posted a $6,000 bond and was released with a court date.

(Corning, Iowa) — A traffic stop a bit east of Corning at around 1-a.m., Sunday, resulted in the arrest of a woman from Union County. According to the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, 42-year-old Crystal Mack, of Creston, was arrested on charges that include driving under suspension, failure to have ignition interlock device, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mack was being held in the Adams County Jail on a little less than $2,100 bond.

Crystal Mack

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says people involved in blockades and occupations like the one that’s been going on in Canada would be quickly arrested if that happened in Iowa, but Reynolds is expressing sympathy to Canadians who’re unhappy with that country’s vaccination requirements.

“The means don’t justify the end, but I’m telling you it is a reflection of where people are at today,” Reynolds says. Reynolds approved a state law last year that raised the penalties for protest-related crimes. It created a new crime called “interference with public disorder control” and people convicted of “unlawful assembly” can be sentenced to up to two years in prison.

Iowa law now provides civil liability protection to drivers who accidentally hit protesters blocking roads. Demonstrators began blocking the streets of Ottawa, Canada on January 28th and police began making arrests and towing vehicles late last week.

(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s plan to provide state scholarships to parents who start sending their kids to a private school is being changed to try to gain more votes. Rural lawmakers worry the concept will put more financial strain on small school districts and the plan has stalled in the House for a second year. Last month, Governor Kim Reynolds suggested a new fund for public school districts with fewer than 500 students. This weekend during an appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S, Reynolds shared a counter offer that would send more money to more rural schools.

“One of the other things we’re looking at as we talk about the bill is maybe look at occupational sharing and that would cover an even broader group of rural districts,” Reynolds says, “so we’re still working on the pieces of the legislation.” The state already provides increased state funding to Iowa school districts that share superintendents, social workers, custodians or business managers. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst expects a fierce pressure campaign to get a bill passed this year.

“This is an election year, so I think all bets are off when it comes to what’s going to happen,” Konfrst says.”I remain hopeful that there are enough Republicans in the House who recognize this for what it is, which is a sham to move public money to private schools.”

The initial copy of the governor’s Students First Scholarship program advanced out of the Senate Education Committee last week, but the panel’s Republican chairwoman says changes are going to be made in the plan. House Speaker Pat Grassley has used his authority to move the bill to another House committee, so it remains eligible for debate.

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst (from Red Oak) will make stops in Adams and Shelby Counties this week, as part of her “99 County Tour.”  Her first event is a 10:30-a.m. Town Hall meeting in Adams County, at the Corning Community Center (601 6th St., Corning). Ernst will hear from and discuss with her constituents, matters of importance to them. The event is open to the public.

Her stop in Shelby County, at the Exira-EHK High School, is NOT open to the public. The Senator will visit “Kids in the Village,” a child care center, to tour the facility and meet with their leadership team.