(Glenwood, Iowa) (Update:Corrected by Glenwood PD) – The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest this (Friday) morning, of 33-year-old Ashley Ring. The Glenwood woman was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. Her cash bond was set at $2,000.
(Glenwood, Iowa) (Update:Corrected by Glenwood PD) – The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest this (Friday) morning, of 33-year-old Ashley Ring. The Glenwood woman was arrested for OWI/2nd offense. Her cash bond was set at $2,000.
MIKE WARD, 65, of Buffalo, MO. (formerly of Atlantic), died Wed., Dec. 7, 2022, at home. A Celebration of Life for MIKE WARD will be held at a later date.
MIKE WARD is survived by:
His father – Don “Pappy” Ward, of Atlantic
His sisters – Linda (John) Minear, of Livonia, MO.; Diana (David) Young, of Casey, IA
4 nieces, 1 nephew, 1 great-niece and 4 great-nephews.
(Radio Iowa) – A report finds Iowa detains black youth at a higher rate than any other state in the county. The Sentencing Project says to address racial disparities in juvenile detention, Iowa should grow diversion programs that deal with criminal conduct without sending young people to court. Deb VanVelzen, youth coordinator for the Des Moines Police Department, says they’re trying to reduce the numbers by making it easier to take part in the agency’s diversion program. “We took away the barrier of having parents’ permission,” VanVelzen says. “Every child that qualifies for our diversion program automatically gets enrolled, whether they want to or not. They don’t have to admit guilt.”
Diversion programs often connect youth with social services or require them to attend classes or service learning. The Iowa Department of Human Rights recommends reforms like setting a minimum age of 12-years-old for juvenile court defendants, and requiring diversion programs for first-time, low-level offenders. Steven Michael, at the D-H-R, says justice advisory groups recommend starting all cases involving juveniles in juvenile court. Michael says charging youth as adults disproportionately affects black Iowans. “Black youth are 11-and-a-half times more likely to be direct file than white youth,” Michael says, “which means if you’re 16 and you commit a forcible felony, or allegedly commit a forcible felony, you start in the adult court system.”
The Sentencing Project found black youth are 21-percent less likely to participate in diversion programs than their white peers. Michael says the recommendations will be shared with the governor and state legislators. VanVelzen and Michael spoke at the Iowa Summit on Justice and Disparities.
(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a regular session, Tuesday morning. According to the meeting minutes from Auditor Mark Maxwell, Nick Preston was present at the meeting, to discuss the West Nishnabotna Water Trail memorandum of agreement. Preston informed the Supervisors that Brandon Burmeister, Shelby County Engineer, has some responsibilities regarding the agreement as well as the State department of transportation. River boat ramps are to be installed in Harlan as well as at Nishna Bend. Parkhurst introduced a motion to authorize the Chairperson to sign the memorandum. The motion received a second, and was passed. The Board also approved a Utility permit for Nishnabotna Valley REC.
A Department of Transportation resolution was then considered by the Supervisors. Brandon Burmeister presented an amendment to the current five year plan. The amendment was approved unanimously. Todd Valline was present at Tuesday’s meeting. He gave an update on a few of the holiday activities the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry is involved in. The cities and volunteers in Tennant, Portsmouth, Panama and Irwin were thanked for assistance in the Santa Clause visits last weekend. The Harvestfest festivities included some filming for a promotional video being focused on the Omaha Council Bluffs area. The two videos give a chance for Shelby County to show off some of the reasons to live here or even visit. The initial stats for the videos show over 14,000 views and it is only a month old.
The Supervisors found it prudent to make Shelby County taxpayers aware and make sure that the current high pressure Liquified carbon dioxide pipeline legal matters were presented at an open meeting. Chairperson Kenkel presented a timeline of events leading up to the current date. Shelby County’s liability insurance carrier is covering most of the legal fees.
Supervisor Haake wanted to make known also, the Board intends to expand the Supervisors from three members to five members. Prerequisites must be fulfilled including a Supervisor Resolution or Petition requirements fulfilled. The Supervisors requested input from the public to see if Shelby County voter support would make the transition prerequisites of going from three to five Supervisors worth investigating further.
Auditor Maxwell presented a Building and Grounds use application for the annual Roar into Harlan events. They take place once a month on a Thursday in the summer months. Maxwell noted that there have been few issues with this event during the years these events have been held. The application was approved. Maxwell then notified the Supervisors that the due date for payroll change sheets and evaluation completion for the 2.5% merit raise are due this Friday December 9th.
Mark Maxwell notes, that in order to accommodate the county owned farm ground rent auction for the crop year 2023, the regular Board of Supervisors meeting will be on December 20th, this meeting will be held at the Therkildsen Center. A recess will be called at the end of the business session of the meeting and the meeting will reconvene at the Supervisors room at the courthouse to hold budget sessions with departments heads, to accommodate the County owned farm 2023 crop year rent auction will be held at that meeting also.
Tentative dates are December 27th and 28th at 9:00 AM in the Supervisors room at the Courthouse for the remaining budget sessions.
(Radio Iowa) – The Republican who’ll lead the tax policy committee in the Iowa House next year says property tax relief will be his primary focus. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton says property taxes have exploded over the last decade. “It’s one of the top things I hear, not just on the campaign trail, but also back home when I’m around constituents, particularly when it comes to seniors who are on a fixed income who see skyrocketing property taxes,” Kaufmann says. “They have to start making incredibly difficult choices about what to pay for.”
Kaufmann says he’s interested in making substantial changes that lead to property tax relief. “For me, everything’s on the table,” Kaufmann says. “I’m open ears. I am willing to listen to any option and I am willing to listen to the detrators of every option, but we’re going to be aggressive in our approach.”
Senator Dan Dawson, the Republican from Council Bluffs who’s chairman of the SENATE Ways and Means Committee, has also said property tax changes will be the top priority for Senate Republicans in 2023. Last month at the Republican Governors Association meeting, Governor Kim Reynolds said her priority in the next four years is eliminating the Iowa income tax. She did not mention property taxes.
Jim Field visits with Cass County Naturalist Lora Kanning and Iowa Bluebird Conservation President Chris Parks about the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, 2022.
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(Radio Iowa) – This is supposed to be the season of joy but for some Iowans, the Christmas holidays only remind them of a loved one they’ve lost. Several Iowa communities are holding solemn services for those who are mourning a death in the past year. Amy Keller, with the Foster Funeral and Cremation Center in Webster City, is coordinating a memorial this weekend with several area churches. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be within the last year. It can be any loss that you’ve had throughout your life, if you would like to come over to the service,” Keller says. “It’s not only just for humans, it can be for pets. The service here will be a service that’s going to be honoring and celebrating, remembering those that we have lost.” Sarah Ostlund, faith formation director at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Webster City, says there will be a reading during the service of all of the names of those who are being remembered.
“There’ll be an actual candle-lighting portion of this service so that we just reserve a space in time for our loved ones that we so desperately wish were still here with us,” Ostlund says, “and we’re missing them even more during this special time of the year.” The impact of loss can be lessened when we realize we’re not alone in missing those who are gone, and Ostlund says the service is a way to join individuals together.
Ostlund says, “Hopefully, we’ll have time to remember those people and share some memories and share some of the joys that we have, despite the sadness that we feel missing our loved ones.” The service is scheduled to begin at 5 P-M on Sunday at the center with the lighting of luminaries and the ringing of bells.
(Radio Iowa) – The state Natural Resources Commission has approved a D-N-R proposal to create a continuous open season on raccoons. D-N-R wildlife biologist, Vince Evelsizer, told the commission the request was not taken lightly and came after a review of various raccoon population surveys. “It starts with our annual wildlife surveys. So for example, the spring spotlight survey that our staff do statewide, that’s showing a consistent increase in the raccoon population,” Everlsizer says. He says there’s been a steady increase in the raccoon population in roughly the last 20 years. Evelsizer says they also have consulted with the wildlife depredation staff that deal with raccoons and deer and other animals that annually eat up crops and cause other problems.
“Those depredation staff are already dealing with nuisance raccoons and crops. And all wildlife staff and law enforcement staff are dealing with raccoons and attics, raccoons and barns, raccoons and farm equipment, and things like that,” he says. Evelsizer says having a continuous raccoon season will provide some help with the issues. “What we’re proposing here won’t fix the problem, what we’re proposing is to make adjustments that are within our means to give folks a little more freedom to deal with a population of raccoons that has increased and is high,” he says. Evelsizer says they’ve also seen an increase in distemper outbreaks around the state — which he says is typically indicative of a high density of raccoons.
“And when a raccoon gets distemper — it’s not it’s not a pretty thing — they carry it, they can spread it to others, then they will die from that usually, and it’s not a quick death either,” according to Evelsizer. “So that’s not a thing we’d like to see out there on the landscape either.” The senior director in the Wildlife Protection department at the Humane Society of the United States, Jill Frtiz, did speak out against the issue during the public comment portion of the N-R-C meeting. “Instead of Iowa randomly killing more raccoons, we suggest that reports of high raccoon densities and claims of increased raccoon conflict and predation should be carefully reviewed against current human population density, and movement and development, local agriculture practices, and the effects of growth and climate change on native wildlife habitat factors,” Fritz says.
The Natural Resources Commission also approved a proposal to extend the regular trapping season for other furbearers by one month. “We did feel that was okay biologically, and as far as selling those furs can they be utilized in the fur market? Yes, they can in February. The pelts are still in good shape. Ethan and prime at that time,” he says. That extension impacts the trapping of mink, muskrat, badger, opossum, weasel, striped skunk, fox (Red and Gray), beaver, coyote, river otters, bobcats, gray (Timber) wolf and spotted skunk. A public comment period on the proposed change will be set for sometime in January, and then there will be a public hearing on the issue in February.
The UNI men take a 3-5 record into Friday night’s game at home against McNeese State. A bright spot early has been the play of freshman guard Trey Campbell. The Cedar Falls product is averaging just over seven points per game and is coming off a career high 15 in a Tuesday night loss to Toledo.
That’s Panther coach Ben Jacobson who has had to use a variety of lineups in the early going due to injury and illness.
McNeese State has struggled to a 2-6 record.
Drake takes an 8-1 record into a key three game road trip that begins Saturday at Richmond. It will also include a trip to play St. Louis University and a game against Mississippi State at the Battle in the Vault in Lincoln, Nebraska.
That’s senior forward Garrett Sturtz. Sophomore guard Tucker DeVries says these games are resume building opportunities for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 78-65 win over Omaha on Wednesday night. Richmond is 3-5 after a loss at William and Mary.
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