(Radio Iowa) – Three men from Miami are under arrest, accused of stealing nine MILLION dollars worth of frozen beef and pork from meatpacking plants in Iowa and five other states. Terry Wagner, the sheriff in Lancaster County, Nebraska, says his department started connecting the dots after finding empty semi trailers that had been stolen from a Grand Island beef packer. “It was surprising how brazen and how widespread it really was,” Wagner says. Investigators from the Lancaster County, Nebraska sheriff’s office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have identified 45 thefts so far.

“They’ve been targeted beef and pork packaging facilities in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin,” the sheriff says. It was a highly sophisticated organized criminal enterprise according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Nebraska sheriff says in many instances it appears the men drove into an area in a semi tractor and hooked it up to a trailer that had been loaded with frozen meat.

“They knew what to look for, they knew where to look, where trailers would be staged for transport and they would just drive in, hook up to a trailer and take off.” The sheriff told reporters in Lincoln, Nebraska that federal investigators used electronic surveillance to track three semi tractor trailers with more than half a million dollars worth of stolen meat to Florida last Thursday.

“The investigation is still continuing,” he says. “We’re still trying to identify some of the victims of these thefts and we’ll keep working on this case.” On September 1st, 100-thousand dollars worth of pork was stolen from the J-B-S plant in Ottumwa, but there’s been no official confirmation that case is among the 45 meat thefts identified by the Nebraska sheriff.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has identified a record number of trumpeter swan nests. D-N-R waterfowl biologist Orrin Jones says the species was reintroduced in Iowa in 1993. “Their population has been slowly recovering since then,” he says, “and we’re really pleased to see them continue that recovery.”

According to the D-N-R’s website, unregulated hunting and the draining of wetlands after European settlers arrived in Iowa led to the species’ demise here. Now, in the 29th year of the restoration effort, the latest count indicates there are at least 135 pairs of adult nesting swans in Iowa. “Trumpeter swans are traditionally associated with the Prairie Pothole region of Iowa, which is a geographic formation in north central and northwest Iowa where historically pothole wetlands were very abundant,” Jones says.

Jones says restoration of wetland areas has helped the species get re-established. The D-N-R began its trumpeter swan restoration program in 1993, then in 1998, three wild cygnets — baby swans — hatched from a next in Dubuque County.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday morning, received updates on the County employee Wellness Program, and Conservation Department activities. Supervisor Jerry Walker reported on the Wellness program participation and data regarding employee physicals. Data from the physicals helps the County in its efforts to obtain the best insurance rates it can in a points-based system. Walker said that, as of Monday, 60% of the physical reports had been turned-in.

Auditor Mandy Berg said the County stands to lose money if there is no change from last year’s data.

Rates have skyrocketed this year in Iowa, for both personal and group insurance. In other business, the Adair County Supervisors acknowledged and approved the GAAP Annual Financial Report. GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and are a collection of commonly-followed accounting rules and standards for financial reporting.

And, in his report to the Board, Adair County Conservation Director Dominic Johnson said they have awarded a contract for the Mormon Trail Shower House to Caliber Concrete, LLC out of Adair, in the amount of $174, 250, which was under budget by about $750,

The good news, he said is that they’ll have the site already prepped for the shower house before it arrives.

Johnson said he’s pleased by the number of campers they’ve had this year and the funds those persons bring to the county for camping fees.

He said this Fall has been especially busy. At Orient, they have been a lot of weekends this month where the campsites are full. Dominic said also, shower houses were officially closed and winterized last week. The docks are out of the water at most of the lakes in Adair County. Johnson said also, there were 27 people who attended the Conservation Department’s Hunter Education Class, last month.

Walleye fish, he said, have been stocked at four different county lakes, but there is concern about the lakes being as low as they are.