(Radio Iowa) – The fire that destroyed a decades-old wooden grain elevator in north-central Iowa last weekend is still smoldering, and a huge pile of soybeans remains to be cleaned up. Nick Willwerth is a spokesman for the United Co-op in Stonega, in northern Hamilton County. “We have cleanup crews on site working on spreading out that pile and suppressing the fires,” Willwerth says, “and then once the fire is suppressed, we’ll be in the process of screening those soybeans to haul to a location to sort out at that point what’s salvageable, what’s not salvageable and go from there.”

Fire destroyed a grain facility near Stonega Sunday. (KQWC photo)

The elevator facility was built in 1954. Willwerth says the Blairsburg Fire Department is working with the State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine the fire’s cause. A dozen fire departments from four counties responded to the Sunday blaze. No one was hurt.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two recent arrests. Wednesday evening, 58-year-old Scott Bradley Spurrier, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While License Suspended. Spurrier was cited and released on a Promise to Appear. And, Tuesday evening, Creston Police arrested 45-year-old Brady Gale Richert, of Creston, for Public Intoxication. Richert was seen by Judge and then released on his own recognizance.

RALSTON, Neb. [KETV] — A man from Iowa was arrested by Ralston, Nebraska Police, last week, for allegedly impersonating a Washington County, NE, sheriff’s deputy. KETV reports on April 3rd, Ralston police officers arrested 60-year-old Anthony Robison, of Council Bluffs, at the Wildewood Commons apartments. Police say Robison was wearing a law enforcement uniform suggesting that he was a deputy sheriff with Washington County, including uniform shoulder patches, name plate and a badge, at the time of his arrest. Investigators confirmed through the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that Robison is not a sworn deputy with the department.

According to court documents, Robison was terminated from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in the 1990s due to a felony conviction. Robison also had other law enforcement gear and attire, as well as “numerous fake ID’s and name plates from local and federal agencies,”according to Ralston Police.

Robison was taken into custody for possession of a gun by a prohibited person, identity theft, impersonation of a police officer and false reporting. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 13. His bond was set at $21,000.

DES MOINES – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources report, the City of Atlantic was recently honored with the 2023 Tree City USA Award at the 33rd Annual Community Forestry Awards Luncheon in Ankeny. The award was presented by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources April 4th at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny. 

State Forester Jeff Goerndt says “The Tree City USA award is a symbol for communities who have made a commitment to the management of public trees. Your community has provided an outstanding example for other Iowa communities by enhancing our forest resources and demonstrating the great value of trees in providing multiple benefits for future generations.”

In the photo (from left to right): State Forester Jeff Goerndt, Atlantic Trees Forever representative Dolly Bergmann; and Kayla Lyon, Director of the Department of Natural Resources.

Atlantic was one of 74 Iowa communities to qualify for Tree City USA status. To receive the award, a city must, at a minimum, have either a city forester or an active city tree board; have a tree ordinance; spend at least $2 per capita annually for its community forestry program; and have a tree planting and maintenance plan. 

CARTER LAKE, Iowa [KETV, Omaha] – The City of Carter Lake is hiring an investigator to look into complaints surrounding city council member Jackie Wahl, who faces a fine, suspension, or removal. According to KETV, four city employees accuse Wahl of creating a hostile work environment. Grievances allege Wahl offered a city employee’s hours to another worker, shared details about pay and workplace concerns, offered an occupied job, and contacted police in retaliation against an outspoken worker.

The council member faced accusers at the packed public meeting. The city employees who filed the complaints read prepared statements to council members and the mayor. Carter Lake city policy says council members should never express concern about the performance of a city employee in public, to the employee director, or to the employee’s supervisor. Mayor Ron Cumberledge said two other city employees quit their jobs due to the council member. Wahl was the subject of a 2022 complaint, according to the mayor, who says it resulted in an improvement plan and verbal reprimand.

Wahl, a six-year member of the council, said she is fixed on challenging the allegations. The city says it’s training employees to prevent a similar situation in the future.

PERRY, Iowa [KCCI] — The Perry High School has a new principal. The Perry News reports that interim Principal Brad Snowgren will succeed Dan Marburger. Marburger died days after the Jan. 4 school shooting. The online newspaper reports that the Perry School Board unanimously approved Snowgren’s hiring.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Emergency personnel responded to a small biplane crash Wednesday afternoon at the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport. The pilot was reported to be OK. The crash, reported at about 2:35 p.m. The plane involved was said to be a 1944 De Haviland Tiger Moth DH 82A. According to the FAA, the aircraft is registered to John Frederick Rued, of Bellevue, NE.

Preliminary FAA information stated the aircraft departed the airport in a crosswind, lost directional control, veered-off the runway and over a berm. The name of the pilot was not immediately released.

Additional details are currently not available.

(Radio Iowa) – The Midwest is seeing a rise in cases of Lyme disease and other health problems associated with ticks, and experts say the trouble is, millions of the tiny insects are now surviving our warmer winters. Megan Meller, an infection preventionist at Gundersen Health System, says now that spring is here, Iowans should start doing tick checks on a regular basis. “Tick season essentially now is moving year-round. I think we previously would think that we would have started looking for ticks once the weather turned warmer in April and May, when we’re spending more time outside,” Meller says, “but this year, we were seeing warm weather back in really from December through January and currently, and even those brief cold spells didn’t kill the ticks.”

The experts say there are more than a dozen species of ticks in Iowa, the three most common are deer ticks, dog ticks and lone star ticks. Meller says some are easier to spot than others. “If we’re lucky, they’re large and we can find them right away but some of them are really tiny, the size of a dot at the end of a sentence, and if you overlook those, they can also cause an infection,” Meller says. “It’s really important to not just do a thorough tick check on yourself and on your pets and children, but to also take additional preventative measures.” Those measures include wearing long pants and long sleeves.

“Wearing bug spray when you’re outside that repels ticks. It’s closing up your sock line. That’s an easy way for ticks to get up, too. It’s wearing long socks over your pants,” she says. “It’s just being really mindful that as we spend more and more time outside, there are also hidden dangers lurking out there.” Along with the rise in tick-borne diseases in the region, there’s a silver lining to the story.

“We’re seeing a greater push for vaccine development to prevent Lyme disease. So right now, there is a vaccine in Stage-3 clinical trials that has some promising results, so we’re keeping an eye on that,” Meller says. “Hopefully, at some point in the near future, there’ll be a vaccine that helps prevent Lyme disease, so we don’t have to keep worrying about this potential added fear in the woods.”

There’s another tick to be watchful for, especially if you raise cattle or horses in Iowa. The Asian longhorned tick has been found in at least 19 states, including Missouri, but it’s not yet been spotted here. Gundersen Health System has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Sierra Club Iowa is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the large fertilizer spill on the East Nishnabotna River that killed thousands of fish. Chapter Director Pam Mackey-Taylor says they sent a letter with the request. “We’re asking that the Environmental Protection Agency which is federal government agency pick up the investigation of what happened and initiate criminal and serious civil charges related to the spill,” she says. Mackey-Taylor says if the issue only goes through the state civil process there would be a maximum 10-thousand dollar penalty and the cost of the dead fish.

“It’s a little bit of a long drawn out process. We feel that this is serious enough given that it’s 60 mile stretch of the river. It’s in two states, massive amount of fertilizer,” Macky-Taylor says. “And we think that it needs to be stepped up and gone through the civil as well as the criminal courts to get resolution.” The D-N- R reports more than 749-thousand fish were killed from the fertilizer spill at the NEW Cooperative near Red Oak in Montgomery County March 11th. The spill killed nearly all the fish in an almost 50-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna River into Missouri. “They said that this is one of the largest kills of fish in Iowa. There are a few spills that are larger, but no we haven’t heard of anything this large for some time,” she says. She says the company should be held responsible.

New Cooperative spill

“Obviously, there was nobody around doing any kind of surveillance or survey, or monitoring of what was happening. No monitors on the equipment to notify what spills are happening. No guards. And so this is just a flagrant violation that just needs to be fixed. And it’s more than just a simple little accident,” Mackey-Taylor says. She says Missouri wildlife officials believe some 40-thousand fish were killed in their state.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments this (Thursday) afternoon over the Iowa law that would ban abortions after fetal activity can be detected, around the sixth week of a pregnancy. The policy has been on hold due to the legal challenge filed soon after Governor Kim Reynolds signed the law last July.

“We’re optimistic and hopeful. We’ve passed the ‘heartbeat’ law twice in the state of Iowa,” Reynolds said. “It passed by a larger majority this last go-round in the special session.” Reynolds signed a Fetal Heartbeat Act in 2018, but it was ruled unconstitutional in state court. Last year, after the U-S Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, Reynolds asked Iowa’s Supreme Court to let the law take effect, but the request failed on a tie vote among the justices.

In July, Reynolds convened a special legislative session to pass the law again. Planned Parenthood quickly sued to block the law, arguing it violates Iowans’ constitutional right to an abortion. The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling by the end of June.