(Des Moines, Iowa) – A District Court Judge in Polk County, Wednesday, tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Kirkwood Institute against State Auditor Rob Sand, Chief of Staff John McCormally, and the Auditor’s Office. Sand was accused of violating open records laws and using his office for political gain. The Kirkwood Institute had claimed Sand refused to hand over documents about the office’s communications with a reporter and liberal blogger after Sand accused Gov. Kim Reynolds of improperly appearing in a COVID-19 public service announcement. The Court concluded “the emails were properly maintained as confidential and withheld,” and therefore granted summary judgment in favor of Auditor Sand and the rest of the Auditor’s Office.

In response to the ruling, Sand said “We are committed to transparency, but also to protecting whistleblowers who help us uncover waste, fraud, and corruption. We’ve had everyone from right-wing media outlets to the Democratic National Committee ask for records that could possibly identify tipsters. Our answer is the same every time: we must deny requests that would chip away at our ability to protect whistleblowers and save taxpayers money. Iowans can trust the State Auditor’s Office.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who hope to get their student loan forgiven need to be wary of people and organizations offering to process their claim. Consumer protection advocate Michelle Reinen says con artists have quickly jumped on the Biden Administration’s loan forgiveness plan and they’re using it as bait. “Anyone claiming that they require an upfront fee or charge to assist you, that’s going to be a red flag,” Reinen says. “That individual isn’t associated with the programs and is likely a scammer.” Reinen says you should always be wary of links you receive in unsolicited email.

“If you get an email that claims to look like it’s coming from your borrower and they ask you to click a link, to do an update, or verify your information, know that scammers impersonate these borrowers and lenders all the time.” If you’re wanting to check in with your lender about having the loan forgiven, go directly to the source.

“Go to your normal method of logging in, or making contact by phone with your borrower to use that information,” she says, “rather than just clicking a link from a random email.” Under the federal plan, single borrowers who earn less than $125,000 per year, or households earning less than $250,000, are eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Borrowers who fall under the income caps and received Pell Grants in college will receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness. Contact your lender directly for full details.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman was arrested Wednesday on a valid Montgomery County warrant for OWI/2nd offense. Red Oak Police report 58-year-old Rhonda Joann Sperber, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 3:30-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – The Ankeny-based Casey’s convenience store chain, Wednesday, reported a strong first quarter in a report to investors. President and CEO, Darren Rebelez, says total revenue was up across the board as the pandemic recovery continues. “Sales volumes and margins improved dramatically as guest traffic began to rebound, driving an all-time high gross profit dollar quarter for the company,” he says. Casey’s gross profit was nearly $724 million dollars in the first quarter — a record and an increase of more than $100 million from the prior year.

Rebelez says the increased traffic help increase sales. “Grab-and-go items such as pizza slices, packaged beverages, and snacks are up significantly throughout the quarter as guest traffic improved. Same-store grocery in general merchandise sales were up seven percent, and the average margin was 33 percent, compared to 32-point-two percent for the same period a year ago,” Rebelez says. Sales of their pizza slices were up close to 29% in the quarter. Fuel gallons sold were up 9% with the fuel margin of 35.1 cents per gallon. 

Breakfast sales were a key area where the company saw a bounce back. “With respect to the breakfast business, we are not all the way back to where we expect to be. I think we’re going to learn a lot here in the next several weeks post-Labor Day with school fully back in session, people going back to work or not depending on the Delta variant,” Rebelez.

He says supply chain issues and inflation continue to a problem. “We’ve experienced our own challenges with a supply chain because manufacturers are struggling to produce products. But the fact that we control the supply chain has given us a lot of flexibility,” Rebelez says. I’ll give you n example, we’ve had some suppliers that can’t get the product to us because of driver shortages. We have our own fleet of drivers and trucks — so we can send a tractor to a manufacturer, pick up a trailer and get it back to our distribution centers to distribute product.”

He says the supply chain problems don’t appear to be getting better. “It’s a new challenge every day that we hear from certain suppliers,” according to Rebelez. “And it’s and on their end. It’s anywhere from labor shortages to driver shortages. And sometimes in some cases, it’s raw material shortages that have occurred. So it’s across the board.” The company completed the acquisition of the Buchanan Energy and Circle K stores in the quarter.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the Iowa Great Lakes Association is sounding the alarm about an invasive plant that’s been found in five area lakes. Eurasian watermilfoil can grow up to 20 feet tall and can be a major obstruction for boat traffic. “This will affect our commerce up here for the whole county if we get this lake shut down.” That’s Iowa Great Lakes Association president Bill Van Orsdel. He says Eurasian watermilfoil was first found in Lake Minnetonka near the Twin Cities in 1987 and since then it’s been a constant battle for Minnesotans.

“There are parts of Minnetonka you cannot get a boat through,” Van Orsdel says. “This is equivalent to a high water disaster and if we don’t nip it in the bud right now, we’re going to have the same problem right here and it’s going to take money.” Eurasian watermilfoil was found in Lost Island Lake near Ruthven August 1st and has since been discovered in East Lake Okoboji and three other lakes in the Iowa Great Lakes chain. Van Orsdel says efforts to combat the plant should intensify within the next two weeks.

“This is the time to do it,” Van Orsdel says. “If we wait, it’s over with.” A herbicide has been applied to the invasive plants in a two acre section of Upper Gar Lake, near Arnolds Park. The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors has approved spending 85-thousand dollars to support the effort in other areas. A representative of the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation says the plant has been found in fairly prolific amounts in certain spots.

Washing boats and trailers after leaving a lake and letting them dry for five days helps keep invasive species from spreading from one lake to another.

(Ashton, Iowa) – A crash Wednesday evening in northwest Iowa’s Osceola County resulted in the death of a man from Sheldon. The Iowa State Patrol says 84-year-old George William Klein died at the scene of the crash that occurred when the Silver King farm tractor he was driving on northbound Highway 60, was struck from behind by a 2023 International semi tractor-trailer. The accident happened at around 7:35-p.m., south of Ashton, at 250th Street.

The Patrol reports the semi equipped with an oversized trailer load and driven by 22-year-old Tyler Dale Fisk, of Holcombe, Wisconsin, hit the farm tractor as it was in the right lane of Highway 60. Both vehicles came to rest on the shoulder of the road. Fisk was uninjured in the collision.

The accident remains under investigation.