(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department say two people were arrested on drug charges late Thursday night. Authorities says 34-year-old Stewart Russell Anderson and 28-year-old Jeremy Wayne Elbrecht, Jr., both of Creston, were arrested a little after 11-p.m., Thursday, at 507 N. Division Street. Both were charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. They were cited and released from the scene on a promise to appear in court.

And, at around 4:45-p.m., Thursday, police in Creston arrested 40-year-old Yarioska Rondoncama, of Brooklyn, NY, at the Creston/Union County Law Enforcement Center. Rondoncama was taken into custody under the authority of a Union County warrant for failure to appear on an original charge of Driving while license Denied or Revoked. He was taken to the Union County Jail and posted $1,000 bond before being released.

(Des Moines, Iowa) –  A report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows an ethanol-producing facility in northeast Iowa expelled excessive pollutants into the air for several years that can cause cancers and other health effects. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the DNR recently issued an administrative order with regard to the POET Bioprocessing plant near Shell Rock. The Order says “Actual harm to the environment and public health likely occurred” at the facility, which makes about 140 million gallons of ethanol each year, along with other products from the leftover materials of the fuel production. The excessive pollution was tied to one of those additional products: a protein ingredient for animal feed.

The facility’s previous operator, Flint Hills Resources, installed the equipment that is used to extract the protein and began operating it in July 2020, the DNR order said. However, part of the system lacked sufficient pollution controls, which was discovered by POET in August 2023. POET had purchased the facility about two years earlier, but did not sample the emissions. Mark Fields, a unit leader for the DNR’s Air Quality Bureau, said Flint Hills had underestimated the amount of pollutants in the ethanol-production leftovers that are used to produce the protein. Those pollutants were then expelled during the protein processing.

The POET facility near Shell Rock produces about 140 million gallons of ethanol each year and other products. (Photo courtesy of Google Earth)

Fields said the issue was discovered with a similar system in another state, and POET shut down the production line and notified the DNR. The company later routed those emissions into an existing pollution-control system at the plant and fixed the problem. But emissions tests after the production line was reactivated revealed the extent of the excessive pollution in the previous years: Its volatile organic compounds emissions were 27 times its permitted limit, and emissions of a hazardous, cancer-causing compound — acetaldehyde — were nearly nine times the limit.

POET agreed to pay a $10,000 administrative fine, the DNR order said. It also will pay nearly $43,000 in fees that it owed the state for its under-reporting of emissions in 2021 and 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Enjoy the weekend weather as the forecast calls for a return to unseasonably hot conditions to start the new week. National Weather Service Meteorologist Andrew Ansorge says temperatures will return to less comfortable levels. “We’re looking at you again temperatures being into the 90s there were parts of the state starting really Monday Tuesday into Wednesday,” he says.

The humidity will make it seem worse. “Humidity will combine to create heat indices that will probably be above 100 at times in portions of the state. That probably won’t be until sometime Monday afternoon will be the first time that maybe occurs and that could then continue on Tuesday as well as into Wednesday,” Ansorge says. That’s going to be around ten degrees above average. “Anywhere from the low to middle 80s is kind of a typical late July temperature,” he says.

Ansorge says there is the possibility of some storms being generated by the warmer conditions.

(Radio Iowa) – The wet spring could lead to a drop in the number of pheasants in Iowa. Iowa D-N-R wildlife research biologist Todd Bogenschutz says the switch in the weather pattern can really impact pheasant. “We went from major drought to major flooding in a pretty short time frame, and unfortunately it coincided with peak in nesting,” he says. Bogenschutz says several factors make wet springs tough on nesting pheasants. “We’re just not sure if the hens aren’t quite as attentive, maybe less of the eggs are fertile if they get chilled. You know and then we think in wet years you know, obviously predators,most to predation occurs by smell and when you have wetter conditions, scenting conditions are better, and so that could be part of it,” he says.

Bogenschutz says the wet spring can also cut back the food source for young birds. “Wetter cooler springs could impact the number of insects that are out there too, probably maybe suppresses it a little bit. So maybe the chicks don’t have as much forage base as they do and we tend to have our good years which tend to be warm and dry,” Bogenschutz says. He says hunters had their best harvest last year since 2007. The relatively mild winter helped more pheasants survive, so it’s hard to tell what their fall pheasant survey will show. “It was a really good fall last year. So I think people were thinking, holy cow, we could be phenomenal if everything lined up,” he says. “but you know that didn’t quite come to fruition. The roadside counts will be interesting, I expect we will maybe show some small increases in some areas, but I think especially up in northwest and north central where we got that heavy rain, that our counts are probably going to be lower.”

Bogenschutz says lower counts doesn’t mean hunters won’t find pheasants. “We’re still gonna have birds out there. You know, we had reports of broods early and actually fairly large, a little bit earlier than I normally get them. We definitely did have some early hatch because of I think the mild winter and how quickly it went away this year,” he says.

The annual roadside pheasant surveys are held in August and the results on pheasant numbers will be released in September.

(Radio Iowa) About a dozen Iowa firefighters are helping battle wildfires in other states — across the Rocky Mountains, on the West Coast, and in the Pacific Northwest. Ryan Harr, supervisor of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Fire Program, says they’ve dispatched Iowans to help extinguish dangerous flareups in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming — and one crew just returned from fighting wildfires in South Dakota. “A number of folks are on hand crews where they’re just working on the fire line, preparing new lines, helping burnout, those sorts of things,” Harr says. “We have several people who are attached to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fire engines, so they’re actively out doing the initial attack, catching those smoke reports when they come in, and out chasing the fires.”

Iowa is also dispatching E-M-Ts and logistical planners to points west. Most of their assignments are for two weeks and Harr says it can be both grueling and rewarding. “They will spend a lot of time just out on the line working 10-, 12-, 14-hour days. Other folks, like some of our EMTs, are supporting firefighters on the line. Other folks are just on patrol and those sorts of things,” Harr says. “So they’re long, hot days. They do train for it. There is a rigorous national standard of physical fitness that folks have to meet to be deployed on a national assignment.” While Iowa has gotten a reprieve from several years of drought with heavy rain in recent months, Harr says the western U-S has seen just the opposite.

A mixed Iowa DNR and US Fish & Wildlife Service crew works a hand line in Wyoming last week. (Photo from Iowa DNR)

After a year or two of generally wet conditions, he says much of the region is drying out rapidly this summer. “The national need for firefighters across the nation varies from year to year,” Harr says. “The last two seasons haven’t been too busy in the western, southwestern and southern United States. Previous to that, it was quite busy, so we do send firefighters every year, but the number ebbs and flows over time.” Harr says the D-N-R will continue to support its federal partners by providing firefighters and support staff throughout the summer and early fall. “The folks we’re deploying are gaining valuable skills, training in different states, in different areas, with different government agencies, and they bring those skills back home to Iowa, back to the Iowa DNR, back to their local counties, their local volunteer fire departments,” Harr says. “From prescribed burning to volunteer departments doing wildfire suppression and brush fires, we know they’re important skills for folks to go out and bring back to Iowa.”

Every year, Harr says the D-N-R certifies about ten of its own staff and another 35 Iowans from partner agencies, volunteer fire departments, and other organizations to be available for national fire incident assignments.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Royalty was crowned Thursday evening during the 75^th Cass County Fair, in Atlantic, wrapping-up day one of the Fair. Atlantic High School graduate Claire Pellett was crowned Queen of the 2024 Fair. She one was of eight young ladies vying for the title. Claire is a member of the Pymosa 4H club and the daughter of Brad and Kristy Pellett. She also won the title of Miss Congeniality. As Fair Queen, Pellett will represent Cass County at the Iowa State Fair in August.

Jack Brahms was crowned 2024 Cass County Fair King. Jack is a member of the Union Leaders 4H Club, and a CAM High School graduate. He is the son of Steve and Diane Brahms, and one of five candidates for the title.

Other royalty announced during the Fair, include:

• Jace Thomsen – Cass County Fair Prince. Jace is the son of Jeff and Rana Thomsen
• Makayla Atkinson – Cass County Fair Princess.
• The title of Little Miss went to Molly Schuler, daughter of Josh and Cecilia Schuler.
• Oliver Zellmer was named Little Mister.
• Jace Thomson won the title of Mr. Congeniality.

Following the King & Queen Contest, Thursday, was Senior Recognition and a Youth Dance. The Cass County Fair continues through Tuesday, July 30^th.

Check-out the complete schedule HERE.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A restaurant in Montgomery County is among a dozen establishments in Iowa that were cited for food safety violations in recent weeks. That’s according to a report from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (IDALS). The Iowa Capital Dispatch says the state inspections department reminds the public that their reports are a “snapshot” in time, and violations are often corrected on the spot before the inspector leaves the establishment. You can read a complete report about some of the most serious violations and the establishments that were cited by IDALS, HERE.

In southwest Iowa, IDALS reported that at the Bucksnort (322 E. Coolbaugh St., in Red Oak), during a July 12th visit by inspectors, imitation crab meat was found. The meat was “visibly spoiled with a sour smell” inside one of the coolers. The inspector also reported watching the staff handle ready-to-eat foods with their bare hands, and reported finding multiple unspecified foods that had no date markings to ensure freshness and safety.

In the past month, state and county food inspectors have cited Iowa restaurants and grocery stores for hundreds of food-safety violations. (Photo by Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

In addition, the staff was thawing food in the basin of the handwashing sink. The inspector also reported, without elaboration, “missing” flooring and “a large hole outside of kitchen entrance.”

(Creston, Iowa) – A collision in Creston Thursday evening caused a police estimated, $5,500 damage, but there were no injuries. Authorities say a 2020 Chevy Equinox driven by 19-year-old Lucas Rushing, of Creston, was traveling east on Townline Street at around 6:20-p.m., and attempting to turn right onto N. Vine Street, when the SUV failed to stay in its own lane.

The vehicle struck the driver’s side of a 2003 Chevy pickup, that was stopped at a posted stop-sign at the intersection, facing north on Vine Street. The pickup was being driven by 50-year-old Adan Vega, of Creston.

Vega told police he thought the SUV was traveling faster than it should have been, before it rounded the corner and hit his pickup. No citations were issued, but the police report stated Rushing made an improper turn and failed to keep in the proper lane.

Both vehicles were driven away from the scene, following the investigation.