The Griswold School Board will hold a Special Session 3-p.m. Tuesday, in the Elementary School Library. The meeting is being held to take action on steps necessary to refinance about $1.8-million worth of School Infrastructure Sales, Service and Use Tax Revenue Bonds. That includes:

• Consideration of Sealed Bids opened and reviewed by Superintendent Dave Henrichs, and the Financial Advisor.
• The possible awarding of bid to refinance the bonds
• And, action on a Call Notice Resolution to be filed with UMB Bank.

The Audubon Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a special, electronic session, 7:30-a.m. Tuesday. The meeting takes place in the High School Board room, but there is a limit of 10 participants, with preference toward Board members and others necessary to conducting the meeting. Members of the public wanting to see the meeting, are strongly encourage to attend via Zoom. You may request the link from Superintendent Eric Trager, by e-mailing etrager@audubon.k12.ia.us.  The link will be sent out this (Monday) afternoon, to those who request it.

On the agenda for Tuesday morning’s meeting, is approval of the End of Fiscal Year Expenditures, and a copier lease, along with personnel matters. The Board will also receive an update on the district’s facilities project.

Police in Creston report 40-year old Aaron Riepe, of Creston, was taken into custody, Saturday afternoon. Reipe was arrested at his home, on a Union County Warrant for the charge of Violation of Probation and was additionally charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or subsequent. He was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa) — While the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines will not be hosting the state fair this summer, the engine is still running for the big classic car event over the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. Harry Daviess, a spokesman for the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, says the 29th annual Speedway Motors Heartland Nationals will be held starting Friday, with a multitude of precautions in place due to COVID-19. “We’re asking our participants and our spectator attendees to bring a personalized, alcohol-based sanitizer,” Daviess says. “We will have many hand washing stations throughout the facility to keep everybody safe. You can bring and wear a mask.”

Masks are optional on the 16-hundred acres of outdoor space, but masks are mandatory if you enter any of the buildings. Thousands of shiny vehicles will be lined up for spectators to admire, including hot rods, trick trucks and muscle cars. Part of the allure of attending the show is chatting with the owners about how they restored the vehicles, and he says the pandemic won’t be able to quash those interactions. “Everybody that’s attending the event, they have a personal responsibility and that responsibility is to stay social distanced,” Daviess says. “You can still talk with somebody and have a conversation about their vehicle from six feet away. We’re not asking people to do anything differently from what they’re doing in the community today.”

Attendance over the three-day event has reached 50-thousand in past years, though the number of show cars on display this year may be somewhat reduced.”We’ve had as many as 4,500 to 5,000 cars and yeah, we’re expecting a slight decrease in attendance just because some people aren’t ready to travel yet, they’re not ready to drive their car 1,000 miles from out of state,” Daviess says. “It’s hard to tell until we do the actual event.”

Many of the traditional features are still planned, including the vendor midway, swap meet, model and pedal car displays, and the fireworks show, as well as Autocross racing events. Daviess says online ticket sales are discounted for advance sales. The Heartland Nationals run through Sunday.

Police in Creston report two separate, non-injury accidents in less than two-hours, Sunday. The first happened at around 4:30-p.m., at the intersection of Adams and Maple Streets. A 1991 Chevy S-10 pickup driven by 51-year old Douglas Daggett, of Creston, was traveling west on W. Adams Street. A 2014 Jeep Patriot driven by 66-year old Anthony Seddon, also from Creston, was traveling east on W. Adams. Both vehicles stopped at the controlled intersection. When Seddon signaled and proceeded to turn north onto N. Maple Street, his vehicle was struck by the pickup. Daggett told police he failed to notice Seddon was signaling to turn, and was looking at a car on Maple Street, when he proceeded into the intersection. Authorities were unable to determine which vehicle was at the intersection first, so it wasn’t known which driver had the right-of-way. No citations were issued. Damage from the collision amounted to $3,100.

The second accident happened a little after 6-p.m. Sunday on Lakeshore Drive, in Creston. Authorities say a 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by 46-year old Mitchell Graham, of Creston, was traveling north of Lakeshore Drive. A 2003 Hyundai Tuburon GT driven by 17-year old Foster McCutchan, of Creston, was in a side parking lot on the right right of the road. The teen told police he didn’t see the approaching motorcycle, and turned left onto the road, headed south. Graham tried to avoid the collision. He locked-up the brakes on his motorcycle and skidded, but could not stop in-time before side-swiping the car.

No citations were issued. Damage from the collision amounted to $4,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Many recent protests have left public places marred by spray painted slogans and an Iowa-based company is helping clean it up, in locales ranging from Old Capitol in Iowa City to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Jeff Gard is spokesman for Natural Soy Products, headquartered in Brooklyn, Iowa. Gard says the company’s Graffiti Remover is made with soybean oil and it’s 100-percent eco-friendly. “The user either sprays it on and depending on the surface, it can be wiped off with a rag or a towel,” Gard says. “Several places that are using our product right now are spraying it on, letting it sit for 10, 15, 20 minutes, and they’re using a high-pressure sprayer to take it off.”

The product is designed to remove spray paint from nearly any surface, including brick and concrete. Gard says their clients include the City of Los Angeles which used it on the L-A Post Office and along the Walk of Fame, while others are much closer to home. “The City of Iowa City, a couple of weeks ago with all the situation going on there, has purchased a substantial amount of our product,” Gard says. “That’s what they’re doing, cleaning up all of the graffiti that’s been tagged on all the local municipalities and the statues and everything.”

The University of Iowa is also a client. The company uses soybean oil in a host of industrial products, including a paint stripper, a concrete sealer and a highway joint compound.

Police in Red Oak report 37-year old Kyle Anthony Zeigler, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:25-p.m. Sunday, on a charge of Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Zeigler was transported to the Montgomery COunty Jail and held on a $300 bond. Police report also, 42-year old Pamela Kay Wells, of Red Oak, was arrested today (Monday), a little after 3:20-a.m., for Harassment in the 2nd Degree. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

Firefighters from Bayard, assisted by Coon Rapids Fire, were called to the scene of a barn fire off 120th Street, at around 7:20-p.m., Sunday.  Water was hauled from Bayard and Coon Rapids to the scene. Crews battled the flames and conducted clean-up, for a little more than two hours. Additional details were not immediately available.

Photos via the Bayard VFD Facebook page

Coon Rapids EMS and the Greene County Sheriff Department assisted at the scene.