ALBERT CITY, Iowa (AP) — State environmental officials says a hog farm manure tank leak was the likely cause of a fish kill in a northwestern Iowa tributary this week. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the leak happened over the weekend near Albert City when an unknown amount of manure was released into the tributary.

On Sunday, the DNR found a some dead fish, manure and elevated ammonia levels throughout four miles of the tributary, which connects to the North Raccoon River. The incident was reported by farm owner Kris Ehlers, who suspected a failed valve on the manure tank. DNR workers concluded the spill did come from Ehlers’ farm, but was likely coming through underground tile lines.

Officials with Fareway Grocery Stores said Friday (today), effective with the expiration of the Iowa Governor’s Emergency Declaration on July 25th, Fareway will not be accepting containers for redemption in its Iowa stores. Health authorities continue to advise that COVID-19 and other viruses are transmitted through respiratory droplets. Reynolds W. Cramer, President & CEO of Fareway, says “Accepting potentially contaminated containers inside our stores presents a great risk of harm to the health and safety of our employees and customers.

“In addition, Iowa law requires grocery stores to meet health and food safety guidelines for all employees and customers.  Allowing used containers to be returned in our stores puts our employees and customers at risk, and runs counterproductive to the many safety and sanitation initiatives we have implemented in order to keep people safe.”

Each store has posted a notice listing nearby redemption centers, where customers may redeem bottles and cans. Fareway encourages local communities to focus their redemption on supporting these businesses and/or area non-profits that provide outside collection bins for donation. Cramer said “At its core, our actions in rejecting container redemption inside our stores is to minimize potential harm to the communities we serve, while offering our customers alternative redemption options.

A collision between a large SUV and a small SUV, this (Friday) morning, resulted in two people transported to the hospital, and collateral damage to a business. Council Bluffs Police responded to the crash in the 2700 block of W. Broadway, at around 9:26-a.m.

Upon arrival, they determined a Yukon Denali traveling westbound on West Broadway St. collided with a Suzuki SUV traveling northbound on 27th St. The Denali pushed the Suzuki up against a light pole and then struck the Grease Monkey business at 2700 West Broadway St.

The passenger and driver from the Suzuki were both transported by the Council Bluffs Fire Department to Nebraska Medicine Hospital, with possible life-threatening and minor injuries respectively. Their names were not immediately released. No one was injured in the Denali and no one was injured inside the nearby business.

The intersection of 27th St and West Broadway St was closed for approximately four hours while the Traffic Unit investigated the collision. The investigation is ongoing. If you have information with regard to the accident that might help in the investigation, please call the CB-PD’s Traffic Unit at (712)328-4948.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two arrests. Thursday evening, 25-year old Amanda Scott, of Malvern, was arrested on Highway 34 for Public Intoxication. Her bond was set at $300. And, Wednesday evening, 57-year old John Michael Hudson, of Hastings, was arrested at Bradford Avenue and Wilson Street, for Driving Under Suspension and Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability. His bond was also set at $300.

The Glenwood Police Department reports a man from Cass County was arrested today (Friday), on drug charges. 41-year old Shawn Wolverton, of Atlantic, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He later posted a $5,300 cash or surety bond, and was released. And, 24-year old Noah Packett, of Glenwood, was arrested this (Friday) morning, for Public Intoxication and Disorderly Conduct. He was released on a $600 cash or surety bond.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says a Clarinda man was arrested Thursday for Domestic Abuse Assault. 42-year old Jeremy Lynn Martin was arrested following an investigation into an incident that took place in rural Page County. approximately 5 miles south of Clarinda. Martin was transported to the Page County Jail and is being held without bond pending further court proceedings.

Thursday night, 47-year old Gary Lynn Runyon, JR., of Coin, was arrested on a charge of violating a Protection order. He was transported to the Page County Jail where he was also being held without bond, pending further court proceedings.

DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency for another 30 days. The proclamation extends public health mitigation measures currently in place for businesses and other establishments. This includes the requirements for bars and restaurants to ensure six feet of physical distance between each group or individual dining or drinking; to ensure all patrons have a seat at a table or bar; and to limit congregating together closer than six feet. Requirements for social distancing, hygiene, and other public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission also remain in place for gyms, casinos, salons, theaters, and other establishments without change.

The proclamation also extends many of the previously issued regulatory relief measures necessary to respond to this public health disaster, including those related to healthcare, professional licensure, educational workforce, and expirations of driver’s licenses.

Some provisions have not been extended, including the suspension of the requirement for retailers to accept empty bottles and cans for redemption of the container deposit. That statutory requirement will resume on July 26, 2020.

The proclamation is now in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, 2020.

The full proclamation is online in its entirety

Sheriff’s Deputies in Fremont County, Thursday evening, arrested a Nebraska man on charges that include enticement of a minor and indecent exposure. 69-year old Christopher Kudym, of Omaha, was being held in the Fremont County Jail, with an investigation into his alleged activities, on-going.

Christopher Kuydm (Fremont County S/O Photo)

(Radio Iowa) – A new map from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows dry conditions worsening in western and central Iowa. State climatologist Justin Glisan says 15 counties are now in what’s considered severe drought. “Over the last 30 to 45 days, we’ve seen a dwindling rainfall, especially across west-central Iowa,” Glisan says. “If we go back four to six months, we actually see precipitation deficits in the range of eight to 12 inches, so we’ve been dry, especially across western Iowa.”

Glisan says he’s constantly asked about when and if any significant rainfall is coming to Iowa. “The forecast models just have been off for some reason,” Glisan says. “When we expect rain out of Nebraska, it comes toward western Iowa and you can watch it on radar, it just sort of vanishes. Because of those dry conditions, there’s not enough moisture at the surface to really pop those storms up.” Glisan says he remains hopeful the situation may change soon.”If we look at our outlooks moving into next week, it looks like we’re starting to turn down the temperature dial,” he says, “and along with that, we’re trending towards near-normal rainfall moving into the first of August.”

A very hot weekend is ahead but the forecast calls for the chance of rain Sunday night, moving into Monday. Severe drought is shown in part or all of these 15 counties: Adair, Audubon, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Madison, Polk, Sac, Shelby, Story and Webster.

(Radio Iowa) – An unidentified woman claims her life was threatened by a man in western Iowa on Thursday afternoon and the suspect is now jailed following a standoff.  The woman alleged James Fishback of Manning handcuffed her to a refrigerator at his home, and threatened to kill her with a handgun. The woman also said Fishback told her if law enforcement showed up, he would kill her and a shootout with law enforcement would ensue.

Crawford County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted by other local agencies, apprehended Fishback Thursday after 25 minutes of negotiation. Fishback is charged with domestic abuse with use of weapon, felon in possession of a weapon, and kidnapping in the third degree.