(Radio Iowa) — Warm, dry weather helped with planting and crop growth this past week.  The U-S-D-A says the corn planting is virtually complete and 97 percent of the corn in the ground has already emerged. That’s more than two weeks ahead of last year and ten days ahead of the five-year average. Eighty-five percent of the corn is rated in good to excellent condition. The soybean crop is not too far behind — with just three percent left to be planted. That’s three weeks ahead of last year and 12 days ahead of average. The report says 87 percent of beans have emerged and 82 percent are in good to excellent condition.

Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh reports that on Monday June 22nd, the Food Bank for the Heartland and the Anita Food Pantry are teaming up to offer a drive-through mobile food pantry. The drive-through mobile pantry will be held at CAM High School from 2:00 – 4:00 PM, or as supplies last. Anyone in need is welcome, and no documentation is needed.

The Anita Food Pantry reminds people who use their services that the Anita Food Pantry will not be open the first Saturday in July because it is the Fourth of July. Therefore, people who may need to visit the Anita Food Pantry in early July are encouraged to visit the mobile pantry on June 22.

Food Bank for the Heartland Mobile Food Pantry
When: Monday, June 22 (2:00-4:00 PM, or until supplies run out)
Where: CAM High School, 1000 Victory Park Rd, Anita, IA 50020
What: A mobile pantry is a traveling food pantry that delivers food directly to families in need for a oneday distribution. The mobile pantry is available free of charge. Visitors are asked stay in their vehicles
with the trunk open.
Who: Anyone in need is welcome. No documentation needed.

Questions can be directed to (402)331-1213.

A semi tractor trailer hauling ag equipment rolled over off Interstate 80 westbound in Cass County, Tuesday evening. The accident, which was first described as having involved multiple vehicles, happened at around 7-p.m. The semi rolled down the grassy embankment between the I-80 westbound off-ramp to Exit 64, and Cass County Road N-28.

Ric Hanson/photos

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Shiels says there were no injuries. Additional information was not immediately available. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, along with Anita and Wiota Fire and Rescue.

CARROLL—An estimated 50 to 100 gallons of sludge from the Carroll wastewater treatment plant reached drainage ditch #77 Monday night. The release of sludge occurred about 6 p.m. after a digester pump was left on and overfilled the digester. Staff discovered and ended the release by 6:15 p.m., but some entered a storm sewer and reached the ditch.

The area has been cleaned up, but residents should keep children and pets away from the front gate of the wastewater plant and the drainage ditch for the next 24 to 48 hours. The plant operator plans to adjust the alarm to prevent future problems.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (The Gazette) — The City of Coralville lifted on Tuesday the curfew it had imposed earlier this month in response to looting and vandalism. Coralville Mayor John Lundell said in a statement the curfew was effective in curbing violence.

The Gazette reports Coralville announced the curfew on June 1. The move came less than a day after the arrests of nine Corridor residents, property damage and looting.

(Radio Iowa) — A spokesman for the House Speaker says Republicans in the Iowa House have come up with a “status quo” spending plan for the next state fiscal year that begins July 1st. At the end of May, a state panel predicted state TAX revenue will drop by 360 MILLION dollars in the next 12 months due to the pandemic-induced recession. During a weekend appearance on Iowa P-B-S, Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley indicated that while that dip is significant, the G-O-P’s previous budget plans held enough in reserve to compensate.

“Unlike a lot of other states that are going to be pushed to the brink, yes, this will be difficult to get through,” Grassley says, “but we can manage it.” The House G-O-P plan is to basically keep state spending levels equal to the current year and NOT use any of the state’s cash reserve or emergency funds. That’s because the G-O-P included a roughly half-a-BILLION dollar cushion in the current year’s budget that can be spent instead.

Republicans in the Iowa Senate have not released their spending outline yet, but Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver echoes Grassley’s sentiments about the state’s ability to handle the downturn. “A lot of states are having massive cuts because they weren’t conservative up front and we were and so we’re in a very strong position, but we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we have to come back in January because we overspent and start slashing budgets mid-year,” Whitver says. “If you’re going to make cuts, the time to do it is before the year starts, not halfway though when contracts are signed, employees have contracts in place, so we want to make those tough decisions now.”

Both Whitver and Grassley have said the legislature WILL provide its promised increase in general state aid to K-through-12 schools. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet early this (Tuesday) evening to begin debating the HOUSE G-O-P’s spending outline.

DES MOINES, Iowa (The Des Moines Register) — The Des Moines City Council has unanimously advanced a proposal to ban racial profiling by police in the wake of protests and civil unrest decrying racial injustice. Of the 45 people who spoke before the council Monday in an online meeting addressing the ban, most said more oversight is needed when racial profiling complaints are lodged against Des Moines police. The proposal would ban racial profiling and biased policing.

Violations could lead to an officer’s firing. The proposed ordinance will be back before the council at its June 22 meeting for the second of three readings before it can become law.

(Radio Iowa) Two West Union women died Monday afternoon in an accident on the Turkey River near Clermont, in northeastern Iowa.  The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office says 64 year old Sharon Kahn and 44 year old Vicki Hodges were pronounced dead at Palmer Hospital in West Union. Authorities say they responded to a report of two people going over a dam in distress around quarter to four. The Sheriff’s office says six entities initiated a rescue but lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful.

(Radio Iowa) — The head of Iowa Workforce Development is scheduled to testify before a U-S Senate panel this (Tuesday) afternoon about critical troubles that are hurting efforts to jumpstart the state and national economies. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is chairing the Finance Committee hearing that will feature I-W-D director Beth Townsend, who Grassley says will lay out the complications she’s seeing in Iowa’s workforce. Grassley says, “We’re going to focus on the problem that developed as a result of a problem we knew we were creating two months ago when we set up $600 additional unemployment insurance above whatever the 50 states would pay in their respective states.”

Thanks to the CARES Act, a person who brought home a weekly paycheck for a thousand dollars prior to the pandemic may now be getting 16-hundred a week on unemployment, which creates a dilemma. “We knew at the time we were going to have some people getting more money on unemployment than they might get from their job,” Grassley says. “Consequently, we’re finding a lot of small businesses, maybe even big businesses, are having trouble calling people back to work.”

Grassley says there are ideas circulating about how to remedy this problem, but no solutions are nailed down as yet. “We’ve disincentivized people to go back to their jobs,” Grassley says, “and it’s a tremendous economic problem because if we want to open this economy up, you’ve got to have workers.”  One possibility being considered is using federal dollars to supplement the salary of individuals who’ve been laid off and collecting unemployment benefits, prodding them to return to work.

The Washington D-C hearing is scheduled for 1:30 PM/Central.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce has postponed AtlanticFest, originally scheduled for August 8th, to Saturday, September 26th. Chamber Executive Director Bailey Smith today (Tuesday), said “With State mandates currently in place, holding AtlanticFest in August wasn’t logistically feasible.”

Smith added, “We understand how eager everyone is to get out and about. AtlanticFest draws thousands of people every year and the health of the community is our highest priority. We hope regulations will be more relaxed by late September and we’ll be able to celebrate as a community.”

AtlanticFest, presented by First Whitney Bank & Trust, has been a community staple for almost 30 years. The September event will be an updated version with new and traditional activities for community members of all ages to enjoy. More details regarding the event will be made available in the coming months.