(Adair, Iowa) – The Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center School District Boards of Education will meet 7-p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 28th), in the AC/GC Junior High Media Center, in Adair. On the agenda for their combined Work Session, is discussion with regard to Whole Grade Sharing. No action is expected. According to the Iowa Department of Education, “Whole grade sharing as a procedure used by school districts whereby all or a substantial portion of the pupils in any grade in two or more school districts share an educational program for all or a substantial portion of a school day under a written agreement pursuant to the Iowa Code. Whole grade sharing may either be one-way or two-way sharing.

Starting with the 2016-2017 school year, the Adair-Casey District entered into a Whole Grade Sharing Agreement with the Guthrie Center Schools, thereby starting a new chapter in the school district. Elementary students within the school district in grades Pre-school through 6 attend school at the Adair-Casey Elementary campus. Junior high (grades 7 and 8) join students from Guthrie Center and attend the AC/GC Junior High at the Adair-Casey campus. Grades 9 through 12 from both Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center attend the AC/GC High School at the high school campus in Guthrie Center.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Members of the Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Work Session at 5:30-p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 28th), in the Central Administration Conference Room at the Achievement Center (1407 SW 7th St.). The meeting will be made available for viewing through YouTube. Among other business, the Board will act on approving the resignations of:

• James Brauer, HS English Teacher
• Tori Wood, Makyala Lucero and Kaitlyn Geib, SpEd Paraprofessionals

And, they will act to approve contract recommendations and/or Letters of Assignment for:

• Trinity Christensen, SpEd Paraprofessional
• Hannah Misner, HS Science Teacher
• Stephanie Kelley, HS Social Studies Teacher.

View the rest of their agenda here: 02282024 Public AGENDA Work Session

(Atlantic,Iowa) – The Atlantic Park and Recreation Department Park Advisory Commission is set to meet Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 28th), at the Parks and Rec Office at 1200 Sunnyside Lane. During their 3:30-p.m. Session, the Commission is expected to elect a chairman and vice chairman.

They will also discuss old programs and new ideas. And, they’re expected to hear a presentation from Vicki Nordskog, with regard to Mollett Park.

The commission held its first meeting last month. Parks Coordinator Jeff Christensen said during the last meeting on January 24^th, that he envisioned the commission as one that would take community input and come up with ideas for the park to get a variety of opinions when it comes to programs and activities.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill under consideration in the Iowa House would lower the state tax rate for Iowa’s state-licensed casinos to be at or near the tax rate for casinos in Nebraska and Missouri. Illinois casinos have variable tax rates, based on the size of the market and the games offered. Mark Joyce is a lobbyist for the company that operates the Diamond Jo casinos in Northwood and Dubuque. Joyce says lowering taxes would be a welcome move. Lobbyist Doug Struyk represents the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, which he says is facing competition from new casinos in Illinois. Struyk also represents Caesars Entertainment which owns the Horseshoe and Harrah’s casinos in Council Bluffs that soon will be competing with a new casino in Omaha.

Gaming revenue for all three Council Bluffs casinos began to dip when the WarHorse Casino in Lincoln opened in September of 2022 and Harrah’s opened in Columbus, Nebraska in June of last year. Struyk says that has slowed the flow of gamblers from Nebraska into Iowa. Another WarHorse Casino is expected to open in Omaha by August of this year. Representative Jane Bloomingdale is sponsoring the bill to gradually lower Iowa’s casino taxes over a three year period. She’s from Northwood. The state-licensed Diamond Jo casino is nearby.

Bloomingdale’s bill has cleared a House subcommittee, but one member of the panel said she’s concerned cutting casino taxes will lower the amount of money deposited in the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. Money from the fund is used on a variety of projects, from lake dredging to constructing or repairing state-owned buildings.

(Radio Iowa) – Koch (coke) Industries has announced a three-point-six billion dollar deal to buy a fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa, and some ag leaders fear it could create a monopoly. The purchase of the Iowa Fertilizer Company in Lee County still awaits federal review. Jason Sporrer is a sales manager for a co-op that serves western Iowa. He says when the fertilizer company opened in 2017, it brought more competition to the marketplace.

“Some of that now is going by the wayside, in my opinion,” Sporrer says. Democrats in the Iowa statehouse also have questions about the acquisition. They want federal and state regulators to investigate the impact consolidation would have on prices and the 260 employees of the facility in Wever. Iowa State University economics professor Chad Hart says four of the top producers control 80-percent of fertilizer production.

Hart says, “I think that always puts up what’s called yellow caution lights within the sector about, okay, are we truly maintaining the competitive balance there or not?” Hart says the war in Ukraine led to major swings in fertilizer pricing. A U-S-D-A spokesperson says when dominant middlemen control so much of the fertilizer supply chain, producers, and consumers “bear the brunt.”

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, Monday, arrested 23-year-old Brandon Lane Good, of Red Oak. Officials say Good was taken into custody at around 6:40-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Hammond Street, on an active Pottawattamie County warrant for Failure To Appear on a Driving while license denied or revoked, charge. Good was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond, or until extradition to Pott. County.

Monona, Iowa – One person was injured during a collision Monday morning in northeastern Iowa’s Allamakee County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the crash happened just before 9-a.m. north of Monona, near the intersection of County Road X26 and Smithfield Drive.

Investigators say a 2007 Chevy Impala driven by 18-year-old Carter Mielke, of Monona, was traveling southbound when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2019 Chevy Silverado pickup driven by 42-year-old Jeremy Geisler, of Waucoma, that was traveling northbound.

Mielke – who was wearing his seat belt – was injured in the collision. He was flown by helicopter to Gunderson Hospital. There is no word on his condition at this time.

REDFIELD, Iowa [WHO-TV] – Multiple Dallas County fire crews battled a fire in downtown Redfield on Monday afternoon that severely damaged a bar and restaurant. Crews from Dallas, Guthrie and Madison Counties were called to the Dexfield Diner & Pub around Noon on Monday. Initial reports were that flames were shooting from the windows of the two-story building. Thick smoke was still pouring from the building more than an hour after first reports. The restaurant was closed as owner, Steve Roberts, spent the morning cleaning and preparing his business for the week ahead when the fire started.

There are no reports of injuries at this time. As the business burned, Dallas County Conservation officials worked with community members to remove relics and pieces from the neighboring museum from the Civil War up through the Gulf War. Firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading. The center portion of the building is a total loss, and the cause is unknown at this time.  (Photos from the Stuart Fire Dept. Facebook page)

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says American farmland needs to remain in American hands and she will quickly sign one of the first bills to clear the 2024 legislature. The bill closes a loophole that could let foreigners or foreign governments be investors in limited liability companies or involved in trusts that acquire Iowa farmland. The bill requires agland purchase reports filed with the state to include more information about ownership structures.

Republican Representative Derek Wulf, a farmer from Hudson, says purchasers will also have to file a complete list of all their landholdings in the United States. “Chinese nationals are buying farmland near military bases. They’re looking to steal our intellectual property from our seed and genetic companies. They’re trying to steal our livestock practices and advancements learned through generations of agriculturalists — and these are only some of the few things they’re doing. They’re coming for our way of life and, quite frankly folks, this needs to end,” Wulf said, pounding his desk on the House floor to emphasize his comments.

Representative J.D. Scholten, a Democrat from Sioux City, says now’s the time to act, because food security is national security. “With the average age of a farmer north of 58 years old, we’re going to see the largest amount of farmland transfer in Iowa’s history in the next 10-15 years, according to Iowa State University,” Scholten said. “Nationally, foreign ownership of American farmland is larger than equivalent of the entire state of Ohio and growing.”

The bill ensures Iowa’s attorney general has subpoena powers to investigate agland purchases and it significantly increases the penalty for any violations. Under current law, foreign entities caught owning more than 320 acres of Iowa farmland face a two-thousand dollar fine. The bill raises the fine to 25 percent of the assessed value of the land.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has given final legislative approval a bill that gets rid of the gender balance requirement for Iowa boards and commissions. Republican Representative Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood says it’s an antiquated law. “Gender balance often causes us to eliminate some of the most qualified candidates and that’s the last thing we want to do,” Bloomingdale says. “We want the most qualified candidates on our boards, commissions and councils.” The bill passed on a 62 to 33 vote. The 33 nos came from Democrats, like Representative Elinor Levin of Iowa City.

“We have not achieved gender parity on our boards and commissions,” Levin says. “Perhaps when we have this conversation would be worth having.” The bill passed the Senate this week and is headed to Reynolds, who says it lets people with a passion for service fill slots on boards and commissions at the state and local level.

“I just feel like the best, most qualified and somebody who wants to do it is the person we should put in that position,” Reynolds said. The governor made that comment during an interview with Radio Iowa in 2023. Gender balance has been required on all boards and commissions in state government since 1987. In 2009, the legislature passed a law to require the policy in local government. This bill repeals both laws.