The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Friday, approved two agreements with the Iowa Department of Transportation, with regard to funding for bridge projects. The projects and funds include $700,000 for Bridge #380 on 730th Street, about two-tenths of a mile south of White Pole Road, which Wolken said has been maintained as much as possible, but is at the point now where it needs to be replaced. Due to deck and substructure issues. And, $500,000 for Bridge #182 on 610th Street, six-tenths of a mile north of Oxford Road. Wolken said the aging bridge is currently only able to handle 18 tons, which is less than it has handled in the past. The funds come from DOT SWAP monies, with no local cost to the County.

The Board also approved a Road Use Agreement with MidAmerican Energy Company, with regard to the development of the Rolling Hills Wind Farm, during and after re-power of each wind farm. The company will provide dust control and rock necessary for the service roads. And, the Supervisors approved the end of probationary employment status and a payrate increase of $.50/hour for three Secondary Roads employees hired in April.

In other business, the Board received a Quarterly report from Cass County Conservation Director Micah Lee. And, County Engineer Trent Wolken updated the Board of Secondary Roads Dept. activities and maintenance.

DES MOINES– Gov. Kim Reynolds, Thursday, announced her appointment of James Daane as a district court judge in Judicial Election District 3B.  Daane, of Sioux City, Iowa, currently practices law with Mayne, Hindman, Daane, Parry & Wingert in Sioux City. Daane received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Dakota.

James Daane

Daane fills the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of District Court Judge Duane E. Hoffmeyer. Judicial Election District 3B includes Crawford, Ida, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, and Woodbury counties.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Page County arrested a man from Shenandoah, Thursday. Authorities say 38-year-old Aaron Duwayne Childs was arrested on a Page County Warrant for Violation of Probation. The original charge for the probation stems from a conviction of Receipt, Transportation, or Possession of a Firearm by a felon. Childs was taken into custody about eight-miles northeast of Essex, in the 1300 block of K Avenue, rural Page County.

Aaron Duwayne Childs

He was transported to the Page County Jail, and was being held on a $5,000 cash-only bond, pending further court proceedings.

(Radio Iowa) – Dusty Hill, the bearded bassist from Z-Z Top who died this week, made one of his last public appearances in Manchester, Iowa. Kurt Palmer is the Delaware County Fair Board’s president. “Our hearts just go out to the family and the band mates and the crew,” he says. “To have him be able to be playing on our stage just a couple of weeks ago, it is mind blowing a little bit and it is hard to kind of grasp that.”

The July 16th concert at the Delaware County Fair was the first stop in the band’s latest tour. Hill died in his sleep Wednesday at the age of 72, just days after he took a leave of absence from the band due to a hip issue. Delaware County Fair Manager Jeannie Domeyer says a survey of fairgoers a couple of years ago found the legendary band was one of the top acts people locally wanted to see. “And so when we told the world we were going to make it happen, there was just a big air of excitement about it,” she says. Domeyer says nearly five-thousand fans were there for Z-Z Top’s performance in Manchester.  “It was actually the first concert that they had done since they had been shut down during the pandemic and so they were excited to get back on the stage. We worked with management quite heavily because they were working through things that you have to work through when you haven’t been on the road in a really long time and so I’m just really grateful that we worked so well together and that hopefully he just had a great experience here being back on the road again.”

ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill (public domain photo)

Palmer, the fair board’s president, says the grandstand was packed and the parking lots were overflowing. “We had three months to sell tickets and that was a little bit of concern possibly right at the beginning (with) a shorter amount of window space,” Palmer says, “but man, the community really wanted to see this band.” Palmer says the band was great to work with. “They’re a band that’s been doing it for 50 years and most of their crew members have been with them for 30+ years,” Palmer says. “They always just kept on telling us: ‘Hey, we’re here for you guys to just put on a show. you tell us what you want.'”

Drummer Frank Beard, lead vocalist Billy Gibbons and Hill formed Z-Z Top in 1969 in Houston. Their 1983 album “Eliminator” sold more than 10 million copies. It included the hit “Sharp Dressed Man” which was used 30 years later as the theme song for the “Duck Dynasty” T-V series.

(Radio Iowa) – A second person has been charged with murder in the 2020 death of a Lake Park woman. Twenty-four-year-old Justice Berntson was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder in connection slaying of 25-year-old Angel Bastman. Bastman’s body was found in her Lake Park home on December 22nd but a vehicle listed in her name was missing from the scene which led to a search that ended a few days later when Berntson is said to have been found driving the vehicle and ultimately led police on a pursuit.

Berntson and 26-year-old Allison Decker, who was charged with first-degree murder in the case earlier this week, are both being held in the Dickinson County Jail on one million dollars bond.