(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Officials with the Cass County Tourism Committee report the Committee met on December 16, 2023. After some discussion, the group decided to change things up a bit for the 2024 year. The schedule will now include four meetings per year, with meetings at 9:00 a.m. on the first Wednesday of the following months: February, May, August and November. Meetings will take place at the Atlantic Chamber unless otherwise noted.

A new slate of officers was elected for the 2024 year.

President: Lora Kanning

Secretary: Emily Kennedy

Treasurer: Kenner Baxter

According to a report from Travel Iowa, the economic impact of visitors in Iowa is significant, including our own Cass County! Visitor spending in 2022 (the most current economic impact statement) was a whopping $6.9 BILLION dollars! That means approximately $19 MILLION was spent EVERY DAY by visitors to Iowa.

In Cass County, local sales taxes collected amounted to over $1,700,000! And state sales taxes collected in Cass County for the year was $2,170,000! Tourism is much more than fun and games…it means business!

If you’re interested in the future of Tourism in Cass County, please plan to attend the next Tourism Committee meeting this coming Wednesday, February 7, 9:00 a.m. at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce Office on north Chestnut Street (the former Rock Island Depot).

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] – A Des Moines man convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the United States Capitol is out of federal prison. Doug Jensen, 44, was transferred last month from a Texas prison to a residential reentry management facility in Kansas City, Kansas.

In September 2022, Jensen was found guilty of obstruction of a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting, resisting or impeding a police officer, unlawfully entering a restricted building with a weapon, disorderly conduct inside a restricted building with a weapon, disorderly conduct in the Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.

Douglas Jensen (2021 Polk County Jail photo)

Pictures and videos show Jensen at the front of a crowd in the Capitol Rotunda on the day of the riots. Jensen’s attorney said at trial that his client’s actions were motivated by right-wing conspiracy theories.

Jensen was sentenced in December 2022 to five years in prison with three years of supervised release.

Updates from Jensen’s wife say he’s able to find a job and will be able to come back home on weekends.

(Omaha, NE) – Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol arrested an Iowa man following a pursuit in Omaha, early this (Friday) morning. Authorities say at approximately 1:40 a.m., a trooper observed a westbound Dodge Durango speeding on Interstate 80 near 60th Street in Omaha. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to yield and accelerated. The trooper initiated a pursuit.

The vehicle continued westbound, exited I-80 at 84th Street, crossed the median, lost a tire, and reentered I-80 westbound at a high rate of speed. The trooper continued pursuing as the vehicle fled westbound before exiting I-80 at 144th Street, where the driver turned around and reentered eastbound I-80. As the suspect vehicle reached the downtown area, it entered I-480 northbound.

The vehicle exited and reentered I-480 multiple times, running red lights on surface streets. The driver then reentered I-480 toward Iowa. Just before the Missouri River bridge, the vehicle hit a patch of ice on the roadway, lost control, and crashed into a concrete barrier. The driver was then taken into custody without further incident.

The driver, William Ganzhorn, 51, of Woodbine, Iowa, was transported to UNMC with non-life-threatening injuries. Ganzhorn was cited for flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, fictitious license plate, and numerous traffic violations.

KEOKUK COUNTY, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety reports that on Thursday, February 1, 2024, investigators with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Ottumwa Police Department, and Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at 21891 Highway 78 near Ollie. The search warrant was part of an effort to locate 40-year-old Craig Smith, who was reported missing on January 20, 2024.

During the search, investigators found the remains of an adult. The condition of the remains is preventing law enforcement from making a positive identification. Evidence and statements collected during the investigation have led investigators to tentatively identify the remains as those of Craig Smith. The State Anthropologist, the Office of the State Medical Examiner, and the DCI Crime Lab are working to make a positive identification.

Jeffrey Gautreaux

This (Friday) afternoon, DCI agents charged 44-year-old Jeffrey Gautreaux with Murder in the First Degree and Abuse of a Corpse. Gautreaux, who lived with his stepfather, 63-year-old Steven Grant, at the Ollie address, was arrested without incident at the Keokuk County Sheriff’s Office on February 1. Gautreaux and Grant were initially charged with drug offenses. Grant has been released from custody.

This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact the DCI at 515.725.6010 or at dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says he opposes a bill introduced in the Iowa House that would let 20 percent of House or Senate members force a vote on the use of eminent domain for proposed carbon pipelines.

The House bill, which cleared a subcommittee this week, would let 11 senators or 21 state representatives file a petition to intervene in Iowa Utilities Board proceedings and lawmakers would decide whether pipeline projects get eminent domain authority to seize property from unwilling landowners.

Governor Kim Reynolds told Radio Iowa she will not support any retroactive changes that would affect applications already filed for carbon pipeline construction permits.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver on the “Iowa Press” set on Feb. 2, 2024.. (Photo courtesy of Iowa PBS)

Whitver says there are widely varying views among the 34 Republicans in the Iowa Senate.

Whitver says there has been legislation introduced in the senate that would require pipeline companies to fully restore farmland that’s dislodged along the pipeline route and that may be considered this year.

Whitver says he’d be interested in reviewing, but doesn’t have an opinion yet on another proposal that would speed up the court process for resolving property disputes along the pipeline routes.

Whitver made his comments during taping of Iowa Press which airs tonight (Friday) at 7:30 on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled it was not illegal for Des Moines Area Community College to pay a man a significantly higher salary than a woman who was doing the same work. Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson reports.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is joining with dozens of her Republican colleagues in criticizing President Biden’s actions and policies regarding the U-S border with Mexico. Hinson has signed a letter with more than 60 other G-O-P House members, calling for the president to reverse his executive actions which she says “undermine U.S. border security.”

On his first day in the White House, Hinson says Biden “immediately took executive action” to halt border wall construction and issued a moratorium on deportations and immigration enforcement.

Hinson says Biden has been “systematically and unilaterally unraveling policies that secured our border and deterred illegal immigration.” She says one of the results has been a “flood of deadly drugs” pouring into communities across the country, including in Iowa.

The president released a statement last week, saying he’s waiting on a bipartisan bill to emerge from the Senate that would provide him with more options and “new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed.” Biden says he’s waiting on Congress to provide the funding he requested last fall to secure the border, including money for more border patrol agents, immigration judges, asylum officers and inspection machines to intercept drugs.

(Radio Iowa) – Much of Iowa is seeing above-normal temperatures for the first week of February, a radical change from just a couple of weeks ago. January wrapped up with some Iowa cities reporting mid-50s for highs, and state climatologist Justin Glisan says that’s some 60 to 70 degrees warmer than the middle of the month when we were in the teens below zero, with wind chills of 40-below.

Some Iowa cities saw more than 20 inches of snow during January, and many communities ended up 10 to 15-inches above their averages for snowfall.

Say goodbye to the last of that snow! (Radio Iowa photo)

Glisan says the month concluded as the third-snowiest January on record for Iowa.

That allowed the water to filter down into the soil, he says, which brought some improvements in our statewide drought conditions. As for the month ahead, Glisan says we can expect more of what we’ve been seeing all week — warmer-than-normal temperatures.

The National Weather Service says the two snowstorms we had during mid-January dropped more than 27 inches of snow on Des Moines, which recorded its second-snowiest January on record, while the 25-plus inches that fell on Waterloo made it -the- snowiest January in history for that northeast Iowa city. It was also Waterloo’s fourth-snowiest month of any month on record.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic City Council will hold a rare, special session, Saturday afternoon. During the 1-p.m. meeting at City Hall, the Council will enter into a closed session pursuant to Iowa Code, with regard to the evaluation of an individual’s professional competency, and “whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered,” and because “that individual requests a Closed Session.”

(Ames, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Transportation reports there were 16 aviation accidents with one fatality and one aviation incident in the state of Iowa, from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. That’s a 33% increase from 2022, and the state has averaged 13 accidents over the last five years. The report summary says:

• 10 accidents and zero fatalities occurred during Part 91 (Private aircraft) flight operations; four accidents and one fatality occurred during Part 137 (agricultural) aerial application operations; and one accident occurred during Part 135 (Commercial, On-demand) Non-Scheduled Air Taxi & Commuter operations.
• There was one fatality and two reported injuries (one serious and one minor).
• 14 aircraft sustained substantial damage and one minor damage.
• One pilot held an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, six had a Commercial Pilot’s License, and three had a Private Pilot License appropriate for the Category and Class of aircraft they were operating. Five of the accident reports did not indicate the type of certificate held by the pilot.
• 13 of the 16 accidents were under visual meteorological conditions. Conditions for the other two accidents are not reported.
• 14 flights occurred during daytime and one flight was during nighttime.
• 12 of the aircraft involved airplanes, three were helicopters, and two were not reported.
• Six accidents occurred within the airport environment (Red Oak, Osceola, Sibley, Larchwood, Ankeny, and Council Bluffs).

Fatalities Summary:
One flight involved a single fatality with a helicopter conducting aerial application that impacted wires. The NTSB report indicated that the pilot failed to identify the wires due to possible
distractions. The accident caused substantial damage to the aircraft and the pilot was hospitalized, but later succumbed to injuries.

Summary of Accidents in the Airport Environment:
There were six aviation accidents that occurred within the airport environment from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. Five accidents occurred during the landing phase of the flight and
one during takeoff. Here’s a review of the two southwest Iowa airport accidents officials were made aware of:

– At the Red Oak Municipal Airport, a pilot operating a Cirrus SR22 reported engine problems and diverted to the Red Oak Municipal Airport. Even with repeated warnings from ATC, the pilot landed the aircraft on RW 05 which was closed. The aircraft struck a barricade which resulted in substantial damage. No injuries were reported.
– At the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport, a pilot operating a Cessna 182 experienced loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined while sequencing to land. The pilot executed a forced landing in a harvested field near the airport and struck a terrace. This caused substantial damage to the aircraft. No injuries were reported.

Summary of Accidents Off-Airport:
There were 10 aviation accidents and one incident that occurred in 2023 away from the airport environment. Four accidents and one event occurred during the enroute phase of flight. One
accident occurred shortly after takeoff and the pilot was unable to make a return to the airport. Four of the accidents happened at low altitudes while conducting aerial applications under Part
137.

Three crashes occurred in southwest & western Iowa…

• A Cessna Citation 560XL operating under Part 91 near Council Bluffs, IA reportedly struck a bird enroute to Omaha-Eppley Airfield. There was substantial damage to the aircraft and no injuries were reported.
• A pilot operating a Cessna 172G under Part 91 near Neola, IA made a forced landing while enroute from Sac City, IA to Council Bluffs, IA. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and there were no injuries reported.
• A pilot operating a Bell 206B during the day near Denison, IA was conducting an aerial application flight under Part 137 when he failed to see and avoid wires. Upon impacting wires and terrain, the aircraft received substantial damage. The pilot was hospitalized but succumbed to his injuries 18 days later.

Note: This Accident Summary relies on reports from NTSB and FAA which are subject to change. Source of information is from NTSB.gov as of 01/18/2024.