The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, held a lengthy discussion with two rural county residents, with regard to their concerns over solar farms. Curt Beane informed the Board said has had issues dealing with MidAmerican Energy and their wind turbines. Now he and other rural residents have been approached about the acquisition of their properties for the installation of a solar energy project. Beane said he became aware of the project in late January, after he received a letter from a company called National Land Realty.

Beane said while out driving around on March 4th, he came upon survey stakes in the ditches and a survey crew with a pickup equipped with GPS.

Beane, a life-long Adair County resident whose family has farmed and worked the land for many generations, says he’s seen the proliferation of wind turbines over-saturate the area over the past four-years. He said when projects begin to affect to his and his neighbors enjoyment, comfort and safety, while on their own properties. Beane said that’s because the County did not have regulations in-place at the time, to help ensure the turbines would not affect property owners’ health and well being. He said they have the opportunity now, to make sure solar farms don’t cause other issues with the land and property owners.

Adair County resident Joanie Finck expressed similar concerns and issues she has with the potential construction of Solar Farms. Beane requested the Supervisors explore the impact of Solar Farms in the long-term, and how they will be addressed when/if they become obsolete. Supervisors John Twombly said the Iowa Utilities Board has issued guidance with regard to renewable energy, especially for counties that have zoning.

He suggested the county get ahold of a copy of those regulations/guidance package and review them, before making any decisions on a potential ordinance. Twombly warned refusing to allow such projects in a county, could result in property owners having no choice but to accept the inevitable.

The Supervisors decided it was appropriate to check with Madison and Wright Counties, for details on their ordinances with regard to Solar Farms. The Board also certified the results of the March 2nd Special Election for the Nodaway Valley School District, and affirmed patrons passed the Revenue Purpose Statement, 107 to 9.

COUNCIL BLUFFS– The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 36-year old Jonathon Mandel Clausell, who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other crimes in Union County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required, Monday night.

Jonathan M. Clausell (IA DOC photo)

Clausell is a black male, height 5’10”, and weighs 195 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on February 23, 2021. Persons with information on Clausell’s whereabouts should contact local police.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five recent arrests. Sunday night, 25-year old D’Angelo Thomas Monson, of Glenwood, was arrested at the Mills County Jail, for Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, with bond set at $1,000. Sunday evening, 37-year old Garret Allen Horgdal, of Henderson, was arrested for Theft in the 4th, two counts of Harassment in the 2nd, Domestic Abuse Assault, and Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Horgdal was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

On March 5th, 54-year old Walter Melvin Hankins, of East St. Louis, IL., was arrested at the Mills County Jail, for being a Fugitive from Justice. He remained held in the jail without bond. And, On March 4th, 18-year old Nathanyel Mychal Daley, of Bellevue, NE., was arrested in Mills County at around 5-p.m., for Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Late Monday morning, March 8th, a collision occurred in Mills County on the I-29 north on ramp to Highway 34. Authorities say a 2012 Ford driven by 26-year old Dustyn Oliver of Glenwood, and a 2017 Kenworth driven by 59-year old Jeffrey Barnes, of Clifton, KS, were eastbound on Highway 34. Oliver didn’t see the semi ahead of him. The rig had recently turned onto Highway 34 and was just about up to speed, when Oliver’s vehicle hit the trailer of the semi.

The impact caused his vehicle’s airbag to deploy. Oliver suffered possible, minor injuries, but was cleared at the scene by rescue personnel. His vehicle was towed from the collision site. The semi was able to continue after its rear bumper was pulled free from the rear set of wheels.

(Radio Iowa) – Following the January 6th riot, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says security upgrades are still needed to better protect the U-S Capitol but he disagrees with some of the initial recommendations in a report released on Monday. The task force called for spending 500-million dollars on additional security measures, including keeping a National Guard presence in Washington D-C for another two months. Grassley, a Republican, says that’s unnecessary. Grassley says, “We’re waiting for people that are studying it to make that decision but we don’t have to be spending a half a billion dollars, just a million dollars a day just for the fence that’s being maintained, and it’s a temporary fence.”

A retired Army lieutenant general and others on the task force are calling for significant changes to bolster security around the Capitol and to speed the emergency response. “He said we need a thousand more policemen. I think we have about 1,800 now,” Grassley says. “This is just for the five or six blocks around Capitol Hill and we’ve had that number of policemen for a long time.”

Grassley says law enforcement needs better training, especially in crowd control, and better communication is also needed between the House and Senate as well as between the police and the sergeant-at-arms. Grassley recalled the days when his wife would drive him to work and drop him off at the Capitol steps. While acknowledging more security is needed, he doesn’t want to see Washington become a fortress. “I don’t have an answer except to wait and see what these people recommend,” Grassley says. “I don’t see the need for a permanent fence and yet there’s people advocating that.”

The senator agrees with the task force’s recommendation to streamline the chain of command to deploy the National Guard in an emergency situation. Grassley notes it took four or five hours for the guard to respond during the unrest in January and a more immediate response is needed. Some five-thousand National Guard troops remain on-duty in Washington, though most of them are scheduled to return home this week.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously passed legislation that would make a pandemic era policy for telehealth services permanent. Last year, the governor used her emergency powers to temporarily make insurance reimbursement rates equal for in-person and virtual visits for mental health services. Representative Joel Fry of Osceola says the bill would continue the requirement that rates be equal, whether the appointment is face-to-face or conducted online.

“Over the course of the last year with Covid, we have all learned the importance of telehealth,” Fry says, “and its ability to provide health care to Iowans, regardless of where they live in the state.” Fry says this kind of reimbursement parity for mental health services is already law in ten states and many others are considering similar legislation.