Cass County Democratic Party Chair Sherry Toelle said Thursday, that Presidential hopeful Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY) will be at the Atlantic campus of Iowa Western Community College on Thursday, April 18th.

Doors will open at 4:05 PM with Senator Gillibrand delivering remarks and conversing with caucus-goers from 4:20 PM until about 5:20 PM. Prior to the event, she will tour IWCC. “Conversations with Kirsten” will focus on the topics of education and national public service.

Senator Gillbrand is the junior senator from New York. She was born and raised in upstate New York, where she, her husband, and their two sons still reside. Prior to being elected to the US Senate, she served as a law clerk and as a lawyer in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009, where she has since won reelection twice.

Her campaign would appreciate an RSVP from those who plan to attend the event. You can do so by going to https://www.mobilize.us/kirstengillibrand/event/90257/ Of course, you can attend without signing in but the numbers will determine in what room the event will take place.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a woman this (Thursday) afternoon on an arson charge. 19-year old Jessice Lynn Dickerson, of rural Emerson, was arrested at around 2-p.m. for Arson in the 1st Degree, following an investigation into fires set in a restroom trash can and in the stairwell of the Stanton Viking Center at around 9:45-a.m. (Thursday) morning. Red Oak Fire and the State Fire Marshals Office assisted in the investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest Census of Agriculture shows the number of farms and ranches in the U.S. has fallen but the remaining operations are larger and are responsible for a higher percentage of agricultural sales.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the 2017 Census of Agriculture on Thursday, marking the 29th release of the report since the government began collecting the data in 1840. Since 1982, it has been released every five years.

The census shows there were 2.04 million farms and ranches in 2017, down 3.2 percent from 2012. The average size of those operations was 441 acres, an increase of 1.6 percent.

About 75 percent of all sales came from only 105,453 of those farms, down more than 14,000 from 2012. The average age of producers was 57.5.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Iowa and Nebraska transportation officials said Thursday that they’re hoping to have nearly all roads and bridges that were damaged by last month’s flooding repaired by midsummer, but that a wet spring could hamper their efforts.

Iowa Department of Transportation Director Mark Lowe and his Nebraska counterpart, Kyle Schneweis, held a joint news conference in Council Bluffs to update the public on the damage in their states and how long it might take to repair.

In Iowa, the damage is concentrated in the west along Interstate 29 and the Missouri River. “The work to get traffic moving again has been nonstop,” Lowe said. “We have people who don’t know what day it is anymore because they’ve been working day and night.”

Lowe said many repairs have been made and some roads have been opened along the interstate north of Council Bluffs, which is just across the river from Omaha, Nebraska. The damage is heavier farther south, where twin bridges along the interstate south of Nebraska City and north of Hamburg, Iowa, were heavily damaged. The state hopes to have traffic moving in that area again by June.

“The complicating factor is that the flooding threat is not over,” he said. “Because of damage to the levee system, we will have to balance how future flooding might affect repair efforts.”

There were 50 levee breaks along the Missouri River during March flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday. Several of them span more than a football field in length, and at least one near the Missouri state line on the Iowa side stretches 1,140 feet. Crews are working to repair those levees, but the Corps has been unable to begin repairs on some areas — mostly in southwestern Iowa — that are still underwater.

Weather experts say this spring could bring major flooding for much of the U.S, as the ground in the Midwest and South is already saturated and northern snowmelt is expected to be significant. The extent of the flooding will largely depend on how much rain falls over the next few months. Thursday’s news conference was held as the second “bomb cyclone ” in as many months dropped heavy snow from Colorado to Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.

In all, Iowa had nearly 50 miles along the I-29 corridor that are damaged, nearly half of that categorized as severe. Lowe said damage estimates are between $70 million to $90 million. Officials were hoping the latest big storm wouldn’t exacerbate flooding along already swollen rivers.

An attempt to stop a vehicle in Adair County this (Thursday) morning, resulted in a pursuit that ended near Massena. Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports he attempted a traffic stop in Bridgewater at around 9:40-a.m. The male driver, later identified as 36 year old Daniel Floyd Edwards of Tingley, failed to yield to the emergency lights and tried to elude law enforcement.

The high speed pursuit that followed lasted for the next 41 minutes, traveling mostly on rock and level “B” low maintenance roadways.  The pursuit exited Adair County, initially entering Cass County.

The pursuit continued south into Adams County, came back into Adair County and then entered into Cass County once again.  Tire deflation devices were deployed and contributed to a successful end to the pursuit approximately 2.5 miles southeast of Massena. Edwards was arrested on multiple, outstanding arrest warrant issued out of Adams County and a Parole Violation arrest warrant issued out of Ringgold County. Charges relating to the pursuit are pending.

The Adair County Sheriff was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa DNR-Law Enforcement, the office of the State Fire Marshal, and the Fontanelle Police Department.

Spring is finally here and that means it’s time for the Kiwanis Club of Atlantic to hand out bike helmets to all of the 3rd Graders!  Melanie Petty, spokesperson for the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund, says they are pleased to announce that the fund was able to donate $500 again this year to help make this happen.  Petty says they would like to thank the Kiwanis Club for continuing this tradition.  Without, Melanie says, many children would be riding bikes without a helmet.

The 11th Annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament is just four months away.  The committee is busy finalizing all the details and letters will be mailed soon.  If you are interested in golfing at our tournament or donating an item to our silent auction please contact Melanie Petty at 712-249-3696.  All funds raised are given back to the community that Trevor loved.  We are a 501(c)3 non profit group.

Vice President Mike Pence will be visiting Iowa tomorrow (Friday). According to reports, Mike Pence will travel to Pacific Junction to visit with families, businesses and the agricultural community affected by the severe flooding in the Iowa and Nebraska region.

Pence will visit also Lincoln, Ridgeview Farms (18031 Lambert Avenue (US Highway 34)). Gov. Kim Reynolds will join Vice President Mike Pence to tour flood damage at around 11:30-a.m.

(Radio Iowa/A-P) — The second so-called bomb cyclone in less than a month is bringing Iowa a mix of snow, ice, rain, high winds and the threat of flooding, hail and tornadoes. Blizzard conditions have knocked out power to 14,000 people and businesses in Minnesota and the same number in South Dakota. Another 8,500 are in the dark in Iowa.  Meteorologist Kenny Podrazik, at the National Weather Service in metro Des Moines, says advisories and warnings about the high winds are posted for a wide section of northern and central Iowa.

“We’ve had some reports of wind gusts as high as 63 miles per hour, Fort Dodge had wind gusts of 63 miles per hour,” Podrazik says. “We’re starting to get reports of tree damage, too, and the Iowa DOT reported power lines down across northern Iowa.” MidAmerican Energy reports some 18-hundred homes and businesses were without power this (Thursday) morning, while Interstate-35 northbound near Dows was blocked due to a semi that was blown onto its side. An Ice Storm Warning is in effect until Friday morning for parts of northwest Iowa, while several northern counties are seeing snowfall, enough to delay school two hours in some areas. Podrazik says there’s a threat of more severe weather coming this afternoon.

“That’s mainly across the eastern portion of the state, I-35 towards Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Davenport area,” Podrazik says. “That threat is looking like hail and maybe even a small, isolated tornado threat, too.” The first bomb cyclone brought snow and heavy rain a little over three weeks ago, which translated into record flooding in parts of southwest Iowa. There were fears this storm would bring a repeat of the flooding. “There is still a threat for that,” Podrazik says. “Some of that snow and rain and mixed precipitation fell into the upper Des Moines River basin so it’ll take a little bit of time to see the impacts of that but not as significant as what we were previously thinking earlier in the week, which is a good thing.”

As much as 18 inches of snow has fallen in parts of South Dakota, where Gov. Kristi Noem closed state offices in much of the state Thursday amid heavy snow and strong winds. Whiteout conditions have been reported in western Nebraska, where the Department of Transportation reported several highway closures Thursday morning. Schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul are among hundreds of closed schools in Minnesota, where as much as 2 feet of snow is expected in the southwest part of the state by Friday. The Minnesota State Patrol says it has responded to more 200 crashes statewide since Wednesday.

While some Iowans were outside in shorts and t-shirts on Monday as high temperatures soared into the 70s and low 80s, highs statewide on Friday may only be in the 30s and 40s. The forecast calls for temperatures to warm back into the 60s and 70s by early next week.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been given three years of probation for tampering with odometers sold at his vehicle dealership in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports that 38-year-old Francisco Hurtado also was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended prison sentence of five years, fined $1,500 and ordered to pay more than $19,000 to seven victims. He’d pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent practice.

Authorities say Hurtado lives in South Sioux City, Nebraska, and owns Siouxland Auto Sales in Sioux City. Iowa investigators say they found odometers in high-mileage vehicles had been rolled down to increase the vehicles’ value.

Court records say Hurtado acknowledged replacing odometer clusters on some vehicles. The records say, however, that Hurtado had not followed Iowa law in resetting the replaced odometers to zero or to the original mileage, nor placing notices on the dashboards noting that the odometer clusters had been replaced.

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, from Red Oak, will hold two public events next week in Pottawattamie and Adair, and non-public event in Guthrie Counties, as part of her 99 County Tour Stops.

On Monday, April 15th, Ernst will host a public Resource Fair at the YMCA Healthy Living Center (714 S. Main St.), in Council Bluffs. The event takes place at 3-p.m., and features several local, state and federal agency representatives who will provide information to area residents on a variety of resources, including flood relief assistance. In addition, various non-profit agencies – especially those that assist seniors and veterans – will be on location, along with Ernst’s information booth.

On Wednesday, April 17th, Senator Ernst will hold a public, Town Hall meeting in Greenfield at the Warren Cultural Center (154 Public Square), beginning at 3-p.m., and she’ll attend a private event in Guthrie Center at the Guthrie County REC (1406 State Street), beginning at 5-p.m.. The Guthrie Center event features the presentation of a “Spirit of Enterprise” Award to Ernst, and a Business Roundtable.