The Cass County Conservation Board is now taking Pre-orders for their Native Plant Sale! The order form and payment will be DUE May 1st 2017 at 4PM.  Forms can be found online http://www.atlanticiowa.com/county/county-departments/conservation-office/

Native Local Eco-type live Plants will be sold. Live plants from nursery will come as small plugs; cells are 5” deep x 2” wide at top or 4.5”deep x 2” Cone. 2 Species of Native grass, and 9 Native Forbs including many that benefit Pollinators!  All orders must be picked up during designated times at the Conservation offices in Lewis unless prior arrangements made.

Designated pick up times will be: Thursday May 25th, from 8-a.m. until 6-p.m., or Friday May 26th, from 8-a.m. until 4:30-p.m. Plants not picked up will be donated with NO REFUND.

The Atlantic Police Dept. reports a Harrison County man was arrested on two charges, Wednesday. 31-year old Matthew Kempston, of Dunlap, was charged with OWI/1st offense, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine. Kempston was booked into the Cass County Jail.

Iowa growers are getting ready for planting season as La Nina conditions fade in the Pacific Ocean and there’s no consensus on what may come next. A La Nina means sea surface temperatures are below long-term trends, bringing cooler weather to our region. Dennis Todey, director of the U-S-D-A’s Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, says there are signs an El Nino is developing.

“There are hints we’re heading back to warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific,” Todey says. “I’m not as convinced about that as some people are. Even if it does go that way, I don’t think we’d be seeing El Nino conditions before the end of the growing season.”

An El Nino means ocean temperatures are averaging above-normal for an extended time, which can bring weather extremes to North America. Todey says an El Nino developing is not in the cards. “It really would be unprecedented,” Todey says. “Not completely unprecedented but unlikely where you go from a strong El Nino to a La Nina and then back to an El Nino in subsequent years. It’s only happened one time in the last century. It’s possible but it seems very unlikely.”

Current trends and long-range forecasts into early summer indicate temperatures and precipitation will be above-normal for much of the Midwest and Northern Plains. The Pacific was in a La Nina phase, or cooling, for the past year or so. That’s reverted to more neutral conditions.

(Radio Iowa)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the driver of an SUV was injured early Wednesday morning, when he became confused and ran his vehicle into a building in Afton. 70-year old Larry Clayton, of Thayer, was driving a 2006 Jeep at around 2-a.m. Wednesday and drove onto private property before striking a building at 1780 Old Highway 34, causing extensive damage to the south side of the building.

Clayton suffered possible/unknown injuries and was transported by Law Enforcement to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston. Damage to his SUV was estimated at $5,500, while the building, owned by Dave Larson, of Afton, sustained about $10,000 damage. No citations were issued.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City man has been accused of biting his 7-week-old daughter on the face. Court records say 22-year-old Edward Valdez is charged with child endangerment resulting in injury.

A court document says the child was bitten on March 24, when Valdez was alone with her. He told an officer that the girl had been sick and wouldn’t stop crying. Valdez said he became frustrated and bit her right cheek. The document says the bite left a white mark that lasted several days.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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Council Bluffs Police say only minor injuries were reported following a collision Wednesday in a Council Bluffs construction zone. Authorities say officers were dispatched to the area of Interstate 80 westbound near mile marker 3, just before 11-p.m.

When they arrived, they found a 2014 International semi driven by a 54-year old man from Lincoln, NE., and a Ford Taurus driven by an 18-year old male from Omaha, collided with each other in the construction zone. Both vehicles were west bound when crash occurred. The driver’s side rear trailer of the semi and the passenger side of the Ford Taurus are what made contact. Officials say the Taurus may have been stuck to the side of the semi-trailer before it spun out of control. Some of the occupants of the Ford Taurus were treated for minor injuries. The crash is still under investigation.

Council Bluffs Police would like to remind drivers to take extra caution, slow down and increase following distances while driving through constructions zones. Please remember also to slow down and move over for stopped Emergency Vehicles, Tow Recovery Vehicles and Maintenance Vehicles that are stopped on the side of the roadway. Everyone’s safety depends on it.

Officials with ISU Extension report the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Montgomery County has received a $1,000 grant for its Beginning and Young Agricultural Producers program. Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) provided the Working Here Fund grant to support a yearlong educational program focused on the business end of farming.

FCS America’s Mike Thomas and Michelle Sandin, a consumer lending officer in the Red Oak office, presents a check to Chelsea Cousins.

Chelsea Cousins, program coordinator for the Montgomery County Extension, says “The overarching goal of this project is to increase the number and success of new Iowa farm operations. This requires a continued learning for existing farm businesses and the creation of a fresh pool of individuals who are able to stake out an equity position in farming.”

About 15 enrollees have participated in two of four planned meetings.  Participants include young and beginning producers involved in an existing operation, such as a family member’s, and aspiring full-time producers who work off the farm while they build capital and know-how.

Cousins said there is space in the two remaining meetings for additional enrollees. Meetings combine financial education and farm business development with visits to area agricultural operations, with a focus on beef production. Included in the financial topics are financial statements, cash flow management and key financial ratios. Among the production topics: winter nutrition, low-stress weaning and pregnancy checking.  Interested enrollees for the August and December meetings can call Cousins at the Montgomery County Extension at 712-623-2592.

ISU Extension and Outreach in Montgomery County was one of 53 organizations to receive a Working Here Fund grant in the fourth quarter of 2016. FCSAmerica awarded $81,140 during the fourth quarter grant cycle that ended December 31, 2016.

Three people were arrested Wednesday night on separate charges in Montgomery County. Red Oak Police report 40-year old Billy Ray Hunter, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 11:06-p.m. in the 900 block of E. Hammond Street, for Theft in the 5th Degree. His bond, at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, was set at $300. And, at around 10:45-p.m., 20-year old Destiny Ann Walz, of Red Oak, was arrested by Red Oak Police for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Walz was also being held at the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 64-year old Patrick Emile Clark, of Elliott, was arrested at around 9:45-p.m., Wednesday in Elliott, on a Federal ATF warrant for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Clark was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, while awaiting extradition by the U-S Marshals service.