(Radio Iowa) – Many thousands of Iowans will be watching pro football on T-V Sunday and dozens of state troopers will be watching the highways after the big game for drivers who are putting themselves — and others — at risk. Trooper Paul Gardner, who’s based at the Iowa State Patrol office in Fort Dodge, says they’re planning to project a much more visible presence on the state’s roads than a normal Sunday. “Whether you’re rooting for the Chiefs or the 49ers, there’s going to be one way to win this Sunday: Let’s make sure everyone gets to the end zone, which is home safely,” Gardner says. “Our troopers will be out watching for impaired and drunk drivers. We highly encourage you to get a designated driver. Whether you’re hosting a party or attending a party, make sure that everyone gets home safely.”

If you plan to watch the game at a local watering hole or at a friend’s house, Gardner says it’s vital that you come up with a plan ahead of time to get yourself home. “Your most valuable player in these cases is going to be a sober, designated driver to get everyone home safely,” Gardner says. “That game plan should start now to get preparations going so that we can get people in line to be able to get people home, and that’s for parties that involve alcoholic beverages. We know that they’re going to be out there. We certainly encourage people to go out and have fun, but just please, do it responsibly.”

Gardner says last year’s Super Bowl Sunday did -not- bring a significant increase in traffic accidents or deaths in Iowa, and he hopes for a similar result this weekend. Trooper Kevin Krull, who’s based in Spencer, says for the cost of a drunk driving conviction, you could attend the Super Bowl in person.  “So if you get picked up for OWI, you could have just as well went to the game and bought a ticket to be at the Super Bowl,” Krull says, “because of the $10,000 that you’re going to spend probably on the OWI, between the insurance costs that are elevated after the fact, the fines and attorney fees.”

The key phrase Krull wants everyone to know for this weekend’s festivities is, “Fans don’t let fans drive drunk.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, received Quarterly Reports from County Veterans Affairs Director Mitchell Holmes and Conservation Director Micah Lee.
Holmes said he only had one request for emergency assistance. That came from the widow of a veteran, whose thermostat on her furnace stopped working.

Holmes said his office filed 13 claims for federal disability benefits.

For the quarter, Holmes said his office assisted 210 individual veterans. They received 150 office visits and held 12 home visits. Conservation Director Micah Lee discussed maintenance activities from the past quarter. He said at Cold Springs State Park, they are planting trees to replace the 100-year-old Oak Trees that had to be removed due to Oak blight.

He said they’re planting more diversified trees in some places.

At the Nodaway Wildlife Area…

At the West Nodaway Wildlife Area, Micah Lee says they installed Winter Rye cover crops in their food plots to control erosion. Cover crops were also put in-place at the Hitchcock House near Lewis. And, at the Outdoor Classroom near Massena, they winterized the outdoor shelter. He said also, they applied for a Fish Habitat grant.

The fish that inhabited the pond were killed-off last year, due to an invasion of the common carp and some lesser desired species. The pond was treated under the ice to kill what Lee said were “thousands” of carp. He said they don’t know where the invasive carp came from. If the grant is approved, they hope to construct another silt pond with an inlet, making it about 5-to 6-feet deep, and eventually restock the pond with desirable fish.

The Supervisors also received a Monthly report from County Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator Debbie Schuler.

She also provided a report on her January data.

Schuler and the Board discussed proposed new legislation coming out with regard to the consolidation of mental health regions into districts. If approved, the 16 current regions would shrink down to seven districts, “Making the State as the payer of last resort,” according to Schuler. She says “That’s crazy…it will be interesting to see…” [what happens]. She says “It feels like we are reinventing the wheel.”

She says there are still many unknowns as to how the whole thing will “shake out.”

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, during their meeting Tuesday morning, in Atlantic, heard a request from Craig Meyer, of Lewis, with regard to refurbishing some benches near the Cass County Freedom Rock site, in Lewis.

He said Weirich Welding in Lewis, which manufactured the benches, would be willing to transport the benches to Red Oak, for powder coating, which is a durable, electrostatically applied and baked-on paint, that when heated in a large, industrial over, cures to achieve a hard, smooth surface that is tougher than commercial paint. It resists rust and scratches.

Meyer said he would like to have the benches powder coated and back in-place by Memorial Day.

The Board agreed to look into the costs and put the request on the agenda for their next meeting on February 20^th, as part of the budgetary process.