(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Summit Carbon Solutions has reached an agreement to nearly double the number of ethanol facilities that will connect to its proposed carbon dioxide pipeline system in Iowa, the company announced Monday. The agreement with POET — which says it is the world’s largest biofuel producer — would add 17 ethanol plants to the proposed system in Iowa and South Dakota. A dozen of those are in Iowa, which gives Summit a total of 25 in the state. Those sites would extend Summit’s footprint into at least seven new counties in Iowa, but the precise routes of those extensions are not yet clear.

The company could not immediately provide an estimate of how many additional miles of pipe will be required. The new locations are near Arthur, Ashton, Coon Rapids, Corning, Emmetsburg, Fairbank, Gowrie, Hanlontown, Iowa Falls, Jewell, Menlo and Shell Rock. Summit’s first hazardous liquid pipeline permit request — which has reached the final stage of the Iowa Utilities Board regulatory process — includes about 690 miles of pipe and 12 ethanol producers. Summit filed for a second permit for a 31-mile extension to another ethanol plant last year.

2023 map of the original proposed Summit CO2 pipelines

The latest announcement is a direct result of Navigator CO2’s abandonment of a similar pipeline proposal about three months ago. POET had an agreement with Navigator to connect to its system. Summit’s system would connect to ethanol plants in five states and transport their captured carbon dioxide to North Dakota for underground storage. The ethanol plants would then produce fuel that is classified as “low carbon,” enabling the producers to sell into new markets and to be eligible for generous federal tax credits.

The Iowa Utilities Board is now considering whether to grant Summit a permit and what conditions it might have. The board has not indicated when it will issue its decision.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] – Barry Manilow is planning one final stop in Des Moines. KCCI reports the 80-year-old singer will perform at Wells Fargo Arena for “The Last Des Moines Concert,” part of his summer tour through the Midwest. The concert is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 1. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 2, via Hy-VeeTix.

GRAND JUNCTION, Iowa ([KCCI] – A Grand Junction woman’s handmade quilt fetched $1,000 in a silent auction Monday night, that raised more than $6,000 for the families of victims in the Perry school shooting.  Ellen McElroy stitched the quilt just months after losing her own son, Arnold Thomas, better known as “Tommy,” who was nine-years old when he was struck by a truck in 1981. Tommy died two days later. The auction winner, Tyler Pieper, said he’ll donate the money and Ellen gets to keep her quilt.

McElroy had submitted her quilt to benefit the family of Ahmir Jolliff — the sixth-grader who was shot and killed at Perry High School on Jan. 4th, and Valentina Mion, a student who was shot in the head.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report two people were arrested on separate drug charges, Monday. 42-year-old Brandon Ashley Howe, of Creston, was arrested at 408 S Vine. Howe was taken into custody at around 2:30-p.m., on a Union County Warrant charging him with three counts of Gathering where controlled substances (Other than marijuana) are unlawfully used. Howe was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, at around 7:47-p.m., Monday, Creston Police arrested 45-year-old Carrie Nawacy Pendegraft, of Creston, arrested at the intersection Highway 25 and Townline. Pendegraft was charged with Possession of Controlled Substance 3rd Offense/non-Marijuana, Possession Firearm or Offensive Weapon by Felon, Keeping a Premises or Vehicle for Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was taken to the Union County Jail, and later released on a $12,300 cash or surety bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI] — A Des Moines woman is accused of filming herself smacking her twin babies on their faces. Naria Onye Bowens faces two counts of child endangerment. Court records say Bowens sent the video to the children’s father. Detectives then found out about the video circulating on social media. Bowens is being held without bond in the Polk County Jail.

Naria Onye Bowens (Polk County Jail booking photo)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) — The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed human remains found in rural Delaware County in November, are those of a man who had been missing since 2013. On Nov. 5, 2023, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office responded one mile south of the 1300 block of 180th Street for a report that human remains had been located in a field just west of Manchester by some pheasant hunters.

The remains were removed from the scene and taken to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office for identification. Officials believed at that time they were those of Brian “Farmer” Burns, who was reported missing back on Dec. 23, 2013. Now, officials have confirmed that they are those of Burns.

Brian “Farmer” Burns

Brian Burns was the cousin of Jerry Burns, who was convicted of killing Michelle Martinko. At the time Jerry Burns was arrested in 2018 for the murder of Martinko, TV9 asked the Delaware County Sheriff’s office if Jerry Burns was connected to Brian Burns’ disappearance. Delaware County Sheriff John LeClere said in a statement back in 2018, “We are reviewing the case and at this time have not uncovered any additional information that would implicate Jerry Burns in that disappearance.”

The incident remains under investigation.