The shorter days and more moderate temperatures make this fall a great time for gardening projects.  The Cass County Master Gardeners invite you to their annual Fall Plant Sale, set for Saturday morning, September 9, at the Cass County Community Center, 805 W 10th Street on the Fairgrounds in Atlantic. The sale will be open to the public to purchase divided perennials suitable for fall planting. Plants expected to be on the sale include iris (bearded and Siberian), peonies, daylilies, spring-flowering bulbs, hostas, perennial geranium, anemone, baptista, salvia, sedum, garden mum, rudbeckia, clematis, oregano and other herbs, lily of the valley, yarrow, houseplants including aloe and more. There will also be a large collection of gently used garden decor, pots, books, and tools for shoppers to explore.

The sale begins at 8 AM, and will be held in the front parking lot of the Cass County Community Center on the fairgrounds in Atlantic. Interested gardeners are encouraged to arrive early for best plant selection, as the annual spring and fall sales occasionally sell out before 10 AM, especially high-demand plants.

The Master Gardeners will bring perennials dug and divided from their own gardens to the fall plant sale.  Community residents are also welcome to donate plants, and members may even help you dig! Please call in advance and make arrangements to drop off donated plants before the date of the plant sale. All funds raised from the sale support local Master Gardener projects such as community garden spaces, educational activities, grants and scholarships.

Many perennials work well for fall dividing and transplanting, including daylilies, peonies, garden phlox, bleeding heart, coneflowers, speedwell, and more. Iris and hosta can also be transplanted successfully in early fall.  By dividing the plant when it is not flowering, all the energy it produces can be directed to root and foliage growth, so plants overwinter in place and come back strong in the spring.  Additionally, the cooler weather is easier on the plants (and the gardener!), and the plants generally do not use as much water as in spring and summer.  Plants should be placed in the ground as early in fall as possible, but most can be successfully planted up until the ground freezes.  The plants should also be adequately watered until the ground freezes, which is particularly important in dry years. If you have questions about dividing and caring for plants, stop by the Extension Office or visit the online Extension Store to pick up a free publication on dividing and caring for perennial plants in the garden!

To donate items, or for more information about these events and other Master Gardener activities in Cass County, please call the Cass County Extension Office at 712-243-1132, stop by the office at 805 West 10th street in Atlantic, email Cass County Extension Director and Master Gardener Coordinator Kate Olson at keolson@iastate.edu or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.  You are also invited to follow the Cass County Master Gardeners Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CassCoMG to keep up with local events and tips for gardening!

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling on federal bureaucrats to return to work in the midst of increased wait times for public services while taxpayers are also picking up the cost of maintaining mostly empty buildings in Washington.

To hold Washington accountable, Ernst is requesting an investigation of every major department and agency to determine the impact of telework on the delivery and response times of services, how much taxpayer money could be saved by consolidating unused office space, and what steps have been taken to adjust bureaucrats’ location-based salaries for those who have relocated and chosen to remain out of the office. Ernst would also like to know what the actual worksite attendance rate is for government employees at each agency.

“Growing up on a farm, I know what working from home actually means,” Senator Joni Ernst said. “It’s not fair to let the responsibilities of running an agency—and the country—fall on the shoulders of the hardworking public servants who are showing up while others are out golfing on the taxpayer’s dime. Frustrated Americans are being put on hold while too many federal employees are phoning it in. I’m calling out federal employees who refuse to answer the call of duty to return to work on behalf of taxpayers, veterans, seniors, and our great nation. It’s time to get back to work.”

Ernst is urging federal workers to get back to work because:

• Thousands of calls to the Department of Veterans Affairs from veterans seeking mental health services are going unanswered;
• Desperate travelers are waiting hours on the phone or in line hoping to speak with someone at the State Department about passport delays that are causing vacation cancellations;
• Seniors calling the Social Security Administration are increasingly being greeted with busy messages, waiting longer to speak to a representative, or having their calls go unanswered altogether as the agency shifts towards remote work.

Shelby County Election commissioner Mark Maxwell would like to remind all voters with the upcoming City/School and county wide public measure election, that if any voter intends to vote by mail please get the absentee ballot application in now.  This assists in making the election process more efficient.

The first day that the ballots can be placed in the mail is October 18th. The last day to place ballots in the mail is  October 23rd.  Please look on the Shelby County website under Documents >Elections.  A ballot application and other information is posted there for viewing or printing.

Shelby County voters may print out your own application and drop it off or mail to Elections 612 Court Street Harlan, Iowa 51537. Submit your application now to have your ballot mailed to you after October 18th. A ballot cannot be mailed to voters until October 18th.  Voting in person is allowed in the Auditors office starting October 18th during regular business hours. In the office voting will continue until November 6th, the day before election day.

If you have any questions regarding this election, please contact the Election Office at 712-755-3831 extension 6.

Extra state, county and local law enforcement will be on the roads during the upcoming holiday weekend as part of a special effort to crack down on problem motorists before they become a problem to others. Iowa State Trooper Paul Gardner, who’s based in Fort Dodge, says they’re intentionally putting out the word before the Labor Day weekend arrives, to get people thinking about safety.

Gardner says 40 people were killed on Iowa’s roads over the Labor Day holiday last year.

Saturday is expected to be a very busy day on the state’s roads, especially around Iowa City and Ames as Iowa and Iowa State are opening their football seasons at home, while U-N-I is opening its season away — facing the Cyclones in Ames.

The Iowa D-O-T reports there have been 247 deaths on Iowa’s roads so far this year, well ahead of the 213 deaths as of this date a year ago.

This (Tuesday) morning marks the start of the 16th annual effort to package millions of meals to help feed the hungry in Iowa, across the U-S, and in countries around the globe. Meals from the Heartland launches the massive mission with today’s corporate contest, where Hy-Vee spokeswoman Nola Aigner (EYE-gner) Davis says dozens of volunteers will be pitching in to assemble the meals in plastic bags, which are then packed into cardboard boxes.

That event, the One Step Challenge, is being held at the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex in West Des Moines. The larger “Hunger Fight” event runs tomorrow (Wednesday) through Saturday as many thousands of volunteers will be packaging meals at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines. The goal is to produce and package four-million meals by the end of the day on Saturday.

There are two basic meals that will be assembled, a Hearty Pack, with rice, soy protein, vitamins, minerals and dried vegetables; and a Taco Mac, which contains enriched pasta, soy flour, and vitamin- and mineral-fortified cheese mix.

Individual and group registrations are being welcomed for shifts tomorrow through Saturday. Hairnets and gloves will be provided. Since 2008, Meals from the Heartland has provided more than 183-million meals to the hungry in Iowa, across the U.S., and around the world.
www.mealsfromtheheartland.org

Republican Congressman Zach Nunn says his race for a second term in the U-S House will get national attention.

The latest data shows Democrats have a 77-hundred voter registration edge over Republicans in the third congressional district. Last November, Nunn won Iowa’s third district seat in the U-S House by finishing just 21-hundred votes ahead of Democratic incumbent Cindy Axne. This summer, national Democrats began running online ads accusing Nunn of being part of the G-O-P’s anti-abortion crusade.

Nunn notes there will be no statewide races on Iowa’s 2024 General Election ballot.

Nunn says his congressional race, along with the U-S House races in Iowa’s other three congressional districts, will be the lead races in Iowa next year. No Democrat has announced they plan to run against Nunn in 2024. In Iowa’s first district, Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks will likely face a rematch with Democrat Christina Bohannan of Iowa City. Bohannan announced her 2024 congressional campaign earlier this month. Two Democrats say they’re running in Iowa’s fourth congressional district. One of the Democrats is Ryan Melton of Nevada, who ran against Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra last year, and the other is Ames doctor Jay Brown.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Secondary Roads Department, today (Monday), reports rown Ave. will be closed to traffic just north of 170th St. for approximately 3-4 days for a culvert replacement.

(Radio Iowa)- There’s a nationwide push to recruit more minorities for careers in law enforcement and a community in northwest Iowa is emphasizing diversity on its police force. Bayron Ordonez, who was born in Honduras, is one of four new officers taking the oath to serve and protect Sioux City.

Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller agrees.

Of four new officers recently sworn into duty in Sioux City, two come from the Hispanic community, including Ordonez.

Of the 127 officers on the city’s police force, more than a quarter are minorities, including women. There are no Native Americans on the force. About 20-percent of Sioux City’s population is Hispanic. Now, about eight-percent of the city’s police officers are Hispanic.

(Radio Iowa) – Five people were injured after a truck crashed into a house in Plymouth County this (Monday) morning. The Iowa State Patrol says the driver, 32-year-old Jesus Almaraz of Sioux City suffered a medical condition as he drove on Highway 3 near Le Mars is around 7 a-m and his truck went out of control and hit the north ditch causing it to go airborne and crash into a house.

Almaraz as was taken to Valley Hospital in Le Mars for treatment. Three passengers in the truck, also from Sioux City, sustained injuries. One of them needed to be extricated from the vehicle and was airlifted to a Sioux City Hospital for treatment. The state patrol says one resident inside the house also sustained minor injuries.

Several arrests were reported in the last week by police in Glenwood, among them:

On August 20th, Jennifer Baucom, 60, of Glenwood was arrested for OWI- 1st offense, bond set at $1,000 cash or surety (posted bond).

And, Ashton Schuppan, 35, of Glenwood was arrested for Criminal Mischief – 2nd offense, bond set at $5,000 cash or surety (posted bond).

On August 22nd, Byron Parker, 21, of Council Bluffs was arrested for Possession of Marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, total bond set of $1,300 cash or surety (posted bond).

Also,  Kayla Dutcher, 20, of Council Bluffs was arrested for Poss. of Marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, total bond set at $1,300 cash or surety (posted bond).

On August 24th, Ashton Schuppan, 35, of Glenwood was arrested on a Mills County warrant for Criminal Mischief 2nd degree, bond set at $5,000 cash or surety (posted bond).

On August 25th, Blaine Houser, 20, of Glenwood was arrested for OWI 1st offense and possession of drug paraphernalia, total bond set at $1,300 (posted bond).