Sheriff’s Officials in Taylor County report a Blockton man, 54-year old Walter Meier, was arrested this morning (Saturday). on charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance with the Intent to deliver (Methamphetamine), a Class “C” Felony. Meier was being held at the Taylor County Jail on a $10,000 cash only bond.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s gotten a response from federal investigators in a case where a woman died at a Buffalo Center nursing home. Senator Grassley says the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responded to his request for more information on the February 27th death of Virginia Olthoff at the Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center. State investigators say she was in pain and may not have had water several days before her death. C-M-S has fined the nursing home more than 77-thousand dollars. Grassley says the C-M-S administrator told him in a letter that the nursing home has had 19 complaint investigations conducted in the past five years and has “come back into substantial compliance with program requirements” after each one.

The Republican Senator says he appreciates the response, but says he is concerned about the Timely Mission Nursing Home’s compliance history and the sheer number of complaint investigations. He says the reported events are “extremely troubling” and call into question whether the facility has the ability to make lasting changes. He says he will continue to press for more information on this case and others like it.

(Radio Iowa) — A foul odor reported in the city of Storm Lake on Thursday was traced back to someone flushing garbage down their toilet. Tom Roos, inspector for the DNR’s Spencer field office, says the investigation into an odor complaint lead city crews to a “blockage” at a lift station – which sent untreated wastewater into a storm sewer near King’s Pointe Resort. “The lift station is equipped with a screen to protect the pumps and there were all kinds of debris from rags, to plastic, to a whole lot of drinking straws,” Roos said.

When the wastewater backed up, previous repairs developed a leak, allowing wastewater to reach the storm sewer and the lake. A DNR news release issued Friday cautioned people to avoid the northeast side of the lake for 48 hours. Roos is reminding people NOT to flush trash down the toilet. “Things get into sewers that aren’t supposed be there all the time, but (this) was pretty unique,” Roos said. “I mean, I think we all know what toilets are used to flush and any other debris that gets flushed down there, as we can see, causes some pretty significant problems.”

According to the DNR’s news release, the city of Storm Lake has hired a contractor to plug the storm water line to prevent future problems and the DNR will consider “appropriate enforcement action.”