(Radio Iowa) – One area of the state continues to lag behind in finishing off the corn harvest. The U-S-D-A crop survey found twelve percent of the corn in south-central Iowa remained to be harvested at of the end of the week Sunday. No other crop district had more than four percent remaining, with the statewide average of just three percent of the corn still in the fields.

The corn harvest is on the same pace as last year, and ten days ahead of the five-year average.

(Griswold, Iowa) – The Griswold School Board met Monday evening, and acted on a handful of resignations and a full-time contract. Superintendent Dave Henrichs….

The Board chose to activate the district’s retirement policy for both certified and classified staff members.

Henrichs said Early Retirement applications will go to the board for action during their meeting on January 15.

In other business, the Griswold School Board established their 2023-2034 Board Goals. The goals are the same as last year. They include establishing strategies for attracting, hiring and retaining quality staff. Their other goal was developing a strategy to reducing net open enrollement-out.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday (Today), received an annual report and funding request from West Central Community Action (WCCA) Executive Director Wendy Mueller, and a weekly report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken. They also voted to deny a probationary period performance-based pay raise for an employee of the Cass County Treasurer’s Office. In her report to the Board, Wendy Mueller said WCCA is asking for the same amount of funding the County provided for their services, last year.

The Board took the request under consideration.

Wendy Mueller

Mueller said for Fiscal Year 2023 West Central served 582 households in Cass County, consisting of over 1,200 individiuals, which was a small increase (32) over last year.

She said 53-percent of the households they serve in Cass County, rent their home. West Central, she said, provides many services in the County, including Head Start, which promotes school readiness for children ages 3-to 5 for low income families, by offering a variety of services.

They also have Early Headstart, which provides support to low income infants, toddlers and pregnant women and their families. They also offer a home-based option in Cass County. Over the past year, WCCA served a total of seven children in Early Headstart. The organization also offers Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R),

She acknowledged there has been a continued loss of child care programs in the area. Nine-percent, she said, have been lost over the past 5-years in Cass County alone. That trend is nationwide, as well. Other programs WCCA handles include the Child and Adult Care Food Program (197 children were enrolled in the program over the past year in the County), and Weatherization for low income households to help increase energy efficiency and reduce fuel costs. Eight homes were weatherized, which was double the number from last year, at a cost of $272,000 worth of services. For more information on West Central Community Action, see this LINK.

The Board discussed at length, approving a wage change for Cass County Auditor’s Clerk Hannah Richter. The proposed increase, which Auditor Kathy Somers and the Board agreed in a prior meeting, would be $1.00, from $19-to $20, following a probationary period and positive performance evaluation. The Board, Tuesday (Today), made several motions, including one to give her a 3% raise now, and a 3% raise on July 1, 2024, and, a proposed One-dollar increase on that date, instead of now.

Supervisor Mark O’Brien said he was opposed to the “Tiered probationary period…needs to go away.”

Kathy Somers said…

The Board voted 3-to-2 to delay the raise until the start of the new Fiscal Year on July 1^st. Supervisors Wendy Richter and Steve Green were opposed to that action.

Des Moines, Iowa – Nov. 21, 2023 – If you drive near the Interstate 35/80/235 east systems interchange you need to be aware of an upcoming construction project that may slow down your trip.

Nighttime construction work to place bridge beams for the new bridge at the I-35/I-80/I-235 east systems interchange will require closing westbound I-80, the ramp from westbound I-80 to westbound I-235, and the loop from eastbound I-235 to westbound I-80 on Thursday, Nov. 30 from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Grimes Construction office.

While work is taking place you will follow a marked detour route that will take you north to the Corporate Woods interchange and then back south to continue on westbound I-80 or westbound I-235 (see map).

Help keep everyone on the road safer. Drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, you should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Turkey Federation president Brad Moline says the variant of bird flu that’s circulating in the U-S appears tougher than the one that hit the poultry industry in 2015 — but he says stepped up biosecurity at poultry operations is preventing the virus from spreading like it did six years ago. “In 2015, it disappeared in June. Warm temperatures came and it was gone. From 2022-2023 warm temperatures haven’t necessarily stopped it. It doesn’t follow the fall bird migration or the spring bird migration,” Moline says, “so it’s been totally different.”

The outbreak, though, has not impacted the supply of turkeys for this Thanksgiving. More turkeys were raised in the U-S this year than in 2021. The price of Thanksgiving turkey is down more than five-and-a-half percent from last year according to the Farm Bureau. If the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza continues, though, the price and availability of turkey may be impacted in the new year. There are at least 30 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in 16 states right now.

“The whole industry is on edge again, there’s no question about it,” he says. “…Folks on our farm and many other farms in the state of Iowa follow strict bioseurity protocol and do everything we possibly can to keep that disease out of our farms.” Moline’s turkey operation is near Manson, on the border of Calhoun and Pocahontas Couties and it had a bird flu outbreak in 2015. Moline says state and federal government officials have eliminated red tape and there’s a speedier process of euthanizing infected birds now.

“From that, you have stopped the spread from farm to farm,” Moline says. Wild birds like geese are thought to be major spreaders of the virus to confinements and backyard flocks. However, the number of avian influenza cases in the wild bird population appears to be dropping according ot the U-S-D-A. It could be a sign wild birds are developing immunity to the virus and may be contributing to a reduction in bird flu cases this year.

(Radio Iowa) – The continuing resolution President Biden signed last week to keep the federal government running into January included a one-year extension of the Farm Bill. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says that extension will afford Congress plenty of time to sort out that mammoth piece of legislation which is vital to the ag industry and to tens of thousands of family farmers.  “President Biden did what he had to do, and he couldn’t have vetoed it because it didn’t include a five-year Farm Bill,” Grassley says. “It only had the extension of the existing 2018 Farm Bill for one year.” While ag groups are expressing gratitude the Farm Bill was extended, there’s also disappointment the new version couldn’t have been passed yet this year, as farmers face significantly higher input costs as well as weather challenges.

Grassley isn’t overly concerned that the deadline was pushed back. “I don’t know how many times, I suppose I’ve been involved in my years in the Congress in six or seven Farm Bills and not every one of those has been extended for a year before we got a new five-year Farm Bill,” Grassley says, “but I want to make very clear to you, it’s not uncommon.” The one-year extension provides federal lawmakers a buffer zone, but groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation are pushing them not to delay. One federal estimate earlier this year predicted this would be the first Farm Bill in history to top one-trillion dollars in total spending.
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With Sunday’s death of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he has fond memories of the last time he saw the Carters in person. The former president invited Grassley to Atlanta several years back to speak before a group of Southern Baptists about the value of bipartisanship. Grassley says both of the Carters were there to greet him. “They’re just outstanding people and we ought to thank Rosalynn for what she has done to promote our interest in solving our mental health problems,” Grassley says, “and we still have those problems, but they’d be worse if it hadn’t been for the leadership of Rosalynn Carter.”

Grassley says he does not plan to attend next week’s funeral for Mrs. Carter, who was 96. Former President Carter is 99.

INDIANOLA, Iowa — The Superintendent of Indianola Schools is apologizing after parents say a quote tied to Nazis was included in the morning announcements. KCCI says on Monday, some Indianola parents shared an email with the station, which appears to be the day’s middle school morning announcements. At the bottom, it included the “Respect Quote of the Day,” which was “My honor is my loyalty.” The quote was attributed to Heinrich H. — Heinrich Himmler was a prominent Nazi leader.

Parents also shared an email from Indianola Superintendent Ted Ihns, who said a staff member “did not realize that the quote was from a highly inappropriate source.” Ihns said in the email, “I first want to apologize for the oversight. While it was completely unintentional, I understand that some of those who saw the quote and realized the source were offended. Again, we are very sorry for this mistake,” Ihns said in the email. “Moving forward, we will implement a new process for our Respect Quote of the Day to be sure that we are double-checking all sources and ensuring the quotes are appropriate for our students.”

AMES, Iowa — One of three fraternity brothers at Iowa State University charged with felony extortion and misdemeanor assault has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. According to reports, 21-year-old Grant Kuehnast was charged alongside fellow Farmhouse Fraternity members Colton Moore and Tyler Ekstrom, for allegedly trying to force another member to perform a sex act in January — and threatening to shoot the victim with an airsoft gun if he did not do it. Kuehnast has pleaded guilty to first-degree harassment and will be sentenced Dec. 6.

Prosecutors are recommending 2 years of probation for Kuehnast and 100 hours of community service, as well as a letter of apology to the victim. Moore is scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 5, according to court documents, and Ekstrom is scheduled for a Feb. 27, 2024, trial.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]— Des Moines police arrested a man Monday in connection to a crash that killed a married couple. Des Moines police have charged Kameron Wright, 18, of Des Moines, with two counts of vehicular homicide by OWI and two counts of vehicular homicide by reckless driving. Police say on Nov. 12, Wright crashed his Camaro into the passenger side of a car on East University Avenue. The force of the crash flipped the car on its top.

Seventy-six-year-old Fred Lehman and his wife, 79-year-old Mary Lehman, died at the scene. Police say evidence indicates that impairment and high speeds were factors in the crash. Police say Wright was driving his Camaro over 100 mph in the seconds before the crash. The Des Moines Police Department Traffic Unit continues to investigate.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Hundreds of pages of written briefs that argue for and against a hazardous liquid pipeline permit for Summit Carbon Solutions in Iowa are due before the end of the year, with written replies to those arguments due Jan. 19, the Iowa Utilities Board recently ordered. If approved, the pipeline would run through about the western-third of Montgomery County. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the three-member IUB board will decide whether to issue or deny a permit to Summit to allow construction of its carbon dioxide pipeline system and whether the company can use eminent domain to obtain land easements for about a quarter of its route.

State law does not set a deadline for that decision, and the board has not estimated when its decision might come. Summit proposes a five-state pipeline system spanning more than 680 miles to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground sequestration. The board’s evidentiary hearing for Summit’s proposal in Iowa ended Nov. 8. After the hearing’s conclusion, the board said it would allow a briefing schedule that is longer than normal “due to the voluminous record and the upcoming holiday season,” and would accept atypically long initial briefs of up to 150 pages, with some exceptions for even longer filings. It noted that the case file has tens of thousands of pages of testimony and exhibits. Pipeline opponents sought to circumvent the laborious briefing process after the hearing concluded with a motion for the board to deny Summit’s permit application.

More than half of Iowa’s corn is used to produce ethanol, and Summit has argued that supporting the ethanol industry also supports higher corn prices. The company has agreements with ethanol plants to share profits from federal tax credits that reward capturing carbon dioxide and producing low-carbon fuels, along with increased profits from selling those fuels in new markets. The specific details of the agreements have not been made public. Pipeline opponents have argued that those profits will mostly benefit wealthy Summit investors. They further oppose the use of eminent domain to force construction of the pipeline system against landowners’ wishes and worry about damage to farmland and safety threats from potential pipeline breaches.

Summit’s permit application in North Dakota is under reconsideration and has no definitive timeline for completion. The state’s capital city of Bismarck recently sought to intervene in the process because of the pipeline’s proximity, according to documents filed with the state’s Public Service Commission. Bismarck’s petition said it does not support or oppose the company’s proposal, but that it will be affected by it. Specifically, the city said the pipeline route might affect its future growth and the safety of its residents. The city’s fire department might also lead an emergency response to a pipeline rupture. South Dakota rejected Summit’s initial route proposal for that state, and the company has said it plans to reapply with a modified route. The company has not indicated when that might happen.

Summit has delayed the projected operational date of its pipeline system by more than a year to 2026.